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Kanji

漢字


What is Kanji? Kanji is a system of characters borrowed from the Chinese is one of the four character sets used in modern, everyday Japanese. There is over an estimated 40,000 Kanji characters, but only about 2,000 characters are commonly used. If you are familiar with these 2,000 characters, you should be able to read any Japanese newspaper or other publication with no problems at all.

There are plenty of resources online to learn more about the origin of Kanji (such as the Kanji Wiki). So, without going into too much history and detail, here are some important points you need to know about Kanji to help you understand and read/write it better:

  • Kanji characters by themselves each have a meaning.
  • Each Kanji has a certain stroke order you need to follow.
  • When more than one Kanji are combined to create a new word, these new words are considered "Compound Kanji"
  • Many Kanji have more than one way to read (pronounce) them — an On (Chinese) reading and a Kun (Japanese) reading. Some Kanji only have one reading, and some Kanji have more than one On or Kun reading.

Stroke order...

...is very important! Just take your time with it. Learn each beautiful stroke and the order in which it should appear. Then admire the work of art that you have just painted on your canvas. Sometimes learning the stroke order can be tedious, but hang in there!

How to know which reading — On or Kun — to use

Having to memorize at least 2,000 characters and their stroke order is tough as is, and now you have to learn the different ways to read each one! This is where learning Japanese can get a little discouraging. Just remember to take your time.

The general rule to reading Kanji:

  • When a Kanji is by itself, or followed by Hiragana — such as 大きい (oo-kii / "big") — most of the time you would read the Kun reading of the Kanji.
  • When a Kanji is joined together with one or more Kanji (creating Compound Kanji) — such as 大学 (dai-gaku / "college" or "university") — most of the time you would read the On reading.

Of course, just like many rules, there are a few exceptions but don't worry about those right now. They will come naturally as your learning progresses.