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P: Parts
C: Confusable
Ex: Example
Mn: Mnemonic
adv. -- adverb
n. -- noun
i-adj. -- I-adjective
na-adj. -- NA-adjective
prop. n. -- proper noun
v. t. -- verb transitive
v. int. -- verb intransitive
k. -- katakana
----
== NUMERALS ==
一 (イチ, ひと-) [1; radical 1]
one
C: k. prolonged sound mark (ー); katakana is slightly shorter
Ex: 一つ (ひとつ) [n.] one [>> *つ is used for counting a variety of things... up to nine?]
二 (ニ, ふた-) [2; radical 7]
two
C: k. ni (ニ); katakana is written smaller
Ex: 二つ (ふたつ) [n.] two
三 (サン, み-) [3]
three
Ex: 三つ (みっつ) [n.] three
四 (シ, よん, よ-) [5]
four
>> on-yomi pronunciation is avoided most of the time because it sounds like the word for death (死).
Ex: 四つ (よっつ) [n.] four
五 (ゴ, いつ-) [4]
five
Ex: 五つ (いつつ) [n.] five
六 (ロク, む-) [4]
six
Ex: 六つ (むっつ) [n.] six
七 (シチ, なな) [2]
seven
Ex: 七つ (ななつ) [n.] seven
C: k. hi (ヒ)
八 (ハチ, や-) [2; radical 12]
eight
C: k. ha (ハ); kanji is taller
Ex: 八つ (やっつ) [n.] eight
九 (キュウ, ク, ここの-) [2]
nine
>> キュウ is preferred over ク most of the time because ク sounds like the word for suffering (苦).
Ex: 九つ (ここのつ) [n.] nine
十 (ジュウ, とお) [2; radical 24]
ten
Ex: 十 (とお) [n.] ten
百 (ヒャク, ビャク) [6]
hundred
P: 白 (white), 一 (one)
Ex: 100 (ひゃく)
Ex: 200 (にひゃく)
Ex: 300 (さんびゃく)
Ex: 400 (よんひゃく)
Ex: 500 (ごひゃく)
Ex: 600 (ろっぴゃく)
Ex: 700 (ななひゃく)
Ex: 800 (はっぴゃく)
Ex: 900 (きゅうひゃく)
千 (セン) [3]
thousand
Ex: 1000 (せん, いっせん)
Ex: 2000 (にせん)
Ex: 3000 (さんぜん)
Ex: 4000 (よんせん)
Ex: 5000 (ごせん)
Ex: 6000 (ろくせん)
Ex: 7000 (ななせん)
Ex: 8000 (はっせん)
Ex: 9000 (きゅうせん)
万 (マン) [3]
ten thousand
C: 方 (direction)
----
丶 [1; radical 3]
"tick"
人 (ジン, ひと) [2; radical 9]
"person"
Ex: 日本人 (にほんじん) [n.] Japanese person/people
Ex: 一人 (ひとり) [n.] one person, alone
Ex: 二人 (ふたり) [n.] two people, pair, couple
Ex: 三人 (さんにん) [n.] three people
亻 [2; radical 9]
"person:left"
>> always on left-side of something
儿 [2; radical 10]
"legs"
C: k. ru (ル)
入 [2; radical 11]
enter
C: 人 (person); the left stroke meets the right stroke in the middle when handwritten
Ex: 入る (いる) [godan v. int.] to get/go/come in, to flow into
Ex: 入る (はいる) [godan v. int.] to enter, to join/enroll, to contain/hold/accomodate
Ex: 入口 (いりぐち) [n.] entrance
𠆢 [2; radical new]
"roof"
>> this symbol is considered a variant of both 人 and 入; so why don't we give it an independent status!
ハ [2; radical 12]
"eight:ha"
>> k. ha, when in a kanji, we call it "eight:ha"
冖 [2; radical 14]
"wa-crown" (わかんむり; ワ-shaped crown)
刀 (かたな) [2; radical 18]
"katana"
力 (ちから) [2; radical 19]
"strength"
C: カ (k. ka); katakana is written smaller
C: 九 (nine)
厶 [2; radical 28]
"private"
C: k. mu (ム); katakana is squished vertically
口 (くち) [3; radical 30]
mouth, opening, entrance, exit
C: k. ro (ロ); katakana is written smaller
囗 [3; radical 31]
"enclosure"
>> always contains something inside
土 (つち) [3; radical 32]
earth, soil, ground
士 [3; radical 33]
samurai, scholar
大 (おお-) [3; radical 37]
"big"
Ex: 大きい (おおきい) [i-adj.] big, great
Ex: 大きな円 (おおきなえん) [n.] big circle [>> what is な doing there?!!]
女 (おんな) [3; radical 38]
female
Ex: 女の人 (おんなのひと) [n.] woman
Ex: 女の子 (おんなのこ) [n.] girl
