Customer Reviews

Remembering the Kanji II: A Systematic Guide to Reading Japanese Characters (Vol 2)

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If you're reading this review, you either (a) have not tried Heisig's method at all, and are curious about the results of the later volume(s), or (b) you're in the middle of studying the first volume, and are curious as to the benefits of the second volume (For the first volume lacks the immediate benefits of modern application). If you've already completed the first volume, you will unquestionably move on to the second volume simply because it's a natural progression of studies. Whoever finishes the first book will be move onto this book regardless of what this review says. But the likelihood of one actually finishing the first book (Not to sound pessimistic) is not very high in the first place. In fact, everybody that I've talked to (In real life, NOT through the internet or through e-mail) that started the first volume of Remembering the Kanji have not completed it. They may have gotten halfway, but it became too hard, and they fizzled out. This seems to be a common thing. So provided you can get through the very tough first volume, this is where the benefits start become pronounced. But without the first book, this book has very little meaning; so you can't skip the first book. Period.

I'd also like you to note that (At the time of writing this review) there are a total of three other reviews here. Compare this to the 30+ reviews of the first book. Why? It is because most that have purchased the first volume of RtK did not complete it. In fact, I feel that many that reviewed the first volume of RtK on this website have not truly tried to use the method, they merely comment about the underlying concept and immediate benefits (or lack thereof). I've already reviewed the first volume of RtK on this web site, so I don't need to explain how I feel about it.

This is "Volume 2" in the series; it therefore assumes that you have mastered volume 1 to a reasonable degree. Volume 1 made you connect an English keyword to some 2,000 kanji; although you could not read a single kanji, they were more fermiliar to you (And completing this course in it's entirety was a very, VERY hard task). You become somewhat similar to a Chinese person that is fermiliar with the meaning of kanji characters in their native language, and all they have to learn is a different way to pronounce them. So volume 1 sort of "levels the playing field" between you and the kanji. But it is only in volume 2 that you truly begin to "play" with the skills you've learned, and hit kanji completely out of the ballpark.

This second volume is a "Guide" rather than the first book, which was a "Course." This is because it mustn't be followed to the "t," unlike the first volume. Here, kanji are broken down into groups, many of which have a similar set of strokes that signal a certain reading (They are called "signal primates"). Although not every kanji is like this, there are quite a few, therefore making it possible to systematically learn quite a few readings. When the system of "signal primitives" cannot apply, common word compounds are used to help remember characters.

The biggest bulk of the book is devoted to learning about the ON reading (or Chinese reading of the kanji). Each frame consists of one kanji, one reading, and one compound to reinforce that one reading. Because many kanji have more than one ON reading, sometimes the same kanji will be seen on multiple frames. The KUN (Or Japanese reading) is not consistent with any rules, so there isn't much of a way to systemize the learning of it. At the end of the book Heisig presents a concept of tagging each phonetic element with an image, similar to what was done with volume 1. Combine the phonetic elements, combine the images, and come up with a memorable story or image to connect the two. Eventually you will forget the story or image you used to connect the two, and you'll just remember that such-and-such word has such-and-such meaning. I have yet to try this, but it seems to fall into place with his other kanji-learning methods.

This book builds upon the flashcards you were supposed to have made when you studied and reviewed the kanji from the first volume. There is a flashcard program called "King Kanji" (Google it) for your computer or PDA. When you download the program, flashcard files of every single Heisig kanji are included. Using their "lesson creator" feature, I am creating flashcards of the compounds introduced in this second volume. I prefer this way of creating flashcards rather than by hand. They're much easier to keep track of. (A program called "Stackz" is also good for creating and reviewing vocabulary introduced here).

What am I getting out of this book? I'm reading compounds I've never seen before, I'm seeing kanji in my head when I hear or speak a word, I'm remembering vocabulary at a very quick rate. This book (As well as the first volume) have played a vital role in my understanding of not only kanji, but the Japanese language as a whole. I no longer have to gaze and wonder about this elaborate system of writing; the ability to truly understand it is now within my grasp. Just the self-confidence and sense of accomplishment this has brought me is enough to merit me buying this book. Although I'm still working my way though this book, I've gained a degree of knowledge and ability that I would have never dreamt of. Assuming I continue to make progress like I am now, literacy is no longer a passing thought, it will be an achievement.

