力
Power
| on’yomi | kun’yomi | Radicals |
|---|---|---|
| りょく, りき | ちから | 力 |
Meaning: Power
The radical and the meaning of this kanji are the same. Both are Power.
If you know the radicals, you should be feeling fine… No, you should feel powerful!
Reading: りょく, りき
Who has the most Power of anyone? It’s the Power Rangers. Who are they battling? Ricky the Rock (りき, りょく) Monster.
Know anyone named Ricky (りき), even a famous person like Ricky Ricardo? Put his face on the monster the Power Rangers are fighting. Also, imagine him throwing rocks (りょく) and hitting people with them. You should imagine it as more gruesome than Power Rangers was on the show. This is real, yo.
Vocabulary
For now, there’s only one vocab word you have to learn, with plenty more coming as you learn more kanji. It’s cool the way you can “discover” new words as you learn more kanji. Every time you learn a kanji, you suddenly know a few more words without even knowing it yet! That means the more kanji you know, the more words you know (and it gets better and better).
a 力（ちから）＝ Power
- Meaning: The meaning is the same as the kanji’s meaning.
- Reading: Because the kanji is alone, chances are good that it’s the kun’yomi reading (which it is). Spend a moment to try to memorize this reading. To give yourself a hint, you can think about the meaning, “Power,” and associate that with your “cheeks” (because of the “cheek” sound in ちから). Imagine someone fighting someone only using their cheek power. If you can get close to ちから with “cheek,” chances are better you’ll remember ちから as well until it eventually just becomes naturally known in your brain (without mnemonics, or anything like that).