Java Kanji Flashcards 500

This page contains detailed information to help you get started, and learn how to make the most of the program.

  1. First, learn about getting started.

  2. Learn how to browse the cards, and learn how the program is more flexible than paper flashcards.

  3. You can search the cards for kanji based upon the English meaning, on reading, or kun reading.

  4. You can drill yourself on a range of cards, customizing the appearance of each card depending on the focus of your study.

The KanjiCards program is very easy to use. Just try it!

Getting Started

You begin simply by viewing the KanjiCards webpage. Downloading the data may take a few minutes depending on the speed of your connection to the internet. Once the applet has downloaded and starts running, you will see something like the following:


Picture showing a card in Browse mode.

The top part of the card lets you select different functions, including Browse mode, Search mode, and Drill mode.

The bottom part of the card will change depending on which mode you are in. Since the picture shows a card in Browse mode, we see buttons that let us move forward and back through a "stack" of cards, and a text box that will let you jump to any card by number.

Let's look at the contents of a card in Browse mode. Each card has several parts:

Rank

The number in the upper left indicates the ranking of the characters, 1 through 500. The kanji are ranked in order from most common to least common, so you can study the most common kanji first.

The ranking is based on the most recent kanji characters frequency list compiled from the corpus of one year morning and evening editions of Asahi Shimbun (Asahi Newspaper).

On reading

The On reading is given in katakana. On readings for kanji are based upon Chinese sounds. These readings are more common in kanji compounds.

Kun reading

The Kun reading is given in hiragana. The kun readings for kanji are based upon Japanese words. These readings are more common with individual kanji and verb stems.

If a kanji is a verb stem, the inflectional endings (usually written in hiragana after the kanji) are shown in parenthesis.

Meaning

The meaning is an English gloss of the kanji. A kanji may have many meanings. Only the most common meanings are shown.

Stroke Animation

Click inside the red box in the upper right to see a stroke order animation. Knowing the number and order of strokes is important to write kanji correctly, and is often useful when using kanji dictionaries.

Common Compounds

Five two-character compounds with the target character are listed with the reading and meaning. The selection of the five words were made based on the corpus of one year morning and evening editions of Asahi Shimbun. The compounds contain only other kanji within this set of 500 most common kanji.

Browsing the Cards

Flip Button

Each card has two sides, a "Front" and "Back", and can be flipped over by clicking the Flip button.

The label of the Flip button may say "show front" or "show back." The button will say "show back" when you are looking at the front. The button will say "show front" when you are looking at the back.

You can change what appears on the "front" and "back" of the card by clicking on any part of a card to show or hide it.

  1. Click on any part of the card (e.g, kanji character, on-/kun-reading, meaning, compounds) to hide or show each information on the current side.
  2. Click the Flip button button to see the other side of the card.
  3. Click the Flip button again to see the first side.

For instance, you can keep all the information on one side and hide some on the other side. Now, you can practice or quiz yourself!

Forward and Back Buttons

Use the movement buttons < (back) and > (Forward) to move forward and back in the "stack" of cards and see different kanji.

Ranking Jump Box

Type a number (i.e., ranking) in the text box between Forward and Back buttons and press the return key on your keyboard to "jump" to any card.

Searching for a Card

Search by English Meaning

  1. Click "Search" at the top to select the Search panel.
  2. Choose "English" after "Search for" at the bottom of the Search panel.
  3. Type a meaning in English in the "word box" at the right bottom. The search function locates any cards containing the focused information, even if it is a part of the reading or meaning.
  4. Click "Find".
  5. You will see a list of the cards with the focused information (as well as the ranking, character).
  6. Scroll down the list if necessary.
  7. Click on an entry to jump to that card in the Browse panel, or click "Browse" at the top to return to where you were browsing.


Picture showing an example searching for an English word.

Search by Kun-Reading

  1. Click "Search" at the top to select the Search panel.
  2. Choose "romaji" after "Search for the" at the bottom of the Search panel.
  3. Type a Kun-reading in the LOWER CASE in the "word box" at the right bottom. Lower case romaji are translated into hiragana when searching, which will find the hiragana Kun readings. The search function locates any cards containing the focused information, even if it is a part of the reading or meaning.
  4. Click "Find".
  5. You will see a list of the cards with the focused information (as well as the ranking, character).
  6. Scroll down the list if necessary.
  7. Click on an entry to jump to that card in the Browse panel, or click "Browse" at the top to return to where you were browsing.


Picture showing an example searching for the Kun-reading.

Search by On-Reading

  1. Click "Search" at the top to select the Search panel.
  2. Choose "romaji" after "Search for the" at the bottom of the Search panel.
  3. Type an On-reading in the UPPER CASE in the "word box" at the right bottom. Upper case romaji are translated into katakana when searching, which will find the katakana On readings. The search function locates any cards containing the focused information, even if it is a part of the reading or meaning.
  4. Click "Find".
  5. You will see a list of the cards with the focused information (as well as the ranking, character).
  6. Scroll down the list if necessary.
  7. Click on an entry to jump to that card in the Browse panel, or click "Browse" at the top to return to where you were browsing.


Picture showing an example searching for the On-Reading.

Drilling Away

The Drill mode lets you study the flashcards. After selecting a range of cards to study, the program will present them to you. By clicking the "yes" and "no" buttons, you can separate the cards you know, and don't need to see again, from the cards you don't know yet. The program will keep track of where you are in your session.

Let's look at the Drill control panel:


A picture of the Drill control panel.

The text fields and buttons from left to right are as follows:

Start and End Textfields

Use these fields to select a range of cards to study. The picture above shows a range of 50 cards from 301 to 350.

Start Button

Press this button to begin studying. You must have valid card numbers in the Start and End fields for this button to work.

Flip Button

The Flip button behaves the same as when you are in browse mode. You can click on any part of the card to show or hide items on the "front" or the "back" of the card.

Yes and No Textfields

Use these buttons to give feedback to the program. If you say "Yes" to a kanji, you will not see it again. If you say "No" to a Kanji, you will see it again soon.

Using the Drill Controls

  1. Click "Drill" at the top to select the Drill panel.
  2. Type a number in the Start textfield.
  3. Type a higher number in the End textfield.
  4. Use the Flip button and select the areas you want revealed for the "front" and "back" of the card
  5. Press the Start button.
  6. The program will report the number of cards you have selected, and the Yes and No buttons will become active.
  7. Click on the Flip button to view the "front" and "back" of the card. You can also click on any part of the card to show or hide it.
  8. If you want to review the card again later, press the No button.
  9. If you feel you know the card, press the Yes button. You will be told how many cards remain in your current set.
  10. The next card will appear after you select Yes or No.
  11. Happy studying!

The Drill mode keeps track of your progress by keeping a small number of flashcards in a "ring" that you cycle through. Each time you press the Yes button, a new card is added to the ring. If say No to a card, you will see it again when it comes back around in the current ring.