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Alright, now that you've been given a brief introduction to the wonderful world of kanji, it's time to take a closer look at these characters.

Now, you already know that Japanese kanji are based on Chinese characters. But what we haven't talked about is the Japanese and Chinese readings that go with each Kanji.

Most kanji have two possible pronunciations, called the "ON" (pronounced "own") reading and the "KUN" reading. The ON reading is based on the Chinese way to say the character, and the KUN reading is uniquely Japanese. Different words will use different readings of the kanji, and the only way to know for sure which reading you should use is memorization!

In Japanese kanji dictionaries, the ON reading will typically be written out in katakana, and the KUN reading will be in hiragana.

Let's go through a few more kanji now, presented in the following format:

KANJI
GENERAL MEANING
ON READING
KUN READING
EXAMPLE OF A WORD

大
"big"
dai
oo
大きい = ookii = "big"
大すき（大好き） = daisuki = "really like/love"


小
"small"
shou
chii, o (kanji may have multiple kun readings)
小さい = chiisai = "small"

田
"rice paddy/rice field"
den
ta, da
田なか（田中さん） = Tanaka-san = comman Japanese last name
やま田さん = Yamada-san = common Japanese last name

山
"mountain"
sen
yama
山田さん =Yamada-san = common Japanese last name

人
"person"
jin, nin (again, multiple ON readings are possible)
hito
日本人 = nihonjin = Japanese Person
おんなの人（女の人） = onna no hito = woman

川
"river"
sen
kawa, gawa
川 = kawa = "river"

生
"life, to live"
sei
nama
せん生（先生） = sensei = Teacher

私
"I/private"
shi
watashi, watakushi
私 = watashi = "I"

学
"to study, to learn"
gaku, ga(small tsu character - duplicates next consonant)
mana
大学 = daigaku = university

I know you may have seen some of these characters before, but it never hurts to see them in their full context. Be sure to practice writing them on your own.

If you're serious about learning kanji (most linguists estimate that you need around 2000 kanji mastered before you can read a newspaper), then check out this website. They make the best kanji resources I've seen yet, and they sell kanji flashcard packs specifically for the JLPT levels. A friend of mine ordered stuff from them, and I will definitely be doing the same.

So, any questions or comments about this new set of kanji? Leave them for me here!

I agree... blech! I'm toying with the idea of purchasing an electronic Japanese dictionary. They're pretty expensive, but I'm wondering if it might be worth it for getting through upper-level university courses...

Homemade flashcards have been my primary survival tool this semester. My school sells packs of 100 index cards for a dollar, and it's starting to feel like I'm in the bookstore once a week buying more.

i think the Japanese Dictionaries are expensive but they are useful. I saw one of my adult friends have one. How do we say waterfall in Kanji and Japanese?

ariagato sensei