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Remembering Traditional Hanzi: Book 1, How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Chinese Characters 1st Edition

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James W. Heisig (Author)
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James W. Heisig (Author), Timothy W. Richardson (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 15 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0824833244
ISBN-10: 0824833244
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 433 pages
  • Publisher: University of Hawaii Press; 1 edition (December 5, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0824833244
  • ISBN-13: 978-0824833244
  • Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1.2 x 8.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #670,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsMy time learning the 3036 characters was totally worth it -- my reflections along the way
By Ken B on March 14, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
First, thanks a lot to Aphasiac, Vorpal, Swilkins, Haraksha and everyone else whose stories helped me make it to the end of these two books.

I thought it would be helpful to the RTH community if I gave my reflections on the Hanzi learning process after entering the '3036' club and learning each of the characters in these two books.

[Note: to find over 2,000 of my stories for the 3,035 Hanzi you'll find in Books 1 (1500 Hanzi) and 2 (1536 Hanzi), go to reviewingthehanzi.com , where you can also enter your own stories, track your progress and review your keywords. This site has been a big study aid for myself and others.]

[Second note: this review covers Remembering Traditional Hanzi I and II at the same time, because they're essentially two volumes of the same work.]

To begin, I'm definitely happy that I spent so much time and effort in learning these characters. Yes, I said 'time and effort', because as people warned me before I started, while these books may be the best way to learn Hanzi, they don't take the effort out of learning the characters. My Remembering the Hanzi word document, in which I've placed all of the character stories I've used to remember the Hanzi, is now about 120,000 words. I needed to write at least 2,000 stories to get from #1 to #3036, which takes a lot of time out of your day. I don't say any of this to brag, only to make it clear that while these books are amazing in the way they teach, you still have to put in lots of work.

I am also happy to defend the Heisig/Richardson method against the criticism it sometimes encounters. It's true that you won't learn to write these characters fast except by rewriting them and rewriting them. It's also true that I've forgotten about half of the ones I've learnt.Read more ›
2 Comments 20 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe best way to learn to write Chinese
By Harold Goodman on December 17, 2008
Format: Paperback
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 to speak Mandarin Chinese. I was taught by Mr. Thomas how to insure success for learners without memorization, homework, anxiety and testing. I am interested in innovative ways to teach; innovative ways that have proven track records.

Dr. Heisig is justly famous for his previous books on how to learn to write the Japanese kan ji ( Chinese-derived characters). Writing the kan ji and original Chinese han zi ( characters) has been a major stumbling block for most students. Without knowing the characters one cannot be literate in either of these languages.

The genius of Heisig's method is in devising an approach whereby he breaks the characters down into component parts and then systematically teaches the student to build them up again in a skillful way that results in the learner knowing the characters.

The first volume presents the most commonly used 1,500 Chinese characters. This will get you through 90% of any common Chinese text which is a nice place to start. The second volume, which is in the works, takes us through an additional 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000. With 3,000 characters the reader can tackle 99.5% of written Chinese.

One thing which is important to understand ahead of time is that this book does not encourage repetitive writing of the character being learned.Read more ›
5 Comments 59 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsEven After 2 Years Studying Chinese, This Book Was a Worthy Purchase
By J. Lugo on July 4, 2010
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I began taking Chinese courses at my university almost two years ago. I loved the language, but I had difficulty memorizing characters. I could remember them for the exam, but hardly a month beyond that it'd fade away (mainly the writing!). Eventually most of my effort in Chinese was committed to keeping old characters fresh, greatly dulling the experience.

Because of all the progress I'd already made, I was originally hesitant about purchasing this book. I worried it would require new ways to remember old characters, and wouldn't really put my existing knowledge of the verbal Chinese language to use (after all, it doesn't focus on pronunciation of characters--just meaning).

However, after a couple weeks with this book my only regret is not having purchased it earlier. Characters that I'd previously had problems with just stuck. The stories make the experience fun, and I find that my existing knowledge of character pronunciation is an asset to my learning from this book, but one that the book is not dependent on--something that will suit all learners from the most basic levels to the more advanced.

This book, in conjunction with spaced repetition software (computer flashcard software, such as Anki and Mnemosyne), makes studying Chinese characters a joy and allow me to really focus on the language once again.

My suggested course of study, an extension of the author's suggestion, is this: download either Mnemosyne or Anki. Create a flashcard with a "Question:" side consisting of the key word (in uppercase and on its own line, to make it obvious), with the story just underneath it (the "primitives" should be italicized just as they are in the stories he presents, and the key word itself bolded). The "Answer:" should only have the character.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Best book for learning characters.

Published 9 months ago by Helene Gray
5.0 out of 5 starsNext edition please place the Mandarin anglicization of the characters...

Next edition please place the Mandarin anglicization of the characters very near the characters rather than in its own index.

Published 16 months ago by Mister Glashaus
2.0 out of 5 starsYou do not learn Chinese from the this book. It may be of use in the...

As John DeFrancis authoritatively told readers in his "Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy", the Chinese characters are logograms, not ideograms. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Marco Buendia
5.0 out of 5 starsMust buy book if you want to learn Chinese characters

I had a lot of difficulty to remember Hanzi. Forgetting the meaning of the ideograms was very frustrating and learning by repetition may take a lot of time, which as someone who... Read more

Published on August 3, 2013 by Eduardo S. Junior
5.0 out of 5 stars一個禮物 -- A Gift

Bottom Line: This book is an absolute Gift to the dedicated Student of Chinese. Both the time and the money spent on this book are nil when compared to the feelings of... Read more

Published on February 19, 2013 by C.C. Ryan
2.0 out of 5 starsNot really a good investment of time

I have to agree with the more critical reviews of this book. It is clear that this was developed out of a series books for remembering Japanese Kanji, because the Mandarin... Read more

Published on May 16, 2012 by Steven J. Pieragastini
4.0 out of 5 starsGreat Resource

This book provides an excellent introduction to chinese characters. The "stories" provided to describe each character aren't always that memorable (at least for me), but the... Read more

Published on April 15, 2012 by R. Gray
5.0 out of 5 starsFantastic mnemonics

This is a fantastic book, and I've been amazed at the ease with which I recall characters based on the mnemonics as listed in the book. Read more

Published on April 9, 2010 by Z. Sheffler
5.0 out of 5 starsComparing Two Authors Who Use This Approach For Learning the...

Becoming literate is uniquely different in Chinese because it is easy to forget how to read or write a word that you can confidently speak. Read more

Published on August 31, 2009 by Livingston
3.0 out of 5 starsEffective concept.Though, don't be misled into thinking the book...

The writer introduces well the concept of using "stories" to memorise each of the 1,500 characters from their component parts, and starts off by providing effective stories for the... Read more

Published on June 27, 2009 by Mr. Grant Richardson

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