# These kanji are killing me, help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Kanji\ **Created:** [October 16, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/these-kanji-are-killing-me-help/33299 "2018-10-16T20:43:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![adamstan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/adamstan/32/181976_2.png) [@adamstan](https://community.wanikani.com/u/adamstan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 5:45am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/these-kanji-are-killing-me-help/33299/21 "2018-10-17T05:45:57Z")
> [@ephemient](#): > > Your mileage may vary, but I 100% back this. If you have any other exposure to Japanese, you have probably heard lots of these before, even if you didn’t recognize them. I find that this is the best way to make kanji memorable, far better than mnemonics with stories - recall words that use those kanji, and then recall out how to pronounce those words. Yes, I second this. It looks like the words I remember most easily are the ones I encountered in anime or songs I like. For example, now I’m watching “Maison Ikkoku”, so the words 管理 / 管理人 were an instant 😃 Or きょう reading for “echo” 響 once I realized it makes Kyouko’s name - 響子 ---
**Author:** ![Cristina-Z](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/cristina-z/32/244600_2.png) [@Cristina-Z](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Cristina-Z)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/these-kanji-are-killing-me-help/33299/22 "2018-10-17T20:13:27Z")
> [@Jun-ko](#): > > Whenever I get かつ I change the mnemonic to katsudon: First time I saw it I giggled because it sounds like the Italian word “cazzo” which is a rude word for penis, and how perfect that 活 means “lively”! 😂 (I have the sense of humour of an 8-year-old, I know…) ---
**Author:** ![Jun-ko](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/jun-ko/32/328700_2.png) [@Jun-ko](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Jun-ko)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/these-kanji-are-killing-me-help/33299/23 "2018-10-17T20:31:37Z")
But it makes a great mnemonic! 😂 ---
**Author:** ![kit5un3](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/kit5un3/32/300363_2.png) [@kit5un3](https://community.wanikani.com/u/kit5un3)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/these-kanji-are-killing-me-help/33299/24 "2018-10-17T20:50:37Z")
Check out thus boss mnemonic art for help with a couple of those. Make your own! The doodles worked for me 😝 [Artwork for Wanikani Mnemonics](https://community.wanikani.com/t/artwork-for-wanikani-mnemonics/29385/25) ---
**Author:** ![Ril0riley](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/ril0riley/32/33481_2.png) [@Ril0riley](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Ril0riley)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/these-kanji-are-killing-me-help/33299/25 "2018-10-17T20:53:32Z")
I’ve found it really really helpful to look up the wiktionary page for each new kanji I learn. Seeing the actual origins of the characters helps so much, especially with the simpler ones that are pure ideograms: > **[直 - Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%9B%B4#Glyph_origin)** ![chinese](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/b/0/b01748099178ecf51577c3108dc5080d2d8e1e0e.png) This helps me even more than making up my own mnemonic for what the shape ‘kind of looks like in its current form if you squint at it’, but actually seeing what pictures the kanji evolved from. This helps for the pure pictogram kanji AND the semantic combos like [教 - Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%95%99) (Cool, you can actually see its a kid, and a, uhh, “teaching cane”…) ![china2](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/e/8/e8714f1db996316619deb28f49908ac08eeb74f1.png) But you’re kind of on your own for the pure phonetic kanji, especially if the phoneme it’s trying to help you remember is a total red herring in Japanese like [活 - Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%B4%BB) Anyway at the end of the day some of these aren’t helpful and some might even lead you down blind alleys, but I’m a really visual learner and I have been helped a ton by checking out the O.G. pictograms during study. ---
**Author:** ![sigolino](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/sigolino/32/342139_2.png) [@sigolino](https://community.wanikani.com/u/sigolino)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 7:13pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/these-kanji-are-killing-me-help/33299/26 "2019-02-20T19:13:27Z")
![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/3X/5/5/55232b24eb6b6fd08af7e99d11f9bb1b654d07a8.png) I guess I’m on the better side of things here 😂 Edit: I accidentally revived an old thread. Oops Better look at the date next time ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/2/a/62a8b0f4c59ff2c5b6651ffcf43531480b3e5297.png) [@system](https://community.wanikani.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/these-kanji-are-killing-me-help/33299/27 "2020-02-20T19:18:41Z")
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