Kanji Cruncher: Grade 1, Lesson 8

Today's lesson is a special one because we've got a special guest: my dad! He knows quite a few common Japanese words and phrases, but this was his first time learning kanji. We collaborated on today's kanji stories, and he came up with a few of his own.

Today's kanji:

石 村 町 竹 早

Here we go!

石
Meaning: stone
Imagine driving along a road into a town, and you see a huge, rectangular welcome sign made of stone. See the edge of the road on the left side, and the horizon line at the top?


村

Meaning: village
1. Tree running a relay race through a village. (Doesn't it look like the tree radical on the left is handing off a relay baton to another runner on the right?)
2. Chopping down a tree to make room for a new village.

     Radicals:
     木 tree

町
Meaning: town
(We had an interesting exchange trying to figure this one out.)

1. Kitty: This one looks like a town with a rice field and a road running through it.
2. Dad: No, that's John at the city gate. (Doesn't the part on the right look like the letter "J?")

     Radicals:

     田 rice field


竹
Meaning: bamboo
Two giant bamboo windmills- for double green energy!


早
Meaning: early
10:00 is pretty early in the day for some people.

     Radicals:

     日 sun
     十 ten

Great job today! Be sure to check back in tomorrow for a fun Saturday Song. We'll have more special guests soon, too!