漢字:

An introduction to Kanji

Note:

Understanding how Kanji works becomes a lot easier as you study Japanese! I’m about to dump a lot of information on you, so if it’s a lot to process my advice is, learn by doing!

漢字 originated in China.

It is one of the 3 Japanese writing systems.
Hiragana and katakana act similar to the Roman alphabet but…

…Kanji act as symbols.
Let's compare them to emoji's.

We can look at this 🍩 and know it means ‘doughnut’… or maybe ‘treat’.
Now imagine that…

…but for thousands of kanji.
To read a newspaper…

…you need to learn roughly 2000 Kanji.
Let’s go!

Let’s break it down. Below is a typical kanji study table we’ll use in class. In this example version, each element is labeled. Below the table, you can find a description of each element.

Day, Sun
	ニチ、Class: カタカナRomaji: nichiジツClass: カタカナRomaji: jitsu
	ひClass: ひらがなRomaji: hi, びClass: ひらがなRomaji: bi
Japan	日本nihon
Japanese	日本語nihongo

Kanji Meaning

Kanji can have multiple meanings. Rather than thinking of this as 'the translation', think of it as 'what the kanji represents'.
The Kanji and its stroke order

All kanji have a stroke order, it's the most efficient way to write the kanji. When studying kanji, try to learn the stroke order as best you can! It makes learning future kanji easier, as many kanji have similar elements.
Kanji readings

Each 漢字 has it’s own reading/s, like how the numeral 1 is read ‘one’.
Most kanji have more than one reading. The characters they’re combined with can affect how they're read. This could be compared to how combining ‘1’ and ‘st’ changes the reading from ‘one’ to ‘first’.
Most kanji have more than 1 reading, sometimes 5+! It's difficult to know how to read words you have not encountered before.
On’yomi readings

There are 2 categories of reading for Kanji. On’yomi and Kun’Yomi. On’Yomi are readings that originated from Chinese. Therefore when studying kanji, you often see these readings written in Katakana.
It’s common for on’yomi readings to appear in words that use more than one Kanji.
Kun’Yomi readings

Kun’yomi readings originated in Japan, therefore they’re displayed in hiragana. Kun’yomi are often seen in stand alone, single kanji words.
However, this is more a ‘common pattern’ than a rule and I wouldn’t rely on its accuracy. There’s a lot of times it doesn’t work.
learning readings as on’yomi/ kun’yomi..

…helps you build a solid understanding of kanji. But personally, I don't put a lot of focus on learning onyomi/ kunyomi.
Kanji Words

In this section, you'll see a selection of words written in the kanji you've learned. Section 5 & 6 have a teal background, which means the following:
Kanji words

Words in this section are words that have appeared in previous or current lesson word lists. They are made up of kanji you have previously or are currently studying. You can click on the kanji in section 6 to see the hiragana (and until lesson 10, the romaji) reading of the kanji word.
Kanji words

This section is similar to sections 5 & 6, however you are not expected to know how to write these words in kanji yet. Words in this section are vocabulary you have already studied, but they may have one or two kanji characters you have not yet studied. They are just on the chart for reference.

How to use Kanji

Day, Sun			Book, Origin
		ニチ、Class: カタカナRomaji: nichiジツClass: カタカナRomaji: jitsu			ホンClass: カタカナRomaji: hon
		ひ、び、かClass: hiraganaRomaji: hi, bi, ka			もとClass: hiraganaRomaji: moto

Many Kanji can be used on their own as words.

For example: ‘本’ on its own means ‘book’.
Using it in a sentence would look something like…

This is a 本.
This is a book.
Note: I am using the Kanji in relation to an English sentence as we’ve not yet studied Japanese sentences.
As a beginner, don’t just guess how to use Kanji.

You usually need to have studied (or seen it used before) to have an idea of how it works.
For example:

I can’t just look at the Kanji ‘日’, see it represents ‘Sun’ and use it to write…
‘The 日 is hot’

…and hope I’m writing ‘the sun is hot’.
日 can be used alone…

…however it means ‘day’.
You learn how to use them through studying each kanji.
Kanji commonly have more than one reading!

