Do we really need to remember the kunyomi and onyomi reading of each kanji?


I am learning how to write kanji using the obenkyo app. I am trying to
remember the strokes of each kanji and how to read them (onyomi & kunyomi).

But do I really need to remember the onyomi & kunyomi for each of them? I mean
there are at least 4-5 different ways to read each of the kanji, and I don't
think I can remember the strokes, onyomi, and kunyomi all at the same time.
That's too much for me.

How important is it to know onyomi and kunyomi readings? How is it useful?

Suppose we came across a word with new kanji somewhere, is there a way to know
how to read it?

I mean it's confusing and the readings always change.

For example 人 can be read jin, ri, hito, etc.




Studying Kanji can easily become one of the most overwhelming challenges of
studying Japanese. Even people who speak the language decently have difficulty
reading and writing Kanji.

As you have no doubt discovered, learning a single 漢字｛かんじ｝ can be a challenge.
Unfortunately, you should do your best to learn everything about the character
you can.

While you've only touched on it, stroke order IS important, but the more you
practice the easier it gets. You'll start to develop a natural feel for it
over time.

> But do I really need remember onyomi & kunyomi for each of them?

Yes, you do. I'm sorry to say it, but your example of 人 is a classic example
of why you should learn all the readings.

**人：**  
Kun'yomi：ひと、-り、-と  
On'yomi：じん、にん

Below are some common words that use 人.

> あの人｛ひと｝(that person)  
> 一人｛ひとり｝(one person)  
> 二人｛ふたり｝(two people)  
> 仲人 【なこうど】(matchmaker -- less common, but uses the -と reading)  
> 日本人｛にほんじん｝(Japanese people)  
> 本人｛ほんにん｝(the person himself)

The best way to learn the readings of a kanji is to see common usages of it.
Look up all the words you can that use the character, and learn how it would
be read in different situations. Of course, practice, practice, practice. It
will take a lot of effort on your part.

If you see the character on its own (hiragana on both sides), you've likely
got a kunyomi. This isn't guaranteed, but it is the case more often than not.

If you see the character with other kanji, it's likely an onyomi. This too
isn't guaranteed, but it is also the case more often than not.

The fact of the matter is, you have to expose yourself to Japanese writing a
lot before you start to develop an intuitive feel for how things _could_ be
read. Honestly, I still misread some characters when I go off of intuition,
but as I keep saying, practice makes perfect.

> How important is is to know the onyomi and kunyomi readings? How is it
> useful?

Japanese people use both onyomi and kunyomi readings all the time. It's useful
to know both of them because otherwise you will never be able to read the
language fluently.

> Suppose we came across a word with new kanji somewhere, is there a way to
> know how to read it?

The only way you will know how to read the characters is if you have had prior
experience with it. This will require a lot of practice and a lot of patience.
Practice makes perfect here, and you will need a lot of practice.

Take comfort in knowing that kanji is hard for Japanese natives and foreigners
alike. I have known several Japanese people who struggled with reading kanji.
They could read the common, basic characters, but a lot of the time they
needed help from someone who had a better knowledge of the characters. I have
even been in reading groups where educated people have needed help reading
characters, simply because it was outside their area of expertise. It would be
the same thing if I started talking about `electrical induction` to a doctor.
Sure, it's English, but they haven't studied it before, and likely won't fully
understand what the term `electrical induction` means.




Adding to what others said, in my opinion you shouldn't think of it as
memorizing all the readings for every kanji, abstractly. You should think of
it as learning Japanese _words_ (which you have to know anyway), and then
learning how to write them as kanji. Words come first, kanji come later. The
words would exist even if the kanji didn't. Consider that Japanese people
learn the Japanese language _before_ learning to write (just like peoples of
all languages learn to speak before learning to write).

For example, _hitori_ , _futari_ , _sannin_ , _hito_ , _hitobito_ , _nihonjin_
and _amerikajin_ are some Japanese words. If you want to know Japanese, you
have to know these words and what they mean (just like learning any other
language). This is the basic level. Then, _in addition_ , you also have to
know how to write them: 一人、二人、三人、 人、人々、日本人、アメリカ人. You will then naturally
absorb, by osmosis, the convention that certain words ( _hito_ ) and word-
pieces ( _-ri_ , _-jin_ , _-nin_ ) are written with the same character, 人.
(The words and word-pieces written with the same character often share a rough
general "meaning", but not always.)

So it's not really a matter of drilling "on and kun readings" as one would
drill country capitals. Things like _-nin_ and _hito_ aren't just "kanji
readings"; they're words and word-pieces (morphemes) that occur in the
Japanese language. You have to know what they mean if you want to speak
Japanese; and, additionally, you have to know how they're written if you want
to read Japanese.

Source: Nara and Noda, _Acts of Reading: Exploring Connections in Pedagogy of
Japanese_.

