Customer Reviews

Chinese Character Fast Finder: Simplified Characters

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an awesome reference. In just a few minutes I could find nearly any character. The thumbed index that you can cut yourself, if you so choose, makes the lookup much faster. (Initially I used a razor blade but finally just used scissors.)

If you happen to look up the character in the "wrong" place, instead of cross-referencing characters to another page, he just shows them on the page in grey. That way, you know they really don't belong there but, hey, since you found them, the meaning is provided.

He also includes traditional characters in the appendix.

It is really a well thought out reference.

As this book is really meant to be an locator/index of Chinese characters, I thought it should be able to do just that. So, before purchasing it, I looked up one or two characters and found it only took a couple of seconds!

This is far better than using the radical index of a dictionary if you don't know the hanyu pinyin. At times the radical for a character can be quite arbitrary. I believe it is no longer the case, but apparently characters could, in the past, be listed under a radical it had nothing, seemingly, to do with.

Careful! The thick black line for page 68 of the thumb-index is misdrawn, causing me the need to re-stick my #68. Frustrating!

An alternative for home use is the Wenlin Chinese Dictionary software, which makes looking up characters a breeze if you can handle the mouse ok. But on the run this won't be possible, until they bring out their PDA version - IF you can afford a PDA. At only about $32 in Australia the Chinese Character Fast Finder is a great buy!

Laurence Matthews also has a Kanji Fast Finder out too.

Call it a crutch, a shortcut, or whatever you wish..this book makes the process of looking up characters remarkably easy. I would consider it the best investment I have made in a language book thus far. It doesn't replace the need for a good dictionary. But if one is stumped as to the meaning of a character, this book dissects it, and gives various meanings. Then with the pinyin in hand, it is much easier to look up a word in the dictionary.

A really helpful book in quickly looking up Chinese Characters, however, the book only covers 3,200 characters and therefore cannot be the only dictionary the you may own. It works well together with other dictionaries, and is especially helpful in finding common words that do not have a clear radical. Remembering that the common less complex words in Chinese are often the most difficult to find, this is where this book excels. Please also note that the book does not cover compound words therefore you need another source to truly understand the meaning of the word (especially in combination with other words). Just as in English if you did not know the meaning of the word "honeymoon"; looking at the word would lead you astray. A Chinese equivalent is "ma shang" "horse up" means "at once", this book cannot help you with this situation, and therefore you must have other dictionaries together with this tool.

Speak Mandarin Chinese For BeginnersThe Michel Thomas Method (8-CD Beginner's Program), Michel Thomas Method Speak Mandarin Chinese Advanced

I am the author of the Michel Thomas CD courses to learn spoken Mandarin. Over the years I have collected quite a few resources for the English-learner of Mandarin. There are very few that stand out as really useful or unique.

This book is well worth your time.

The author has created a system by which one may quickly look up unknown characters. When I say quickly I mean in a matter of seconds once you get the hang of it.

The bulk of the book is given over to simplified characters. (The original review which is posted here was based on an edition of the book entitled Chinese Character Fast Finder. No mention of simplified characters in the title.)

One third of the Traditional characters were simplified. These are often the most common ones used today.

Basically, if you are using Traditional characters, as I do, then you will skip to part two of the book if you don't find what you are seeking in part one. It is no big deal once you learn the system.

You will learn quite a bit about character composition by using this method and, eventually, will be able to predict much about unknown characters.

Caveats: There is a very obvious bias toward simplified characters which I really don't care for. Example: All the simplified entries have English translations. These are not provided for the Traditional. The Traditional characters all have references to their simplified equivalents. However, you will not find any such references from simplified to Traditional. There are more such issues which I have found.

Not infrequently I just cannot locate the character I am seeking. In such a case I may go to a good dictionary ( ex. New Practical Chinese-English Dictionary, Far East 3000, Harbaugh+) and use the stroke count index and/or radical to look it up. Of course, one may also use on-line or other ( ex. Plecodict) software to write out the character. Eventually, I find it.

So why give it five stars?

Because it is the only book of its kind that I have found and, for what it does, it is a very valuable resource which I recommend without hesitation.

There is also an equivalent volume for Japanese kan ji issued by the same publisher.

The usual process of looking up characters in a chinese dictionary was extremely frustrating and time consuming. So much so that I had nearly given up on it. Then I found this book. It's brilliant, simple, and fast, and easily the best money I've spent on various language-related references. My sincere thanks to the author, and my strongest recommendation to anyone who needs or wants to learn how to read chinese.

This is probably the best improvement (invention) in finding chinese language characters. Beats old traditional radicals system hands down. Makes finding characters a snap compared to a dictionary. Doesn't mean you won't need a good dictionary, but will save you a tonn of time and make your life a whole lot easier. Definitely a must have for anyone who studies Chinese or has to deal with chinese text often for whatever reason.

This book is just the very thing you need when you are in China and trying to read a sign filled with characters you don't recognize. Unlike most dictionaries this book does not require you to know already what radical the unknown character is listed by. Instead you can find the character by looking up any component you can identify on a chart inside the front cover showing all the components which the book uses. It is a very simple thing then to find your mystery character. With an Xacto knife you can even use the preprinted templates to make your own thumb index for getting to the right page from the initial chart. As a bonus, the back of the book does the same job for the traditional characters no longer in official use in China, but still often encountered. Having this book in your hand will enrich your experiences in China by overcoming your illiteracy.

The book is well organized and easy to read. The only neg I can think of is that it only talks about simplified characters and not traditional as well.

Quite comprehensive and very easy to use, this fast finder is really helpful to quickly look up chinese characters even if you are not familiar with the language.