Customer Reviews

Japanese Kanji Flashcards, Vol. 1 (Third Edition)

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've purchased a number of Japanese flash cards, including the Heisig and Tuttle kanji flash cards, and these are by far and away the best. Other reviewers have mentioned the good points of these cards, but they bear repeating.

1. The cards are printed on sturdy stock with a slick coating, making them a pleasure to use and easy to clean if you happen to be snacking. They also have rounded corners, making them a bit safer to handle.

2. In addition to the excellent physical design, the design on the cards themselves is very well done. On one side is the kanji, some sample phrases using the kanji, some similar kanji, and an illustration of the stroke order. On the reverse is the kana version of each kanji phrase, with an English translation, plus the on and kun readings of each kanji, and often an illustration showing what the components of the kanji are (for exmaple, woman + child, without using kanji).

3. The size of the type of the cards is good even for my eyes; I was having trouble reading the kanji in my textbook.

I use the kanji side to drill my recognition of the kanji I am studying, and I use the opposite side to drill my memory of how to draw each.

I won't go into much detail, I'll just say that these cards give me everything I need for my kanji studies! They look great, have a clever information layout (no romaji readings, which is a PLUS!) and even look-alike kanji characters! Of all the kanji flashcard sets available to people studying Japanese, these are the best! You get color-coded flashcards with round edges, full stroke order diagrams, meanings, readings (onyomi and kunyomi), schematics of kanji elements and SIX compounds for each kanji! Is there anything else one might want from this kind of product? Simply wonderful! If there's anything that can help me pass JLPT exams, this is it! Kudos to authors! Keep up the great work!

These cards are nicely made and provide great study material. I've taken them to Japan twice and studied them on the flights, trains, and so on, alternating with the JLPT vocab lists. If you get into a habit of spending five to ten minutes a day with them, you'll eventually pick up a ton of kanji. It's about the consistency rather than spending a lot of time in each session with them, so try to find a way to work them into your routine. Supposedly if you make your own flashcards you'll retain the info better, but that's a major time investment so I don't know if it will pay off in the long run; this probably depends on what type of learner you are. The JLPT level indicators were a big step forward in the recent edition, which shows how the folks at White Rabbit really put a lot of thought into their products.

Kanji flashcards you must have! High quality, outstanding design, very good!
I always take them with me --- this product exceeded my expectations!
Stroke order diagrams for every kanji, look-alike kanji and many more information make it an invaluable product and there is also an "Audio Companion" (CD or download) available which makes this product irreplacable! ... and it also makes fun learning the Japanese language with this product.

These came yesterday and I started using them right away. I was able to learn (for recognition only) 12 new JLPT3 kanji in under 30 minutes so this product is definitely worth it. Before using this I learned all JLPT4 kanji by writing it over and over again on scratch paper. That was a more thorough method but Ive decided that for now, recognition is more important than writing so WRP flashcards are a big help. As others have noted, they have a nice look and feel to them. All Nihongo students should have this in their arsenal. You'll definitely have an advantage over fellow classmates who waste valuable time making their own flashcards.

UPDATE: Using this, it took me from February 21 to May 1 to learn the JLPT3 kanji --- using a very lax schedule (weekends only) as was concentrating on grammar and listening comprehension. Imagine what you could accomplish with intense study :)

On the White Rabbit Kana cards, they provide nifty mneumonics for each of the symbols. (These are memory devices to help you remember the symbol). While the features of the Kanji cards are nice, mneumonics would have *really* been useful. If the Tuttle--or any other brand--have mneumonics, I suggest you give them a look. The mneumonics on the White Rabbit Kana cards had a *significant* impact on my ability to memorize them.

To compensate, I have Tuttle's "Remembering the Japanese Characters" (or something like that--I may have misremembered the title), which I strongly recommend. For each character they provide a breif historical analysis and mneumonic. I use Tuttle's book to learn the symbols and the cards to practice. The only headache is that the book and the cards are not in the same order--White Rabbit uses the JPT ordering while Tuttle uses the ordering taught in Japanese elementary school--so I have to order the cards myself.

Still a good product and I'm happy with it.

This is the kind of product that makes me wish Max Hodges and Tomoko Okazaki had been in business 30 years ago, when I spent a university year in Tokyo. I've been back to Japan a few times since, but never before have I felt better prepared as with the language products of White Rabbit Press. It's hard to improve on what other reviewers have said, except to suggest a visit to the White Rabbit Press web page, which itself is a wonderful resource. I'm also studying from Kanji Flashcards, Volume 2; Nihongo Journal; and a question and answer book based on the official Japanese Language Proficiency Tests.

Before buying those flashcards I made an extensive research on the market and these proved to be the best choice. They provide plenty of useful information in a clear and organised manner, and are very nice to use. I feel they are helping me very much in my progress. I will surely buy the second volume as well!

I started learning Kanji a long time ago and recently my wife has been developing an interest in the Japanese language. As a resource for first-time learners, these flashcards are invaluable. Not only are they well-researched and good looking, they are also sturdy enough to allow for a lot of use. The cards have a lot of information on them, including cross-references to other similar-looking characters, examples and kun and on readings. If you're serious on learning Japanese, these are a must have!

I have used many different books, websites, and cards in my quest to learn Kanji, and this set of cards are by far the best I have come across. The cards themselves are very well made, with a plastic coating that has so far proven impervious to wear and tear.

This set has all of the Kanji required for the 4th and 3rd levels of the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test.) In addition to the basic character and it's readings, each card lists several different vocabulary combinations. These include words needed for the lower levels of the JLPT, as well as more complex formulations that will be seen on the 1st or 2nd level of the test. They also list words and phrases that may not appear on the JLPT, but that are useful to know.

While nothing can take the place of a Japanese class or at least a textbook, these Kanji cards are an excellent way to improve you reading and writing skills and expand your vocabulary.