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Remembering the Kana: A Guide to Reading and Writing the Japanese Syllabaries in 3 Hours Each (Manoa) (Japanese Edition) (part 1) | 
 enlarge | Authors: James W. Heisig, Helmut Morsbach, Kazue Kurebayashi
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $12.82
You Save: $2.18 (15%)
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 180801
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3 Blg
Pages: 147
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.5
ISBN: 0824831640
Dewey Decimal Number: 495.682421
EAN: 9780824831646
ASIN: 0824831640
Publication Date: May 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
Following on the phenomenal success of Remembering the Kanji, the author has prepared a companion volume for learning the Hiragana and Katakana syllabaries of modern Japanese. In six short lessons of about twenty minutes, each of the two systems of "kana" writing are introduced in such a way that the absolute beginner can acquire fluency in writing in a fraction of the time normally devoted to the task.Using the same basic self-taught method devised for learning the kanji, and in collaboration with Helmut Morsbach and Kazue Kurebayashi, the author breaks the shapes of the two syllabaries into their component parts and draws on what he calls "imaginative memory" to aid the student in reassembling them into images that fix the sound of each particular kana to its writing.. . and have fun in the process.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 It cured my kana dyslexia ! November 24, 2008
Eddie Landsberg (Tokyo, Japan)
This book is a really cute... if not sometimes corny little ditty that walks you through the entire Japanese syllabary by offering ways to remember the characters (i.e. mnemotics) - - for example, it gives you funny things to remember them as... While admittedly the descriptions at times are quite, as mentioned *corny*... kind of Alice In Wonderland meets the land of awful puns, and other times, simply right above my head, I've got to say... its a really good idea.
I should mention that years ago when I first went to learn Japanese, I had a problem: All the letters looked the same or seemed like scribble. - - If, at present, you find yourself in this situation, I definitely say GET THIS BOOK... it'll save you time, and teach you to appreciate their shapes.
As for me... I've been living in Japan for years - - never formerly studied Japanese, but can speak and read a little... problem is I suffer from Kana Dyslexia at times... for example, I know most, but suddenly I mix a few up and the panic leads me to not be able to understand some ridiculously simple words... ergo, I got this book to formerly tackle the entire syllabary - - and at the same time, have a book that might address the fact that although my memory per-se isn't so bad (not the greatest, but still not that bad), my attention span is virtually non-existent, hence sabotaging my ability to pay attention to things long enough to learn it - - The author's page turning methodology definitely serves that purpose (instead of reading through the book from front to back, the kana are laid out in order, but you skip around to tackle them from "easiest" to "most difficult" as he builds upon his pictographic imagery.)
In conclusion... if you have trouble with conventional text books for whatever reason and need something to help you out, I say: give this book a try... on the other hand, if you are a really serious cut and dry type of person, or have a good enough memory that you don't really need mnemotic aids... move on.
note: one criticism - - I wish the book were written in a way that when you turned the page you didn't see the English right away - - kinda sabotages a chance for self testing, doesn't it?
Still a great book...!
Definitely looking forward to getting his REMEMBERING THE KANJI book, that's for sure !
 Kana Mnemonically February 22, 2008
Oz
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book doesn't try to teach you in "Alphabetical Order". It starts with "n" pointing out that the japanese character is exactly like a cursive "n" in English but with a longer stem. Similarly for "I" it is like the English character, but the "dot" is lengthened into a short stroke.
Memorable February 16, 2008
Derek Battle (Huntsville, AL USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Really, you don't need this book to learn the Kana. However, the structure it provides does help with breaking up the rote memorization and the writing style is light and enjoyable. The key phrases the author matches to the syllables are sometimes quite a stretch so YMMV there. All in all a safe bet and a worthy effort on the part of the author.
 Not bad February 3, 2008
F. Dailey (Cary, NC)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book is good but not great. The instructions for writing the kana are clear and simple but the mnemonics just didn't work for me. Most of the mental images seemed so far fetched that they lost their effectiveness after the first couple of lessons. The proposed study method sounded great in the editorial review but in actual practice it just didn't measure up.
The practice words provided with each kana proved to be tremendously helpful. As you learn each kana, you're given a few sample words, each of which contains at least one occurance of the kana being studied. The words only contain kana which have already been introduced and reviewed. It may sound trivial but it ensures you don't forget what you've already studied and it works like a charm.
Also take note that the author's study method involves some serious page-jumping. After the completion of each kana, you have to flip to another page within the book. There's no ryhme or reason as to what page you'll be heading to. It's just random. The purpose is to ensure you don't get into the habit of mindless page turning. It worked better than I thought it would but I'm still unsure of its value. In my case, I found it to be more of a distraction; however, I can see how others may find it to be a great way to stay focused.
Wonderful if you don't take it too seriously. October 27, 2007
pietro merletti (Jesi Italy)
2 out of 10 found this review helpful
I am deeply indebted with the author.
I could review in 44 minutes and in 1 hour 16 minutes.
Rmemmbering the Kanji is actually better, but you can gain confidence with such a tool.
The unscramble page order was a great idea, you can't run the risk of writing automatically.
The only humble suggest: a japanese sensei always knows better, it's his language, after all.. It's even possible that this method is better than a japenese sensei, but never let him or her know ( you need a teacher anyway in order to use properly what you have learnt. It's impossible to do it alone, but perhaps many know better than I ).
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