Jouyou Onyomi Readings

Although I haven't posted for 2 months I've been very busy studying Japanese. Over the past 2 months I've managed to memorize the Onyomi reading for the 1,945 Jouyou Kanji. This is a standard list learned throughout grade-school by kids in Japan.

The Challenge

The challenge was to remember the reading (pronunciation) of the most commonly used Onyomi (Chinese Reading) for the 1,945 Kanji in the Jouyou list. I didn't begin this as a challenge and therefore didn't have a set goal of doing this is in a prescribed period of time. It was only after I made it about halfway through the list that I realized I was going to finish rather quickly. I owe it all to Anki flashcards and images as mnemonic devices.

How I Implemented Mnemonics

I did an analysis of Onyomi readings a few months ago where I discovered that there are a total of 348 unique sound patterns associated with the 2,500 most frequently printed Kanji in the Asahi Newspaper. With this in mind it was my goal was to choose a mnemonic image for each unique sound. By the time I finished learning the Jouyou set I created a collection of roughly 130 images. Each one represents a separate sound.

My goal was to remember the readings as quickly as possible. This is why I decided to use images instead of full text mnemonic devices like the ones used in Heisig. In some cases I have fuller mnemonics that associate a story or sentence with the Kanji and image. It's difficult to explain so here are a few examples.

Mnemonic Images

Reading: メツ or metsu

When I started this challenge I didn't initially try using images. This was the first mnemonic image I used when I started. I was struggling with remember a particular Kanji reading (滅) when it occurred to me that the reading sounded an awful lot like Mets. The character 滅 means destruction. I thought to myself "The Mets are destroyed by the Yankees." Sorry Mets fans but it's the first thing that popped into my head!

Here's what the card actually looks like (front and back) in Anki.

After I came up with this mnemonic I figured it might be helpful to stick an image of the Mets logo in the card. It looked nice just having an image without all the extra text for the mnemonic cluttering the flashcard. This is when I decided it might be worthwhile to simply associate an image with each reading and then just stick the image in the card. That's when I looked up the reading for "metsu" and laughed out loud when I realized there is only one character with that reading!

Luckily there are many sound patterns associated with at least 2 or more Kanji. Here are some examples that I came up with along the way that are higher frequency.

Reading: エン or en

For those of you unfamiliar with Japanese currency that is a 1 Yen coin. The word for Yen in Japanese is actually En.

Example: 垣 The meaning of this character is hedge/fence/wall. I don't use a text mnemonic for this character. I simply have an image of a wall of 1 Yen coins. The image popped into my head after I inserted the image into the flashcard. It wasn't so much a conscious decision. Ever since then the character was simple to remember.

Reading: モ、モウ or mo, mou

This is a picture of my friend Moh. I never told him that I was using him as a mnemonic to remember Kanji readings but I suspect he will be happy to have his likeness used in such a way. Moh is also a student of Japanese.

Example: 網 The meaning of this character is netting or network. The mnemonic for this character is "Moh is good at networking." It's true. Moh is good at speaking and networking with people! Thanks Moh!

Reading: フ、フウ　or fu, fuu

This one is pretty obvious. There are dozens of characters with this reading. If you need a text mnemonic device it's pretty easy to start it out with "I pity the fool that...". It's primitive and nerdy but it works.

Example: 浮 This character means float. When I learned the etymology and stroke-order for this character my mnemonic contained something about a rubber duck. I don't remember the full mnemonic anymore because I don't need it. However, this character started out as something like "Mr. T likes to play with a rubber duck in the bathtub." Try getting that image out of your head.

Reading: リュ、リュウ or ryu, ryuu

Ryu is a popular character from the Street Fighter series. I was never a huge fan but the character is iconic and Japanese.

Example: 流 This character means current or flow. My mnemonic is "Ryu is the current champion in SF4." The meaning of current in this case isn't the same but it doesn't matter. Remember that mnemonics are like training wheels. You don't need them for long so don't over think things.

Reading: ケン or ken

This is obviously Ken from Street Fighter.

Example: 拳 This character means fist. I don't have text for this (in fact none of my ken characters have text) but the connection is obvious. None of the other characters read ken really have a connection but it doesn't matter for the most part. The image of Ken from Street Fighter is stuck in my head.

Retrospect

In retrospect this is a very effective way to rote memorize the readings for almost 2,000 Kanji. My only regret is that I didn't do this last year immediately following my completion of James Heisig's Remembering the Kanji.

According to Anki it took me approximately 62.4 hours to complete this task. It's definitely higher than that if you account for the time I spent finding mnemonic images and the time I will spend doing reviews over the coming weeks but overall not a bad way to kill a few days.