I can't count how many times I've been asked the following question:

How should I learn the readings of the kanji?

For example, you could see a kanji like 電, and you might know that it means "electricity," but not know how to pronounce that kanji in Japanese words.

It appears that a lot of people are studying these readings in isolation. For example, they look this kanji up in a kanji dictionary, and it says...

Onyomi: でん
Kunyomi: N/A
I guess that works... but what happens when you come across a kanji like 行, "go." Your dictionary will tell you something like:

Onyomi: こう、ぎょう、あん
Kunyomi: い.く、 ゆ.く、 -ゆ.き、 -ゆき、 -い.き、 -いき、 おこな.う、 おこ.なう

Are you supposed to remember all of those in isolation? Madness! If you do, you run the risk of learning a reading that is rare or, worse, obsolete. Also, there is your sanity to consider.

So usually the advice I give for learning the readings of kanji is pretty simple: Learn vocabulary.

I have never studied a single "onyomi" or "kunyomi" reading before. But! I have learned thousands of words that contain kanji and therefore contain onyomi and kunyomi readings.

With high levels of exposure to the language, you'll find that even kanji with several readings are not too hard to memorize. Without consulting a dictionary, I can produce a word for all but one of the readings of 行:

行動
こうどう
actions; conduct; behavior

行列
ぎょうれつ
line; queue

行く
いく
to go

～行き
～ゆき
bound for ~

For example, if you ride a train you might hear a sentence like:

この電車は東京行きです。
この　でんしゃ　は　とうきょう　ゆき　です。
This train is bound for Tokyo.
Literally: "this + train + は + Tokyo + bound for + is."

Agh! And we just saw 電（でん）！！

行う
おこなう
to perform; to do; to carry out

↑ Has a bit of a fancy, formal nuance to it.

Oh, and I also know a somewhat irregular reading off the top of my head:

行方不明
ゆくえふめい
missing; whereabouts unknown

The one reading I didn't know any words for was あん. Looking online, I could only find one word with this reading for 行:

行燈
あんどん
paper-enclosed lantern

The Japanese Wikipedia says that these are "oriental lamps." Nice. I kind of want one:

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To learn all of these words, I didn't make a list of every reading and then do research on which readings are common, which words are appropriate, and so on.

I just studied whatever I was interested in, and over time I was exposed to the frequently used words (and, in turn, readings) for these kanji.

That said, since you're here with me now, why don't we go ahead and burn 電 into our minds as でん?

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We'll start with a totally made up story. Let's see if you can infer the meanings of these words:

💀　Kanji Story for 電　💀

So we were chilling in China and I needed to use the 電話 (でんわ), but the 電波 (でんぱ) was terrible. And then my smartphone's 電池 (でんち) was almost out. I tried to 充電 (じゅうでん) it, but I forgot that the 電圧 (でんあつ) is different in China than in Japan, so plugging it in got me 感電 (かんでん)-ed and the 電気 (でんき) went out. Not just in our hotel, either. I caused a 10-block 停電 (ていでん)!

💀　End of Story　💀

What do you think? Can you guess the meanings of those words?

If not, no worries. We have definitions and example sentences below.

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充電
じゅうでん
(electric) charge

充電切れそう。
じゅうでん　きれそう。
My phone's gonna die.
Literally: "charge + looks like it will run out."

Let's also memorize:

充電器
じゅうでんき
(battery / phone) charger

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電気
でんき
electricity; (electric) light

電気つけてくれる？
でんき　つけて　くれる？
Will you turn on the lights?
Literally: "lights + turn on + give me?"

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電話
でんわ
telephone

着いたら電話する。
ついたら　でんわ　する。
I'll call you when I get there.
Literally: "when arrived + phone + do."

Let's also memorize:

会話
かいわ
conversation

対話
たいわ
dialogue; interaction

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停電
ていでん
power outage

あ、停電。
あ、 ていでん。
Ah, the power went out.
Literally: "ah + power outage."

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感電
かんでん
receiving an electric shock; electrocution

子供が感電したので病院に行った。
こども　が　かんでん　した　ので　びょういん　に　いった。
My kid got electrocuted, so we went to the hospital.
Literally: "child + が + receiving an electric shock + did + ので + hospital + に + went."

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電波
でんぱ
electro-magnetic wave; radio wave; signal

ここ電波悪いなあ。
ここ　でんぱ　わるい　なあ。
The signal is really bad here.
Literally: "here + radio waves + bad + なあ."

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電車
でんしゃ
(electric) train

電車で行こうよ。
でんしゃ　で　いこう　よ。
Let's go by train.
Literally: "train + で + let's go + よ."

Let's also memorize:

汽車
きしゃ
(steam) train

列車
れっしゃ
(ordinary) train

Note that 電車 (でんしゃ) is the word you'll hear most often for train.

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電池
でんち
battery

電池どこだっけ？
でんち　どこ　だっけ？
Where are the batteries, again?
Literally: "battery + where + is + っけ (=marker for something forgotten)."

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電圧
でんあつ
voltage

中国の電圧は日本と違う。
ちゅうごく　の　でんあつ　は　にほん　と　ちがう。
China's power voltage is different than Japan's.
Literally: "China + の + power voltage + は + Japan + と + differs."

Let's also memorize:

水圧
すいあつ
water pressure

I love showers with really good 水圧, by the way. Sadly the shower at my current apartment is pretty weak-status. T_T

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Sorry if I overwhelmed you with all of these words. That was certainly not my intention. Rather, I want to show that words (and thereby kanji and their readings) will show up naturally as long as you're getting exposed to the language and learning as much encountered language as you can manage.

In this lesson alone, words were repeated several times (e.g. 電車 and 行く) without us actually trying to make that happen.