Updated to include the 196 new kanji approved by the Japanese government in 2010 as “general-use” kanji, the sixth edition of this popular text aims to provide students with a simple method for correlating the writing and the meaning of Japanese characters in such a way as to make them both easy to remember. It is intended not only for the beginner, but also for the more advanced student looking for some relief from the constant frustration of forgetting how to write the kanji, or for a way to systematize what he or she already knows. The author begins with writing the kanji because—contrary to first impressions—it is in fact simpler than learning how to the pronounce them. By ordering the kanji according to their component parts or “primitive elements,” and then assigning each of these parts a distinct meaning with its own distinct image, the student is led to harness the powers of “imaginative memory” to learn the various combinations that make up the kanji. In addition, each kanji is given its own key word to represent the meaning, or one of the principal meanings, of that character. These key words provide the setting for a particular kanji’s “story,” whose protagonists are the primitive elements. In this way, one is able to complete in a few short months a task that would otherwise take years. Armed with the same skills as Chinese or Korean students, who know the meaning and writing of the kanji but not their Japanese pronunciations, one is then in a much better position to learn the readings (which are treated in a separate volume). Remembering the Kanji has helped tens of thousands of students advance towards literacy at their own pace, and to acquire a facility that traditional methods have long since given up on as all but impossible for those not raised with the kanji from childhood.

The aim of this book is to provide the student of Japanese with a simple method for correlating the writing and the meaning of Japanese characters in such a way as to make them both easy to remember. It is intended not only for the beginner, but also for the more advanced student looking for some relief from the constant frustration of how to write the kanji and some way to systematize what he or she already knows. The author begins with writing because--contrary to first impressions--it is in fact the simpler of the two. He abandons the traditional method of ordering the kanji according to their frequency of use and organizes them according to their component parts or "primitive elements." Assigning each of these parts a distinct meaning with its own distinct image, the student is led to harness the powers of "imaginative memory" to learn the various combinations that result. In addition, each kanji is given its own key word to represent the meaning, or one of the principal meanings, of that character. These key words provide the setting for a particular kanji's "story," whose protagonists are the primitive elements. In this way, students are able to complete in a few short months a task that would otherwise take years. Armed with the same skills as Chinese or Korean students, who know the meaning and writing of the kanji but not their pronunciation in Japanese, they are now in a much better position to learn to read (which is treated in a separate volume). For further information and a sample of the contents, visit http: ///www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/miscPublications/Remembering_the_Kanji_l.htm.

Volume 2 (4th ed.) updated to include the 196 kanja approved in 2010 for general use.

At long last the approach that has helped thousands of learners memorize Japanese kanji has been adapted to help students with Chinese characters. Book 1 of Remembering Traditional Hanzi covers the writing and meaning of the 1,000 most commonly used characters in the traditional Chinese writing system, plus another 500 that are best learned at an early stage. (Book 2 adds another 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000.) Of critical importance to the approach found in these pages is the systematic arranging of characters in an order best suited to memorization. In the Chinese writing system, strokes and simple components are nested within relatively simple characters, which can, in turn, serve as parts of more complicated characters and so on. Taking advantage of this allows a logical ordering, making it possible for students to approach most new characters with prior knowledge that can greatly facilitate the learning process. Guidance and detailed instructions are provided along the way. Students are taught to employ "imaginative memory" to associate each character’s component parts, or "primitive elements," with one another and with a key word that has been carefully selected to represent an important meaning of the character. This is accomplished through the creation of a "story" that engagingly ties the primitive elements and key word together. In this way, the collections of dots, strokes, and components that make up the characters are associated in memorable fashion, dramatically shortening the time required for learning and helping to prevent characters from slipping out of memory.

At long last the approach that has helped thousands of learners memorize Japanese kanji has been adapted to help students with Chinese characters. Book 1 of Remembering Simplified Hanzi covers the writing and meaning of the 1,000 most commonly used characters in the simplified Chinese writing system, plus another 500 that are best learned at an early stage. (Book 2 adds another 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000.) Of critical importance to the approach found in these pages is the systematic arranging of characters in an order best suited to memorization. In the Chinese writing system, strokes and simple components are nested within relatively simple characters, which can, in turn, serve as parts of more complicated characters and so on. Taking advantage of this allows a logical ordering, making it possible for students to approach most new characters with prior knowledge that can greatly facilitate the learning process. Guidance and detailed instructions are provided along the way. Students are taught to employ "imaginative memory" to associate each character’s component parts, or "primitive elements," with one another and with a key word that has been carefully selected to represent an important meaning of the character. This is accomplished through the creation of a "story" that engagingly ties the primitive elements and key word together. In this way, the collections of dots, strokes, and components that make up the characters are associated in memorable fashion, dramatically shortening the time required for learning and helping to prevent characters from slipping out of memory.

