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

V. 1. A complete course on how not to forget the meaning and writing of Japanese characters.

Following the first volume of Remembering the Kanji, the present work provides students with helpful tools for learning the pronunciation of the kanji. Behind the notorious inconsistencies in the way the Japanese language has come to pronounce the characters it received from China lie several coherent patterns. Identifying these patterns and arranging them in logical order can reduce dramatically the amount of time spent in the brute memorization of sounds unrelated to written forms. Many of the “primitive elements,” or building blocks, used in the drawing of the characters also serve to indicate the “Chinese reading” that particular kanji use, chiefly in compound terms. By learning one of the kanji that uses such a “signal primitive,” one can learn the entire group at the same time. In this way, Remembering the Kanji 2 lays out the varieties of phonetic pattern and offers helpful hints for learning readings, that might otherwise appear completely random, in an efficient and rational way. Individual frames cross-reference the kanji to alternate readings and to the frame in volume 1 in which the meaning and writing of the kanji was first introduced. A parallel system of pronouncing the kanji, their “Japanese readings,” uses native Japanese words assigned to particular Chinese characters. Although these are more easily learned because of the association of the meaning to a single word, the author creates a kind of phonetic alphabet of single syllable words, each connected to a simple Japanese word, and shows how they can be combined to help memorize particularly troublesome vocabulary. The 4th edition has been updated to include the 196 new kanji approved by the government in 2010 as “general-use” kanji.

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 the first volume of Remembering the Kanji, the present work takes up the pronunciation of characters and provides students with helpful tools for memorizing them. Behind the notorious inconsistencies in the way the Japanese language has come to pronounce the characters it received from China lie several coherent patterns. Identifying these patterns and arranging them in logical order can reduce dramatically the amount of time spent in the brute memorization of sounds unrelated to written forms. Many of the "primitive elements," or building blocks, used in the drawing of the characters also serve to indicate the "Chinese reading" that particular kanji use, chiefly in compound terms. By learning one of the kanji that uses such a "signal primitive," one can learn the entire group at the same time. In this way. Remembering the Kanji 2 lays out the varieties of phonetic patterns and offers helpful hints for learning readings, which might otherwise appear completely random, in an efficient and rational way. A parallel system of pronouncing the kanji, their "Japanese readings," uses native Japanese words assigned to particular Chinese characters. Although these are more easily learned because of the association of the meaning to a single word, Heisig creates a kind of phonetic alphabet of single-syllable words, each connected to a simple Japanese word, and shows how they can be combined to help memorize particularly troublesome vocabulary. Unlike Volume 1, which proceeds step-by-step in a series of lessons, Volume 2 is organized in such as way that one can study individual chapters or use it as a reference for pronunciation problems as they arise. Individual frames cross-referencethe kanji to alternate readings and to the frame in Volume 1 in which the meaning and writing of the kanji was first introduced.

Kanji From Zero! isn't just another kanji reference book, instead, it's designed to give genuine insight into kanji, the associated Japanese culture, and related Japanese words that other books often ignore.

From absolute beginners dreading the thought of acquiring literacy in Japanese to more advanced students looking for some relief to the constant frustration of forgetting how to remember the kanji, once you have cracked the covers of these books you will never be able to look at the kanji with the same eyes again.

The method that's helped thousands in the U.S. and Japan learn Japanese successfully. The Japanese language has two primary writing systems, kanji characters--which are based on Chinese characters and hiragana and katakana--a mnemonics based alphabet. This handy book teaches you a new mnemonics-based method to read and write the 430 highest-frequency kanji characters. Along with its sister book: Japanese Hiragana and Katakana for Beginners it provides a complete introduction to written Japanese. Japanese Kanji for Beginners contains everything you need to learn the kanji characters required for the Advanced Placement Japanese Language and Culture Exam. It is designed for use by high school or college students as well as independent learners. The kanji learned in this book closely adhere to those introduced in every major Japanese language textbook. Key features of Japanese Kanji for Beginners include: The 430 highest-frequency kanji characters 44 simple, easy-to-follow lessons Concise information on kanji elements, readings and pronunciations Extensive exercises, drills, and writing practice Downloadable content with printable flash cards, practice quizzes and extra exercises The Extensive downloadable content contains a set of printable kanji flash cards to assist learners in reviewing and memorizing the kanji in the book. It also provides sample vocabulary quizzes in a multiple-choice format similar to those in the AP exam, as well as additional exercises that further reinforce the newly learned kanji.

This is an invaluable study guide and practice book for learning basic Japanese kanji. Learning Japanese Kanji Practice Book is intended for beginning students or experienced speakers who need to practice their written Japanese. Kanji are an essential part of the Japanese language and together with kana (hiragana and katakana) comprise written Japanese. This book presents the kanji characters that are most commonly used. All the kanji and related vocabulary words in this book are those that students are expected to know for Level 5 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. (JLPT). Characters that appear in the AP Japanese Language and Culture Exam are flagged. Readings, meanings, and common compounds are presented. The correct method of writing each character is clearly indicated, and practice boxes with strokes that can be traced are provided, along with empty boxes for freehand writing practice. Lots of exercises are included to give students the opportunity to practice writing sentences containing the Kanji. Indexes at the back allow you to look up the characters by their readings and English meanings. This kanji book includes: Step-by-step stroke order diagrams for each character. Special boxes with grid lines to practice writing characters. Extra printable practice grids Words and phrases using each kanji. Romanizations (romanji) to help identify and pronounce every word.

Memorising kanji readings is one of the biggest hurdles when learning Japanese. The Kanji Code teaches a systematic method of learning the readings of kanji or Chinese characters. By studying phonetic components and other visual clues, students of Japanese can reduce their reliance on rote memorisation and feel more in control of their learning.