Here's why:
* Kanji are characters: They are the characters borrowed from Chinese that represent words or concepts. They don't have an individual pronunciation like letters in an alphabet.
* Pronunciation is based on reading: The way a kanji is pronounced depends on the context of the word it's used in. There can be multiple ways to read a single kanji, based on the other characters around it.
Here's how to think about it:
* English: You write "apple" using letters, but you pronounce it "ap-uhl".
* Japanese (with kanji): You write "りんご" (pronounced "ring-go") using kanji characters. The individual characters don't tell you the pronunciation, you have to know the word as a whole.
To learn kanji, you need to memorize:
* The characters themselves: Their shapes and stroke order.
* Their multiple readings: Depending on context, a single kanji can have multiple pronunciations.
* The words they form: Kanji are usually used in combination with other kanji or hiragana to form words.
Let me know if you have any other questions about the Japanese writing system!