Level 19-1 Flashcards
乱
Riot
N/A
On’Yomi:
らん
Kun’Yomi:
みだ.す
Meaning Mnemonic
If you stab somebody in the tongue with an umbrella, it’s sure to start a riot. Nobody likes to get stabbed in the tongue with an umbrella, so they’re probably going to retaliate, and before you know it, you’ve a full scale riot on your hands. Look what you’ve done.
Additional Info:
Imagine yourself getting stabbed in the tongue with an umbrella. It’s very painful. Taste the blood and metal in your mouth as this happens to you.
Reading Mnemonic
Just now you realize that the man you stabbed in the tongue with your umbrella was none other than Macho Man Randy Savage (らん). Being a professional wrestler, Macho Man Randy Savage is ready to throw down at a moment’s notice. A riot immediately erupts. It’s a battle royal with you and Randy at the epicenter.
Additional Info:
Picture yourself squaring off with Macho Man Randy Savage in the middle of this riot. You have the advantage of having an umbrella, but Randy has the advantage of being himself. Picture yourself getting into a fight with him.
冊
Books Counter
books, counter for books, volumes counter, volumes, counter for volumes
On’Yomi:
さつ
Kun’Yomi:
None
Meaning Mnemonic
You count books with a books counter. Duh. You wouldn’t use any other counter. Books are books so you use a books counter.
Additional Info:
Imagine counting books with a books counter. It makes counting books much easier.
Reading Mnemonic
While you were counting books using the books counter, you started to get a bit tired so you sat (さつ) down. After you sat down, you felt much better about counting books because you weren’t so fatigued anymore.
Additional Info:
You sat down and everything was better. Imagine yourself sitting down, continuing to count books.
加
Add
N/A
On’Yomi:
か
Kun’Yomi:
くわ.える
Meaning Mnemonic
Your mouth has the power to add words together to form a sentence. Marvel at the massive and mighty power your mouth holds! You add words together in an amazing fashion!
Additional Info:
Say this sentence out loud. Incredible! You’ve used the power of your mouth to add words together in a sentence. Your parents must be very proud of you.
Reading Mnemonic
Your parents are so proud of you for using your powerful mouth to add words together that they decide to surprise you with a gift. It’s a new car (か). It’s that shiny brand new car that you’d always wanted. You’re speechless. However, your speechlessness frustrates your parents so they decide to take away the car they just gave you. Boo hoo.
Additional Info:
Imagine how awful it would be to have a new car given to you only to have it taken away immediately after. Feel this rollercoaster of emotion as you are joyful and excited, then sad and sorrowful.
史
History
N/A
On’Yomi:
し
Kun’Yomi:
None
Meaning Mnemonic
This kanji is the same as the radical it comes from!
Additional Info:
Just be sure to know your radicals history. If you do, you’ll be able to know the kanji of the future!
Reading Mnemonic
Look back on history. Think of your favorite moments in this history. Now, replace each moment with Charlie Sheen (し). He is Napoleon. He is Tokugawa. He is George Washington. Ohhhgggghaaddd. He is ruining history and creating an alternate future full of tiger blood!
Additional Info:
Now imagine yourself living out these alternate histories. Charlie Sheen is never too far away.
善
Morally Good
good
On’Yomi:
ぜん
Kun’Yomi:
ぜん
Meaning Mnemonic
A sheep loses its horns on the ground so it picks them up in his mouth to take them to a morally good doctor who is good enough to attach them back onto his head. This poor sheep lost his horns and now feels quite sad. Sheep don’t have hands, so the sheep had to pick the horns up off the ground with his mouth. An evil doctor would just murder the sheep and steal his horns, so the sheep must find a morally good doctor to reaffix them.
Additional Info:
Imagine yourself as the good doctor being approached by this forlorn sheep without horns. Hear the clack of the horns together as the sheep drops them out of his mouth onto the ground and lets out a pathetic bleat. “Baa~aa~ah~”
Reading Mnemonic
Since you are a morally good doctor, you decide not to murder the sheep and harvest its organs. Instead, as a practitioner of the good teachings of Zen (ぜん) Buddhism, you decided to help the sheep out. Your Zen teachings have only increased the power of your healing abilities, so you fix the sheep up in no time.
Additional Info:
Imagine yourself using your Zen magic to heal this sheep. Place your hands on the sheep’s horns and imagine returning them to their rightful location on the sheep’s head. Feel the soft wool of the sheep as he bleats in happiness.
