:crabigator: Visual WK Mnemonics






Welcome to Visual WK Mnemonics ก็็็็็็็็็็็็็ʕ•͡ᴥ•ʔ ก้้้้้้้้้้้

New: You can find the latest visuals at the end of this post

:durtle_the_explorer::durtle_love::durtle_noice:

Also check out this newer thread where you can install a userscript that will add AI generated mnemonics. They’re takin our jerbs! :angryviet:

The point of this thread is to use visual aids of any kind to remember the Kanji.

This is a remake of the previous thread I did based on the same thing. A while back I restarted my account from level 1, after lapsing for a few months in WK. I found that I remembered the Kanji that I made pics for so much better than the ones I didn’t, so I figured I should continue the tradition.

(click the following to expand)

Posting Submissions

At the bottom of this post I have links to each of the visuals that have been added based on level, so if you would like to add your own I would prefer if you mention what level the Kanji is in your post and either the meaning or Kanji used in text, so I can look it up and link to it appropriately. Also please read the Your Formatting section (spoiler: It’s really simple).


My Formatting

I start by posting the Kanji, Reading, Meaning, and Level of the term.
I also include a link to the WaniKani page related to the term if you click on the Meaning.

If I am basing the visuals on one of WaniKani’s mnemonics, I post that mnemonic before the visual, prefaced by “Koichi’s Mnemonic.”
If I don’t have that, it means I’m using my own mnemonic for it.

I may list someone that the visual is inspired by or dedicated to, these are usually based on someone giving me the idea for it or requesting it be made.

I then have the visuals followed by whether it’s focused on the Kanji or Vocabulary version of the term (or both) and who the author is.
If I list someone else as the author it’s because someone else made the visual either in the previous thread I did (I’m slowly migrating them to this one) or they’ve posted it somewhere else in this thread, but there is more than one visual for the same term and I’m combining them into one post so they can all be found by one link from the OP (and I include a link to where the originals can be found in this thread).


My Process

Most of my visuals are similar to memes in that I use pics or GIFs with words superimposed on them (but not necessarily humorous). My GIFs are by and large created from scratch by ripping them from a video file, where I am generally spending hours choosing the right frames to include and modifying them in Photoshop to add various effects or to focus on specific parts of the scenes and splicing them together so it shows what I want without running too long or being too big a file size (this forum caps them at roughly 3.9 MB).

Sometimes they look pretty simple, but are highly modified like this one:
Ball
The GIF at the bottom is actually composed of these three components:
Timmy
Timmy
goalie_blocking_md_wm
The first is ripped from a video.
The second I’ve taken the face from, modified and resized it to fit the first, and added it to each frame.
Then I had to rip one of the soccer balls from the last one frame by frame, resize them to fit the first one, and modify the proportions and speed so it would line up correctly with the first one…
So simple!
@_@


Your Formatting

Don’t feel bound by my formatting.
There’s no restrictions or specific format you need to use. You could use a single pic or GIF with nothing else added to it or just a short video clip. It doesn’t need to have words, or be animated, or even line up with specific mnemonics, as long as it’s something visual that helps you remember the Kanji, go for it!

In fact I even made one that’s mostly audio based:
Reason

Once again though I would like to be able to link it up to the OP, so please post the Kanji/Meaning and what level it is in text format so I can easily look it up.

If you would like to generate some in meme format, try: Imgflip
Once again don’t worry about having to be funny, it’s just an easy format to add Kanji or words to an image.
Additionally if you have an idea and would like me to put it together for you, just let me know, and I can do that too.


The Great WaniKani Purge

Many of the mnemonics posted are from before the Great WK Purge, so if they don’t line up with what is there now, that’s why. If I’m aware that the mnemonic is an old one, I’ll note in the mnemonic description that it’s based on the old one.

Index of Visuals

Here you can find links to all existing visuals:

Kanji

Kanji Level 01
Above [DC]
Below [DC]

Kanji Level 02
Ball [South Park]
Exit[Wolf’s Rain]
Soil [Simpsons]
White [Naruto]

Kanji Level 03
Older Brother [Final Fantasy]
Outside [Naruto]

Kanji Level 04
Other

Kanji Level 05
Sell [One Piece]

Kanji Level 06
Sheep

Kanji Level 07
Black [Samurai Champloo]
Reason

Kanji Level 08
Road [Marvel]
Sharpen [Rurouni Kenshin]

Kanji Level 20
Incur


Vocabulary

Vocab Level 01
To Enter
To Get Lower
To Lower
To Raise
To Rise

Vocab Level 02
Talented Person [Naruto]
Unskillful
Very [The Walking Dead]

Vocab Level 03
Government Business [South Park]
Inside
Origin
Suspension [Assassin’s Creed/Star Wars]

