0.6.1 Intro to Kanji Flashcards

Along with hiragana and katakana, kanji are one of the three writing systems used in Japanese.

You will often see all three writing systems work together in a single sentence.

Example:
“My name is Tom.”

私の名前はトムです。(watashi no namae wa tomu desu).

They help clearly mark word boundaries and distinguish between words that have the same pronunciation.

For example:
a Chinese character = 漢字 (kanji)
a feeling = 感じ (kanji)

Example sentence:
“[My] mom likes flowers.”

Kana only: ははははながすきです。(haha wa hana ga suki desu.)
Kanji included: 母は花が好きです。

Beginners should begin by finding level-appropriate kanji or those related to a specific interest or objective, such as common food kanji.

As you get more advanced, you might get brave enough to try reading in Japanese, and making flashcards for new kanji characters you didn’t know.

A kanji flashcard should ideally include the character itself, its reading(s), and most importantly, everyday vocabulary examples containing the target kanji.

This helps build sight recognition while also expanding vocabulary and overall reading ability.

For example:

What is this character? 学

Meaning: study, learning

Reading(s): ガク, (まな)ぶ

Examples:
学生 (がくせい) - student
学校 (がっこう) - school
学ぶ (まなぶ) - to learn / to study