窶｢窶敘ｽﾃｱﾂ絶?｢ﾅｽﾂｲ RADICAL Method for studying Kanji

[Rickozz]

部首枢軸 is coming to America. This new 'radical method' is coming to America in 2013. Kanji study books are usually sorted by grade. The 部首枢軸 method sorts the kanji by their radicals. The only way to learn this method in the USA is to either get the book KanjiABC or the KanjiPivot app. I think that multi-radical approach is actually faster than using any other mehod to find a kanji.

In both the book and the app the kanji are presorted by their radicals. And once you choose any kanji and notice another radical within the same character, you can easily PIVOT and the kanji are then sorted by the other radical within that kanji.

I find that I no longer confuse similar looking kanji since i use this method. It's on my girlfriends iPad. I think it's called Kanji Pivot or KanjiPivot. Anyway, when I get an iPad, it will be the first app that I download.

Example 働 Hataraku is originally sorted in the ninbin 亻 radical group, however when you pivot it, you can see that it also has a Pivot Radical in common with four other kanji namely that they share the 重 pivot radical.

働 亻
任 亻
件 亻
作 亻
候 亻


働 亻
重 里
動 力
種 禾

Kanji Pivot just finds it and sorts it either way in seconds, and allows your brain to mind map Kanji make the connections, it's an effortless learning process :

 

[JouruKun]

Sounds like a very effective app/method. It will make kanji-study a lot easier for those who have previously not attempted the Jouyou method.

 

[Mike Cash]

I must be stoopid; I don't see the point of it.

 

[JouruKun]

I must be stoopid; I don't see the point of it.

Although I am hazy on the idea therefore may be wrong, I believe that the point of it is to show links between the radicals and kanji with similar meaning due to their radicals to 'speed up' the learning process. In a way it is a bad idea as it is better to know 10 different kanji than 10 kanji that mean near enough the same thing. It has both privileges and downfalls in my opinion.

 

[Mike Cash]

If he finds those kanji similar in appearance, his problem is only going to be solved by exposure, not by some nifty shuffling with an app.

I still don't see the point.

 

[JouruKun]

not by some nifty shuffling with an app.

I laughed at this. I definitely understand what you are typing. Apps are not a great way to learn because when it is go time - you wont be flicking through your iPhone.

 

[Mike Cash]

I laughed at this. I definitely understand what you are typing. Apps are not a great way to learn because when it is go time - you wont be flicking through your iPhone.

There is that, plus I just can't see the benefit in grouping things like that or learning things together because they look similar or share elements. It makes more sense to learn things with regard to how common/useful they are, and to do so in conjunction with a comprehensive four-skills approach to the language.

I swear, I often wonder if modern technological wizardry and electronic gizmos haven't actually resulted in less effective Japanese learning than in the bad ol' days when we used books and paper.

 

[JouruKun]

I assume that you prefer the jouyou method to the radical method then? If so I would agree as there is no better way to learn than the way that a native child learns.