So I just started WaniKani the other day and I’m getting really into it, but I’ve been wondering something; why am I learning the meaning for the radicals and not the meanings and pronunciation?
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Radicals don’t have pronunciations. They are just building blocks for kanji. In the case where a kanji is composed of a single radical, you’ll learn the pronunciation when you learn the kanji.
Additionally, the radical meanings are more like names. Sometimes they are meanings, sometimes they’re just words to remember the shape by.
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Well, in short because radicals are like the building blocks of kanji, so you’ll notice that a single radical appears in many kanji. So it’s easier for you to start learning the meaning of these radicals before learning kanji. You’ll find it to be more easy to learn kanji based on that previous knowledge
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If you’re already familiar with the Kangxi radicals you should not confuse their Japanese names for “readings”.
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