Kanji Coffee

I just wanted to plug a site I’ve used for a long time called Kanji Koohii. It’s a simple companion site for programs like RTK or Wanikani (it’s aimed more at RTK), and it does just one thing: help you come up with good stories for learning new kanji. It makes the whole process of learning kanji waaay less of a slog.

What’s great is that they’ve crowdsourced the stories: anyone can contribute, and good stories get upvoted. People also come up with their own primitive keywords, like ‘Mr. T’ for ｲ, or Data (from Star Trek) for 忄.

Here’s a story I like from bexinkyushu:

>舎 – I strongly advise calling the combination of elements 土 and 口 a Hobbit. The hobbit more often than not has dirt on his head (from living under a hill), and sometimes wears a garment (no.396 衣). The mouth we see is his, grumbling about something or other. Story: The Hobbit built his cottage under the Hill, using an umbrella as a door, to seal the entrance from the elements and intruders.

And here’s one that I came up with and contributed:

>尚 – For the primitive, I suggest Stage instead. Picture looking down at the stage (口) framed by a curtain (冂) with folds (⺌): 尚. It makes the later stories easier: {賞} Prize (money on stage), {党} Political Party (standing on stage), {裳} Chima Skirt (worn by a performer), {掌} Manipulate (stage-hands), {堂} Public Hall, etc.

And finally, it has stories in other languages, so if you’re a native Spanish speaker, for instance, you can still use it.

So if you’re learning kanji, check it out! It’s free to use, and from everything I’ve heard, the guy that runs it (Fabrice I believe?) is a really nice guy.