Customer Reviews

Kanji Study Cards

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Flashcards for Kanji studies are almost a must have tool and there are 2 ways to make your flashcards set: the difficult way is do it yourself and the easy one is to buy already made cards. I've tried both ways and if you don't want to spend time cutting paper and looking for kanji info in dictionary (and it is not a small quantity of time and efforts), then James W. Heisig's Kanji Study Cards is the perfect solution. The only serious drawback is the price of 130 US$, but in my opinion their study value is worth the money I've spent. The card come packaged in file cabinet like carrying case, making it easy to manage them. There are 2042 kanji cards and almost 60 empty cards for filling with characters absent from the set, though it seems to me rather remote possibility for some time until I really begin to need to do it. Card set is build around Remembering the Kanji book series (volume 1, 2 and 3) following it's order and excellent learning method. There is also cross-reference to Nelson's Japanese-English Character Dictionary and P.G.O'Neill's Essencial Kanji. Unlike similar cards it uses katakana and hiragana for on and kun readings respectively. There is also at least one compoung example with space provided to add more. Finally in my opinion it fully deserves 5 stars given to it.

The main reason I bought these cards was to save myself the time and effort of making my own - and to this end, they serve their purpose. Yet while the information on each card is great, I have a few complaints. First of all, the quality of the box and the cards is basic and not particularly durable. The box is made of light cardboard, and the cards are also made of fairly lightweight card paper. For the price I expected better quality. Another feature I don't like, but which seems to be the standard for Kanji cards, is that rather than turn over the card from left to right (or right to left) like a page, you turn it "up and over". Any more complaints? Yes, a little colour coding on the cards would be nice. However, I do appreciate the effort put into creating these cards, and hopefully future editions will be more durable, more colourful and a little cheaper.

The Kanji Study Cards are great. If you wish to add a computer flash card component to your study regimen, there's a great program that uses the Hesig's format. "Kanji Gold" by Dr. Hewgill is a free 3MB download that is very popular. Just run a search for it on Yahoo. "ganbatte"

I will admit the cards are helpful, but for the price, not enough. I expected better quality and better kanji information. Yeah, buying them savse time, but making them saves money and I've found that when I write the cards myself, I learn the information better.

I was put off buying these cards by some of the negative reviews, but went ahead when I saw a sample card in a store. In a Japanese bookshop, they cost about 8500 yen, or $85 in US dollars. They are well worth it, as they are a good size, contain exactly the right amount of information (not too little, not too much) and are cross-referenced to other courses. You can put 100 in your pocket and review them on the train. One wonderful experience I had was in a jam-packed Narita express one night, where all of the Japanese people around me were getting into it, cheering or groaning each time I turned over a card. We had a good-sized group of 'contestants' after half an hour or so! After all, some of Heisig's kanji are not so easy - even for native speakers. I am proud to say that I now know a few kanji that some of my Japanese co-workers don't...and it drives them up the wall. The cards have the Chinese and Japanese readings and the 'real' meanings, which are, 95% of the time, the Heisig one anyway. They also have example compounds - and it is a joy to realize that you can figure these out after a while with a bit of intuition!

They come in a neat filing box and are a good product for the money. If they were more durable, they would be heavier and less convenient to carry. A hundred fit into my small plastic card case that slips into a jacket pocket and protects them from the ravages of everyday life. Buy them if you are doing the kanji course. They will save money and work in the long run. Heisig's methods are about making learning Japanese as easy and intuitive as possible, so, if you want to go easy on yourself without any negative effect, get these. Making your own might help review the writing, but people over here I have spoken to (and lots of people I know have done RTK I&II) don't actually think it makes much of a difference in the long run. Personally, I just sit down with a keyword list and try to write random sections from time to time to test my memory. This keeps my writing in trim and is more convenient.

Can't praise these books and study aids enough.

I was really worried when I wanted to order these because so many reviews complained about how "shabby" they are. Now that I have them, and I've read a great deal of the corresponding book that goes with them, I can only figure out that those reviewers didn't understand the intention behind the flash cards.

So, I will explain! First of all, I thought the flash cards came in better condition than I could have dreamed! They come in their own little box with a drawer (so cute!) and an ingenious way to keep them organized; each set of 100 cards is separated by a little marker so that you can start studying right away without mixing them *all* up. Also, the box set comes with extra cards that are blank so that if you go beyond the book, you have tools for teaching yourself. And no, not just a couple, but TONS of blank ones. I was like, "Wow, they really trust my dedication to study on! Great!"

Second, the condition of the actual cards themselves has been really ridiculed on here. The cards are intentionally NOT laminated so that you can write helpful notes on them in pencil. If you understand the premise of the book from reading the introduction, you'll know that each person may come up with their own story for a kanji to recall it with, so if the story from the author doesn't work for you, this allows you to scribble something in. And, there's plenty of space for that!

