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Japanese Kanji Learning: Short-Cuts to Rapid Mastery (Part 1)

What kanji can be learned rapidly this seems an impossible dream to many students of japanese who advance from a non-kanji language culture. Even hiragana and katakana seem impossibly hard to the norm beginner, so remembering kanji, with all their intricate strokes and multiple readings, can arrive to be beyond the abilities of the hominoid mind.

But don’t give up hope just yet! there are tools that can transform you from a kanji klutz to a veritable genius. That does not mean that it will take no work, sweat or tears. (I(i would be fibbing if i told you it would completely pain-free but you can gain a commendable grasp of kanji with a lot less these than you would think.

So let’s look at two approaches that can have you gobbling up kanji like there is no tomorrow. In part 1, i will Sometimes you through mnemonic methods, and then in part 2 i will core on methods that can sake visual learners.

mnemonic methods .

“Mnemonic”"mnemonic” simply means a machinery, formula or poetry used to second memorization. An example of a mnemonic embedded in my mind from childhood is “condition eat shredded wheat”. As a rhyme it has nought to do with navigation or geography, but it helped me learn the points of the compass.

So let’s have a look at the mnemonic approaches that can speed-up kanji learning.

James heisig’s remembering the kanji series.

Heisig’s mnemonic-based approach is not only lionized for the claims its practitioners have made of swift kanji assimilation (1000 kanji in 29 days, representing example), but also for the carping flack it has attracted from traditionalists.

Undoubtedly, the method has flaws: the student being encouraged to associate a unmarried, absolutely narrow and sometimes non-standard meaning with a particular kanji being a chief individual. Despite, the certainty that heisig’s approach is geared to westerners also has advantages: focusing on the meaning before the pronunciation is of more practical value to the grown western undergraduate, since while meaning is the key to understanding, the pronunciation of the kanji is of baby value unless reading aloud.

I came to this approach late, having used the good ol’ ritual memorization and drilling means of most traditional textbooks, so it has not been such a boon to me as it would be to someone starting from scratch. However, while using a computer to write japanese at work has made my mind lazy when it comes to writing, heisig’s method keeps the shape of the kanji right in facing of me when i do pick up pen and paper. And i am hoping to use book 3 to go well beyond the guideline 1945 character kanji set in the future - something i would not even deliberate attempting without using this technique.

You can download pdf files of substantial sections of each of the books in this series for weigh here:.

James heisig remembering the kanji book 1.

Www.

James heisig remembering the kanji book 2.

Www.

James heisig remembering the kanji tome 3.

Www.

Kenneth henshall’s a guide to remembering japanese characters.

Second, i should first state that, personally, i possess not used this method in my own kanji study. Regardless, while looking at ways to accelerate my kanji assimilation ability to joyou level (the 1945 kanji drop taught up to the bound of high grammar in japan) and beyond, i came across henshall’s road as the other greater alternate to traditional repeat-until-you-go-mad methods.

Henshall also employs mnemonics, creating a decree to vegetable the effigy of the kanji deep in the learner’s brain. The inconsistency is that where heisig takes a fast-and-loose approach with the meanings assigned to individual elements of each kanji in reaching his goal of creating a memorable mind-picture, henshall traces the history of these elements in great scholastic detail.

In my opinion (and the justification i personally chose heisig over henshall for my own study), the academic strength of henshall’s analysis is its biggest weakness as a memorization tool: if you have an excellent memory, or if you already understand the kanji anyway and are interested in their etymological roots, then henshall disposition supply you a depth of knowledge that will impress even your native speaker japanese friends. However, if you do not have an almost-photographic recall, and mastering kanji in a sensible time period is your predominance, you will probably discover that this complete and obscure assay does not provide the compelling retention “hook” that heisig’s method does.

Other mnemonic kanji memorize methods.

In combining to these two main players you may also want to consider 2001 kanji by father joseph r. De roo (although its availability is questionable) or kanji abc by forester and tamura as alternative approaches.

If you are a visual scholar, skip on to part 2 and discover the methods that can work best with your learning manner.

about the author .

Stephen munday lives in japan and is the creator of “_new” href=www www where you can download images of atop 2200 names in kanji or get a fictional calligraphy gift.

This article is stephen munday 2005. Permission is confirmed to reproduce this article in whole with the urls correctly hyperlinked.

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