This gives a lot of flexibility in the writing, and once you start learning the Kanji you can break sentences apart visually because Hiragana ends up being used mostly for particles and exclamations. It is helpful to be able to tell quickly whether that “no” sign is part of a whole word or just means “and”.

And Katakana is a life-saver, the only tricky part being that it encompasses all loan words, not just the English ones :) 

Kana perform a different grammatical and lexical function from kanji within one writing system. They are not different writing systems.

@Wreckrob8 I think they are different writing systems. Anything in Japanese can be written in hiragana or katakana without the use of kanji, and typically is for books for small children (in hiragana, that is).

(Here is a link to the WikiP exec. summary of P. Learning/Memory:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_memory    )

Starting in 2006, I had four quarters — one year — of Mandarin first year — and one (or was it two?) quarters of second year — I chose to learn traditional chars. The characters I wrote over and over and over are the ones I best retain. The ones I studied mostly with flashcards are difficult or impossible to recall now – although I’m certain they’re still there.

How serendipitous. I just had the same thought this week and started in ernest to continue to learn, however slowly but surely.

Thank you for pointing this app out. I just started using http://www.textfugu.com and the open source AnkiWeb.

This is a different process from the creation of kanji which are built up from discernible elements – strokes, radicals and phonetics .

Yes and no. Kana perform a different grammatical and lexical function from kanji within one writing system. They are not different writing systems.

Hiragana and katakana are ‘abbreviated’ kanji. Would it not be better to learn the original kanji which can also be broken down into meaningful and even pictorial radicals and phonetics?

No, because they aren’t ‘abbreviated’ kanji, but separate writing systems completely separate from kanji.

Of course hiragana and katakana are originally derived from kanji, but that’s not the same thing as saying they are ‘abbreviated’ forms of kanji.

It is widely believed, among hams, that when people use any visual mnemonic to remember the code, they will usually get stuck at a speed of ~10 words per minute, and have a really hard time getting past this barrier.

 It has been observed, however, that learning at a high speed from the start (teaching one symbol at a time, or with wider inter-symbol blanks) allows one to reach ludicrous speeds after some time, without particular effort. 

  Apparently, the conversion of information across different senses (a time-based sequence of dits and dahs vs. a space-based sequence of dots and dashes) carries a heavy latency penalty in your brain. Hence to go past that magic speed, you have to relearn everything, this time making direct associations from sounds to letters. Learning with the right method lets you bypass the slow path right away.

  So, what is the impact of these kana mnemonics on reading speed ? Could you hit a similar brick wall with reading speed ? or does it not matter because reading doesn’t require a fixed speed ?

Kanji also proves useful if you travel to other countries that use it – if nothing else than an introduction to other Asian languages. I was glad I had a few thousand Kanji under my belt for an unplanned trip to Taiwan. Kanji also makes reading and absorbing information easier.

C = car = • – – • = (wheel) (door panel) (door panel) (wheel)

If you really want this to stick, get the app and duplicate the process on paper, but make up your own symbolism. Not because theirs isn’t good, but because the act of making your own will burn it into your brain.