The Japanese language is quite a challenging one to learn due to its three writing systems Hiragana, Katakana and the ever so difficult Kanji. For those who aren’t entirely familiar with the Japanese writing system, Kanji are the complex looking characters borrowed from the Chinese language. Each character represents a word or concept and many times, these characters are some of the most challenging for non-native speakers to learn. These characters are very difficult to read and write, but Remembering The Kanji I helps students take on this challenge.
Overview
Remembering The Kanji I is a book meant to help students understand its trickiest element, The Kanji. There are about 3,000 different Kanji in the Japanese language and this 500-page book covers about 2,000 of them. The book starts off with the absolute basics (numbers, common adjectives, time etc.) and as it progresses it begins to introduce even more difficult characters, some which are not even used too often in common situations.
In order to help students remember the meaning of each character, the book provides definitions for each kanji then shows the hidden meanings inside the character. For example the Kanji for “medicine” uses the Chinese characters for “music” and “flowers”: the book highlights these hidden meanings and provides tips to help students associate these symbols with the definitions provided. The book also offers some historic insight on the meanings and cultural notes. Throughout the entire book the same flow is maintained, but in a sense the book is simply a dictionary with a number of examples, memorization techniques, and cultural notes for the student to use. It is also important to mention that just like the other books in this series, Remembering the Kanji does not provide any grammar or sentence writing activities.
Pros
· Tons of Kanji are covered along with definitions, cultural notes, and tips to help students remember each meaning.
· The most common Kanji are focused on from the very beginning, and then the less common characters are introduced at the end.
· The lessons in the book all relate to each other in some way and this helps students review what they have learned in the previous chapters.
"Kanji are the complex looking characters borrowed from the Chinese language. Each character represents a word or concept and many times, these characters are some of the most challenging for non-native speakers to learn."
Cons
· There are no demonstrations on how to write the Kanji.
· There aren’t any exercises to practice what has been taught.
· Some Kanji in the book are not very common in everyday Japanese but may only be useful for exams.
Recommended For
· Students who want to learn as many Kanji characters as they can for either personal use, business use or test preparation.
· Independent learners and students enrolled in a group course.
· Teachers who need supplementary material for their lesson plans.
· Learners who are looking for a quick and easy method to learn several Kanji at once.
Overall, Remembering the Kanji Part 1 is a good book to turn to once you’ve become familiar with Hiragana and Katakana. Learning Kanji is a difficult task and the only way to improve on these skills is to practice. While the book is lengthy and may contain some Kanji that aren’t exactly all that common, it’s a very useful tool to help you improve your reading and writing skills.
