I just want to learn one pronunciation for each kanji, because I want to write
them with a keyboard. Or do I have to learn all the pronunciations for each
kanji?
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2019-05-10T01:23:40.720
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2020-05-31T23:11:08.653
2020-05-31T23:11:08.653
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kanji
Is it acceptable to learn just one pronunciation for each kanji?
If you only want to be able to type into a Japanese keyboard and get kanji
out, then you only need to know one reading of the character - but you'll need
to know _which_ character you're looking for, because there can be multiple
characters with the same reading and different meanings (and sometimes they
can be very close, like 会う{あう} and 合う{あう}).

However, if you're trying to develop your understanding of Japanese outside of
just making characters appear, then it would really help to start learning the
multiple readings of characters, especially in terms of being able to read
different compound words.
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2019-05-10T02:19:27.280
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2019-05-10T02:19:27.280
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The IME will propose _kanji_ based on the pronunciation you type and on
context. The way you describe it, context cannot be used (e.g. trying to use a
_kanji_ in a compound but knowing only the _kun'yomi_ ) and you will have to
pick _kanji_ one by one yourself (the software will be of no help). And
(especially with _on'yomi_ ) there can be dozens of _kanji_ with the same
pronunciation to waddle through.
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2019-05-10T11:22:44.497
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2019-05-10T11:22:44.497
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If you ever want to read Japanese, you'll need to know all of the kanji
readings.

Even if you only want to be able to input Japanese, it'll be a lot easier if
you know all of the kanji readings.

An alternative way of looking at your question is to rephrase it by analogy to
English:

> Is it acceptable to learn just one pronunciation for each letter?

Think about it. How many ways are there to pronounce, say, the letter **g**?

  * sin **g**
  * **g** iraffe
  * **g** round
  * kni **g** ht
  * rou **g** h

I'm sure I'm missing one or two. But that should hopefully provide a hint as
to why learning to read, and learning to write, cannot be reduced to a single
pronunciation for each letter (or kanji).
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2019-05-10T21:30:13.533
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2019-05-10T21:30:13.533
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It is completely acceptable, depending on what your goals are.

For instance, I do not bother to learn even one of the readings for any Kanji,
but I rather learn Kanji just inside of words, with the pronunciation of the
word as a whole with their Kanji. The readings eventually settle in your mind
once you have learnt several words that make use of one particular Kanji. This
way works well for me, so it is acceptable _for me_.
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2019-05-12T15:29:07.267
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2019-05-12T15:29:07.267
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