Remembering the Kanji. Vol. 1, A Complete Course on how not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters

AADL has no copies of this item

Includes indexes.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Heisig method submitted by jamiemarie on July 12, 2011, 4:23pm As a long time student of the Japanese language, I've tried various methods in the attempt to force my brain to learn and retain enough kanji to read a book or newspaper easily. However, around 500 or so kanji I would rapidly start to forget many of the kanji I had learned earlier. After a while I pretty much gave up, until I was intrigued by all the praise I had started to hear about the "Heisig method" of kanji learning. What sets this method apart (and you can read a more detailed explanation of it in the preview) is that it separates the learning of the meaning of the kanji and the readings/pronunciation of the kanji. Instead of the rote memorization of kanji and their readings, it focuses on fluently producing the kanji through the use of imaginative memory, aka creating stories based on the meaning of the parts of the kanji.

In volume one of this series you learn the meanings of over 2,000 kanji, however you wouldn't be able to articulate those meanings in Japanese without supplemental study. Volume two covers the various readings, grouping kanji into families of sound. Still, even with this second book under your belt, it is unlikely that you will have developed a significant vocabulary in Japanese since there are many words that aren't represented by a single kanji. Therefore, vocabulary study outside of kanji study is necessary to gain a large enough
vocabulary to be literate.

So is this book worth it? Speaking from my own experiences, I am delighted that with this book I've now finally re-reached and surpassed the 500 mark and feel relatively confident of retaining what I've learned so far. However, there are some significant drawbacks to this all-or-nothing course of study. If your goal is to start reading Japanese words immediately and you haven't already started building your Japanese vocabulary, this book will not help you. Only after you complete the book will you be able to enjoy the process of attaching vocabulary words and readings to characters. Another issue is that many of the keywords, or meanings, that Heisig has assigned to the kanji are optimized for ease of memorization and tend to stray from, or even completely change, the main or original meaning of the kanji. One more negative is that Heisig does not provide a thorough method of reviewing kanji in order to retain them. This is easily remedied though by the use of an SRS (spaced repetition system) or some other system of flashcards or reviewing.

On to the positives! The great thing is, when you finish this book you have over 2000 concepts for which you can readily produce a kanji out of thin air! You have already taken out half or more of the work out of completely mastering the common use kanji. Another positive is that this method makes you very aware of the components of kanji. Unlike when you master kanji by rote, with meaningful knowledge of kanji components that you will gain through this method it is less likely that you will mix up similar kanji.

My advice to people who are looking to conquer the kanji and are considering this method is to review your priorities. If you are dedicated to reaching literacy in Japanese and are willing to delay the instant gratification of learning phrases and grammar points in order to build a base for literacy, this method is for you. For those who are more focused on developing conversational skills or basic grammar and vocabulary, this is not for you.

Good luck!

Amazing book! submitted by jgriffin on June 13, 2020, 6:45pm Out of everything I tried thus far, this book was the best for helping me learn kanji.