# No mnemonic when radical is the same as kanji **URL:** \ **Category:** Feedback\ **Created:** [August 20, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251 "2022-08-20T14:01:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![juliusc](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@juliusc](https://community.wanikani.com/u/juliusc)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/1 "2022-08-20T14:01:43Z")
Hi all, There is a rather annoying thing that some radicals are the same as kanjis, and there is no mnemonic provided for these radicals. This could be fine, as long as there was at least a link to the corresponding kanji - but that is not the case. I can’t understand why. This issue has also been raised [here](https://community.wanikani.com/t/feature-request-link-to-kanji-from-the-radical/42454). If I had forgotten the mnemonic then the explanation for that radical (“the mnemonic is the same as the kanji you have already learned”) does absolutely nothing to help! Could you please consider adding links to kanjis? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![mdchachi](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/mdchachi/32/490877_2.png) [@mdchachi](https://community.wanikani.com/u/mdchachi)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/2 "2022-08-21T14:11:16Z")
For what it’s worth, I agree with you. It’s not very helpful to say “it’s the same.” ---
**Author:** ![TofuguNico](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/tofugunico/32/616825_2.png) [@TofuguNico](https://community.wanikani.com/u/TofuguNico)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 7:43am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/3 "2022-08-22T07:43:27Z")
Thanks for bringing this up. I’ll put it forward to the content team. ---
**Author:** ![Wantitled](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/wantitled/32/76239_2.png) [@Wantitled](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Wantitled)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 7:53am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/4 "2022-08-22T07:53:54Z")
I feel like the idea is that if you have already been taught that radical, you should remember it so there’s no need to give you the same mnemonic. But I agree, it would be nice to have some kind of reference below that text to the original mnemonic in case you have forgotten it. ---
**Author:** ![alo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/alo/32/239506_2.png) [@alo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/alo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/5 "2022-08-22T14:44:09Z")
> [@TofuguNico](#): > > Thanks for bringing this up. I think in addition to what’s already been posted, some items that have moved levels may have exacerbated this issue when the previous mnemonic may have been many levels ago. ---
**Author:** ![juliusc](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@juliusc](https://community.wanikani.com/u/juliusc)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/6 "2022-08-22T18:04:21Z")
I think the more appropriate solution could have been to state “You have learned this radical when you learned the Kanji, but here is the mnemonic in case you still need it:” As it stands now, I have to google for it, which makes for a not very fluid learning experience. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightSkies38](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/midnightskies38/32/745940_2.png) [@MidnightSkies38](https://community.wanikani.com/u/MidnightSkies38)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/7 "2022-08-22T18:29:07Z")
This wouldn’t be an issue if WK didn’t force you to basically learn a kanji twice when it happens to also be a radical for other kanji, but I agree that something as simple as copy-pasting the mnemonic wouldn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![alo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/alo/32/239506_2.png) [@alo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/alo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/8 "2022-08-22T18:32:17Z")
> [@MidnightSkies38](#): > > This wouldn’t be an issue if WK didn’t force you to basically learn a kanji twice when it happens to also be a radical for other kanji That one, at least, I can kinda see WK’s stance on this since that reduces the number or mnemonic components and limits them to 3 or 4 per Kanji. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightSkies38](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/midnightskies38/32/745940_2.png) [@MidnightSkies38](https://community.wanikani.com/u/MidnightSkies38)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:46pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/9 "2022-08-22T18:46:11Z")
I get that having a kanji as a radical item simplifies the mnemonics for other kanji that use them, I’m talking about having two cards in your SRS for basically the same thing. I get that that’s just how WK’s system works under the hood - an item just has to be a radical in order for it to be a kanji component, but the way it’s handled still feels a bit redundant. Even if kanji have to be repeated as radicals for the sake of making WK’s system work, I don’t see why they make you start from the bottom of the SRS as if you’ve never seen that thing at all before. Like for example, I already know what the kanji 台 means by the time it’s taught as a radical, I find it annoying to have to review it several more times as a radical before getting to see any kanji that use it as such. Not trying to make a big deal out of this, just my thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![alo](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/alo/32/239506_2.png) [@alo](https://community.wanikani.com/u/alo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/10 "2022-08-22T18:58:07Z")
> [@MidnightSkies38](#): > > I get that that’s just how WK’s system works under the hood - an item just has to be a radical in order for it to be a kanji component, but it still feels a bit redundant. Yeah, that’s fair. It’s definitely a bit of extra overhead. > [@MidnightSkies38](#): > > Even if kanji have to be repeated as radicals for the sake of making WK’s system work, I don’t see why they make you start from the bottom of the SRS as if you’ve never seen that thing at all before. I think that’s more under-the-hood stuff. If they didn’t do that, then the kanji using that would unlock immediately on level up and affect the number of initial kanji for that lesson’s batch. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightSkies38](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/midnightskies38/32/745940_2.png) [@MidnightSkies38](https://community.wanikani.com/u/MidnightSkies38)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/11 "2022-08-22T19:19:33Z")
> [@alo](#): > > If they didn’t do that, then the kanji using that would unlock immediately on level up and affect the number of initial kanji for that lesson’s batch. In my case that wouldn’t really make any difference since I only let myself do a fixed number of kanji lessons per day regardless of how many are available, but I’m aware that there exist people who binge all lessons as soon as they unlock. I used to be one of them. 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![TofuguNico](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/tofugunico/32/616825_2.png) [@TofuguNico](https://community.wanikani.com/u/TofuguNico)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2022, 7:23am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/12 "2022-08-23T07:23:24Z")
That’s a good point, I’ll add that to the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![juliusc](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@juliusc](https://community.wanikani.com/u/juliusc)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/13 "2022-10-11T19:49:09Z")
Thank you, Nico. Would you have any indication on when this change will be implemented? ---
**Author:** ![TofuguNico](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/tofugunico/32/616825_2.png) [@TofuguNico](https://community.wanikani.com/u/TofuguNico)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 7:09am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/14 "2022-10-12T07:09:45Z")
Hey there, unfortunately I’ve no timeframe to give you at the moment but I’ll chase this up now and let you know. ---
**Author:** ![TofuguNico](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/tofugunico/32/616825_2.png) [@TofuguNico](https://community.wanikani.com/u/TofuguNico)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2022, 7:54am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/15 "2022-10-24T07:54:23Z")
Hey, Just wanted to let you know that while we are still looking at finding a better long-term solution, we have for now added the mnemonic from each kanji to the corresponding later radical. This was applied to the following: 反, 台, 曲, 売, 失, 丸, 身, 良 Thanks again for the feedback! ---
**Author:** ![juliusc](https://cdck-file-uploads-global.s3.dualstack.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/f/d/fd4c154120954695f788402f3bcf4e616499bc2d.png) [@juliusc](https://community.wanikani.com/u/juliusc)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2022, 10:12am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/16 "2022-10-24T10:12:22Z")
Thank you, Nico! Simply adding the mnemonic is a very good solution, and the one I would prefer as a user. Links could also work, but I see don’t see much downside to including the same mnemonic from the corresponding kanjis. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/2/a/62a8b0f4c59ff2c5b6651ffcf43531480b3e5297.png) [@system](https://community.wanikani.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 10:12am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/no-mnemonic-when-radical-is-the-same-as-kanji/58251/17 "2023-10-24T10:12:39Z")
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