子 (こ) [3; radical 39]
child, young, interest
宀 [3; radical 40]
"u-crown" (うかんむり, ウ-shaped crown)
寸 [3; radical 41]
"inch" (スン is 3.03 cm, close to an inch)
工 [3; radical 48]
"craft"
C: k. e (エ); katakana is squished vertically
幺 [3; radical 52]
"short thread"
扌 [3; radical 64]
"hand:left"
>> always on left-side
艹 [3; radical 140]
"grass"
手 (て) [4; radical 64]
hand, arm, foreleg
斤 [4; radical 69]
"axe"
日 (ニチ, ひ) [4; radical 72]
sun, day
Ex: 一日 (ついたち) [n.] first day of the month
Ex: 一日 (いちにち) [n.] one day, first day of the month
Ex: 二日 (ふつか) [n.] two days, second day of the month
Ex: 三日 (みっか) [n.] three days, third day of the month
Ex: 十日 (とおか) [n.] ten days, tenth day of the month
Ex: 十一日 (じゅういちにち) [n.] eleven days, eleventh day of the month
Ex: 十九日 (じゅうくにち) [n.] nineteen days, nineteenth day of the month
Ex: 二十日 (はつか) [n.] twenty days, twentieth day of the month
Ex: 二十二日 (にじゅうににち) [n.] twenty-two days, twenty-second day of the month
Ex: 日曜日 (にちようび) [n.] Sunday
Ex: 月曜日 (げつようび) [n.] Monday
Ex: 火曜日 (かようび) [n.] Tuesday
Ex: 水曜日 (すいようび) [n.] Wednesday
Ex: 木曜日 (もくようび) [n.] Thursday
Ex: 金曜日 (きんようび) [n.] Friday
Ex: 土曜日 (どようび) [n.] Saturday
Ex: 明日 (あした) [n.] tomorrow
Ex: 今日 (きょう) [n.] today
Ex: 昨日 (きのう) [n.] yesterday​
月 (ガツ, つき) [4; radical 74]
moon, month
Ex: 一月 (いちがつ) [n.] January
Ex: 二月 (にがつ) [n.] February
Ex: 一月 (ひとつき) [n.] one month
Ex: 一ヶ月 (いっかげつ) [n.] one month [>> ヶ is used as a shorthand for the counter 箇]
Ex: 二ヶ月 (にかげつ) [n.] two months
木 (き) [4; radical 75]
tree
氏 [4; radical 83]
"clan", "family"
Ex: 李氏 (りし) Mr. Lee (honorific suffix like さん)
王 (オウ) [4; radical 96]
king, rule, magnate
Ex: 王 (おう) [prop. n.] Ou
ネ [4; radical 113]
"altar:ne"
>> k. ne, when in a kanji, we call it "altar:ne"; always on left-side
円 (エン) [4]
circle, yen
今 (いま) [4]
now, immediately
P: 𠆢 (roof), ラ (k. ra)
Ex: 今に (いまに) [adv.] before long, even now
Ex: 今まで (いままで) [adv.] until now, so far
Ex: 今から (いまから) [adv.] from now, hence
中 (チュウ, なか) [4]
inside, middle, average
Ex: 田中 (たなか) [prop. n.] Tanaka
Ex: 中国 (ちゅうごく) [prop. n.] China
玉 (たま) [5; radical 96]
jewel, ball, orb
P: 王 (king), 丶 (tick)
生 (セイ) [5; radical 100]
"life"
田 (た) [5; radical 102]
rice field
白 (ハク, しろ) [5; radical 106]
white
Ex: 白い (しろい) [i-adj.] white
Ex: 白紙 (はくし) [n.] white/blank paper, clean slate (figurative)
目 (め) [5; radical 109]
eye, vision
示 (しめ-) [5; radical 113]
"altar"
Ex: 示す (しめす) display, show, express, indicate
禾 [5; radical 115]
"grain"
左 (ひだり) [5]
left, LHS
P: 工 (craft), ナ (k. na)
右 (みぎ) [5]
right, RHS
P: 口 (mouth), ナ (k. na)
本 (ホン) [5]
book, origin, true/real
Ex: 日本 (にほん) [prop. n.] Japan [Mn: the sun's origin]
央 [5]
center, middle
P: 大 (big), 冖 (wa-crown)
可 (カ) [5]
acceptable, tolerable, fair
>> this kanji is usually written using the corresponding kana
令 [5]
orders, ancient laws, command
P: 𠆢 (roof), 丶 (tick), マ (k. ma)
>> the bottom part may appear as マ with a 丶 on top
糸 [6; radical 120]
thread, string
P: 幺 (short thread)
耳 (みみ) [6; radical 128]
ear, hearing
C: 目 (eye)
衣 [6; radical 145]
clothes, garment
先 (セン) [6]
"former"
Ex: 先生 (せんせい) [n.] teacher, master, doctor
寺 [6]
Buddhist temple
