- You wrote 'writing it down ten times'. however, you don't have to be able to write kanji by hand. because nowadays computer does it for you, and even Japanese people (including me) often forget how to write some kanji. - You should be able to read Kanji first. - They say Kanji is SHO-KEI-MOJI, or 'HYO-I-MOJI' which represent some meaning instead of sound. However, in fact, half of its shape often represents sound/pronounciation. For example, these kanjis are all different in meaning, 訪(visit)、方(direction)、放(let go)、倣(imitate)、芳(beautiful) but share the same pronouciation 'HOU'. Japanese people can notice it without knowing its pronouciaition in advance, because they share the same part 方(hou). if you find 方 in a new kanji, at high odds, it pronounces 'OU' And 緒(the end of thread, *idne)、曙(dawn)、諸(several)、署(department)、暑(hot)、藷(some plant, *idne), they all prounouce 'SHO', you can say that because they share the same part　者(SHO). ※ *idne = i don't know exactly.

I have the same worries as you. I wonder if I have no choice but to do a lot of practice... がんばりましょう！ By the way, do you know 'syou kei mo ji'(象形文字)? like hieroglyph. Not all the Kanji are 'syou kei mo ji', but it's easy to start learning.

• Learn kanji as part of words. — only the really basic kanji (木、月、山、口) are useful by themselves. Other kanji make more sense to learn as part of a compound. • Learning kanji perfectly (read & write) takes a lot of time. — I gave up doing that. I switched to just being able to recognize and read kanji, and my retention went up dramatically. • SRS software helps with memory. — Apps like anki and memrise and iKnow make it easier to keep memorizing vocabulary. I like iKnow because it orders the words by frequency of use, but it’s a pay app (~$80/yr). I spend 5-10 min every day and it’s amazing how the words add up.

Try using a spaced repetition software like Anki or Memrise. It can also help to study a word in context so that when you see it, the context can give you a clue as to what it means. Also try using mnemonics (stories to help you remember a pronunciation or writing.) KanjiDamage has some good mnemonics as long as you don't mind raunchy humor.

i am Japanese. Kanji is a combination of parts which are frequently used. And each part has a name and a meaning. When we Japanese learn new Kanji we notice this Kanji is a combination of this part and that part. And we always learn kanji in a sentence. That sentence should be vivid and impressive . By the way, it takes 6years for us to memorize500English word spelling.