Learning kanji can be one of the single most difficult tasks for the Western learner of Japanese. With this book (Along with the first volume), this doesn't have to be the case. If you wish to be literate in Japanese, all you need is right here. No, this is not some magical tool that will make you literate in a week; your progress will depend entirely on how much work you put into it (See my review for book 1).

Quite simply, Heisig found the door to Japanese literacy. All you have to do is be determined enough to open it.

Before you dismiss this review because of my Japanese name, I grew up in America and did not study Japanese before University. This book is an excellent companion to Remembering the Kanji I. It is not meant to be studied independantly. At first I thought this book wouldn't be as useful as the first. However, it did wonders in helping me to figure out pronunciation. The limits of the book are inherant to to non-nativeness of Chinese characters to Japanese sounds. However, it is amazing just how much this book helps. It is particularly good for the on-yomi or Chinese pronunciations, but it's ideas for the kun-yomi or Japanese pronunciations are helpful as well. If the first book worked for you, I highly recommend this book as a follow-up.

I'm a big fan of Heisig's first volume but this second volume takes his principle of "divide and conquer" just too far in my opinion.

Working through this volume means learning just a single reading for each of the 2000-odd kanji introduced in volume 1. What does that mean? It means that after studying and absorbing all the information in this book you will still have virtually no practical ability to read Japanese. This is because most kanji have more than one reading. Becoming literate in Japanese depends crucially on knowing multiple readings of kanji and on being familiar with a reasonable body of vocabulary associated with those readings.

One of the other reviewers states "I am reading compounds like never before". Great, but my question is- what are the chances that you are reading them correctly when you know only a single reading for each kanji? The only Japanese you can read with confidence after using this book are the one word per kanji that happen to be presented. It's a little like learning one word for each letter of the alphabet and expecting to be able to read English.

For my money the method employed in Kanji in Context (Japan Times) is much more efficient and what's more actually DOES take you a good way towards literacy. Kanji in Context concentrates on teaching kanji meanings and readings in the context of the vocabulary associated with those kanji. A consequence of this method is that you begin to acquire a native-like appreciation for how a kanji is likely to be read - even in previously unseen compounds. You are able to make practical use of the knowledge (i.e you are able to read Japanese) long before you reach the end of the book. Another good little book for starting to acquire that level of familiarity is "Decoding the Kanji" by Habein (Kadansha International)

The main value of this book is in pointing out those few kanji elements that act a reliable (more or less) guide to at least one "on" reading. But that is a small part of the whole and that information can be found on the web for free. Heisig's first volume is excellent for developing a familiarity with the kanji but volume 2 achieves too little gain to be worth it, particularly when better alterantives are available.

First off, you can download the intro to this book from Nanzan Institute's website. And if you know some Spanish, you can download the intro and a part of the second chapter of the Spanish edition, called "Kanji para recordar II", both from Nanzan's website and from the translator's website, Nipoweb.

So far, I've covered 55% of the on-yomi presented in the first 10 chapters. The chore ideas behind this book are:

-Focus on one thing at a time: You've already learned the writing, now you continue with on-yomi and later will finish with kun-yomi.

-Avoid (as much as possible) illustrating new on-yomi with compunds containing other on-yomi not learnt yet. This leads to duplication and even triplication of sample words, and even to the use of rare compunds to illustrate common on-yomi. However, for the most part, it works.

-Try to take the most advantage of the fact that most kanji are phonetic, rather than "ideographic", compunds. So you though all the kanji were sound-independent ideograms? Fortunately, you're wrong! Most of them have forever engraved their pronunciation in their writing. However, it seems that their importing to Japan via Korea, the fact that some kanji were re-introduced in later times from a different region of China, the phonetic adaptation (or deformation?) to Japanese pronunciation, the natural change of pronunciation over time, and the fact that some traditional on-yomi were suppressed from the Joyo-Kanji list (for the most part, this book abides by the official list of on-yomi) have rendered this learning tool an almost complete waste of time in some cases, and an uphill battle in others. However, Heisig made his best to give some order to this mess.