Vocab Level 04
Foot [Adventure Time]
Other

Vocab Level 05
Body
To Carry Out A Task [Pokemon]

Vocab Level 06
Direction
Kingdom of Heaven [Dragon Ball Z]
Next Time [Inspector Gadget]
Ocean [Disney]
Sheep

Vocab Level 07
Same Time
Strong [Marvel]

Vocab Level 12
Harbor [Naruto]

Vocab Level 19
To Act Violently

Vocab Level 20
Crisis [DC]

Vocab Level 21
To Increase


Radicals

Radical Level 20
Fly


Notes:

#1 This forum has pretty tight restrictions on pic size so many of them are too large to be fully displayed and might thus be clipped off, so be sure to click on the image to expand it, as you may miss more than half of the image otherwise.

#2 When looking at visuals that are authored by me I tend to use a fairly consistent format. If the text in my pics are written as Kana they are meant to be read as how the Japanese word would be pronounced. If it the text is written as a Kanji it’s meant to be read as the English translation.

For example:

Sharpen7

This one would be read as:
It’s that unique Ken!
He doesn’t Sharpen the cutting side!

I will make a note in said post if I deviate from that format.
^ _ ^


The Latest Visuals:

To Increase - From @HotWeather
Same Time - From @Aikibujin
To Carry Out A Task - From @Doncanor


Remember to...

Visualize!


Also check out:

Legends of the WK Terms of Service

Anki Guide

Genki 1 & 2 Grammar Posters

23 Likes

上 - じょう - Above - Level 1

( Koichi’s Mnemonic: The toe sticking up above the ground is just a little thing… You go up to poke it and then you realize that the toe actually belongs to Jo seph (じょう) Stalin. Joe doesn’t like people messing with his toes, so you slowly back away. )


click to expand

Kanji - Meaning & Reading
Author: banndsand

下 - か - Below - Level 1

( Koichi’s Mnemonic: You keep digging for the toe below the ground , and instead of hitting a toe you hit something hard and metallic. You keep digging and digging around it, but it’s huge. Turns out, you found yourself a car (か). Keep digging until you unearth the car. Inside, you find the toe you were looking for. )


click to expand

Kanji - Meaning & Reading
Author: banndsand


These have the synonyms of “up” and “down”, respectively. Who has mood swings between ups and downs? The Joker!


Whenever these came up in my reviews the first thing that popped into my head was Lemmy singing “and don’t forget the じょう か”

Kanji - Meaning & Reading
Author: AlistairJames

26 Likes

ha, the nostalgia :slight_smile:
glad to see this thread back. i’ll add to this when i do my next lessons :wink:

Yeah I kept debating whether I should or not, as it is quite a bit of work, but it just wouldn’t quit nagging me.
And every time I level and see a new Kanji that I’ve done one of these for…

2 Likes

was the right decision. i missed quite a few pieces of “olden days wanikani culture”, and this was part of it. now, if “the longest thread” would exist, too, we’d be like 80% set, hehe.

this thread is useful, because i’ve been having problems memorizing new stuff lately.

1 Like

Yeah, I’ve just hit the level where I have to actually read the lessons for most of the words. :weary:
The previous lessons I still remembered most of them from last time around, even if I was a little shaky on some of them, when I saw the readings it would click.

So I figured this would start coming in handy again. ^ _ ^

1 Like

i came back to a huge mountain of reviews. reset 4 levels, but not to zero - that would have broken my heart (was also unnecessary).
i’m now waiting for the second review of my failed items, pretty confident i can shrink that hill, too… and then i’m back on track.

but that’s all old stuff. what causes me a headache are the new kanji :wink: these are tough… at least until WK gives me the vocab for it.

Yeah this is actually the second time I’ve reset.
The first time was a few years back. I was around your level and you couldn’t reset a specific number. So I went right back to nothing.

This time I think I was around 11-12 and I knew I wouldn’t have much time at all to focus on WK, so I did a clean sweep again, knowing I would be around this level at this point, when I would have more time.

1 Like

入る - はいる - To Enter - Level 1

( Koichi’s Mnemonic: The kanji 入 is enter . The vocab 入る is to enter . Just the verb version of the kanji.
When you enter the room, what do you do? You say " Hi " (はい) to everyone to the point of absurdity. “Hi there. Oh hi Frank. Oh hi there Susan. Oh hi there lamp.” )

Dedicated to MechFactions ^ _ ^
To-Enter-New
Vocab - Meaning & Reading
Author: Aikibujin

13 Likes

this time, we’ll make it to 60. no excuses. :sunny:

2 Likes

2 Likes

here’s a picture for 被 - the story of the penguin incurring damage from a laser ^^

If a pelican loses its skin, it could very well incur death. Having skin is pretty essential to living, especially for a pelican. A pelican with no skin will definitely incur a lot of pain, if not death.

