Learning the Kanji

[KobeBlackcat]

Hi All,

I have a couple of questions about learning the Kanji.

1) I purchased Heising's series of books but I find them somewhat lacking. I feel like I have to do double the work in order to remember a Kanji and it's name. Also the books don't give many examples of compunds or teach you anything about radicals. Anyone else feel this way?

2) I also purchased Henshall's "A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters." It seems a bit better than Heising's book but it doesn't give stroke order or teach radicals. It also uses Romanji, which I'm trying to avoid as much as possible. His descriptions of the characters seem a bit "bloated" too.

Can anyone suggest a good book that will help me lean the Kanji? I'm looking for something that will give me essential information about the Kanji, and possibly some device to aid memorization.

If you've used Heising or Henshall's method please feel free to try and convince me that their method works. Maybe I'm overlooking something.

[kiisu]

I'm using Heisig's book volume 1 right now. I don't think there is such a thing as "double the work" when it comes to learning Kanji. It just takes a lot of time and effort. By using Heisig's book, I feel I am only doing half of the work right now. I'm concentrating on writing and meaning of kanji. That allows me to progress onto to new kanji much faster. Later, when I move onto learning the readings and vocabulary, I know I'll be able to learn that part much faster since I'll be already familiar with the kanji.

I have found it extremely difficult to do it all at once (trying to learn multiple-readings, recognizing the kanji, writing the kanji, remembering what it means, and distinguishing the character from other characters.) I need to make progress otherwise I get tired of it and give up. Heisig's book allows me to really recognize and distinguish the characters. And I have found that the stories really start to stick.

I have searched for other books on the market. I haven't found any that give me what I need. Even though the Heisig book can be difficult at times, I'm going to stick with it. I'm going to get through it. And I'm going to be the best darn hand-written-kanji reproducing person there is!

And one other point. Heisig's book teaches you to write the kanji in the order that is best for learning to write all of the kanji. Henshall's book just goes by the Japanese school system's defined order. Personally, I'd rather learn how to write 'tree' 木 before I learn 'forest' 森('woods' in Henshall's book). It just makes sense. That's why Heisig's book is the quickest method.

But whichever method you choose, the real secret is to keep at it everyday.
Good luck!

[Bongo]

Often when you're at the intermediate stage, just getting a journal or something and sifting throught the kanji can be the only way.

People like to think there's a way around doing study but there really isn't.

Heising's book is good for learning how to recognise the first 500 or so, but you'll need more than that.

Hang in there!

[KobeBlackcat]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone.

After giving it some thought and talking to a Japanese translator friend of mine I think I've decided to stick with the Heisig method. Since my goal is centered on reading and writing (speaking is secondary) I think his method might be best in the end.

[dc]

One mer book to add to your arsenal: Kanji ABC: a Systematic approach to Japanese Characters by Andreas Foerster and Naoko Tamura (Tuttle). It's basically geared towards foreign speakers, and groups the characters around the graphemes. I have found it really helpful. Check it out at least.

[pj ayres]

"Kanji Pict-o-graphix: Over 1,000 Japanese Kanji and Kana Mnemonics" by Michael Rowley;

For me, this is the ideal book, as I think in a very visual way-
Kanji and their radicals are presented alongside graphics and verbal mnemonics.
Okayt, so the book doesn't contain much extra information, but it has certainly helped me to write the kanji, rather than merely recognise them. I see it as an excellent companion piece to more 'serious' textbooks.
When I come across a new character, I tend to consult the dictionary to get the flavour of the word, and this book to actually remember the thing- it certainly cuts down on the time taken to reproduce the words from memory.

[Bugboy]

You should try this website...it's rather useful...good luck

The Kanji Site (http://www.kanjisite.com/)

[stevemcgee99]

what a great site!

[Ali]

http://www.kantango.com is good too!

[sul]

KobeBlackcat talks about studying the stroke order of kanji and how to write them, but I think this is a very old-fashioned and time consuming approach. In this age of the keitai and the personal computer, I don't think it is necessary to know how to correctly write kanji. The most important thing is knowing how to recognise them. I've been amazed at the number of Japanese people I have met who have forgotten how to write kanji that I myself know (and I consider myself a beginner at Japanese!) They often have to reach for their mobile phone or electronic dictionary to look up the relevant kanji, which they learnt rote-style at school, but have since forgotten.

I say -- kanji is hard enough without making it doubly difficult on yourself. Do as the younger generations of Japanese are doing, and become proficient at reading rather than writing kanji. Your computer/cellphone can do the writing for you!