Essential Kanji: 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference
020 4 Essential Kanji is just what it advertises - one guide for learning and memorizing kanji . To begin , a note for absolute beginners - the Japanese Ministry of Education set forth a list of essential kanji for their frequency , everyday use , etc . This book is essentially just an expansion of that list to present the 2,000 most important Kanji the author believes you need to learn and memorize to become fluent with written Japanese .
You must understand up front that this is not nor is it meant to be a complete book on Japanese writing . The kana ( hiragana and / or katakana ) are not at all included . This book is only meant to teach you the kanji , and so everything is in English except for the kanji themselves . It is thus meant to be part of a larger Japanese course , a role it accomplishes in spades .
The book has three parts - an introduction , the kanji , and index ( es ) . The introduction is a * very * condensed look at how the kanji came to be , and why the guide is set up as it is . For absolute beginners , this introduction alone could take a week to fully parse . However , that's again assuming you're using this as your only book , which shouldn't be the case . You should be cracking open this book because you're taking a Japanese course separately and need to start memorizing the kanji , in which case the introduction is merely thorough yet concise .
The meat of the book is the actual kanji . Each kanji is presented in beautiful calligraphy , with hints on stroke order . You also get both the ON and KUN readings , as well as a short bit on the definition of the kanji . I say definition as many kanji can have multiple meanings , and this book only gives a few of the most common in a few lines to aid memorization without cluttering the process . You also get a few uses of the kanji , and in a really interesting twist , kanji used in this portion are only drafted from previous entries in the book . Thus , the third kanji will have usages that involve the first two to tie things together , and this roughly continues through the book . Those fluent in the language may find some of these usages to be a bit awkward , but they're all technically correct , and are clearly meant to aid memorization instead of serving as a phrasebook .
The closing of the book tries to give you some fast ways to look up kanji , but this is always problematic . Each kanji is referenced in a separate section be stroke order and by reading , but many kanji may have the same stroke order or the same readings , so this guide is of limited use . It'll help you in a pinch assuming you know either the reading or the correct stroke count , but it's not at all useful as a dictionary . Then again , it doesn't advertise itself as such either , so it's hard to mark it down for that .
So overall , I give this book 4 out of 5 stars . It is what it is - a guide to help you memorize essential kanji . It is not a complete language program , it is not a dictionary , or a phrasebook . But if you're a self-learner , or even part of a class and you just need a leg up on the kanji , this book should become an Essential part of your collection . The only way it could possibly be better would be if it also gave you the pronunciation / breakdown of each kanji using the kana , since that's the form you're most likely to see them in . Japanese manga , for instance , might use small kana to help readers who might not be up on the more difficult kanji yet - it would be useful to know both forms .
001 4 A few months ago , I spoke with an Ivy League student who had gone to Japan a year before knowing no Japanese and came out fluent in spoken and written Japanese . When I asked how he learned all the Kanji in such an apparently efficient and effective manner , he pulled out this book and lauded it to the skies . You want this book . I am currently learning Japanese , so I know how all you Kanji learners feel . Whether you like learning Kanji or not ( personally , I do ) , this book is probably perfect for your needs . This is true quite simply because this book has everything . It lists 2000 Kanji that it deems essential , which are roughly the same Kanji as the Joyo Kanji that the Japanese Ministry of Education has deemed essential for reading Japanese ( although this book was roughly based on the earlier Toyo Kanji set , from which the Joyo Kanji set was developed ) . Each Kanji is written in beautiful calligraphy and in what appears to be ballpoint pen , which shows one the beauty of each character while showing how the non-calligraphers of us should draw each Kanji . Stroke order is included , which is a MUST for learning Kanji . The On and Kun ( compound / solitary or Chinese / native pronounciations , roughly ) pronounciations are included ( with all relvant pronounciations ) , words using the Kanji in question are listed , the English meanings of the Kanji for each reading are given , and the modern Chinese pronounciation and a mneumonic aid for many Kanji are also given . Superb . As if that was not enough , each Kanji only uses radicals and word examples covered in earlier Kanji , and each Kanji's secion could be conveniently cut out to make a great set of flash cards . Indecies of Kanji by reading , stroke number , and English meaning ( for radicals , at least ) are given , and they are GREAT . The introduction is also informative and interesting . The only book I've seen that can compare to this book is Halpern's Kanji Learner Dictionary , but both books have their advantages and disadvantages - while Halpern's book is more comprehensive , the order in which Kanji are presented seems to make it more of a reference work than a learner's book . This book cannot hurt you and is most definitely worth the money . I cannot vouch for its long-term effectiveness ( yet ) , but it's working just fine now and I think I'll be able to in the future .
002 4 Wether for the casual learner or the dedicated student , this reference is excellent . It is an absolute must for anyone who needs a listing of Kanji . This book reads much like a dictionary , but is designed to teach as well as provide a valuable reference . I found the book to be very informative . The course described in the book is very practical and also leaves the reader to learn at their own pase . The calligraphy and writing in the book is of very high quality and with the stroke order marked on each and every character allows for easier learning of each of the 2000 Kanji presented .