団
Group
N/A
On’Yomi:
だん, とん
Kun’Yomi:
None
Meaning Mnemonic
Using your mouth to measure the size of a group is not the best way to measure the size of a group. The way to do this is by sticking everyone from the group’s finger in your mouth and seeing how full it gets. If the group is too big, their fingers won’t all fit in your mouth.
Additional Info:
This group measuring method is pretty gross. Imagine sticking a bunch of people’s fingers in your mouth. Taste the taste of dirty flesh on your tongue. It’s not pleasant.
Reading Mnemonic
This guy named Dan (だん) joined the group for people who weigh a ton (とん) or more, and tried to use this method for measuring the people in the group. Since Dan weighs a ton, his mouth is pretty big, but so are the fingers of the people sticking them in his mouth.
Additional Info:
Imagine yourself as Dan. You weigh a ton and now you’ve other large people jamming their sweaty mitts in your face and sticking their fingers in your mouth. Taste their sweaty digits and dirty fingernails in your mouth.
困
Distressed
troubled
On’Yomi:
こん
Kun’Yomi:
こま
Meaning Mnemonic
If you put your mouth on a tree and try to eat it, you’re probably a distressed and troubled individual (unless you’re a woodchuck). You don’t need to eat this tree, you have plenty of food at home. Get your mouth off that tree you strange, distressed, troubled child.
Additional Info:
Imagine yourself as this distressed and troubled person. Taste the taste of sap and bark in your mouth as you nom on the tree with all your might.
Reading Mnemonic
Being the distressed and troubled individual that you are, you continue to chomp away at the tree despite the warnings of your peers. Unfortunately for you, the sap and bark of this tree is poisonous and you’ve nom nommed yourself into a coma (こま). Who knows how long the coma will last, but things aren’t looking good.
Additional Info:
Picture eating so much tree bark and sap that you slip into a coma. Have you ever eaten so much that you felt incredibly drowsy? Imagine that feeling, only with a tree.
宇
Outer Space
N/A
On’Yomi:
う
Kun’Yomi:
None
Meaning Mnemonic
You need antennae on your helmet when you go into outer space. Otherwise, you can’t communicate with anyone by radio. You need the helmet to stay alive, and the antennae to communicate. Outer space can be a dangerous place without the proper equipment.
Additional Info:
Picture yourself in outer space, using the antennae on your helmet to communicate with the ship. Tell them what you see as you float around in space, staring out into the great beyond.
Reading Mnemonic
Looking into outer space, you see something pass through your field of vision. Then another. And another. Focusing on these objects, you realize it’s a storm of uni (う) (sea urchins), only these are space uni. They travel around in packs, hurtling throughout space. They’re often mistaken for meteor showers, actually.
Additional Info:
Picture yourself again in the space suit, floating about as you see these sea uni shooting past you. One runs into your suit and pokes you with its spikes. It really hurts a lot. And now your suit’s integrity is compromised. Quick! Back to the ship before you die!
容
Form
appearance, shape, figure
On’Yomi:
よう
Kun’Yomi:
None
Meaning Mnemonic
Wearing a helmet in a grassy valley will give you the appearance of a football player in top form. You’re not actually a football player, but wearing this helmet gives you the appearance of being one. You wear the helmet and take on the form of a football player.
Additional Info:
Feel the football helmet on your head as you run through the valley. You’re imagining yourself in a football game so imagine the sounds of football players grunting and moving around you.
Reading Mnemonic
Even though putting on the helmet gives you the appearance of a football player, you still don’t quite look like one. Your form is a bit small, so you eat lots and lots of Greek yogurt (よう) every day to try and bulk up and increase your form.
Additional Info:
Imagine yourself eating Greek yogurt by the gallon. You leave your helmet on for motivation. Taste the creamy goodness of the yogurt as you scarf it down.
布
Cloth
N/A
On’Yomi:
ふ
Kun’Yomi:
ぬの
Meaning Mnemonic
A narwhal who is afraid of Two Face would prefer that he cover his face with some cloth. Two Face’s face is pretty mangled, so it’s understandable that the narwhal is frightened. If Two Face’s face was covered with a cloth, the narwhal would be much more comfortable.
Additional Info:
Picture Two Face. Now picture Two Face with some cloth hiding his face. He’s much less scary now, isn’t he?
Reading Mnemonic
With Two Face wearing this cloth mask, it’s easy for him to fool (ふ) people, since they don’t recognize him. Take away Two Face’s face, and he doesn’t really have any other distinguishing features. He could easily fool you into thinking he was someone else.
Additional Info:
How would you feel if Two Face fooled you in such a way, making a fool out of you. You’d probably feel bad. Feel like a foolish fool for letting yourself be fooled in such a foolish way.