Following on the phenomenal success of Remembering the Kanji, the author has prepared a companion volume for learning the Hiragana and Katakana syllabaries of modern Japanese. In six short lessons of about twenty minutes, each of the two systems of "kana" writing are introduced in such a way that the absolute beginner can acquire fluency in writing in a fraction of the time normally devoted to the task. Using the same basic self-taught method devised for learning the kanji, and in collaboration with Helmut Morsbach and Kazue Kurebayashi, the author breaks the shapes of the two syllabaries into their component parts and draws on what he calls "imaginative memory" to aid the student in reassembling them into images that fix the sound of each particular kana to its writing. Now in its third edition, Remembering the Kana has helped tens of thousands of students of Japanese master the Hiragana and Katakana in a short amount of time . . . and have fun in the process.

This book enables you to to recognize the 500 most essential Japanese Kanji easily--and to memorize their readings and meanings quickly and easily! This book teaches an innovative new method to learn the basic 500 Japanese characters--teaching you how to recognize the Kanji easily and to remember their readings and meanings. Learning to read Japanese and write Japanese requires knowing hundreds of Kanji. Traditionally, the ability to learn Kanji characters was accomplished purely by rote memorization. This method is extremely slow, tedious and time-consuming. The new science of mnemonics has changed all that. By associating an easily-remembered visual image and story with each Kanji, the learner is able to commit the characters to long-term memory far more easily and quickly than ever before. mnemonics also dramatically helps students to write kanji as well. This revolutionary new method has been tried by many thousands of students, and it really works! Using a systematic building-block approach to written Japanese, this beginner kanji book also shows you how more complicated characters are constructed from simpler elements. And similar mnemonic strategies are provided for learning the different pronunciations or "readings" of the characters. Use the downloadable audio recordings by Japanese native speakers to perfect your pronunciation. It also provides a unique interactive software program showing you how to write each character and allowing you to write it yourself on screen! This book can be used by anyone and requires no prior knowledge of the Japanese language. It can be used in conjunction with any Japanese textbook to learn the important Kanji characters upon which the language is based. Key features of this book include: Drawings and stories to create mental associations for the characters that stick in the brain and allow you to recall their meanings and readings. Downloadable content shows you how to write each kanji character Native speaker audio recordings for all the Kanji characters, vocabulary and sample sentences. Sample sentences to expand your vocabulary by showing you how the Kanji are actually used. Extensive review exercises to reinforce what you've learned. User-friendly indexes allowing you to look-up the Kanji and use the book like a Kanji dictionary. The 500 Kanji characters provided in this book include all the characters needed for the AP and JLPT Level 4 and 5 exams-giving you access to approximately 80 percent of all the Kanji characters you encounter in Japan!

The completely revised edition of "Understanding Japanese Information Processing" supplements each chapter with details about how Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese scripts are processed on computer systems. New information, such as how these scripts impact contemporary Internet resources (such as the WWW and Adobe Acrobat) is provided.

This is a comprehensive, self-study workbook for learning Japanese characters. Mastering Japanese Kanji can help you greatly reduce the time and effort involved in learning to read Japanese and write Japanese. It does so by introducing a method that is both effective and easy to use in memorizing the meanings and pronunciations of Kanji--the array of characters that are used in the Japanese language to symbolize everything from abstract ideas to concrete nouns. Learning any of the kanji is a two-step process, requiring that you remember both the visual aspect of a character (so you can recognize it when you see it) and the aural aspect (so you will know how to say and, thus, read it). The method employed by Mastering Japanese Kanji will show you how to tackle both of these aspects from the outset, and by so doing enable you to immediately get down to the practical (and fun!) business of recognizing and reading kanji on everything from street signs to newspapers. By the time you finish this book, in fact, you will be able to boast of a Japanese vocabulary numbering in the thousands of words. Key features: Downloadable audio helps to reinforce the written material Teaches the 200 most common kanji and the hundreds of compounds that use include them. Unique, specially-designed drawings and entertaining stories help you learn more quickly. Sample sentences, along with common words and compounds, expand your vocabulary by showing each kanji used in context. Stroke-order diagrams show the correct way to write each chapter. Chapter and cumulative review exercises help ensure master of what you've learned. Complete indexes show Japanese readings and English meanings for all Kanji. Contents of the downloadable audio: Stroke order animations for all 200 kanji characters. Native speaker audio recordings of all: Kanji characters. Common words and compounds. Sample sentences.