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a casual glance into Japanese or looking to travel to Japan someday and needs a firm grasp of the written language .
003 4 In a somewhat crowded market of Kanji resources , this book serves as an excellent learning tool and resource for 2,000 very useful Kanji . The book is organized according to level of difficulty , and introduces Kanji only based on elements that relate to a prior Kanji learned . A helpful index of readings ( ON and kun ) helps one identify quickly sound-loans and related Kanji with much ease . Critics of the book harp on the use of roomaji for the readings , but this is a minor quibble for what is otherwise a very worthy and useful tool for the student of Japanese .
004 4 This was one of the first books I bought on kanji ( 20 years ago ) and , after trying many others , I'm loyal to it .
To clarify what it is not - - it is not a kanji dictionary . If I want to know every compound a kanji appears in I look in Spahn and Hadamitsky . Nor is it a mnemonic approach like Heisig's or , to a lesser degree , Henshall's .
What it does do is layout the general use kanji in a small book ( slightly larger than a US-sized paperback ) with a layout which doubles as flashcards for study . The kanji are shown in three formats : brush-written , pencil-written , and typeset . Older variations of the kanji are provided . Examples of readings and compounds are provided , but they are not intended to be comprehensive . They do build on previously presented kanji .
Importantly ( although it took me awhile to understand how crucial this is ) both the radical and phonetic elements of each kanji are identified . One reason some of the mnemonic stories are so wild is because in the majority of kanji not every element means something . Usually part of the element gives a hint to the meaning and part of the element gives a hint to the Chinese reading .
If you look a kanji up in Appendix II , the all-cap entries are Chinese readings . Kanji with the same phonetic element are listed together , and kanji with the same element with a variation in reading are listed afterward . Other books like Kanji ABC will help you learn the importance of recognizing the phonetic element . After you realize that , Essential Kanji really does become essential .
006 4 If you're a beginner at Japanese , don't buy this book . You most likely won't understand a lot of the examples , and there is no point to know 100 + kanji and not have the ability to use them in sentences .
If you're past beginner stage , buy this book but be warned . As others have already stated , the pronunciations are giving in romaji . While this may not seem like a good idea , it is important if you intend to take any Japanese Proficiency tests , which will require that you are able to identify the correct kana equivalent to various kanji . Also , the example words given are often VERY obscure and often not even used . My current Japanese professor , who is a native of Japan and has a Ph.D . in Japanese Language , did not think that some of the examples were actual words . Third , the examples do not show how all pronunciations are used , so you are often required to look up words in a dictionary to find an example . This is very difficult when the kanji in question is not the first letter in the word . Lastly , the book gives EVERY pronunciation for each kanji . That might sound nice , but I have encountered some pronunciations that are so archaic it seems no Japanese person uses them now .
So , buy it for a well ordered introduction to kanji . It introduces the characters in an order which is beneficial for memorization and usually succeeds in keeping the simplest / building-block kanji at the beginning so one can determine how meanings are derived . Although , chi , blood , is number 300 something , while sara , plate , from which chi is derived , is 1891 . . . weird , huh ?
Honestly , I think it's a good learning tool , but you'll need some other books to fill in its gaps .
007 4 I use Essential Kanji to learn the correct stroke order for writing kanji . The skillfully rendered brush and pen written characters are invaluable , and the english names of radicals appendix is pure gold . HOWEVER , this book desperately needs to be rewritten without any ROMAJI . Romaji is a curse which should be reserved for Instant Japanese tourist guides and the like . The starting point for learning kanji must certainly be the hiragana and katakana symbols , a trivial task by comparison . To use romaji in such a book makes no sense at all .
008 4 Of all the books on Japanese I've bought this has to be the best purchase so far . It's a 3 - IN-ONE ! I bought this book because I was getting to the end of my first Kanji book ( Let's Learn Kanji by Joyce Mitamura , another AWESOME purchase , btw . . . ) and needed something to take me to the next level . While this book isn't as educational as Lets Learn More Kanji , no other book I've come across is as useful or provided more bang for your buck . This book can teach you stroke order , On and Kun readings and pronunciations . You can use it to test your knowledge of kanji , particles and radicals and you can also use it as a kanji dictionary . I've found it most useful as a kanji dictionary which you can use by looking up either the radical , any reading of the character or the stroke count . There are 1,945 Joyo Kanji ( the Kanji that have been designated for everyday use by their educational ministry ) since this book has 2,000 kanji it probably has every character you'll ever need in it . It's only 325 pages long and pretty compact so it travels well and can easily fit in any bag without feeling like you're carrying around mount Fuji unlike some dictionaries I've come across . If I have any complaints it's that there are usually only 2 examples per character . It would've been nice if there were more Jukugo ( compound words with 2 or more kanji characters , but haveing said that the examples are usually very good ones and the words used seem to be pretty common so you're not scratching your head trying to figure out the example . All in all a great book for those looking for a all inclusive reference book .
009 4 If you are a serious kanji learner , meaning you want to know all the 2000 standard kanji and not just + - 200 for travelling purposes , you need this book .
