The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course : A Step-By-Step Guide to Mastering 2300 Characters

Andrew Scott Conning

ISBN 10: 1568365268 / ISBN 13: 9781568365268

Published by Kodansha Mai 2014, 2014

About this Item

Neuware - The Kodansha Kanji Learner s Course is an innovative and highly effective system for learning and remembering kanji, or Sino-Japanese characters. The book contains 2,300 character entries, including all 2,136 Joyo Kanji ('regular-use kanji') plus 164 of the most useful non-Joyo Kanji. It offers a sophisticated, pedagogically sound method for remembering the basic meaning(s) of each character, conveniently summarized in concise keywords to facilitate memorization.Each kanji is accompanied by an explanation of how to remember its meaning(s) clearly and distinctly. These mnemonic explanations teach you to associate each kanji s graphical form with its unique range of meaning, often by 'seeing' its meaning in the form of the kanji itself. An outstanding feature of the course is the special attention it gives to the challenge of learning each kanji in a differentiated way. This allows you to associate the meaning of each character with the features that distinguish it from graphically similar characters.Another unique feature and a significant breakthrough in kanji pedagogy is the sequence in which the course introduces kanji. Most kanji dictionaries and textbooks arrange their entries in ways that do not address the needs of non-native learners, such as by traditional radical or by the grades in which the kanji are taught in Japanese schools. The Kodansha Kanji Learner s Course uses an original sequence that presents graphically related characters one after the other to help you give significance to their contrastive features as you learn them, and thereby avoid having to relearn them later. It also introduces the meaning and usage of each graphical element each kanji building block the first time it appears, thus enabling you to seamlessly and rapidly acquire new characters. In short, The Kodansha Kanji Learner s Course makes learning and remembering kanji easier than ever before.This book fills an urgent need for a timesaving yet sophisticated kanji-learning system that can be used from beginning through advanced levels an enjoyable, no-nonsense path to proficiency. It is intended for anyone serious about learning to read Japanese.Features:- Includes 2,300 kanji entries- Completely up-to-date: includes all the 2,136 officially prescribed Joyo Kanji ('kanji for regular use')- Each entry explains how to remember the character s meaning clearly and distinctly, often through the innovative use of visualization and concrete imagery- Introduces kanji components in a logical, step-by-step order that makes learning new kanji easier than ever- Can be used as a stand-alone resource or together with The Kodansha Kanji Learner s Dictionary. Includes cross-references, character meanings, readings, and sample vocabulary from the dictionary.

Seller Inventory # 9781568365268

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course : A Step-By-Step Guide to Mastering 2300 Characters
• Publisher: Kodansha Mai 2014
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1568365268
• ISBN 13: 9781568365268
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 228W x 153H x 38D millimeters 228 millimeters width by 153 millimeters height by 38 millimeters depth
• Weight: 954 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Kodansha's widely acclaimed Kanji Learner's Course (KLC) is a complete guide to mastering all the kanji needed for genuine literacy in Japanese. It anchors a comprehensive kanji learning system, supported by the KLC Graded Reading Sets, the KLC Green Book, the KLC Wall Chart, and keystojapanese.com (a user-support website for forming study groups, exchanging tips, and tracking one's learning progress with points and level ranks). The KLC is also cross-referenced for convenient use with Kodansha's companion volume, the Kanji Learner's Dictionary.

THE FOUR ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR KANJI LEARNING
The 2,300 entries of this main textbook adeptly integrate the four essential elements for mastering kanji meanings:

(1) Accurate keywords. Each character's core meaning is encapsulated in a concise, easily memorized keyword. The keywords for all 2,300 entries have been carefully chosen to be semantically accurate and to integrate the character's various senses into a core idea.

(2) Vocabulary to illustrate the keywords. The concept captured in each keyword is illustrated with up to five sample vocabulary items, carefully selected to clarify how the kanji is used in building typical words and phrases.

(3) Mnemonic aids for remembering the keywords. Each entry contains an original mnemonic aid that is carefully designed to help learners remember the character's core meanings. Mnemonic aids pay special attention to helping learners immediately recognize each kanji and distinguish it from lookalikes.

(4) Rational learning sequence. The course's widely praised sequence represents a breakthrough in kanji pedagogy. It aids learning by introducing kanji components step by step, grouping related kanji together, and building vocabulary progressively - all while teaching kanji in rough order of importance.

A SELF-GUIDING, SELF-REINFORCING COURSE
The course arranges all the information needed to master 2,300 characters into a streamlined, self-guiding, and mnemonically self-reinforcing curriculum. Sample compounds include only such kanji as have previously been learned, ensuring that learners are able to understand and use each compound, and providing a built-in review of all the kanji already studied.

THE ULTIMATE KANJI LEARNING RESOURCE
* Provides a sophisticated, pedagogically sound method for remembering the core meaning of each kanji, conveniently summarized in concise keywords to facilitate memorization.
* Introduces the meaning and usage of each grapheme the first time it appears, helping learners seamlessly acquire new kanji based on a sound understanding of their component parts.
* Innovatively uses concrete imagery to simplify complex characters and make their meanings immediately recognizable in their graphical forms.
* Teaches characters in a pedagogically effective sequence, presenting graphically related characters together to help learners give significance to their contrastive features as they learn them, and thereby avoid having to re-learn them later.
* Helps learners actively apply each character's principal meanings and readings using key vocabulary words, carefully chosen to illustrate the character's uses and to help learners employ it in everyday reading and written communication.
* Helps learners differentiate among graphically similar kanji by showing how to remember the characters in a mutually contrastive manner that connects their graphical distinctions to their underlying semantic differences. Along the way, the course introduces nearly 800 pairs of easily confused kanji.
* Helps students learn to write kanji accurately, by indicating each kanji's stroke order and placing careful emphasis on distinctions among graphically similar characters.
* Includes all the kanji needed for genuine literacy in Japanese, including all 196 characters added to the official Joyo Kanji List in 2010.

About the Author

Andrew Scott Conning earned a doctorate in human development as Presidential Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Dissertation Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He previously earned a bachelor's degree in languages from Georgetown University and a master's degree in social anthropology from Mexico's Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia. In East Asia, Andrew has been active as a research scholar at Peking University and the University of Tokyo. In 2018 received the Kuhmerker Dissertation Prize for his research on global learning.