What is the learning curve for learning Japanese writing?


What is the learning curve like for learning Japanese writing?

Are you able to use what you've learnt as you're progressing, or are you only
realistically able to start reading real text once you've learnt about two or
three thousand kanji?

Related question: [What are the advantages/disadvantages of writing in romaji
instead of in kanji and
kana?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/354/what-are-the-
advantages-disadvantages-of-writing-in-romaji-instead-of-kanji-hira) has a few
answers on the merits of learning Japanese writing.

**Edit:** By "real text", I meant text you'd encounter in real life, not
learning text that has had its grammar artificially dumbed down. As an example
of "dumbing down", I've heard that texts deliberately made up entirely of kana
is only for children too young to know the kanji. By contrast, signs and
menus, even if they're not literary masterpieces, haven't had their grammar
artificially changed. Would learning the kana be enough to identify a few
gairaigo items in a fast food restaurant menu, for example?




> What is the learning curve like for learning Japanese writing?

About the same as English. Chances are you didn't start learning to read
English by pedaling your five-speed Schwinn (with the baseball card in the
back tire) to the local library and checking out _Pride and Prejudice_ with
your shiny new card. You had to start with the Easy Readers, wherein you
discovered, I hope, Dr. Seuss stories with all those wonderfully rhyming
monosyllables. Along the way you learned that the letter C is a mystical
letter of many sounds, and someone had to tell you that the Cs in _cake_ ,
_cell_ , and _cello_ all sound different. You also learned about heteronyms,
those quizzical words which have identical spellings and different meanings.
Eventually you reached the point where you can pick up the latest _New York
Times_ and understand every sentence (even if you don't understand the story
behind the sentences).

Japanese is no different. You start with the kana and gradually tunnel through
Kanji Mountain. As you go you pick up on the rules of the game: this kanji is
pronounced this way when it's part of a compound and that way when it's alone,
or this compound looks like an _onyomi_ compound but it's really _kunyomi_ ,
and so on. For a long time the dictionary is your closest companion, but the
longer you study the more your reading range expands, and the less you need to
rely on your trusty indexed friend. If you stick with it, you'll eventually be
able to comfortably read a letter from your electric service provider or
browse the new fiction in the bookstore without immediately needing a
dictionary. It takes years of study, but so did English, and it's highly
rewarding.

> Are you able to use what you've learnt as you're progressing, or are you
> only realistically able to start reading real text once you've learnt about
> two or three thousand kanji?

What is "real text" to you? A newspaper? A Murakami novel? A graduation
thesis? If you restrict yourself to these "grown-up" materials, you will
likely end in frustration. Nothing is stopping you from reading anything, but
the lower your reading ability, the more of a grind it will be to slog through
the unfamiliar kanji and grammar in high-level texts. Progress always depends
on studying things that are _just above_ your level. If you're working on
grade school kanji, read material targeted at grade schoolers: the kids'
section of newspapers, manga for kids, and so on. (This is why I personally
recommend studying kanji in the same order used in Japan.) When the material
you're reading becomes too easy, move on to something more difficult. It's all
"real text", and everything is a stepping stone to get you to what you really
want to read.

