TextFugu Kanji, Part 4
“It is a rough road that leads to the path of greatness.” - Seneca
Right about now is when you can start saying “yeah, I’m learning some real kanji now.”
By real, I mean more complicated, more useful, and more interesting. We’re stepping into an area where kanji are going to get more and more useful the more we learn, so I hope you’re excited about that! You have a great foundation for more kanji learning now, so let’s ride that for a while (and keep building on it while we go!).
Learning The Kanji
“Short, sweet, and to the point. Clear writing, and therefore clear commands, comes from clear thinking. Think simple.” - Tim Ferris
As always, we’re going to start with the simplest of the bunch (in terms of meanings for the kanji). Now that we’re at 4 strokes, you’re going to be getting a little deeper into the memory tricks and strategies we’ve been practicing up until now. Now is when you’ll see if all your work paid off. If it didn’t, don’t worry too much either. Just keep following the directions and work really hard to produce vivid imaginations of the stories and really solidify them into your mind.
Go ahead and get started with the first kanji, and work your way down. Take breaks in between and pace yourself! You have quite a bit of time, and it’s better to go at a slow-moderate pace than go really fast and burn yourself out!
Click on 中 to get started!
Group 1
| Kanji | Meaning | 音 (on) | 訓 (kun) | Strokes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 中 | middle | ちゅう | なか | 4 | 1 |
| 五 | five | ご | いつ | 4 | 1 |
| 六 | six | ろく | む | 4 | 1 |
| 円 | round, yen | えん | まるい | 4 | 1 |
| 天 | heaven | てん | n/a | 4 | 1 |
Kanji Vocab 4.1 ← Import To Your Vocab Deck
Kanji 4.1 ← Import To Your Kanji Meanings Deck
That was the first five 4-stroke kanji. Think about how it went for you (was it alright?). When you’re ready and rested, why not go through the next five kanji?
Group 2
| Kanji | Meaning | 音 (on) | 訓 (kun) | Strokes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 手 | hand | しゅ | て | 4 | 1 |
| 文 | writing | ぶん、もん | ふみ | 4 | 1 |
| 日 | sun | にち、じつ | ひ、か | 4 | 1 |
| 月 | moon | げつ、がつ | つき | 4 | 1 |
| 木 | tree | もく | き | 4 | 1 |
Kanji Vocab 4.2 ← Import To Your Vocab Deck
Kanji 4.2 ← Import To Your Kanji Meanings Deck
After you’ve gone through these next five kanji, go through the last two groups and review quickly. Can you remember the meanings of all the kanji? Can you remember the on’yomi? Make sure you’re studying your decks.
Group 3
| Kanji | Meaning | 音 (on) | 訓 (kun) | Strokes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 水 | water | すい | みず | 4 | 1 |
| 火 | fire | か | ひ | 4 | 1 |
| 犬 | dog | けん | いぬ | 4 | 1 |
| 王 | king | おう | n/a | 4 | 1 |
| 今 | now | こん | いま | 4 | 2 |
Kanji Vocab 4.3 ← Import To Your Vocab Deck
Kanji 4.3 ← Import To Your Kanji Meanings Deck
When you’ve gone through these five kanji, move on to the next set!
Group 4
| Kanji | Meaning | 音 (on) | 訓 (kun) | Strokes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 元 | origin | げん | もと | 4 | 2 |
| 公 | public | こう | n/a | 4 | 2 |
| 内 | inside | ない | うち | 4 | 2 |
| 分 | part | ふん | わ.かる | 4 | 2 |
| 切 | cut | せつ | き.る | 4 | 2 |
Kanji Vocab 4.4 ← Import To Your Vocab Deck
Kanji 4.4 ← Import To Your Kanji Meanings Deck
Starting in the next set after this one, we’ll be upping the amount of kanji you learn to (approximately) ten at a time. In theory, by now you’ve gotten better at learning kanji, and you’ll be able to learn more at one time. Go through the next five kanji and we’ll talk about this a little more!
