Can I learn Japanese without kanji?

You can speak and understand spoken Japanese without them. To read normal text you need them, since most written Japanese uses kanji.

Should I learn kanji before grammar?

There is no need to wait. Learn kana, start basic grammar and vocabulary, and add kanji in small steps as you go.

Is it better to learn kanji inside words?

For readings, yes. For shape and meaning, a short dedicated session on the kanji itself helps. Many learners do both.

Learn Kanji or Vocabulary First? A Practical Answer

Short answer: do both, in small amounts. Learn hiragana and katakana first, then pick up common words together with the kanji they use. Add a short daily kanji session on top, so the shapes and meanings become familiar. Neither side needs to finish before the other starts.

The two camps

Learners tend to fall into two groups.

Kanji first. Learn the characters on their own, with meaning and shape, before or in parallel with words. The argument: once you recognise a character, new words that use it are quicker to pick up, and readings attach to something familiar.

Vocabulary first. Learn words, and let the kanji come with them. The argument: you meet kanji as they are used, so you learn readings in context and learn things you will see.

Both are right about something. Both have a weak spot.

What kanji-first does well, and where it falls short

It does well at recognition. If you have learned 見 (see), 聞 (hear) and 読 (read) as separate characters, then 見る, 聞く and 読む are not three new puzzles. You know the part that carries the meaning.

It falls short at readings. A kanji learned alone has no sound attached. When you meet 読書 (どくしょ, reading) and 読む (よむ), you have to learn that one kanji sounds different in each. If you study kanji alone for months, you can end up recognising characters you cannot read aloud.

What vocabulary-first does well, and where it falls short

It does well at usefulness. You learn words you hear and say, with readings built in. 食 arrives as 食べる (たべる, to eat) because you wanted to say “I eat”.

It falls short at shape. If every word is learned as a block, similar-looking characters blur together. You may know 食べる by sight and fail to recall the kanji by itself, or confuse it with a lookalike. And the larger the vocabulary gets, the more it hurts that you never took the characters apart.

A middle path that works for most beginners

Learn kana. Nothing else works without it.
Start vocabulary and basic grammar with a textbook or course. You will meet kanji there.
Add a small kanji session each day, five or so new kanji. Pick them from words you already know or are about to learn. The N5 list is a good guide.
Review both on a spaced schedule.
Link them. When you learn a kanji, look at two example words. When you learn a word, look at the kanji in it.

Kanji Guide is built for step 3. Every kanji shows example words with readings, so you do not learn the shape in isolation. See the JLPT N5 list.

An example of linking the two

Take 読 (read). The story:

People will say (言) almost anything to make a sale (売), so don’t believe everything you read.

That gives you the shape and the meaning. The example words give you the sound: 読む (よむ) and 読書 (どくしょ). Now when you see 読 in a new word, you recognise it, you know it has something to do with reading, and you have two readings to try.

That takes three minutes, and it connects a character to words you will use.

Three words that show the link

Look at what a beginner sees in the first weeks: 日本語 (にほんご, Japanese language), 学生 (がくせい, student) and 先生 (せんせい, teacher). Between them they use 日, 本, 語, 学, 生 and 先. All six are N5 kanji.

If you learn the six kanji as shapes and meanings, those three words are no longer opaque. You see “sun, origin, word” and “study, life” and “before, life”. That does not give you perfect translations, but it gives you hooks, and the readings come from the words.

If you learn only the words, you can say all three, but when 生 shows up in 生まれる (うまれる, to be born), it looks new.

Does the order change if you want to pass the JLPT?

A little. The test has separate parts for reading and for kanji and vocabulary knowledge, so you need both anyway. The question is only which one you start with. A mix, with a steady kanji habit, is a safe plan. Read how many kanji are in each JLPT level for sizing.

Does the order change if you only want to speak?

Yes. If your goal is conversation, vocabulary and grammar matter most, and kanji can wait. But if you plan to read at all, even menus, signs and messages, starting kanji early is cheap because the first group is small.

When kanji first is right

You already know a lot of spoken Japanese from living there or from family.
You have learned Chinese characters before.
You enjoy visual memory work and want a clear task.

When vocabulary first is right

You are preparing for a trip and need words.
You find character study dry and are likely to quit.
You want to talk before you read.

A plain recommendation

Start both small. Put a few minutes of kanji beside your regular study. Do not wait until your vocabulary is large, and do not stop vocabulary to finish kanji. If you keep the two linked through example words, they feed each other.

Try it

Open the app and learn five kanji with their example words. It is free in the browser, and there is an iPhone app. For a first-week plan, see how to learn kanji from zero.