Admitted , learning Kanji is a lot of work , but this book sure does help a lot . All the other reviewers summarised the good points of the book , but the one thing I'd like to point out is the fact that in the examples it uses only the kanji the learner already encounterd . This makes it a better book than Kodansha's . True , Kodansha gives a lot more examples for every kanji , but you don't remember a single one of them if they consist of 3 kanji you didn't learn yet . I'd say , teach yourself all 2000 kanji with this book , then go buy Kodansha for the extensive amount of examples they offer .
Daniël , The Netherlands
010 4 I've been teaching myself Japanese for several years and I own an entire bookcase full of different Japanese study books . If I had to , I'd trade them all just keep my essential kanji book . I love this book so much , everytime I see it in a book store I want to buy it again ( I ended up buying a copy for a friend of mine ) . The kanji are arranged in a fashion that allows you to easily understand the meanings of radicals and their combination meanings . Every kanji has 3 compound examples for it and has explainations about the radical placement to help you remember meaning . I have a couple extensive Kanji dictionaries , but I prefer to use my Essential Kanji book to look up kanji b / c of it's various and well arranged indexes . Although I translate manga in my free time , I've yet to find a kanji that wasn't contained in this book . This book is excellent for people who want to teach themselves kanji or for use as a reference dictionary .
011 4 This is an excellent book for learning the essential 2000 kanji . It is devised in a way so that a learner can test himself by just cutting a piece of paper as it explains in the book and you can test yourself for various things ( meaning , kanji itself , readings , etc . ) On the left side of each page , there are 8 kanji written with a brush and numbered so that you can see the stroke order , and near that there is the same kanji written in pen . Sometimes , there are more than one ways to write a kanji ( old way and new way ) and they are all written in the normal pen form .
This book is also excellent for cross reference : you can look up a kanji by stroke order , reading ( kun / on ) , and there is even an appendix for English names of radicals which is really handy to have . Overall , this is an excellent book , almost flawless , but the reason I didn't rate it 5 stars is that it lacks readings for some kanji . . . yes , I'm a bit stingy when it comes to this . An example is the word fire . In the book they will tell you that it can be pronounced both Ka and hi , but they forget ( or they don't consider relevant ) that it can also be read ho . There are also other kanji like this one , but not that many .
There is also another error I noticed : on the book's cover it shows many kanji , one of which is not present in the book . That Kanji is the symbol for comma-design , and it is read either ' ha ' , ' tomoe ' , ' tomo ' or ' uzumaki ' . You will probably encounter this kanji very rarely , but it is useful to notice things like this .
If you need to learn kanji , this is probably the best buy - I highly suggest it !
012 4 I use this book to both index unfamiliar kanji when translating and reading manga and memorizing kanji . It has a very good index listing characters by their readings , which is very easy to use . The only problem with this index is that the reading must be known to easily find a character . I've found that indexing by stroke count is quite useless for a beginner .
Using this as a learning tool is very good as the characters are presented clearly with stroke counts in calligraphy , hand-printed characters , and characters in type font . It provides two words in which the kanji are used , different readings for the characters , and the basic meaning .
This is a good book for a beginning and novice reader or learner .
013 4 This review is from :
Essential Kanji : 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference ( Paperback )
This little book contains 2,000 kanji characters , roughly the same characters that the Japanese government considers necessary for literacy . The characters are presented in a very well thought-out order . The simple characters , which are often the building blocks for more complicated characters , are shown first . There are also a couple of useful indexes which allow you to find any particular character by stroke count and by reading .
The book gives what I presume are the actual original derivations of the characters , in other words , how each character came to be . I found these both interesting and helpful in memorizing the meanings . One minor draw-back : there are usually only two compounds shown for each character . My kanji flash cards , for example , have four each .
The book is compact , I find that I carry this book around with me quite a bit , so that I can read it whenever I have a few spare minutes .
Keep in mind , this book is only kanji characters . You cannot begin to learn the Japanese language by reading just this one book .
014 4 This little book contains 2,000 kanji characters , roughly the same characters that the Japanese government considers necessary for literacy . The characters are presented in a very well thought-out order . The simple characters , which are often the building blocks for more complicated characters , are shown first . There are also a couple of useful indexes which allow you to find any particular character by stroke count and by reading .
The book gives what I presume are the actual original derivations of the characters , in other words , how each character came to be . I found these both interesting and helpful in memorizing the meanings . One minor draw-back : there are usually only two compounds shown for each character . My kanji flash cards , for example , have four each .
The book is compact , I find that I carry this book around with me quite a bit , so that I can read it whenever I have a few spare minutes .
Keep in mind , this book is only kanji characters . You cannot begin to learn the Japanese language by reading just this one book .
015 4 This book is awsome for looking up Kanji and learning several contexts for them . It is very easy to find the Kanji you are looking for as there are several ways to look them up including stroke counts and romaji ( no kana unfortunately ) indexing . The layout is very simple and clean and the information is separated very neatly .
There is a good variety of information about the kanji themselves . Included in each item is a calligraphic version , a contemporary pen version , all the pronounciations and respective meanings , explainations behind the pictographic roots , sample sentences and sometimes a pen version of the older character from which the Kanji was derived .
