This post contains concrete tips aimed at contributing real value to your Japanese learning process. This information is especially relevant for users of the KLC Graded Reading Sets series, which is designed specifically to help you apply these tips in a rigorous fashion.

Why you should learn kanji (and Japanese in general) through graded, comprehensible reading:

1. Language acquisition occurs through the comprehension of messages (VanPatten 2007) (<<References are listed at the end of this post). As the GRS series illustrates, your greatest ally in attaining such comprehension is to see a translation in your first language (Butzkamm 2003). And so to accelerate your learning, you should read large amounts of material that you can understand with the help of glosses in your first language, or at least a language you can read fluently (for simplicity, I will just say “L1” from here on).
   
2. You will learn most efficiently when each sentence you read presents you with a new challenge that is a single step beyond your current level (“n+1”). For this reason, graded readings are more effective than unstructured immersion.
   
3. While immersion in Japanese is of course paramount, do not fall for the old orthodoxy that your L1 must be excluded from this immersion. After all, your L1 is what puts the “comprehensible” in “comprehensible input”!  For in-depth information on why it is misguided to pursue pure, Japanese-only immersion (without regular leveraging of your L1), I highly recommend a book out of Germany entitled The Bilingual Reform (I especially recommend this book if you work in language instruction).
   
4. The preceding three points illustrate why unstructured, monolingual immersion in Japanese is ineffective:
   • It is not carefully graded to present material you can comprehend
   • It does not present new material in an efficient, n+1 fashion
   • It fails to leverage your L1 to maximize comprehension
5. In your immersion, you should first attempt to “actively puzzle out” the meaning of words and phrases, before reading the L1 gloss.
   
6. As with any process, the success of your language learning relies on continuous iterations of application and corrective feedback. With kanji, for example, you should immediately practice reading each kanji you learn, using sentences you can understand, and correcting mistakes immediately.
   
7. To become competent in a language, you need massive exposure to the full range of linguistic facts about that language. Many of these facts fall in a middle zone of semi-regular “phraseology” that lies between discrete vocabulary and rule-governed grammar (Butzkamm & Caldwell 2009). For this reason, you should not rely only on a combination of grammar study and SRS memorization of kanji & vocabulary. It is essential to massively consume authentic phrases and texts, graded to your level and supplemented with translations in your L1.
   
8. Even for learning rule-based grammar, the best approach is not to consciously study the rules, but to read illustrative sentences that you can make sense of with the help of an L1 translation (Elley 1991).
   
9. Generally speaking, it is better to learn kanji and vocabulary in the context of authentic phrases and sentences than to memorize SRS flash cards. Flash cards that are limited to short definitions provide only a shallow knowledge of each word’s meaning and usage (Krashen 1989).
   
10. It is essential to read authentic phrases and sentences so that you will learn how kanji are actually used while you are still in the process of learning them. If not, you will be unable to critically reflect on your own kanji learning process. Too many students spend months studying kanji out of context, blindly following one prescribed method or another without reading enough real material to understand what matters and what doesn’t. As a result, they are unable to critically evaluate their own learning process and correct course along the way.

Now, a few tips on how to use the KLC method to learn Japanese effectively through n+1 comprehensible input:

1. When studying each kanji in the KLC book, try to “actively puzzle out” the meaning of each vocabulary word/phrase based on the constituent kanji, before you read its English equivalent.
   
2. After finishing one or more kanji entries in the KLC, read the graded reading sets for those kanji (if it’s inconvenient to go back and forth, just split these tasks into separate time blocks).
   
3. When you see the kanji heading for each set, try to recall its meaning(s), and actively make the connection in your mind between form and meaning. In particular, focus on what distinguishes that kanji from similar ones, and how you can associate that feature with the kanji’s meaning.
   
4. Try to decode the reading and meaning of each exercise without referring to its phonetic and English glosses. Use Scrolling Mode to hide the glosses. Actively puzzle things out!
   
5. Read each item ALOUD several times. Complete the circle from brain, to tongue, to ears, back to brain.
   
6. Often you won’t be able to figure out one or more words, or the meaning of the item as a whole. Don’t worry—just focus on puzzling out the parts you can. Challenging items contribute more to your learning than easy items do.
   
7. Now check the phonetic gloss to make sure you have read the item correctly. If you read a word incorrectly, read it aloud several times with correct pronunciation. Then read the entire item aloud a couple more times, to reinforce. Corrective feedback is the MVP of your learning process.
   
8. Now read the English gloss to check your comprehension.
   
9. Now re-read the item, for both understanding and correct pronunciation. Using the new insights you gain from the English gloss, do more active deciphering of the words and how they fit together to make the overall meaning of the sentence/phrase.
   
10. Use the built-in J-E dictionary to look up unfamiliar words and read additional example sentences. This will help you better understand how the word is used, better understand the kanji it contains, and learn additional Japanese to boot. All of this learning is superpowered from the fact that it’s contextual.
    
11. Now look away from the book/app, and try to convey the information aloud to an imaginary listener (in chunks if necessary).
    
12. When you can’t figure out the Japanese text word-for-word (even after looking up the words), just focus on understanding the gist of each item, and how the target kanji is used within it.
    
13. To reinforce your learning, re-read the exercises every ten sets or so.

I  hope some of these tips will help you on your way.  Best wishes for a productive summer of learning and growing.
 
Andrew

References

Butzkamm, W. (2003). We only learn language once. The role of the mother tongue in FL classrooms: Death of a dogma. Language Learning Journal 28 (29-39).

Butzkamm, W., & Caldwell, J. A. (2009). The bilingual reform: A paradigm shift in foreign language teaching. Narr Francke Attempto Verlag.

Elley, W. B. (1991). Acquiring literacy in a second language: The effect of book‐based programs. Language learning, 41(3), 375-411.

Krashen, S. (1989) We acquire vocabulary and spelling by reading: Additional evidence for the input hypothesis. Modern Language Journal 73, 440-464.

VanPatten, B., Keating, G. D., & Wulff, S. (Eds.). (2020). Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction. Routledge.

VanPatten, B. (2007). Input Processing in Adult Second Language Acquisition. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction (p. 115–135).