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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting little book..but will it be useful for you?,
This review is from: Kanji Power Handbook for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken Hando Bukku) (in Japanese) (Paperback)
This book is yet another aimed at covering the 2000 or so kanji required for basic literacy in Japanese.
However, it is quite different from most (if not all) other similar books aimed at non-Japanese. Firstly it is almost entirely in Japanese- each entry has from 1-3 key words in English (as well as Chinese and Korean, and the cover has an English subtitle, but other than that it is Japanese only. Consequently this is not a book for beginers or even most intermediate students. In fact the people most likely to benifit from this are those who are already quite advanced at the spoken language and who have some command of the written language but need to deepen their knowledge of kanji. It is specificaly targeted at those wanting to sit the Japanese Language Proficiency tests and will be most useful to those attempting level 2 - or more likley- level 1. The organization is unusual- it is essentialy like a kun-on yomi index but expanded so that each entry includes sample words and key words in addition to an image of the kanji. Essentially what that means is that the ordering of the entries is bases on the readings and kanji with multiple readings appear multiple times (once for each reading). Multiple enties for the same kanji repeat the image of the kanji. the key words, and all the readings of that kanji, but present sample words relevant only to the reading corresponding to that entry. It is, in my experience anyway, a very different approach to learning the kanji and is intended specificaly to ease the learning of multiple readings of characters. In addition- there are multiple entries for the same kanji with the same reading but for which there are different okurigana. For example- agaru and ageru are listed seperately. The sample words / phrases are well thought out- but you must bear in mind that there are no English tranlations or explanations. This can get tricky unles you have good knowledge of the language becasue the words and phrases are not necessarily chosen to give the most concrete representsative example for foreign learners, rather some examples are idiomatic uses that will likley be confusing for learners. For example- a phrase given to illustrate the use of the kanji for leg translates into english as - pulling someone's leg. A student might be forgiven for thinking this has the same meaning as the same phrase in English when in fact it means to seriously trouble someone by hampering their progress- preventing them getting a promotion for example. Not the sort of thing you want to get confused! A better bet for students at the intermediate level would be the very excellent "Kanji in Context".
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic for reference and review,
By
This review is from: Kanji Power Handbook for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken Hando Bukku) (in Japanese) (Paperback)
I don't use this book to *study* kanji per se, but it has been a fantastic way to review. The kanji are listed under their reading (ie. pronunciation), which means that kanji with the same reading are grouped together. The page layout is perfect, allowing you to easily scan numerous kanji of the same reading and and note any structural similarities. This is very important for gaining a comprehensive understanding of kanji.
In addition to that, keywords (usally kanji compounds), alternate readings, and the Japanese Proficiency Test level on which the kanji is tested are all listed in a very small space. The layout really is amazing and by having so much clearly arranged information in such a small space a lot of incidental learning goes on as you scan the pages and make connections. There are indexes in the back which allow you to look up the kanji by JLPT level or by the kanji's radical element. There is also a listing of towns and cities in Japan, organized by prefecture, with their readings given. This is a very useful feature for someone like me who struggles with the irregular readings of place names. This book has been a very valuable resource for review in my spare moments on the train, waiting for a friend, etc. I made extensive use of it while preparing for the JLPT levels 2 and 1.
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