The one downfall I must say , is that the example words that the author used to show the ' on ' readings in context are often rather archaic words that only older , very formal people would use . If used fluently and appropriately , these words can be very impressive , however for the most part they will likely add an unnecessarily unnatural feel to your Japanese . Not all of the example words are useless , but practice caution when incorporating them into your vocabulary .
016 4 This is a wonderful book ; I couldn't be happier with it . I've got the Yookoso ! A Guide to Contemporary Japanese ' s workbook ( it's for my Japanese class ) , but I prefer this book much more . It not only enables you to learn the Kanji , but it even has a section at the front giving you instructions on how to test yourself ; how to cut an index card so you can test yourself on either writing the character itself , it's on / kun readings , it's meanings , etc . The characters are written in awesome calligraphy in both brush and pen ; all this said , I love it ^ _ ^ .
017 4 I wouldn't recommend this as a mnemonic / in-depth study of kanji - - rather I've found it useful for quick lookup of stroke order , meaning , and how to read the characters . The print might be a bit small for some people ( especially when you're trying to read the stroke order numbers ! ) , but overall a great little reference book .
018 4 When I first arrived in Japan , one of the veteran teachers I was working with showed me his dog-eared copy of this book and recommended I buy my own copy ASAP . I did , and eight years later my copy is just as dog-eared as his was . Its compact size combined with its large , clear diagrams made it perfect for studying at home , in the coffee shop , or while riding the train or bus . Along with my Kenkyusha's Furigana English-Japanese Dictionary , Essential Kanji was the most useful language book I ever bought .
019 4 This book is essentially a listing of 2000 Kanji with two examples of how
they are used in compounds . There is no kanji lookup system , no discussion
of radicals , and no order to the list . So if you find a kanji that you do not know , there is no way to look it up in this book . My Kanji Learner's Dictionary is much more useful . I'm confused as to why someone would publish a book like this - it is really not useful at all .
021 4 I have many Kanji & Kana books . Some of them have type so small that I cannot really see the stroke order . Sometimes , the books do not even display stroke orders ; and it is frustrating . This book gives a big picture of the characters , with stroke order , tells the meaning of the character , and so on . It is a pretty complete guide . I trust it , so far ; and it has really helped me . However , it is not a beginner-friendly guide . I started my Kanji & Kana with Making out in Japanese and Rosetta Stone . Those conduits were much more beginner-friendly . This book pretty well assumes that you have the basics down . Overall , if you are really trying to delve into your Kanji , it is an invaluable reference .
022 4 I found this book fun to browse through . The calligraphy is great ( much nicer than the otherwise superior Henshall book ) , and I like how the Chinese readings were included ( comparing them with the Japanese readings is amusing ) . The information is a bit outdated since the book only covers the old Toyo Kanji and some others instead of the revised Joyo Kanji in current use .
Ivan Rorick
023 4 This book is absolutely must-have for everyone who intended to study Japanese . I found it very helpful also for my calligraphy practicing . Highly recommended !
024 4 This is a great book for learning kanji , It's small concise . Although i love this book , it has its problems : the readings are given in romaji , with a system that makes things difficult . For example they have an o with a line over it to represent oo and ou , you don't know which one to use . Another problem I was disappointed about was that i found mistakes in the okurigana use in at least 5 places , which made me casts doubts on the books reliability . Other then that , it's a really good book for a cheap price , there have been times when i have been able to learn 200 characters in a day . And once you know these characters , you can pretty much read almost anything you encounter .
025 4 I've tried several kanji learning books and this one is not a bad one . I think the only cool part was that it also has the Mandarin reading and traditional characters . For each word only two compounds are given , and only uses kanji that has already been introduced as it introduces compounds . So you keep on expanding your vocabulary that uses these new kanji . I think this is a super effective way of remembering kanji , especially if you write a few sentences with the new compounds . It doesn't always point out which words have awkward readings , though I think it's a nice course though but I'd say it'd would be a lot better if you also Get
The Kodansha Kanji Learners Dictionary ( Japanese for Busy People )
because it just goes so much more into detail and lists a lot more compounds . The two go hand in hand , one as a course and the other as reference .
026 4 Before I purchased this book I was pretty well into the Japanese language . That being said , I think that people at the beginning level should make sure that they're , at the very least , up to par on their vocabulary before purchasing this book ( let alone delving into any type of kanji based text ) . Also , make sure that you're able to use and understand hiragana and katakana . Once you're comfortable with your skills and knowledge of the Japanese language ( perhaps on a moderate level ) , then you should most definitely try to get your hands on this . It's very easy to follow , gives you a break down on both the Japanese and Chinese pronunciation for each character , and also gives you several examples on how each character is used in conjunction with others . I loved this book and I am very glad that I purchased it .
027 4 This review is from :
Essential Kanji : 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference ( Paperback )
I am learning Japanese using the Japanese in Mangaland series . I have found this book to be very useful when working through the program . The Kanji are ordered in a progressive order of difficulty , also it builds on what you have already learned , so the process is easier than expected .
