Hi,

first of all, great site. Thank you!
Is there a reason for the cards not having the hiragana along with the english word? I feel it would help to retain the meaning of the kanji. Just my thoughts. Hope I'm not offending anyone. Cheers.

coolboarderguy

The same reason it doesn't list the Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. pronunciation of that kanji. It's about retaining the knowledge and writing of that Kanji in your native language. This site is tailored to English, but plug-ins allow for other languages. This is meant to root the kanji deeper into your memory and allow for better recall.

Now, when you move onto learning Japanese (which is seperate from learning the Kanji on this site) then you'll get the various pronunciations. Hopefully, you'll be doing that in context using something like Trinity.

[Katsuo]

The site is based on James Heisig's books, which recommend a divide-and-conquer approach to learning Japanese.

I.e. first learn the meaning and writing of around 2,000 common kanji en masse, and then add the readings later.

This is considered to be more efficient and effective. (Naturally this approach is quite controversial.)

At the learn more page on this web site there are links to more information about the book and also a large sample you can download.

Edit: spelling mistake.

This question gets asked a lot, yet it's not answered on the Learn More page. I think it would make sense for it to be mentioned in the FAQ.

Katsuo Wrote:The site is based on James Heisig's books, which recommend a divide-and-conquer approach to learning Japanese.

The fact that this is often not understood by newer members is (in a nutshell) the source of a lot of confusion, I think.

I wonder how many people we have using the site that aren't even aware of the existence of Heisig's books ... let alone that they (and his method) are the reason for this site's existence? Yes, it's explained in various FAQ's and is often talked about in the forum itself ... but nothing forces them to read.

How many are aware that the site is based on Heisig, but are kind of "free-riding" it by getting almost all of what they need (from the kanji order, primitive names, to good story suggestions) from the site alone?

I'd be curious to see the results of an informal survey.



To anyone that's just "stumbled" upon this site, and started to proceed through the kanji without realizing that it's based on a book and a VERY detailed, thought-out method ... pick up a copy of Remembering the Kanji I, or at least download the free preview (and READ THE INTRODUCTION) to understand what you've signed up for. Even if you're vaguely aware of the book's existence, an expectation of readings included with the flashcards during the initial "learning stage" would indicate a severe unfamiliarity with the method itself.



http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publ...RK4-00.pdf

The above-linked PDF file includes the first 276 frames of kanji.


Really, if you find yourself getting further and further along in the course with only this site (and not the book), you're only getting half the experience ... not to mention the moral implications of kind of getting a product for free. Everything, from (most) of the names of the primitives we use here, to the order of the kanji, to the review method itself, comes straight from the book.

Agreed. The book is crucial.

The book is important for two reasons:

1. Explanation of the method throughout. Many misunderstand and think Heisig only about mnemonics. If it were that simple, then all the stories would be like Car + Lack = Soft. Heisig throughout offers words of encouragement and study methods and explanations and warnings and reasons for the madness.

2. Primitives. This is what you don't get from this site. The book explains the primitives and gives the stroke orders. If you're just using this site, you're missing out on many primitives.

Just another 2 cents to throw on the pile.

I think that and official sticky thread like: "Read these before asking any questions" would be very helpful on situations like this.