But how did this pelican lose its skin in the first place? The pelican was shot with a heat (ひ) ray. The shooter just expected the pelican to incur minor burns, but instead the heat melted off all of the pelican’s skin.

(edit: actually, this cute little boy is being treated for arthritis)

3 Likes

And is a penguin rather than a pelican. :stuck_out_tongue:

What level is it?

1 Like

i’m not sure, lvl 20 or so? or the high 10s.
oh yeah, im using a penguin instead of a pelican :smiley:

just checked, it’s lvl 20

1 Like

WHAT SORCERY IS THIS TOPIC TITLE?

1 Like

The sorcery of Visualization!



M̂̂̈́ͥ̒̆̓ͦ̇̏ͧͣ͗ͪ̎̅̚͏̸̮̹͖̹̮̭̞̦̰̯o̴̦̙̜̤̖͍̭̟̩̘̐̎ͨ͆̾ͮ̎̑̿ͮͭ̾ͧ̀́͌̽̂ͦǫ̸̡̝̜̟̱̖͍͈͓͓̫̻̗͕̤̰̘̱̲ͩͦ̈́ͩ͌͛ͯ̄̒͂ͩ̽̈͑̈́̀́ ̷̴̧̧̙̘͇̰̻͇̘̗̤̼̝͑̓̏ͣͥ͒̓͂̏̀̚ŵ̛̛͍͍̬̪̪̹͐ͣͧ͋ͥͮ̄̑ͬ͟͟h̵̖͖̰̳͇͔̼̞̩̼̣͓͉͓͖̓̒̈͆̆̍̈́ͣ͒̉ͫ͆̉̔͢a̷͕̗̭̦̝͖ͥͮ̃̈́͛̀̉̓̉ ̧̡̙̘͎̹̣͈̙̼̼̭͙͇̰̿͛̄̍́̂̔͋̏́͋̈́̿ͩͨ͑̚͝͡h̷̨̳͓̺͉̫̭̱̮͓̼̟̭̻̮̹̠̘ͬ̈ͬͅä̷̷̭̬͎͈͉̥͍͎͓̳̩͓̰̮̱̆̊̍̿͋̓ͥ͌ͣ̕h̔̑̎̅̂͏̵̨̖̰̯̪̹̥̮̥̖̫̠a̷̸̧̘͈͈͔̱͉͙̤̥̽̐̔̆̂͐̆̐̏̏̓̈́̇ͧ̄ͭ̒ͤ͝͝h͒͋̎̐̾ͭͬ͆̑͑҉̡̭͎͈͇̥̭̫̼̲̯̝̦̣͓͖͓̕ͅa͑ͤ̂̏ͪͨ̿ͥ̉ͫ̿̒ͣ̇̓͂̑̄̂̀͏̲̻̲͖̤͈̳̹̹h̨͋̈͒ͧ̉ͬ̋͛̿ͪ͐̆͛̚͏̡͇̖̗̯̯͔̰͉̝̤̹͇̣͈́͝ả̸̊͑ͭ͒̏́̓̏͌́͢͝҉̭̮̥͖̭͓̲ḫ̹̖̪̩̙̭͖̹͍̎ͫͫ͐͛͗̏͒̊ͫ͘͞aͪ̏ͫ͌̋̇̂̐̃̚͏̨̰̞͚̟̙̣͠͝͠h̸̠̻͖̲̞͈̙̣̺̫̉͑ͥ̓͋̍̋͆a̸̩͇̻̣̺̞͔̟̖̣̮͇̟̝̟̾̽ͯ̽̓ͯ̈́̐ͣͯͣ̀̚̚͘ͅĥ̹̪͖͉̩̜̺̝̯̦̘̟̜̐͑ͫ͒́̀ͅͅͅa̧̨͙͉̳̦̠̳̺̩̻̞̮̦̳̱͑̽̍̓͑ͩ͐͒͐̽̍a̹͉͙͚̮͉͖̟̠̠̼̰͙̥̪̦̹ͨ̊̐̚͢͝͞ͅh̢̺̺̠̭ͨ̾̾̀̚!̱̝̙̟͓̬͋̈̋̋͋̇ͨͪ͂ͩ͊̑͐͌͛́̚̚͟͝ͅ

1 Like

Y’all keep this cursed teddy under control, it’s about to eat the other thread: :teddy_bear: :hocho:

5 Likes

You can find out more here:

Beware!

If you dare…

1 Like

I remember that thread. chiya_emoji

2 Likes

me too, lol. and it’s already years ago.

2 Likes