Onyomi or Kunyomi?

MissMurder · 18 Jan 2007

Ok.. pardon any ignorance you may find in this post. As I am new to learning the language and am doing it on my own until I go to school. So.. I've got a book on learning beginning kanji.. it has translations for the words in Onyomi and Kunyomi.. so my question is.. which is more important to learn first? or should I learn them together as a chunk?

Buntaro · 18 Jan 2007

MM,

Learning Kanji is a huge undertaking. You may end up memorizing thousands of characters and readings.

I have some unorthodox advice. In the beginning, only memorize the most commonly-used reading for each kanji, whether it is Kun or On. At least, that will give you a base to start from.

PaulTB · 18 Jan 2007

Neither ON nor kun readings are 'more important'.

It is important that you learn readings that are commonly used and it is particularly important that you learn them along with the words in which they are used.

MissMurder · 18 Jan 2007

I know there's thousands..that doesn't really bother me.. but how am I supposed to figure out which is the most commonly used word..the book I have lists both.. but doesn't really say.

undrentide · 18 Jan 2007

MissMurder said:
I know there's thousands..that doesn't really bother me.. but how am I supposed to figure out which is the most commonly used word..the book I have lists both.. but doesn't really say.

How about learning kanji (both meaning and reading) whenever you learn new words? I guess it is easier to remember the pronunciation/meaning as a word than just memorizing individual kanji.

For instance:
道 michi (road)
Later you might come across the word
鉄道 tetsu-dou (railway)
then you'll realize that this word has something to do with the road, way, etc. because it has this kanji 道, also you learn that it also can be pronounced as "dou" besides "michi".

PaulTB · 18 Jan 2007

MissMurder said:
I know there's thousands..that doesn't really bother me.. but how am I supposed to figure out which is the most commonly used word..the book I have lists both.. but doesn't really say.

Well for a start it seems you are confused about the meaning of 'word'.

A kanji is not (necessarily) a word. The ON reading of a kanji is not (necessarily) a word. (kun readings usually are but that still doesn't mean "kanji reading" = "word". )

As for knowing which words are common, WWJDIC
WWWJDIC: Word Search
has (P) tags on 'priority' words but really (as said earlier in this thread) the best way to know a word is 'common' is because you often come across it when reading.

Greg777 · 19 Jan 2007

I'm a new learner also facing this same challenge. I've decided that in most cases I'm going to learn the kun-yomi first and try to learn the on-yomi as I encounter them in compounds.

MissMurder · 19 Jan 2007

PaulTB said:
Well for a start it seems you are confused about the meaning of 'word'.
A kanji is not (necessarily) a word. The ON reading of a kanji is not (necessarily) a word. (kun readings usually are but that still doesn't mean "kanji reading" = "word". )
As for knowing which words are common, WWJDIC has (P) tags on 'priority' words but really (as said earlier in this thread) the best way to know a word is 'common' is because you often come across it when reading.

this i know I guess it's just hard to get one's point across on a message board. So I think I'll just learn them both and save myself the headache of trying to figure out which one to use. But thanks for the advice nonetheless

Onyomi or Kunyomi?

MissMurder

後輩

Buntaro

運動不足

PaulTB

Manga Psychic

MissMurder

後輩

undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

PaulTB

Manga Psychic

Greg777

後輩

MissMurder

後輩

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