The kanji are depicted with brush calligraphy and also written with a ballpen . Old versions of the kanji , in use prior to 1947 are also given . The on yomi and kun yomi readings are provided as well as the modern Mandarin reading . Of course several English meanings are given and examples of its use in phrases .
Two important appendixes are the listing by number of strokes and a reading to kanji list . If you know the reading , the reading to kanji list is very easy to use . The number of strokes kanji listing is useful , but the kanji are very small , and those of us with any degree of presbyopia may need a magnifying glass for the more complicated kanji .
I highly recommend it , and think it should prove very helpful for any level student .
028 4 I am learning Japanese using the Japanese in Mangaland series . I have found this book to be very useful when working through the program . The Kanji are ordered in a progressive order of difficulty , also it builds on what you have already learned , so the process is easier than expected .
The kanji are depicted with brush calligraphy and also written with a ballpen . Old versions of the kanji , in use prior to 1947 are also given . The on yomi and kun yomi readings are provided as well as the modern Mandarin reading . Of course several English meanings are given and examples of its use in phrases .
Two important appendixes are the listing by number of strokes and a reading to kanji list . If you know the reading , the reading to kanji list is very easy to use . The number of strokes kanji listing is useful , but the kanji are very small , and those of us with any degree of presbyopia may need a magnifying glass for the more complicated kanji .
I highly recommend it , and think it should prove very helpful for any level student .
029 4 First off , this is not a dictionary . As titled , it is 2,000 of the most commonly used kanji you'll need to understand Japanese . I used this book during college ( my major was Japanese and World Business , Univ . of TN ) and I somehow lost it and did miserably in my classes without it . The book has two ways to reference the kanji ; the first is the onyomi or hiragana spelling , the second is by stroke count . Like I said , get this book if you're taking Japanese classes , it will make your life much easier as the course gets more advanced .
030 4 This book tries really hard to be both a learning guide for beginners and a reference book for more experienced learners , and I must say the outcome is a big success .
For each of the 2000 kanji it contains there are a big picture in brush calligraphy , plus one or two smaller versions drawn with a ballpoint pen , quite a useful thing to see . After the various pronunciations there is a symbolic guide to the connection between the picture and the meaning , explaining whether the kanji is a diagrammatic picture of what it represents , or if the connection is with other characters with similar pronunciation , etc . Finally , a couple of example expressions are provided .
All pronunciations are given in romanj . This is at least surprising for a book of such worth , but it is not much of an issue . As a beginner I would have liked kana better so that I could practice with those as well , but of course there is no real practical drawback in rendering a syllabic system in one way or the other .
031 4 This book contains good Kanji for beginner level learners . But it does not have much examples of how to use the character . Definitions next to characters are very confusing and not clear . One of my biggest concerns is that definitions , pronunciation , and kun ( meaning of the character written in Japanese ) are all written in English instead of Kana . I would suggest that you choose another book . If you still want to buy this book , then consider once more and read other customers ' reviews carefully .
032 4 This book is pretty useful but I do have two complaints about it :
1 . It can be a little difficult to understand all of the information in each entry , especially at first . It doesn't take long to get used to it , but at first it can actually be a little discouraging .
2 . It would be very helpful to look up kanji by meaning sometimes , and doing so with this book is pretty much impossible .
On the other hand , though , this is a great book for systematically teaching yourself the kanji . It starts out with the simplest and builds from there , giving you new kanji only after you have learned the kanji which make up the new one . I would definitely recommend that any serious student of Japanese buy this book .
033 4 This review is from :
Essential Kanji : 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference ( Paperback )
This book is very helpful and it was in great new condition when I recieved it !
034 4 This book is very helpful and it was in great new condition when I recieved it !
035 4 This review is from :
Essential Kanji : 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference ( Paperback )
Ideal textbook of Japanese characters , with full explanation how it could be used and written , and studied . I am not sure that every textbook in the world has this special feature I would like to underline : absolutely beautiful characters in Japanese kanji written both in brush-drawn style by Takatsuka Chikud and pen-drawn performance by Arayashiki Shunrai . A very small question : ` What style of the many other styles of Japanese calligraphy is it ? ' You see , I am not a specialist , I am just a curious student in Intermediate Japanese , I guess ^ _ ^ .
Frankly , I have no right to write this review , because this book is in the progress : every month 100 glyphs of 2,000 should be rewritten carefully . It brings so many interesting hours in my life that I have bought this book for a one of my students and for my nephew too .
You want to know my opinion yet ? Just go to Amazon.com , and buy this book for your parents , grandparents , nephews , nieces , aunts , uncles , sons and daughters , just go and buy , buy , buy . . . .
036 4 Ideal textbook of Japanese characters , with full explanation how it could be used and written , and studied . I am not sure that every textbook in the world has this special feature I would like to underline : absolutely beautiful characters in Japanese kanji written both in brush-drawn style by Takatsuka Chikud and pen-drawn performance by Arayashiki Shunrai . A very small question : ` What style of the many other styles of Japanese calligraphy is it ? ' You see , I am not a specialist , I am just a curious student in Intermediate Japanese , I guess ^ _ ^ .
