Product Description

This volume introduces the Kanji script form, opening up the fundamentals of Japanese reading and writing. Leading the reader through the basics step-by-step, the course involves numerous exercises and self testing activities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #833240 in Books
• Published on: 1999-12-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 205 pages

Customer Reviews

Japanese writing systems are not difficult!
Before I bought this book, I never tried learning Japanese because I thought that the writing systems would be impossible to learn. However, on a whim I bought this, and got a very pleasant surprise. Helen Gilhooly suggests some very effective methods for remembering the kanji, and while her coverage of hiragana and katakana seems rather rushed, a few days concentration on each and I can sound out the words without needing to refer to my hastily constructed cheat sheet.

Very nice book that I never grew bored with and never got thrown on my rather large pile of discarded language books. You won't believe the sense of achievement you feel if you see some Japanese writing and can explain what it means to your friends!

Easy to pick up, easy to carry around, excellent guide
Like an earlier reviewer, I bought this on a whim (and because I had to do some designs incorporating Japanese characters). Sat on the train reading it for an hour, and found it incredibly easy to read and a very good teacher.

Again like an earlier reviewer, I viewed Japanese script as an incomprehensible tangle of unlearnable strokes, but the mnemonics used are so strong that within a single exposure to each symbol I was getting 100% on each of the frequently interspersed tests, and even much later I could remember every one of the 30-or-so symbols covered in my first day.

Add to this the compact size and matching price and this book is a must for anyone interested in delving into Japanese script.

'Makes learning Japanese very fast and a lot of fun'
This book makes Japanese very easy to learn as well as a lot of fun. It's size makes it very easy to carry around and it can be picked up easily just for you to flick through the pages whenever you have a quick 5 minutes spare. The overall learning curve is excellent. Highly recommended.