勉強
べんきょう (する) · benkyou (suru) · JLPT N5 · noun
survey
📚✏️ 勉強 = exertion (勉) + strong (強): study is pushing yourself hard
勉 means to make an effort, 強 means strong or to force. Together they literally say forced effort, which is how Japanese names study. In Chinese the same characters (miǎnqiǎng) still mean reluctantly, a reminder that studying takes a push.