Frankly , I have no right to write this review , because this book is in the progress : every month 100 glyphs of 2,000 should be rewritten carefully . It brings so many interesting hours in my life that I have bought this book for a one of my students and for my nephew too .
You want to know my opinion yet ? Just go to Amazon.com , and buy this book for your parents , grandparents , nephews , nieces , aunts , uncles , sons and daughters , just go and buy , buy , buy . . . .
037 4 This review is from :
Essential Kanji : 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference ( Paperback )
Essential Kanji : 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference
The title of the book sums it all up . People have said but i'll repeat . This is by no means a complete book that you can buy and learn just from it . It really shines as a REFERENCE book and it is OK as learning book .
This is the book that you want to have with you all time , because it's small and have all the basic kanji , just bring this to you class or something , it's way more pratical than any kanji dictionary . It's NOT something you can bring in your pocket , but is small enough to place in you backpack or you can just carry arround in your hand .
As a learning tool i find this book to be ok , the kanjis are arranged in such a way that all the compounds are made using previous kanjis with is very nice for memorization . You don't have a lot of info for each kanji so it can confuse you some times , it would be better to give you a sentence instead of a compound , but that wold make the book a litte bigger .
I have two main complaints with this book . First : romaji . If you are a japanese student ( not even a serious one , just a japanese student ) you need to know AT LEAST the kana and katakana , so romaji is a BIG no . Second : material quality . The book is not made with cheap material , but it could be nicer . The paper could be dictionary quality like , that would make the book even thinner , i find the paper in this book to be to thick ( it could just be me ) .
I recommend this book only if you are also geting a kanji dictionary , this is suposed to be a tool of integration and reference , you should have that in mind . Overall a good book .
038 4 Essential Kanji : 2,000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged For Learning And Reference
The title of the book sums it all up . People have said but i'll repeat . This is by no means a complete book that you can buy and learn just from it . It really shines as a REFERENCE book and it is OK as learning book .
This is the book that you want to have with you all time , because it's small and have all the basic kanji , just bring this to you class or something , it's way more pratical than any kanji dictionary . It's NOT something you can bring in your pocket , but is small enough to place in you backpack or you can just carry arround in your hand .
As a learning tool i find this book to be ok , the kanjis are arranged in such a way that all the compounds are made using previous kanjis with is very nice for memorization . You don't have a lot of info for each kanji so it can confuse you some times , it would be better to give you a sentence instead of a compound , but that wold make the book a litte bigger .
I have two main complaints with this book . First : romaji . If you are a japanese student ( not even a serious one , just a japanese student ) you need to know AT LEAST the kana and katakana , so romaji is a BIG no . Second : material quality . The book is not made with cheap material , but it could be nicer . The paper could be dictionary quality like , that would make the book even thinner , i find the paper in this book to be to thick ( it could just be me ) .
I recommend this book only if you are also geting a kanji dictionary , this is suposed to be a tool of integration and reference , you should have that in mind . Overall a good book .
039 4 I've been studying japanese for some time and when it was time to start studying kanji seriously I spent a lot of time comparing different kanji books .
I was fed up with stupid mnemonic rules such as drawings , small stories for each kanji . . . . That nonsense is useless . If you have to learn kanji , there's no other option than studying and working hard .
This book has everything you need to learn kanji , but don't misunderstand me : it won't do any miracles as it's you the one who has to study and do the effort .
The book contains 2000 essential kanji . For each kanji it gives :
- Complete stroke order
- Different typographies : brush , handwriting , and normal newspaper one .
- On readings
- Kun readings
- English meaning
- Modern chinese reading
- A couple of compounds
The book only uses in the examples kanji which have been already learnt , so it is a nice way of reviewing .
It actually gives even more information . For instance , there are certain kanjis whose on readings can be used as a sole word , even if they aren't part of a compound . Those are indicated as well . There's also information on the modern chinese pronunciation , but I don't know what that is as I don't know chinese : P .
Some kanjis have older versions which can sometimes also be found in Japan . These are included .
The book has different indexes ( by readings , by stroke number and by english meaning ) which makes it really easy to find any kanji within seconds .
I really recommend this book for the serious student . There's no point in buying it if you are lazy and are expecting to learn kanji without effort with some miracle method .
040 4 This book is NOT a course on Japanese or on Kanjis by itself . It is meant to be an integration during learning and a reference for advanced students and professionals . Once you understand this , and once you're ready to spend about 10 $ to integrate your real course books with this , then this is a total must . As an integration and a reference , it is nearly perfect , giving you the ( usually ) 2 most common compounds and helping your way through memorization and understanding of Kanjis . Also , the Kanji lookup table at the end of the book is priceless ; Kanjis are ordered by stroke count , and then by number of strokes on the left part for left-rigth kanjis , and on the upper part for top-down Kanjis . Once you master it , you can lookup a Kanji you don't know in a matter of seconds , actually faster than searching a word in an English dictionary , and times faster than with any radical based ordering system ( i.e . Nelson's ) .
