12 Free Lazy Kanji Example Cards

So, I find that example can really help clarify a point in a way that explanation cannot. The explanation, principles and rationale for Lazy Kanji remain the same; these are just elucidating examples. Thanks to MDBG, Heisig and Alia for the kanji definitions and stuff.

Remember: always write out your kanji by hand once per rep. Handwriting is still a real life skill . See Nutshell for more details.

The format is as follows:

1. FRONT: Kanji
   1. BACK: Keyword(s), supplemental info [example words, mnemonic stories, readings, etc.]
   2. More back matter

Enough talk! To the examples!

1. 日
   1. day
   2. sun
   3. 日 ㄖˋ abbr. for 日本, Japan 日 ㄖˋ sun / day / date, day of the month
2. 月
   1. moon
   2. month
3. 明
   1. bright
   2. clear
   3. あきら　あきらか
   4. ming2
4. 人
   1. person
   2. Bruce Lee
   3. pictograph of a person walking
5. 大
   1. big
   2. 大きい
6. 、
   1. a drop of
   2. [not a standalone kanji]
7. 太
   1. plump
8. 犬
   1. dog
   2. hound
9. 車
   1. car
   2. vehicle
   3. pictograph of a car
10. 軍
    1. army
    2. military
    3. wearing TOPHATS and driving around in silly CARs is a requirement in the ARMY
11. 運
    1. destiny
    2. luck
    3. army + movement
    4. when an ARMY MOVES, DESTINY is in the balance!
    5. The MOVEMENTS of an ARMY determine the DESTINY of nations!
    6. ウン
12. 暈
    1. dizzy
    2. sun + army
    3. The SUN shining into the ARMY’s eyes makes them DIZZY
13. 台
    1. platform
    2. 台 ㄊㄞˊ Taiwan (abbr.) / surname Tai 台 ㄊㄞˊ (classical) you (in letters) / variant of 臺｜台
14. 怠
    1. 怠 ㄉㄞˋ idle / lazy / negligent / careless
15. 怡
    1. 怡 ㄧˊ harmony / pleased ／ elated

Note: Observe that the back of the card doesn’t have to conform to any specific format. Some backs contain more info, others less. Some contain stories, others don’t. Some contains readings, others don’t. It’s all in the game. All that matters is that they contain at least one English meaning (i.e. keyword) for the character that is on the front; this keyword does not have to be unique across the board — keyword collision is okay. Any other additional/supplementary info is fine, too, just not necessary.

Observe also that we are learning the kanji in a logical, incremental order that allows you to see, reuse and build on interconnections; that’s the Heisig magic right there. Explicitly learning radicals (character components) first/separately is unnecessary, because that information is implicit in the order in which you learn the characters. Also, many of the traditionally defined 200 odd radicals are themselves actually composites of other characters, so…yeah.

Speaking of mnemonic stories, RevTK/RevTH is a treasure trove of those! KanjiDamage is pretty sweet, too.