Group 5
| Kanji | Meaning | 音 (on) | 訓 (kun) | Strokes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 午 | noon | ご | n/a | 4 | 1 |
| 友 | friend | ゆう | とも | 4 | 1 |
| 太 | fat | たい | ふと.い | 4 | 1 |
| 少 | few | しょう | すく.ない | 4 | 1 |
| 引 | pull | n/a | ひく | 4 | 1 |
Kanji Vocab 4.5 ← Import To Your Vocab Deck
Kanji 4.5 ← Import To Your Kanji Meanings Deck
So, you’ve gone through five sets of five so far, and there’s a couple of (bigger) sets to go. Right here is a fairly good spot to stop (if you’d like) and review the kanji and vocab. If you can, try to finish all the reviews for the kanji and its vocab. When you’re all caught up and reviewed for all the tags added up to this point, you can move on to the next, bigger set! It’s bigger than all the ones before, but I think you can handle it (or, rather, I think it’s time to re-up your challenge, because I bet learning 5 kanji at a time has gotten easier).
Group 6
| Kanji | Meaning | 音 (on) | 訓 (kun) | Strokes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 心 | heart | しん | こころ | 4 | 2 |
| 戸 | door | n/i | と | 4 | 2 |
| 方 | direction | ほう | かた | 4 | 2 |
| 牛 | cow | ぎゅう | うし | 4 | 2 |
| 父 | father | n/i | ちち | 4 | 2 |
| 毛 | fur | もう | け | 4 | 2 |
| 止 | stop | し | とまる | 4 | 2 |
| 化 | change | か | ばける | 4 | 3 |
| 予 | beforehand | よ | n/a | 4 | 3 |
| 区 | ward | く | n/a | 4 | 3 |
Kanji Vocab 4.6 ← Import To Your Vocab Deck
Kanji 4.6 ← Import To Your Kanji Meanings Deck
How were the last ten? It should have been more difficult, but hopefully not something you couldn’t handle. Like anything, you’ll get used to it and get better at it over time!
Since the groups are a little longer than you’re used to, until things get comfortable again, I’d recommend finishing all the reviews available (and not available without manually adding them) for your kanji and kanji vocab before continuing on.
Group 7
| Kanji | Meaning | 音 (on) | 訓 (kun) | Strokes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 反 | anti- | はん | そ.る | 4 | 3 |
| 不 | non- | ふ, ぶ | n/a | 4 | 4 |
| 夫 | husband | ふ | おっと | 4 | 4 |
| 欠 | lack | けつ | か.ける | 4 | 4 |
| 氏 | family name | し | うじ | 4 | 4 |
| 仏 | Buddha | ぶつ | ほとけ | 4 | 5 |
| 支 | support | し | ささ.える | 4 | 5 |
| 比 | compare | ひ | くら.べる | 4 | 5 |
| 収 | obtain | しゅう | おさ.める | 4 | 6 |
| 片 | one sided | n/i | かた | 4 | 6 |
Kanji Vocab 4.7 ← Import To Your Vocab Deck
Kanji 4.7 ← Import To Your Kanji Meanings Deck
Alright, only one more set, and it’s only 8 kanji. After this, you’re done with 4-stroke kanji.
Group 8
| Kanji | Meaning | 音 (on) | 訓 (kun) | Strokes | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 乏 | scarce | ぼう | とぼ.しい | 4 | S |
| 互 | mutually | ご | たが.い | 4 | S |
| 井 | well | しょう | い | 4 | S |
| 介 | jammed in | かい | 4 | S | |
| 冗 | superfluous | じょう | 4 | S | |
| 匹 | Small animals counter | n/i | ひき | 4 | S |
| 厄 | unlucky | やく | 4 | S | |
| 双 | pair | そう | ふた | 4 | S |
Kanji Vocab 4.8 ← Import To Your Vocab Deck
Kanji 4.8 ← Import To Your Kanji Meanings Deck
That’s it for the 4-stroke kanji! There were more of them, but you have conquered. They were more difficult, but you have overcome. Aside from all that, you’re getting into more and more useful kanji. I’d say the best kanji appear between five and ten strokes, and that’s exactly where you’re heading :)