Here you are on your very first vocabulary course where you will learn your first words in kanji. I will not go into details about how kanji work, we will see all this in the part concerning them. Just know that all the words I give you here are purely Japanese.
For now, memorize these kanji and their meaning. These are obviously very recurrent kanji in the Japanese language and we’ll find them regularly thereafter.
人 .
ひと
. the person
男 .
おとこ
. the man
女 .
おんな
. the woman
子 .
こ
. the child
日 .
ひ
. the sun
月 .
つき
. the moon
時 .
とき
. the time
水 .
みず
. the water
火 .
ひ
. the fire
土 .
つち
. the ground, the land
風 .
かぜ
. the wind
空 .
そら
. the sky
山 .
やま
. the mountain
川 .
かわ
. the river*
河 .
かわ
. the river*
木 .
き
. the tree
森 .
もり
. the forest
花 .
はな
. the flower
お金 .
おかね
. the money
刀 .
かたな
. the katana
It is quite possible that you already know most of these words, maybe you have already heard them in manga or in anime. If this is not the case, it doesn’t matter, there is a first time at all. This is an opportunity for you to learn your very first words in kanji.
These words are a very good basis for your introduction to the world of kanji. We will see little by little other vocabulary courses like this that will be scattered throughout the program. Each vocabulary course will be based on a theme, and you will have a whole list of words to learn. And learn them by heart, without fail ! Its very important.
Before I leave you, I would like to make a few comments about some kanji you just saw, in particular the two kanji for "river". You will have noticed that these two kanji mean the same thing. It is quite strange, but it is possible to find more than one kanji for the same word. Whenever this is the case in a vocabulary course, I will specify it in the conclusion or introduction.
It must be understood that the writing of kanji, like all forms of writing a language, has evolved over time and continues to evolve even today. These kanji, which are therefore sinograms, have seen their graphic change; some kanji have become obsolete and been replaced by others, or else two graphics expressing the same idea, the same word, have found themselves surviving until today and are used just as much as the other. Sometimes, the kanji does not survive, most often because of its rarity of use or its graphic complexity which makes it difficult to memorize, and is replaced by a transcription in katakana.
With that, I let you take a break if you need it and I await you in the next chapter on hiragana and katakana.
Introduction