P: 土 (earth), 寸 (inch)
会 (カイ) [6]
"meet", meeting, party/club, interview
P: 𠆢 (roof), 二 (two), 厶 (private)
Mn: When two people come under a roof, they privately meet!
Ex: 会社 (かいしゃ) [n.] a company
Ex: 会社員 (かいしゃいん) [n.] office worker (as an occupation)
言 [7; radical 149]
"word"
Ex: 言う (いう) to say, to utter, to declare
貝 [7; radical 154]
"shield", "shell"
P: 目 (eye), ハ (eight:ha)
Mn: Eight eyes to shield you from harm.
C: 見 (look)
私 (わたくし) [7]
"myself"
P: 禾 (grain), 厶 (private)
何 (なに, なん) [7]
"what"
P: 亻 (person:left), 可 (acceptable)
Mn: An acceptable person! WAT?
男 (おとこ) [7]
"male"
P: 田 (field), 力 (strength)
Ex: 男の人 (おとこのひと) [n.] man
Ex: 男の子 (おとこのこ) [n.] boy
李 (リ) [7]
"plum"
P: 木 (tree), 子 (child)
Ex: 李 (り) [prop. n.] Lee
見 (み-) [7]
"look"
P: 目 (eye), 儿 (legs)
Ex: 見る (みる) [ichidan v. t.] to see, to look
社 (シャ) [7]
"shrine"
P: ネ (altar:ne), 土 (earth)
Ex: 社員 (しゃいん) [n.] company employee/member (in reference to a particular company)
Ex: 社長 (しゃちょう) [n.] company president, manager
折 (お-) [7]
"fold"
P: 扌 (hand:left), 斤 (axe)
Ex: 折る (おる) [godan v. t.] to break, to fracture, to break off
金 [8; radical 167]
gold, metal, money
P: 𠆢 (roof), 王 (king)
Mn: king under a roof holding 2 GOLDen bars
長 (チョウ) [8; radical 168]
leader, long
P: 衣 (clothes*)
門 [8; radical 169]
"gate"
隹 [8; radical 172]
"old bird"
国 (コク) [8]
"country"
P: 囗 (enclosure), 玉 (jewel)
学 (ガク) [8]
"study"
P: 子 (child), ⺍ (small:top), 冖 (wa-crown)
Ex: 学生 (がくせい) [n.] student
英 (エイ) [8]
"England"
P: 艹 (grass), 央 (center)
Ex: 英語 English language
奇 [8]
"strange"
P: 大 (big), 可 (acceptable)
Mn: Could have been acceptable, but it is too big, which is a bit strange.
計 (ケイ) [9]
plan, measure
P: 言 (word), 十 (ten)
留 (リュウ) [10]
P: 田 (field), 刀 (katana), 厶 (private)
Ex: 留学 (りゅうがく) [n.] studying abroad
Ex: 留学する (りゅうがくする) [v. int.] to study abroad
紙 (かみ) [10]
"paper"
P: 糸 (thread), 氏 (family)
Ex: 手紙 (てがみ) [n.] a letter (written message or note)
Ex: 折り紙 (おりがみ) [n.] origami, paper folding art
時 (ジ, とき) [10]
time, hour, moment
P: 日 (sun), 寺 (temple)
Mn: Buddhist temples used to accurately track time using Sun's position.
Ex: 時計 (とけい) [n.] watch, clock
員 (イン) [10]
"member"
P: 口 (mouth), 貝 (shield)
Mn: You should shield your mouth to not say something stupid that upsets other members of your group.
椅 (イ) [12]
"chair"
P: 木 (tree), 奇 (strange)
Mn: strangely shaped tree-thing
Ex: 椅子 (いす) [n.] chair, post/position
絵 (エ) [12]
picture, drawing, painting
P: 糸 (thread), 会 (meet)
Mn: A bunch of threads met in a certain way could form a beautiful artwork/drawing.
鈴 (すず) [13]
bell
P: 金 (metal), 令 (orders/command)
Ex: 鈴木 (すずき) [prop. n.] Suzuki
新 (シン) [13]
new
P: 斤 (axe), 立 (stand), 木 (tree)
Mn: My neighbour is standing on top of a tree holding an axe. Maybe to make a new Christmas tree.
Ex: 新聞 (しんぶん) [n.] newspaper
聞 (ブン, き-) [14]
hear, listen, ask
P: 耳 (ear), 門 (gate)
Mn: Keep your ear-gates open and listen!
Ex: 聞く (きく) [godan v. t.] to hear, to listen
Ex: 聞こえる (きこえる) [ichidan v. int.] to be heard, to be audible​
語 (ゴ) [14]
language
P: 言 (word), 口 (mouth), 五 (five)
Ex: 日本語 (にほんご) [n.] Japanese language

