Why learn radicals?
Less misreading kanji: plus when you do misread it's easier to spot/remember the difference
Easier to remember new kanji: you can simply break them down and have a short, unambiguous mnemnoic.
Who should use this deck:
This deck can be used by low intermediate to advanced learners. The deck has about 360 cards and is ordered from Core, Common, Average, Families, Uncommon, Rare, Reference.
- If you are beginner or low intermediate, I recommend you just learn Core+Common.
- If you are mid-intermediate, you can also learn Average+Families
- If you are advanced or are just interested in components, you can learn everything.
This deck can also be used as a foundation before you tackle a writing deck like
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/759825185. You have to figure out the components anyways to do kanji writing, easier to start with the answers in front of you.
I think this deck is particularly good for writing because I distinguish between uses that are officially considered the same, but may be confusing in practice.
For example the 3 dots at the top of 当 are officially considered the 小 radical, but their look and stroke direction is completely different. In this deck, one name largely corresponds to one intuitive and consistently written use case.
Why names?
Attaching a name lets you refer to the components out loud and also use the name as part of a mnemonic. For example 設 is いう and「きまた」。Names also make it easier to distinguish between similar components: 弋 (だい radical) and 戈 (ほこ)。
Should I always think of the breakdown when I need to remember/recall a kanji?
No. A common way to remember a kanji is to picture it. If you can, picturing it without names can be less effort. It's when that image is fuzzy or the components are similar/complex that you can use precise component names to define a kanji.
How were names chosen?
In order of commonness:
1. The word itself, if the component is a word by itself.
2. The on-yomi of the component or related kanji, if it is common enough
3. A mnemonic made from the sub-components or super-component
4. A kun-yomi of the word, ideally brief and easily associated.
5. A pictograph (often for sub-parts that don't exactly have a meaning)
I have not tried to make all the names unique, a few radicals named 1) and 2) will share the same name, though I have tried to avoid unnecessary name collisions.
Does this deck cover all the official 214 radicals?
No, this deck is somewhat different. I've left out some super basic strokes, I don't distinguish all the へん’s (left) when they seem obvious. I also left out radicals which are more of a word than a useful component. These kanji are better off just learned with their vocab. On the other hand, this deck includes useful components which aren't radicals.
Basically, this deck is meant to teach practical kanji components, regardless of whether they are official radicals or not. It's doesn't cover every component that comes up in every single kanji, but it still is sufficient to break down 98% of kanji.
Should I rep an official radical list or this?
This deck forgoes official names and etymology in favour of practical recognition/intuitive names.
If you want to take kanken or discuss etymology, you should study a deck with official names (
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/108930399).
If you just care about practical reading and writing, use this deck.
Why no English meaning?
It just didn't seem that helpful/precise. It's not obvious whether the English meaning applies to the word itself, one particular compound, or the whole world family, and many components don't have a meaning.
I suggest looking up the card back using a look-up dictionary like yomi-chan or translation aggregator as needed. Remember, the example words are there for your convenience, you don't have to know them.
Format
Example words are roughly ordered from common to rare. An example word will appear first and bolded, regardless of difficulty, if:
- the component name is taken from an on-yomi of an identical or related kanji (臣 しん->家臣)
- the component name is taken from a word's kun-yomi that isn't just the component itself (且 かつ->且つ)
- the component name is taken from a kanji that contains that component (番top-> 番)
- When a component name is in quotes: e.g. 尗「うえこ」, that means the name uses a mnemonic from the names of the sub-components (ie. the radicals 上 and 小)
- Grayed out words are less common. *indicates a rarer alternative kanji. Grayed out notes means the note isn't that important. "Only common" means that those are the only kanji with remotely common words. "Only" mean that those are the only kanji, period.
- "Forms {other component}" means that the component makes that component, and so all kanji made by that component also uses this component. Just the compound radical is included, any kanji produced by that radical is not shown.
- "Technically ~", means that some official breakdown or naming states/considers the radical something, but I've chosen to differentiate because I thought the original was confusing.
Rarity guideline
Common: 12+ usages
Average: 6-12 usages
Uncommon: 3-6 usages
Rare: <=3 usages
Font:
The deck is set to use UD デジタル 教科書体 N-R. Any Japanese font should be okay, but the kanji appearance might change a bit.
Deck by Chronopolize. For personal use only, don't copy/repost without permission, as per the Anki Shared Deck License.
Changelog:
2022.12.05 Changed a number of components names. Added 2 entries. Removed some incorrect example words.
2021.7.11 Minor fixes. Added alternate valid names to some radicals.
2021.7.6 Added 2 entries, removed 1 duplicate entry, added 10 custom radical images, added notes. Edited ~10 component names. Made note font smaller.
Deck order fix when first running the deck: Open the deck in browser and sort the cards by "Date Created" (newest first), then "Tag". Then, select all cards, right click and select
Reposition. Here, you can also suspend the rarer categories if you only want to study part of the deck.
After the file is downloaded, double-click on it to open it in
the desktop
program.
At this time, it is not possible to add shared decks directly to
your
AnkiWeb account - they need to be added from the desktop then
synchronized to
AnkiWeb.