The Easiest Explanation Of Kanji Characters

A bunch of times I tried to find a decent explanation for kanji characters online, but failed. All we usually get is that these are Chinese pictographs, they have a bunch of different readings and are made by combining certain radicals.

But you know what? That's far from actually understanding kanji. If Japanese language is entirely new to you, you can't get the proper impression by reading definitions of things about it. Imagine a kid asking his dad what is light, and him replying "It's electromagnetic radiation visible to the human eye". Not the father of the year, definitely.

So, in this article, I will try my best to explain kanji characters in an entirely new way. I will introduce the concept of pictographs having different readings and meanings depending on their position in the word by using analogy something you're already very familiar with, and that's basic maths.

The Sexist Japanese Words

When you don't know what a character means, the general rule is to break it down. Once you see what it's made of, you might be able to figure out what it means even if it's your first time seeing the particular kanji character.

I'm not sure which meaning is scarier...
Probably the fact both of them are written the same.

But the words you'll learn in this article will without a doubt keep you wondering.