Everyone agrees that it is possible to learn to speak Japanese in a reasonable amount of time, but no one has ever said that about reading and writing it. It is widely held that spoken and written Japanese require separate efforts by the student, as if these two aspects were in fact distinct languages. A first step toward alleviating the problem of learning Chinese characters, or kanji, was taken by Yasuko Mitamura in 1997 with the publication of Let's Learn Kanji, which introduced the student to the fundamentals -- strokes, radicals, components -- and 250 basic kanji. Now, Let's Learn More Kanji goes one step beyond: the learning of complex kanji and the formation of compounds of more than one character. Not just a brilliant exposition but also a workbook, Let's Learn More Kanji teaches the student how to analyze difficult characters in terms of radicals, components, and basic kanji, how to put kanji together into compounds, and how to recognize and learn any kanji not introduced in this book. Progress is continually checked, and the student is encouraged through quizzes and exercises. The result: 300 complex kanji and over 1,000 compounds, learned with ease.

This approach to learning the basic components of kanji demonstrates simply how a finite number of parts combine into a wide variety of characters. Everyone agrees that it is possible to learn to speak Japanese in a reasonable amount of time, but no one has ever said that about reading and writing it. It is widely held that spoken and written Japanese require separate efforts by the student, as if these two aspects were in fact distinct languages. A first step toward alleviating this situation was taken by Yasuko Mitamura in 1985 with the publication of Let's

An accessible introduction to the rich language and culture of Japan, this tote-able Japanese language collection makes an artful addition to any library, as well as an ideal travel primer and companion for aspiring Japanese speakers. Pairing words and characters with whimsical illustrations, each section features examples of word pronunciation, the three main Japanese writing systems (kanji, hiragana, and katakana), and common Japanese elements. At once instructive and a joy to behold, Let's Learn Japanese is a go-to gift for the world traveler and language learner.

There are three types of Japanese script--katakana, hiragana, and kanji. It is possible to read Japanese knowing only a limited number of kanji, but it is not possible with only a limited number of katakana or hiragana--one must know all of them. Let's Learn Hiragana, and its companion volume Let's Learn Katakana, is a textbook that introduces the learner to the basics of one of these fundamental Japanese scripts. Being a workbook, it contains all the exercises that allow the student to master hiragana by the time the book has been finished. Let's Learn Hiragana is a classic in the field, and the huge number of students that have used it successfully is a sign of its preeminence as a self-study guide.

There are three types of Japanese script--katakana, hiragana, and kanji. It is possible to read Japanese knowing only a limited number of kanji, but it is not possible with only a limited number of katakana or hiragana--one must know all of them. Let's Learn Katakana, and its companion volume Let's Learn Hiragana, is a textbook that introduces the learner to the basics of one of these fundamental Japanese scripts. Being a workbook, it contains all the exercises that allow the student to master katakana by the time the book has been finished. Let's Learn Katakana is a classic in the field, and the huge number of students that have used it successfully is a sign of its preeminence as a self-study guide.

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.

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.