Another weird criticism I read about the cards is how you have to flip them in a weird direction . . . :} You have to flip it, there's no avoiding it. I find that you only have to flip it *once*, despite some people's moaning and groaning . . . Perhaps they don't understand flash cards, but it's also very nit-picky. If you're upset by something like this, perhaps you should not use flash cards. :}

Now, on to the brilliance of the flash cards and why you shouldn't waste time making them yourself. I'm a very big DIY person, doing as much from scratch as possible (if I had the tools, I'd even make my soap at home), but the cards are so well-done that you'd be wasting your time. 1.) You won't get a pretty awesome box if you do it yourself unless you're a great box-maker. 2.) Since you're learning the kanji, you may make errors if you do it yourself, especially when you get to later kanji and realize that there's only a tiny difference between them. These cards are printed beautifully in typeset form. 3.) As mentioned before, the cards come with great separation tools so you can study one section at a time. 4.) The cost is excellent when you consider that you're getting 2040+ cards for $99. That's like a nickel a card. Could you buy this awesomeness for that much doing it yourself? 5.) The cards include Chinese compounds to show what they are like, corresponding to the Remembering the Kanji Book II. 6.) If you have Nelson's Japanese-English Character Dictionary, the corresponding number is on the card for your convenience. 7.) Information for the Japanese reading is on the card. 8.) The hiragana inflections of the kanji are on the cards. 9.) The number for the Remembering the Kanji I book are on the card. 10.) The Chinese pronunciation in katakana is on the card. 11.) The Japanese pronunciation in hiragana are on the card, set next to the English definitions. 12.) The keyword meaning from Remembering the Kanji I (most likely, the reason why you're getting the flash cards) is on the card. 13.) The pronunciation of the Chinese compounds (I'm not honestly sure what the difference is yet 'cause I haven't studied this far, but I'm sure at some point I'll be really happy these are there!) along with the English translations. 14.) The primitive elements of which the kanji is composed from Remembering the Kanji I. 15.) The cross-reference numbers for Remembering the Kanji II. And, finally, 16.) The number of the frame from O'Neill's Essential Kanji are also on the cards.

This all means there's tons of information that you probably don't have, allowing you to cross-reference books for more information and study harder. You don't have to take apart the cards yourself (other than opening them up and putting them in the box with the little tabs separating them by each 100 characters), and again, the lack of lamination is so that you can write in notes in pencil if you need them, not because they were too lazy/cheap to it. In fact, it probably just would have made the set more expensive and less efficient for its purpose.

My only criticism at all is that in the box, there are three rows, and the dividers do not go all the way to the end, so sometimes the flash cards that are on the end will slide into the wrong area if I shake up the box too much (carrying it in my backpack, so my own fault really). If you take good care of your box, this won't happen. Additionally, it's not a big deal if it does because the wandering cards will be right in front or right in back and it will be obvious where they should go because they are numbered.

Good luck with your flash cards!

This set of more than 2000 flash cards, is an excellent supplement to James Heisig`s Remembering the Kanji.
The price is rather stiff though; but I think it`s worth it, as creating the cards yourself is an extremely boring and time-consuming task. The cards follow the format described in Remembering the Kanji. A nice box in which you can store your cards, is included as well.

Seeing the merchandise in person is not as important if you're buying a book, but it really may change your opinion on whether or not it's worth the purchase if the merchandise is flashcards.

Fortunately for me, a couple of weeks ago I was at the Kinokuniya bookstore and had the opportunity to see the quality of the cards without having to buy the set.

Although I was very happy to have found them, I was immediately disappointed:
-- The cards are printed on very thin, soft cardboard. Since their function involves a lot of handling, these cards will lose their shape really fast.
-- They are tiny. This aspect makes them more difficult to read, and easier to lose.
-- The small size is only emphasized by the amount on information printed on the cards, which is too much. Here, I'd like to make an analogy with fast food restaurants increasing the sizes of the portions: increasing the amount of food allows them to say they give you that much more value, while the actual food is the cheapest component of the meal. Likewise, printing more on the cards allows the publishers to claim you get that much more value, but their cost doesn't increase by much, and you get overloaded.
-- Thinking about the above point makes me feel like the publisher is trying to exploit me & trick me into paying more than I should be. It's not a good feeling.

Anyway, these things really make a difference to me, so I decided not to buy the set, in the end.

I really recommend you try to see the cards in person before you make the decision to buy, as well.

James Heisig's method of learning kanji (technically known as component analysis) is the only game in town for adults who want to achieve true literacy in Japanese. These cards are a useful tool for achieving that goal. As another reviewer pointed out, however, they are too flimsily produced to justify the high cost. I expected heavy lamination or outright plastic. When I opened the box and realized that I had paid nearly $100 for 2000 small pieces of heavy paper I felt pretty stupid. Factor in, of course, the time it would take you to make these cards, which contain a lot of information: buying them saves a lot of time. Nevertheless, very expensive. There are free flashcard programs on line that are based on Heisig's book. I use both the cards and the programs.

I have no complaints whatsoever about Mr. Heisig's excellent method of study. There are other books based on the idea of component analysis and I'm sure they are just as helpful, but Heisig's book is the granddaddy of them all.

The information included on these cards is great, as had been mentioned in may other reviews. I actually find the over-the-top flipping to be convenient when using them in one hand and writing with the other. The construction of the cards is indeed a little flimsy, but if you have access to a laminating machine and a bit of time to cut the cards back to size, then they become extremely durable and still still a decent value for the price. Think of the time cutting them out of the laminate as extra study time. They even still fit in their storage box when laminated!