Latest Lists

Will learning the On and Kun readings of Kanji make it easier to read their varied versions?

I'm studying Japanese very seriously now, I mean all the time. I have a simple job, plenty of time on my hands and don't really go out. I really wanna learn Japanese at any cost. So I'm always pushing myself. I know stressing to hard is counter productive though so I'm trying to do simple things when not studying, such as watching japanese tv shows and music. Things that others do to relax. Now during my studies I've come across that Japanese Kanji is really hard because there's a lot of varied readings to when paired with other Kanji that are neither part of the On-reading or Kun-reading. Ex 人　read as JIN NIN and hito, when it's paired up with 二　read as NI , Futa(tsu), Futa Turns into 二人　futari, now 人 is read as ri. which isn't even on the list. So my question is if I learned the On & Kun readings right now as a start, would that make it easier for me to read these varied version? Are their a lot these varied versions?

Public Comments

1. That's how they do it in Japanese schools : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%8Diku_kanji
2. "二人" is a special case, which is called "熟字訓," that is an idiosyncratic reading of a kanji compound bearing no relation to the individual readings of the constituent kanji. "明日" あす asu "今日" きょう kyo are among the examles. For Japanese people, why do you say "twice"? Just as "two times" is OK, you can pronounce "二人" as "ni-nin," though it usually sounds a little strange. You don't have to care about details.
3. Just as wind-sky-wind says, you shouldn't worry about these details. Don't try to learn the various On and Kun reading of each individual kanji. Just learn each kanji as it comes along, whether it has a Kun-reading or On-reading (or mixed Kun-On reading). For example, if you come across with 二人 in a sentence 「二人で遊ぶ」、just learn 二人（ふたり） means "two persons, a pair." (If you can tell it is a Kun-reading, that's great. But that's not essential.) Then later when you come across with 二人三脚 (ににんさんきゃく, a three-legged race）, you may realize, "Hey, this 二人 is read　ににん。 From the sound of it, it must be an On-reading." That's even better, but again that's not important.) That's how Japanese kids learn their kanji; they don't pay attention to the On-Kun reading differences of the kanji they learn Eventually, they get a pretty good idea of the On-Kun reading of each kanji character and comound.
4. just practice as there are many ways of reading for the same kanji.