# Help with cow reading **URL:** \ **Category:** WaniKani\ **Created:** [July 6, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705 "2019-07-06T17:12:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AppDiva](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@AppDiva](https://community.wanikani.com/u/AppDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/1 "2019-07-06T17:12:17Z")
I have the River kanji and I’m trying to add the written letters that are supposed to sound like cow. I found the Ka symbol, but I can’t find the symbol that says ow!!! The sample looks like a pole with two ticks to the right and a curved swoop to the left. WHERE is this on the kanji list??? Help please. ---
**Author:** ![VictorLino](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/victorlino/32/217007_2.png) [@VictorLino](https://community.wanikani.com/u/VictorLino)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/2 "2019-07-06T17:20:09Z")
You mean this 牛 ? Or do you mean the “wa” わ ? ---
**Author:** ![CharStar23](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/charstar23/32/469715_2.png) [@CharStar23](https://community.wanikani.com/u/CharStar23)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/4 "2019-07-06T17:28:49Z")
Are you trying to write “river”? If so, it’s か ＋ わ = かわ (“kawa” in romaji). To make my math equation-looking explanation clear, “ka” is on the left of the plus sign and “wa” is on the right of the plus sign. ---
**Author:** ![seanblue](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/seanblue/32/579844_2.png) [@seanblue](https://community.wanikani.com/u/seanblue)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/5 "2019-07-06T17:29:03Z")
> **[Does WaniKani have any prerequisites?](https://knowledge.wanikani.com/getting-started/prereqs/)** > > Not for the beginning. > **[Typing in Japanese](https://knowledge.wanikani.com/getting-started/japanese/wanikani/typing-in-japanese/)** > > You’ve Guru’d your first set of radicals and finally unlocked real kanji. That’s great! But now WaniKani wants you to type in Japanese, and you don’t know how! Don’t worry, it’s pretty easy. ---
**Author:** ![Saida](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/saida/32/348936_2.png) [@Saida](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Saida)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 5:32pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/6 "2019-07-06T17:32:18Z")
The reading mnemonics are only an approximation of the sound, in order to help you remember. The actual reading will be under the header Reading to the left of your lessons page. It will be in hiragana. ---
**Author:** ![Lympy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/lympy/32/188750_2.png) [@Lympy](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Lympy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/7 "2019-07-06T18:24:48Z")
The post is really confusing. If you give us some context about your question, we can answer it better. The river kanji is: 川 or かわ The cow kanji is: 牛 or うし The ‘ka’ symbol could be just か or there are many Kanji to look up. The sample looks like … can you show us a picture? Maybe it’s a simple as 州 as you describe it? ---
**Author:** ![Saida](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/saida/32/348936_2.png) [@Saida](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Saida)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/8 "2019-07-06T18:28:38Z")
I think they did mean the kana かわ for river. They are only on level 1, so it is probable they just haven’t properly got the hang of WK and hiragana yet. ---
**Author:** ![Belthazar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/belthazar/32/4469_2.png) [@Belthazar](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Belthazar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/9 "2019-07-06T20:47:42Z")
Aye, @VictorLino and @Lympy, it’s got nothing to do with the 牛 kanji - it’s that “cow” is currently used as the reading mnemonic for 川: > So you’re in a river. As you’re floating down, enjoying yourself, you bump into something. It says “moo” to you. You look around. There are hundreds of cows (かわ) surrounding you. ---
**Author:** ![VictorLino](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/victorlino/32/217007_2.png) [@VictorLino](https://community.wanikani.com/u/VictorLino)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/10 "2019-07-06T22:05:32Z")
Yeahhh I was trying to guess which one 😂 ---
**Author:** ![AppDiva](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@AppDiva](https://community.wanikani.com/u/AppDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/11 "2019-07-06T22:34:52Z")
Aha…Wa is what I’m after. The clue was COW. How did they think I would get KAWA out of cow? Oh Well, Thanks for helping me out with this one. I will look for WA in the kanji table. ---
**Author:** ![pahko](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/pahko/32/487139_2.png) [@pahko](https://community.wanikani.com/u/pahko)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/12 "2019-07-06T22:43:48Z")
> [@AppDiva](#): > > I will look for WA in the kanji table. \*kana table 🙂 Based on your wording, I’m guessing you’re using the kana table to input the readings. WaniKani actually has a built-in IME (input method editor) for the reading answers. So when prompted for the _reading_ for 川 you can literally type in “kawa” and WaniKani will automatically convert it to かわ. And if you already knew that, then carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Leebo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/leebo/32/439476_2.png) [@Leebo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Leebo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/13 "2019-07-06T22:53:56Z")
> [@AppDiva](#): > > How did they think I would get KAWA out of cow The actual reading is written there in kana. They don’t expect you to know that they want “kawa” from “cow.” The part that says “cow” is just the mnemonic, which is to jog your memory. Because presumably you don’t know any words yet that are pronounced “kawa” specifically. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/9/8/d/98d48c6a7af2542e69a4d65149b65cb8b2592ff6.png) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/2/a/62a8b0f4c59ff2c5b6651ffcf43531480b3e5297.png) [@system](https://community.wanikani.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/help-with-cow-reading/37705/14 "2020-07-05T23:03:04Z")
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