-You must learn kun-yomi on a need-basis. You're only given a mnemonic tool to learn them and a list of all officialy recognized kun-yomi, but no particular order to their study. Thus, at this point, after having learnt the writing and on-yomi of all Joyo Kanji, you might guess that now it's a good time to pay due respect to the "proficiency levels" of the official test (JLPT), or to your own textbooks. Anyway, now you'll have a really huge headstart.

Now, about the method:

While the first book gave you all the intelectual "tools" to perform the task, this one gives you just clues: You are told that if you associate a certain "signal primitive" with its on-yomi, you can remember the on-yomi of all characters sharing the same phonetic component (well, that's 100% true for chapter 2, at least), but you are not given any method on how to associate that shape with that sound. However, since you're supposed to have finished RTK 1, and probably "Remembering the Kana", you already know what to do: Create mnemonics! Regarding the chapters that rely only on sample compunds, you'll found it a lot harder, and if you don't already know the compunds, you'll probably end up creating mnemonics for every single on-yomi you find difficult to remember. Thus, the main merit of this book is the orderly fashion of presenting on-yomi, not any particular memorization method.

>>Update:
On may 2006 I finished this book. Looking back, I think it would have been better to wait to finish my grammar textbooks (Japanese For Busy People) before tackling this book, since the more vocabulary you already know, the more you'll get from studying "Remembering The Kanji II".

Remembering the Kanji is everything it's cracked up to be, if you have a decent visual imagination. I'm an artist, not a linguist, and I've enjoyed my way through a quarter of the first volume in a month. I can't wait to get to the next lesson every day. At my fairly leisurely pace, I'll be high-school literate by the end of the year. The ease and pleasure of Heisig's method put a fire beneath a long-cherished fantasy to learn to read Chinese - and opened the door to Japanese (which is what most people are looking for here) and Korean in the process.

But beware! I ordered vols. II and III, from different vendors listed here, without shopping around first. I paid a whopping 98.00 for v. III (Instant Gratification tax, and I'd read it was o.o.p. / rare), and two days later, my order for v. II, which was to cost under 30.00, was cancelled, AND EVERY OTHER VENDOR ON AMAZON JACKED UP THEIR PRICES!!! Going rate today is 117.00. Puhleeeze.

Go to Kinokuniya online, an extremely reputable Japanese bookseller with whom I've done business before. Including shipping from New York (I.G. tax again),I paid 46.00 for v. II. They have stores on the west coast, as well as in Asia.

This is an essential part of your library if you've read volume 1. It's a bit dry to read compared to the first volume, but will further your Japanese studies.

The system that James Heisig presents in the "Remembering the Kanji" series is the fastest and most effective way to learn Japanese characters that I have seen. There are a great number of systems that promote learning Kanji by associating them with a visual image, which can be effective, but also has draw backs. A phenomenon common to any serious Japanese learner is the ability to recognize Kanji when seen, but when it comes to writing them... you draw a blank - or make subtle, but important mistakes.

Heisig, on the other hand, uses "imaginative memory" not visual, and this makes all the difference. Often, I found that the opposite of the above scenario was true in the beginning stages - I'd remember how to write a character before I recognized it printed somewhere. And the best thing about this system is that it reduces the amount of time required to become proficient from a matter of years to a matter of months. I whole heartedly recommend this book to any and all Japanese students frustrated with learning Kanji!

I have been living in Japan for almost three years now, and for two and a half of those years I tried to learn Kanji the usual way- that is, the same way Japanese do; write the character on a word card and the on and the kun readings, as well as the english meaning, on the other side. Impossible. So a friend of mine recommended the first book of Heisig's and I'm flying through them. I can't wait to finish it so I can buy this book. Living in Japan makes it easier, I'm sure, because I'm surrounded by the things. I just can't forget them!