The only downside is that a set of well known and widely used kanjis ( in contemporary literature works ) are missing , while some of the extra ( non-school ) kanjis that are stuffed in are rare enough to be usually accompanied by spelling in Japanese texts , but that's a very secondary problem . If this book just had 100 - 150 kanjis more it would be more than perfect ; yet , you are not a serious student nor professional if you don't own it .
041 4 I've been meaning to write a review on this book for a long time , now . It has helped me out so much ! For too long I relied on dictionaries alone . And you can't always trust the internet ! ( I ended up having to relearn all of my vocabulary , sentence structure , particles and kanji ! > . ) And , comparing this book to many other books on kanji , I've seen a pretty big difference in the price ! = P Whenever I forget kanji , I just have to look it up through the index in this book . Very convenient , easy to understand , plus , they simplify it by giving you an idea of how the kanji looks like its meaning . Like , ( big ) is a man standing with his legs and arms spread out wide . I've been studying this wonderful language for about six years , now , and have a pretty big collection of Japanese phrasebooks and dictionaries , but this is the only kanji book I really need . ^ . ^ Any and every person trying to learn Japanese should definitely buy this book .
( P.S . This isn't this user , this is her daughter , so don't assume she speaks Japanese , too . = P Heh heh . )
042 4 This book is VERY easy to use and very helpful ! For anyone looking to brush up on their Kanji or learn it from scratch-this is the book to get ! Absoulutely LOVE it !
044 4 This is really useful book - I don't know how could I lived without it .
045 4 I have had this book for 13 years . It is an excellent first kanji book . For mastery of the kanji , use this book first and then go into a detailed kanji book as you gain more confidence .
Excellent first book .
046 4 I like this book ! It's so easy to study kanjis with this book !
A list of 2000 kanji containing relevant information on each of them like sound , meaning , reading examples , etc
Also , easy to find kanji by number of strokes , by radical or english aphabetical .
Even gives you ideas of how to designing your own flashcards . . .
I am learning japanese and i've been able to memorize easy kanji with it . Summing up , you won't regret buying this 2000 kanji book ! : )
047 4 This small book is an excellent learning tool for several reasons .
First the kanji characters are helpfully written in the brush style , pen style and typical print style . Seeing all three together is a great help in identifying the differences these styles can often have . The book also includes older versions of characters that have been simplified .
Second the usage examples are progressive . Each new kanji's vocabulary examples will only use other kanji's you've already learned . I think this one word at a time approach is an effective way to progress in your studies .
Finally the index has three different listings by Romanji , English and character stroke count . This provides an effective way to look up any characters you may have forgotten or are just interested in learning .
It's an excellent , easily portable book for studying your kanjis . Highly recommended .
048 4 I was amazed at this book and the ammount of effort P.G.O'Neil and everyone who helped him put into it ! This book is very good for people who want to study Japanese Kanji , but you have to have a basic knowledge of the langauge first . Serching for Kanji won't help if you don't know the amount of strokes in a ideogram . If you are for example reading a manga , and you have the kanji in front of you then this book can be helpful . It even gives you tips to remember the ideogram , which I find very helpful . Each kanji is written in 3 different ways , to give you a better feel of how to write it . It's written with the computer , with a ball pen and with a typical Japanese brush . Thats about all I have to say . Ok , I hope that was helpful . : - )
049 4 I bought this book 4 years ago and have barely used it at all . I like the fact that it gives stroke order , but it does not have all the readings for each character , it does not provide any mnemonics or historical origins , and the individual kanji are not numbered , making it a pain to find them easily .
A much better book is Spahn and Hadamitzky's Guide to Kanji and Kana , or Kenneth Henshall's Guide to Remembering the Japanese Characters .
051 4 The kanji is fairly easy to find , there is an informational preface . The most commonly used kanji is in the front . A very , very small list of Kanji by English words . I recommend this for a student learning kanji . Numbers , days , etc . are not in order , but easy to spot if there is previous knowledge of kanji . Not recommended for students who've not had previous knowledge of kanji .
052 4 This was a definite must . It has very concise pictures and definitions of 2000 kanji .
Any intelligent person could memorize 10 - 30 per day using this and flashcards .
I would highly recommend it to anyone with a brain .
053 4 I gotta say that this book impress me so far . First of , for any people who'd like to learn the essential kanji for japanese reading , you've got them all in this book . Not only that , but this book is a good way to learn them . Every character has it's number of strokes ( which is the way to search for them into a dictionary ) plus , it indicates the order you have to do the strokes to write them . So , this book has two uses : it's a dictionary and a learning guide . It's well explained and easy to get into . I recommend this book to anybody who's interested into learning japanese .
054 4 There is no reason to buy this book . It is not a kanji dictionary , so it will be of limited use for that purpose . It also has very limited use as a self-instruction text , because the order the kanji are presented in is illogical for foreign learners ( so many times you end up learning a complicated kanji , only to find that simple parts of that kanji turn up as their own kanji * later in the book * ) , and there are no mnemonics of any kind . Many compound words are presented , but there is no information on how to actually use them , so you cannot use it to learn new vocabulary unless you already know the words . The stroke order diagrams are mildly helpful , but you can find animated ones online for free ( WWWJDIC will have a diagram for probably every single kanji in the book ) . Basically , the book amounts to one big kanji list . Henshall's Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters , Heisig's Remembering the Kanji , etc . are much better than this .