How to Learn Japanese

Japanese is a beautiful language with a consistent grammar and an intimidating writing system. As with learning any language, we have to train our memory for both reception (reading and listening) as well as production (writing and speaking), to be effective at communication.

For general advice on how to learn Japanese, I recommend watching this video by Tae Kim. This post is basically about what tools and resources I recommend using (or not) and why.

Apart from Hiragana and Katakana, the syllabic writing system, there are three aspects of the language that you need to constantly improve upon:

  1. Grammar: Rules for understanding and constructing sentences.
  2. Vocabulary: If grammar is your gun, this is your ammunition.
  3. Kanji: Chinese ideograms used in writing. Japanese do not separate words using spaces. It is Kanji that give indications of word-separations, and actually makes reading easier.

Now, let's take a look at what existing tools have to offer.

Contents

TODO

How I Learn

I use LingoDeer (see below) for consistently improving my vocabulary and grammar.

As for the kanji introduced in LingoDeer, I use AnkiWeb to help me memorize them using flashcards, after having broken them up into their component parts using Kanshudo.

Review of Interactive Tools

I have tried the following interactive learning tools:

Duolingo (on Web/Android/iOS)

Designed to teach a language for practical use, from scratch to good proficiency.

Personally, I found it greatly insufficient after a certain point. It is good to dip your toes in Japanese, especially to learn Hiragana, and some Katakana. But that's about it. Once it started with more complex vocabulary, the logic of sentence construction got very confusing to me, as it provides little to no explanation. I started relying on the comments section of each exercise for explanation, but even that can only go so far.

Conclusion: Perhaps use it to learn Hiragana, then move on to better tools.

LingoDeer (on Android/iOS)

Designed specifically to teach Asian languages for practical use, from scratch to good proficiency.

Personally, I think this is the best interactive app around that properly covers the language overall. It doesn't focus much on teaching Kana though. Even with zero Kana knowledge, you can still progress with lessons just fine, since it displays the pronunciation of everything in romaji (i.e. using english alphabets). But I suggest you to quickly master Hiragana, and turn off romaji (which can be switched in the middle of a lesson). This is a solid choice to improve your vocabulary and grammar. It also has a flashcards-based review system within the app, which although good enough, is not as sophisticated as Anki or Memrise.

Conclusion: Definitely try it! (Related discussion)

Designed to primarily help you internalize Japanese grammar. Paid membership, with 30-day free (creditcard-less) trial.

Personally, I found it super interesting during the trial-period. What stands out most is the fact that they provide external reading material links to whichever concepts they teach. This has been greatly helpful.

Conclusion: TODO

Wanikani (on Web)

Designed to help you memorize a lot of Kanji, and some vocabulary involving those Kanji.

