250 Essential Kanji for Everyday Use

If you can't read squat on the Japanese streets or in the classroom then this book covers all the ground you need to be able get a firm grasp on learning the basic elements of kanji. This is also packed with a workbook section that might seem sketchy at first but do not discourage yourself because the key to studying the book is to take all the kanji combinations in their and make flash cards out of them. (this actually speeds up the learning process for me) then sort and delete all the one's you know and don't know. I am half-way done with the book and I already notice a vast expansion in my vocabulary as well as kanji. (they are kind of interconnected so that is to be expected) I just can't wait to finish this wonderful learning tool and move on to the next book. If I had this sooner I would more than likely know way more kanji than what I do now and the JPLT certainly would have been easier to do.

Like many others learning Japanese, I struggled with the system of writing and rewriting. This is of course necessary, but it did not give me any glue with which to commit the characters to my long term memory. Having bought both the books from the Tokyo Uni group, I was able to enjoy the process of learning. The mnemonic system is just what you need. It allows you to create links to the components of the complex Kanji. That is, to identify what makes up the meaning of the characters. With a mental picture cemented, it is quite simple to make the associations when you are presented with new kanji. I found this invaluable and a pleasant reading experience. The pleasant and interesting experience part was especially necessary trying to learn kanji after the average 12 hour day at work here in Tokyo.Ganbatte kudesai!

This book lists 250 "essential" Kanji, along with drawing strokes *and* an explanation as to what the heck it is you are actually drawing; not just the radicals, but explaining the historical meaning. Sometimes the explanations don't make a lot of sense, but they really try to come up with acceptable explanations (and remember that Chinese characters themselves don't make a lot of sense anyway. For example, why isn't the Kanji for "round" a circle. It isn't, but they explain it as someone with rounded shoulders as they crouch to go into a cave.) As a reviewer of Vol2 noted, Vol1 is filled with lots of photos of everyday usage and some cute manga cartoons.I've tried to learn Kanji from a dictionary (forget it; after the first 150 they all look the same). "Let's Learn Kanji" is ok; It does discuss brushwork, but doesn't give you any really good mneumonics (other than the radicals, which are only of limited use).Bottom line is if you're learning Kanji 250 Essential Vol1 is damned fine. I'm damned glad I got it. Damned glad.