Some have 5… 6…7+
This is a major reason we must study Kanji.

How would you know which of the 7 readings to use without studying?
Most Kanji can be placed together to create words.

This is called a kanji compound!
Note: Some compounds are made up of more than 2 kanji.
For example, if we put 日 and 本 together, we get 日本 (nihon).

日本 means Japan.
Literally: ‘Origin of the sun’.
You can’t put random Kanji together hoping they have meaning.

You have to learn Kanji compounds, not make your own.
The word ‘日曜日’ is a great intro to Kanji pronunciation.

日曜日 means Sunday, and includes the kanji 日 twice. However…
… it is pronounced Nichi-You-Bi.

This means the first ‘日’ is pronounced ‘Nichi’, and the last is ‘Bi’.
Moral of the story:

Study kanji!

So, Why learn On’yomi and Kun’yomi?

A popular way of learning kanji is also learning the readings as onyomi/ kunyomi.
This is because its common for on’yomi readings to appear in words that use more than one Kanj…

…where as kun’yomi are often seen in stand alone, single kanji words.
As a beginner

It’s reccomeded that you learn whether a reading is onyomi or kunyomi as it helps you build a solid understanding of kanji. However...
There are a lot of exceptions to this rule.

Furthermore, as most kanji have more than one reading, and sometimes multiple onyomi/ kunyomi readings, it's difficult to know how to read some words you have not encountered before.
Therefore, I personally don't put a lot of focus on learning onyomi/ kunyomi.

This isn't to say it should be ignored completely, it's more to say... dont worry if you can't recite each kanji reading and catagorise it into onyomi and kunyomi.
Personally

…i’ve always learnt best through seeing the kanji in use.

So why use kanji if they’re difficult?

Well… They make reading Japanese easier.
Japanese does not use spaces, making it hard to read when it’s all in hiragana. By putting Kanji in it becomes quicker and easier to read.
As a beginner

It’s reccomeded that you learn whether a reading is onyomi or kunyomi as it helps you build a solid understanding of kanji. However...
There are a lot of exceptions to this rule.

Furthermore, as most kanji have more than one reading, and sometimes multiple onyomi/ kunyomi readings, it's difficult to know how to read some words you have not encountered before.

Let’s see an example, with emojis representing kanji.

彼女は学生です。 

👱🏻‍♀️is👩🏻‍🎓.

    かのじょはがくせいです。

Sheisastudent.

Kanji Explained

漢字:

Note:

漢字 originated in China.

Hiragana and katakana act similar to the Roman alphabet but…

Let's compare them to emoji's.

Now imagine that…

To read a newspaper…

Kanji Meaning

The Kanji and its stroke order

Kanji readings

On’yomi readings

Kun’Yomi readings

learning readings as on’yomi/ kun’yomi..

Kanji Words

Kanji words

Kanji words

How to use Kanji

Many Kanji can be used on their own as words.

Using it in a sentence would look something like…

As a beginner, don’t just guess how to use Kanji.

For example:

‘The 日 is hot’

日 can be used alone…

You learn how to use them through studying each kanji.

Kanji commonly have more than one reading!

This is a major reason we must study Kanji.

Most Kanji can be placed together to create words.

For example, if we put 日 and 本 together, we get 日本 (nihon).

You can’t put random Kanji together hoping they have meaning.

The word ‘日曜日’ is a great intro to Kanji pronunciation.

… it is pronounced Nichi-You-Bi.

Moral of the story:

So, Why learn On’yomi and Kun’yomi?

This is because its common for on’yomi readings to appear in words that use more than one Kanj…

As a beginner

There are a lot of exceptions to this rule.

Therefore, I personally don't put a lot of focus on learning onyomi/ kunyomi.

Personally

So why use kanji if they’re difficult?

As a beginner

There are a lot of exceptions to this rule.