徒
Junior
follower
On’Yomi:
と
Kun’Yomi:
None
Meaning Mnemonic
“Don’t loiter – run, Junior!” said Indiana Jones Senior to Indiana Jones Junior. They’re escaping from a sticky situation involving Nazis and Junior was just loitering around like a fool. It’s no time to loiter, it’s time to run!
Additional Info:
Imagine Sean Connery saying “Don’t loiter – run, Junior!” and you should have a much easier time remembering this phrase if you remember it in his voice.
Reading Mnemonic
Deciding not to loiter any longer, Indiana Jones Junior takes his dad’s advice and starts to run. Unfortunately he wasn’t paying attention to where his feet were and he stubbed his toe (と) on a jagged rock. His toe is in so much pain that he can’t bear to run any longer and gets taken over by the Nazis that were chasing them.
Additional Info:
Imagine yourself as Indiana Jones Junior and this happened to you. Feel the terrible pain of your stubbed toe as Nazis surround you. Hear them jabbering about in German as you clutch your throbbing toe.
得
Acquire
N/A
On’Yomi:
とく
Kun’Yomi:
え.る
Meaning Mnemonic
If you loiter around the Sun Temple, you’re likely to acquire a tan. The sun shines year-round at the Sun Temple, so if you loiter around, you’re definitely going to acquire a healthy tan.
Additional Info:
See yourself chilling out at the Sun Temple. Feel the warm sun on your skin as you lay out and acquire your tan.
Reading Mnemonic
Next, you acquire some tobacco that grows around the Sun Temple area, roll it into a cigarette, and start to toke (とく) up. If you’re going to loiter around, might as well look like a cool kid and toke up a cig, right? All the cool kids are doing it.
Additional Info:
Picture yourself taking a toke from your Sun Temple cig as you try to look cool while you loiter. Feel the smoke enter your lungs as you toke up.
忙
Busy
N/A
On’Yomi:
ぼう
Kun’Yomi:
いそが
Meaning Mnemonic
A fish stick starves to death because his owner was too busy to feed him. This busy man has a fish stick for a pet. He used to take good care of the fish stick, but has become too busy lately. Without food every day, death has taken the fish stick.
Additional Info:
Imagine this fish stick starving to death due to neglect from his busy owner. See the fish stick slowly withering and wasting away as he starts to smell more and more like rotten fish.
Reading Mnemonic
This man used to keep a lot of pets before he became so busy. One of his most exotic pets was an ice ogre (いそが). The ice ogre was almost just as busy as his owner. The ice ogre spent all day collecting snow and ice for his nest.
Additional Info:
Picture the ice ogre collecting all this stuff and being busy about it. Hear him roaring and grunting as he creates his ice ogre home.
改
Renew
N/A
On’Yomi:
かい
Kun’Yomi:
あらた.*
Meaning Mnemonic
A cobra goes into winter feeling bad about things. He’s eaten a ton and just wants to stay warm. He sits in his hole all winter long, waiting, waiting for spring time. Then, when it comes he bursts out of his hole to renew his life and to renew the spring season!
Additional Info:
Imagine the cobra flying out of his hole shouting “I’M RENEWWWWWEEDDD!!!!” all while smiling a nice big smile.
Reading Mnemonic
But, as he’s renewing himself by flying out into the warmish spring weather, a coyote (かい) chomps him out of the air, shakes him, and walks the cobra back to her baby coyote pups. This will help to renew the coyote pups, at least!
Additional Info:
The cobra was so happy about renewing! But, I guess the coyotes can be happy now too. I hope you feel sad for the cobra, it will help you to remember this reading.
昆
Descendants
N/A
On’Yomi:
こん
Kun’Yomi:
None
Meaning Mnemonic
If you compare the sun to its descendants, you’ll notice that the descendants don’t quite shine as brightly as the sun does. You don’t like to compare them, because each sun is special in its own way, but the descendants just aren’t quite as shiny as the original.
Additional Info:
Look at the sun and its many descendant stars. Their light burns your eyes, making them water. Picture yourself squinting while you look at these many suns.
Reading Mnemonic
While you’re looking up at the sun and its descendants, trying to compare them to one another, a flock of condors (こん) flies by, blocking out the sun. There’s a great many condors, and they manage to totally block out the light from the suns.
Additional Info:
While you’re looking up at the condors, one of them poops in your eye. Imagine the shame and frustration you feel with condor poo in your eye as you hear the condors screech and flap their wings as they pass by.
