Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters: Amazon.ca: Kenneth Henshall: Books

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32 Reviews

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3.8 out of 5 stars (32 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely essential aid to understanding Japanese Kanji, July 24 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Paperback)

Anyone attempting to learn the Japanese language quickly realizes that Kanji is the most difficult of the three Japanese alphabets to learn. Each kanji can have anywhere from 1 to 42(or so) strokes involved in writing it, and plain memorization is a Herculean task. Kenneth Henshall, however, has provided the divertable rivers with this book. Each of the 2000 standard Kanji that the Japanese have learned by the time they've finished school is indexed by the year it's learned, and each listing has the KUN and 'on' readings listed--just as in a Kanji Dictionary.. ..the difference is, Kenneth has researched each Kanji's origin as a picture or diagrammed idea, and explained the reason for the changes from that form under each Kanji. He has also included Mnemonic devices after each explanation of the origin of the Kanji, to help you remember what the Kanji is drawn like, why, and what each means..
I have found this book immensely helpful. As a straightforward Kanji Dictionary, it's only so-so, because it's not organized by stroke order or some similar method.. --but, knowing the reason for each line in a Kanji helps me to draw them correctly when I need to, interpret them correctly when I see them, and not accidentally add an extra piece to a Kanji that doesn't belong there. The Mnemonic devices weren't as helpful, to me--but they may help some.. --all in all, I found this book necessary in order to have any chance at all at remembering Kanji, and despite it's less than optimum potential as a Kanji Dictionary, it works well enough that I don't have to buying one until I can afford it. Kanji are facinating, and I've caught myself reading this book when I should be studying.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting reference book, NOT a textbook, July 6 2004

By

Tech Geek - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Paperback)

Want to learn the background story behind each Kanji? This is the book for you. However, if you're looking for a way to actually learn Japanese, look elsewhere. It's a book for browsing through or referring to, but not to be studied page-by-page.

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3.0 out of 5 stars 3 stars for no kana readings & poor calligraphy, Dec 15 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Guide To Remembering Japanese Characters (Paperback)

I think this book will be very helpful to anyone studying Kanji whose first language is English & still has trouble reading hiragana. Anyone who has mastered Japanese beyond level 3 of the proficiency test will probably find the lack of Kana readings and the over-dependence on Roman letters a bit irritating. As it is, most students who learn more than 300 kanji already know kana as well as their own alphabet.
That said, the book is extremely helpful in helping students to analyze the compenent parts of the Jouyou Kanji. Henshall's method is to first present the history of the Kanji & how it came to acquire various meanings in Chinese and Japanese. It may seem to be too much information at first, but the value in this method is apparent when Henshall establishes the PHONETIC component for the Kanji. Since most Kanji follow the Rebus principle--i.e. visual puns based on phonetic values--pointing out the phonetic element will bring the Japanese student a better understanding of how the Kanji is actually meant to be used. Knowing the phonetic makes it a lot easier to remember & use in reading or writing. If students using the book disregard most of Henshall's mnemonic devices by focusing purely on the phonetic element in the Kanji ONLY, the book will be extremely helpful, since the phonetic element in the kanji was used as a pronunciation & memory guide from the very beginning anyway.
In the end, I would have given the book 4 stars, except for the lack of Kana readings (as mentioned above) & the very poor calligraphy. Both of these problems could be solved with a new edition. Until that time, it gets 3 stars.

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars A learning disaster!
I have studied Japanese for 6 years, next semester I get my B.A in Japanese, and I would NOT reccomend this book! Read more

Published on July 9 2004 by joppejo

3.0 out of 5 stars be careful
Be careful with this book. Some of the entries are not accurate or not used in the Japanese language today. Other characters are only used in the Chinese language. Read more

Published on Aug 16 2003 by ueido sutauto