小
Small
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| しょう | ちいさい, こ | 小 |
Meaning: Small
The small radical and the small kanji are exactly the same.
So, know the radicals and you’ll know the kanji. Nice how that works out.
Reading: しょう
You have the small kanji. With something so small how can you show it to someone?
Imagine something really really small. So small you can’t even see it. Nobody believes you when you try to show it to them. Feel the disappointment and frustration of trying to show something to someone and they can’t even see it.
Vocabulary
Learn the only vocab word for this kanji (right now) before you move on to the next kanji.
a 小さい（ちいさい）＝ Small
- Meaning: This means the same thing as the kanji.
- Reading: This is the kun’yomi reading – you can tell because of the hiragana attached to the kanji part. As long as you know this word means “Small,” you can think about something that’s small… what would that be? A mouse is pretty small, so think of that. What do mice like to eat? Cheese (ちい). Keep in mind that the vocab mnemonics are here to get you close, but not all the way. The vocab are longer than the on’yomi reading, meaning you can try to get close, but you can’t get there perfectly, so only use it as a way of getting to the end, not a way to remember the entire reading.