055 4 This book has the principal 2000 kanji with their meaning , hiragana writting and a great thing : the correct order to write kanji ( correct order of each line ) .
056 4 This has a fairly extensive reference book for kanji of intermediate to high level Japanese Language Students
057 4 This product is a must for any student - it has a clear explanation of each character and best of all it shows the stroke order , which is important for any learner to memorize since some kanji's are repeated in others .
058 4 I carried this book around for the first five or so years of my study of Japanese . It's a pretty handy reference . The book is sturdy and compact , yet with 2000 characters it is still has all of the characters deemed by the Japanese government as being essential for reading Japanese . The characters are arranged neatly , eight per page . It shows the major readings and meanings , as well as a brief explanation of why the characters are shaped the way they are . It also shows the chinese pronunciation and 2 compound words incorporating kanji that appear earlier in the book . The characters are presented in a general order of utility and are indexed by stroke count and readings . My only complaint is that it represents both ou and oo by using an o with a macron over it . This book is excellent for learners and is also good as a reference book , but I would reccommend Ntc's New Japanese-English Character Dictionary for anyone who wants solely a reference book .
059 4 I bought this book hoping that it would provide me with a means of learning kanji . I was quite disappointed when it arrived . This book is nothing more than a reference . It shows you a kanji , gives you a short and concise English meaning for it , gives you the readings ( in romaji , rather than hiragana and katakana ) , gives you 2 compounds that use the kanji , and it gives you the stroke order . That's basically it . There's no commentary on the kanji telling you how to remember them , the history of it , or ANYTHING . The compounds that it gives you for each kanji don't even give you context for how the word should be used . All of the information in this book is freely available at numerous web sites across the internet , or in most kanji dictionaries . This book has basically just sat on my shelf collecting dust since I purchased it .
If you are truly interested in learning Kanji , I would recommend that you start with the excellent book Remembering the Kanji volume 1 by James Heisig . It's an amazing book that teaches you how to remember the kanji quite effortlessly . I learned how to write all of the joyo kanji from memory in just 3 months using that book .
This book on the other hand , just seems rather . . . pointless .
060 4 Don't trust too much about ethimologies , they are not so accurate , but they are ther to help the reader to memorize .
There is something better now , but this was for ages the only sensible book to try to master Kanji .
Every student had one , and it's still very good , more for reharsal then to learn from the scratch
061 4 The book was in excellent condition . I had purchased it for my son who is teaching English in Japan currently . He'll be home for vacation in August . He had asked me to purchase it for him so he can become more proficient in Japanese Kanji .
062 4 First let me say I am not studying Japanese . I study writing systems and letterforms and I bought this book because I wanted to see how the characters for various objects differed ( like tree versus branch , and so on ) . For what I'm doing , I need to be able to look up a word in the index and then go to the page with the Kanji character . However , several things I tried to look up had the wrong page number referenced .
063 4 I liked this book . It has tons of Kanji . They are written pretty big and give good descriptions of the meanings of the Kanji .
Learning Kanji isn't easy but this book sure helps .
064 4 I have found in the course of the last few weeks that dedication is a fickle beast , and that mastery of the kanji requires more dedication than I currently wish to possess . I have also realized that airline peanuts sometimes have bug parts in them , Michael Stipe has a funny head , and that a blender is not a flotation device .
That aside , this is a great referential work for kanji . For absolute nubs learning the various kanji , this book is a wonderful supplement for reference , practice , and additional learning . I would not recommend it for learning the kanji unless it is used as a supplement .
065 4 First let me say I am not studying Japanese . I study writing systems and letterforms and I bought this book because I wanted to see how the characters for various objects differed ( like tree versus branch , and so on ) . For what I'm doing , I need to be able to look up a word in the index and then go to the page with the Kanji character . However , several things I tried to look up had the wrong page number * referenced .
* I've since been informed by a reader that these are not page numbers , but another type of indexing system . How silly of me to expect numbers in an index to be page references ! I still vote for adding a traditional index of meaning-and-page-number , which is NOT unfeasible to add to a book of that size . Tedious yes , but not impossible .
066 4 Entering Kanji takes time , book proposes study of two years to become familiar all characters presented . After two years student can then start to familiaze more japanese characters and their usage in real world .
This book is reference that can be recommended in this study timeframe and just before going into business japanese course 1 . However everything I have read about this book has encouraging .
This book is like preparation effort for a marathon BUT you have to loose 25 kg first ( . . )
067 4 havent paid much attention to it lately .
but from what i did read . its good .
068 4 Excellent money maker for a tattoo studio . Kanji tattoos are extremely popular . When customers want that special phrase . . .
069 4 I've payed for this book , twice , but I've never received it .
Thanks , Amazon .
I'll never buy whith you .