Personally, I found it very frustrating. They redefine "radicals" (the term itself, the set of "radicals," as well as their names) to match their choice of mnemonics. Many a time, the "radical" name isn't even remotely related to its standard name, and this will get problematic when you use another resource. The frustrating part is that they force you to memorize those radicals and their names in order to progress. (You can add a synonym to a radical in order to avoid learning its WaniKani name, but doing that means their mnemonics for related kanjis stops to make sense.)

Conclusion: Avoid. (Related discussions: 1 2)

Memrise (on Web/Android/iOS)

Designed to be a fully-integrated online platform for learning through flashcards, specialized on teaching languages.

Personally, I find it promising, but not self-sufficient. Memrise is actually a general platform where anyone can create a custom flash-card course and share it with others. Memrise does have default courses for a few languages including Japanese, and I've tried their Japanese part 1 course, and I think it would be a great choice for learning Kana and a few simple words/phrases. But I'd avoid lessons that simply bombard you with lots of vocabulary, since words without context is kinda pointless.

As I said, it is a platform and there are many Japanese courses in it, however I didn't find any of them interesting enough. You can also make your custom flashcard deck using this, but it was too simplistic and lacking many features that Anki has.

Conclusion: Maybe give it a try.

Anki(Web) (on Windows/Mac/Linux/Android/iOS)

Designed to be a highly customizable offline platform for learning through flashcards, with optional online syncing.

Personally, I recommend using this, but setting it up properly is an involved process (especially on mobile). But the good news is, it is completely free (as in freedom!), and the decks that you use (perhaps downloaded from here) are fully customizable. The native apps are primarily run offline. However, if you create an AnkiWeb account, you can save your decks and progress online (including your own custom decks). They also provide a web-interface for learning from your saved decks, but don't provide a way to import a deck into your account directly using their web-interface (as of June 2018).

Anki employs a technique called Spaced Repetition System in order to maximize memory retention. So in order to get most from it, you need to use it once (for about 20 minutes) every day or two. As of now, I am using this to learn Kanji mostly. I created a deck with Kanji and a few vocabulary introduced in LingoDeer lessons, in addition to another relatively small Kanji deck that can be downloaded from here. I'll discuss more about Kanji-learning in a sec.

Conclusion: It is a powerful tool, but you might need to invest some time initially to get comfortable. I'd recommend you to try the following steps, and then decide whether this is the right tool for you:

  • Download and install Anki in your preferred device (preferrably on Windows/Mac/Linux).
  • Download and try out a publicly available deck.
  • Edit one of the cards to your liking.
  • Register an account in AnkiWeb and sync your progress online.
  • Continue learning the deck online through AnkiWeb, and sync that progress back to the native app.

Tips on Learning Kana

A good knowledge of Hiragana (and a bit of Katakana) is sort of a prerequisite for learning Japanese. If you're just starting out, I'd recommend spending a few days to learn this to prepare for a far smoother dive into Japanese. Katakana can be gradually learnt as you improve your vocabulary.

The best way to memorise a bunch of symbols is to use mnemonics for efficient encoding and easier storage, and (spaced) reviewing for long-term recall.

A good set of mnemonics for Hiragana can be found here: https://youtu.be/6p9Il_j0zjc. You can find numerous mobile and web apps that teach you Kana among other things.

Notes on Grammar and Vocabulary

TODO

Memorizing Kanji

Let me start with a bit of warning:

Avoid the Kanji Rabbit-hole

Many Japanese learners (including me) seems to be allured by the enigma of Kanji, that they focus too much of their time on learning just Kanji without improving upon the other aspects. This will slow you down overall as far as practical communication proficiency is concerned. So just focus on Grammar and Vocabulary, and learn the Kanji that you encounter along the way. I'll discuss how to do that in a second.

With that said, TODO

kanshudo tries to be a lot of things kanshudo's kanji background: https://www.kanshudo.com/kanji_intro kanshudo's kanji components and radicals explanation: https://www.kanshudo.com/components the best kanji lookup: https://www.kanshudo.com/kanji/%E4%BD%99 core 2k s1 cards: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/114060567 try out: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/japaneseinput/eula.html?platform=win&hl=ja for mac: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/japaneseinput/eula.html?platform=mac&hl=ja

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