The Japanese Writing System Explained: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji

[samsk]

Reading these scripts is where my efforts to speak Japanese died on Duolingo. I wanted to be able to talk and they force me to learn all the characters. But, nice writeup, I knew the writing systems, but never realized that each has its own function.

Btw. Does anybody knows some alternative to learn to speak/understand Japanese ?

[adilmoujahid]

You can learn basic conversation without reading, but it only gets you so far. Japanese has tons of similar-sounding words, and without kanji, it's hard to build a deep vocabulary or follow meaningful conversations. Reading reinforces understanding—and kanji actually makes it easier to remember words once you get used to it.