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Most of the examples include kanji not learned yet (probably), but I think it is good for you to be exposed to kanji that you will later study. My suggestion is to look carefully at each kanji spending time reading the pronunciations and then carefully copying the examples to paper. Think of it as art and it can be fun, really!
The pronunciations in italics are the ''Chinese'' pronunciations and the boldface are the native Japanese readings. The pronunciations in red are recommended to learn as they are the most useful.
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The Kanji Readings, Meanings & Examples

1) ichi, 2) hito(tsu) - one, the first

And so begins your kanji journey and it couldn't be any easier! (and believe me it won't!)

ichi - one, the number one
一番 ichi ban - #1, the best
世界一 sei kai ichi - the best in the world
一人 hitori - one person, alone

1) ni, 2) futa(tsu) - two, second

Two lines = 2, logical!; A little harder, but don't run for the aspirin yet!

ni - two
第二 dai ni - the second
二月 ni gatsu - February [the 2nd month]

1) san, 2) mi(tsu) - three, third

Three lines = 3, still logical!; Hang in there...

san - three
三角 san kaku - triangle
三月 san gatsu - March [the 3rd month]

1) shi, 2) yon, 3) yo(tsu) - four, fourth

Ok this is where logic fails, but don't panic! Just think of 2 little legs dangling in a FOUR sided box.

yon or shi - four
四級 yon kyuu - 4th grade
四月 shi gatsu - April [the 4th month]

1) go, 2) itsu(tsu) - five, the fifth

This is modern art. is an artist's impression of the number 5. [well, it kind of looks like the number!]

go - five
五月 go gatsu - May [the 5th month]
五ヶ月 go ka getsu - 5 months [note: So far we have seen that adding a number between 1-12 with 'gatsu' makes the month's names. But here is how to say a duration of months: # + ka + getsu - notice it is 'getsu' not 'gatsu']

1) roku, 2) mu(tsu), 3) mui - six, the sixth

A picture of a man stretching his hands and legs is the character for '6'

roku - six
六日 mui ka - the 6th of the month [I hesitate to introduce this, but instead of counting ichi, ni, san... for the first 10 days of the month they use other pronunciations! But don't let this get to you. If you have to, you can just say, "roku nichi" (6 day) and will probably be understood]
六月 roku gatsu - June [the 6th month]

1) shichi, 2) nana(tsu), 3) nano- seven, the seventh

A diagonal line through an 'L' means 7

shichi or nana - seven
七不思議 nana fushigi - the seven wonders
七月 shichi gatsu - July [the 7th month]

1) hachi , 2) ya(tsu), 3) you - eight, the eighth

If you have studied katakana (one of the Japanese 'alphabets'), you will notice this is the same as 'ha.' So hachi = 8

hachi -eight
八年間 hachi nen kan - 8 years
八月 hachi gatsu - August [the 8th month]

1) kyuu, 2) ku, 3) kokono(tsu) - nine, the ninth

kyuu or ku - nine
九ヵ月 ku ka getsu - 9 months
九月 ku gatsu - September [the 9th month]
1) juu, 2) ju + a small tsu (a short pause), 3) to, 3) tou - ten

Remember: 5 + 5 = +

juu - ten

十九 juu kyuu - 19 [lit. 10 & 9]
九十 kyuu juu - 90 [lit. 9 & 10]
十二月 juu ni gatsu - December [the 12th month]

1) hyaku - a hundred, one hundred

Remember the line over & the number of lines inside the box - that can save some confusion later!

二百 ni hyaku - 200
三百 san byaku - 300 [note: sound changes to a harder 'b' sound
1) sen, 2) chi - a thousand

It looks like a 10 [] with a slanted line over it. Think of the line as adding an extra 0: 1000

一千円 issen en - 1000 yen [the ichi becomes 'iss' because it is easier to say than 'ichisen.' Also yen is pronounced 'en']
三千二百 san sen ni hyaku - 3,200
二千年 ni sen nen - the year 2000, 2 millennium
1) ban, 2) man - ten thousand (10,000)

The next in numbers. add another 0

百万 hyaku man - a million (1,000,000) [100 &10,000]
一万円 ichi man en - 10,000 yen (about $100 US)
万歳 ban zai - hurrah! banzai! hooray! [usually said 3 times in a row]
1) fu, 2) chichi, 3) tou - father, dad

It looks like a father tying his tie

お父さん o tou san - a father
父の日 chichi no hi - Father's Day
父親 chichi oya - father
1) bo, 2) haha, 3) kaa - mother, mom

Think of a mother holding 2 babies close to her

お母さん okaa san - a mother, mommy
母の日 haha no hi - Mother's Day
保母 ho bo - a kindergarten teacher, a nurse
1) yuu, 2) tomo - a friend 友達 tomo dachi - friends, a friend
友情 yuu jou - friendship
友好国 yuu kou koku - a friendly nation
1) jo, 2) onna - a woman, women, female

Think of a woman dancing

彼女 kano jo - 1) her, 2) girlfriend
女の子 onna no ko - a girl
女優 jo yuu - an actress
1) dan, 2) otoko - a man, men, male

The top part means 'rice field' & means 'power.' So a powerful man works in the rice field. [You haven't learned those 2 kanji yet, but I just wanted to show that most kanji are made of other kanji parts]

男女 dan jo - men & women
男らしい otoko rashi - manly, like a man
雪男 yuki otoko - the abominable snowman
1) jin, 2) nin, 3) hito - person, people, man

A very important kanji! Obviously it is a person with no head or arms trying to do a split!

日本人 ni hon jin - a Japanese person [simply add a 'jin' after a country]
大人 otona - adult, a grown-up [this is an irregular reading]
外国人 gai koku jin - foreigner
美人 bi jin - a beautiful woman
宇宙人
u chuu jin - a space alien

1) shi, 2) ko - a child, a kid, children, the young

A little child with his arms wide and his mouth open crying for his mommy

子供 ko domo - children, child [the 'usual' word for 'children'
男の子 otoko no ko - a boy [man's child = boy]
お菓子 okashi - candy, sweets
子猫 ko neko - kitten [child cat]

Back to Level 4 Kanji
By Clay & Yumi
www.thejapanesepage.com