[ryuurui]

1. This is related to etymology of characters. To understand that it takes years of studies and practice. It's a never ending road. We all learn kanji till we die. Kanji are built of radicals, and there are 214 of them. They often suggest meaning or sound. This is quite tricky too, as many of the modern characters were simplified over years (even in ancient times). This will come to you with experience, but understanding radicals should help a great deal.
In word population, it is simple and logical, human mouth(s) >>> population. Also, please remember that kanji were developped pre BC and many meanings are borrowd, further, after incorporating them into Japanese language, some meanings were lost, confused or changed.

2. Do not learn them by heart. Try to learn new meanings and readings on the go, and preferably in compounds (more than 1 kanji)

3. I have answered this above. Learn compounds. Though you may memorize basic kanji, however the most simple ones, such as 上 may have up to 30 readings or more. They are the oldest charatcers derived from pictographs.

4. Once you get the japanese language bar you select kanji by pressing space. You need to know which characters fit given meaning, Japanese language is full of homophones.


Hiragana/katakana is a must. Do not read text in romaji (roman alphabet) but both syllabaries. Use kanji flash cards, they are quite useful.