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Short, no-fluff articles to make progress on real Japanese: syllabaries, stroke order, kanji, immersion methods.
On'yomi and kun'yomi: a kanji's two readings
Why a single kanji reads two ways, how to tell on'yomi (Chinese-derived) from kun'yomi (native Japanese), and the simple rule to guess which one applies.
Read the article →How many kanji do you need to know?
The official figure (2136 jōyō), how many kanji it takes to actually read, the JLPT-level estimates, and why aiming for "all the kanji" makes no sense.
Read the article →Radicals: breaking a kanji down to remember it
What a radical (部首) is, why it often carries the kanji's meaning, where it sits, and how this lens turns a 15-stroke block into a readable assembly.
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