Remembering the Kanji I: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and writing of Japanese Characters

Heisig, James W.

ISBN 10: 0870407392 / ISBN 13: 9780870407390

Published by Japan Publications Trading Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 1994

About this Item

494 pages, 8vo. Minor shelfwear. Tightly bound, no marks. Volume is in Very Good-plus condition.

Seller Inventory # 060828

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Remembering the Kanji I: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and writing of Japanese Characters
• Publisher: Japan Publications Trading Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0870407392
• ISBN 13: 9780870407390
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 3rd Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Foreign Languages
  • Reference

About this title

Synopsis

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.