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New Kanji Book

lincstreff

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13 Jan 2016
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I just finished writing a new book for learning kanji, and would like to briefly describe it here, in case it might be of interest to anyone visiting this forum.

What I have tried to do with the book is to go into a lot of detail explaining the underlying principles of how the characters are designed and how they are used in the writing of Japanese. I do this to try to eliminate much of the confusion that inevitably occurs when learning kanji.

It's my belief that once you have the solid foundation in kanji this book helps you to achieve, learning and remembering the characters becomes easier.

Compared to other kanji books, this one has lots of discussions, explanation, and examples, so if you are not fond of reading, then it might not be for you. I do believe, though, that the insight gained from reading it will ultimately pay off and benefit one's kanji studies.

For someone who only ever plans to learn a few hundred characters, this book is not necessary. I wrote it for those hoping to learn thousands of characters, who don't want kanji struggles to get in the way of Japanese literacy.

The book is called Kanji no Satori. You can find it on most of the amazon sites, including the US, Canada, UK, and Japan. Here is the link for the US site, which allows you to "look inside" the book: Kanji no Satori: A comprehensive guide to unlocking the secrets of the Chinese writing characters, as used in the Japanese language: Steve Thenell: 9780997222302: Amazon.com: Books

Thanks for your time.

Steve Thenell
 
I just finished writing a new book for learning kanji, and would like to briefly describe it here, in case it might be of interest to anyone visiting this forum.

What I have tried to do with the book is to go into a lot of detail explaining the underlying principles of how the characters are designed and how they are used in the writing of Japanese. I do this to try to eliminate much of the confusion that inevitably occurs when learning kanji.

It's my belief that once you have the solid foundation in kanji this book helps you to achieve, learning and remembering the characters becomes easier.

Compared to other kanji books, this one has lots of discussions, explanation, and examples, so if you are not fond of reading, then it might not be for you. I do believe, though, that the insight gained from reading it will ultimately pay off and benefit one's kanji studies.

For someone who only ever plans to learn a few hundred characters, this book is not necessary. I wrote it for those hoping to learn thousands of characters, who don't want kanji struggles to get in the way of Japanese literacy.

The book is called Kanji no Satori. You can find it on most of the amazon sites, including the US, Canada, UK, and Japan. Here is the link for the US site, which allows you to "look inside" the book: Kanji no Satori: A comprehensive guide to unlocking the secrets of the Chinese writing characters, as used in the Japanese language: Steve Thenell: 9780997222302: Amazon.com: Books

Thanks for your time.

Steve Thenell
Hi Steve,

Always nice to see fresh additions to learning Japanese.

I would highly recommend you to provide example pages on your amazon site. You provide a new/different method, but customers have to decide based on your explanation. Providing an example page will help people deciding whether its for them, AND might boost your sales :)
 
There ARE example pages. That's what the "look inside" feature is for. I mentioned in my original post that this feature is available for the book.
Cheers.
 
I did give the Look Inside pages a quick glance (hard to use feature on an iPad) and got the impression that you had taken a very thorough and comprehensive approach to walking people through the process of tackling the daunting task of learning kanji. I'd want to have a copy in my hands to look through thoroughly before making any substantive comment upon it, but from what I could tell it looked like it could be a very valuable resource for those starting out learning. Might even have the potential to become a must-have standard if it gains some traction. I would certainly encourage people looking to start learning kanji to have a serious look through the available pages to see if they think it may be for them.
 
There ARE example pages. That's what the "look inside" feature is for. I mentioned in my original post that this feature is available for the book.
Cheers.

I believe you right away, but I didn't see that feature (and stil don't) on my mobile browser.
I don't know if anyone else has this problem?
 
I believe you right away, but I didn't see that feature (and stil don't) on my mobile browser.
I don't know if anyone else has this problem?

I missed it the first time. Look immediately above the photo of the cover.
 
I believe you right away, but I didn't see that feature (and stil don't) on my mobile browser.
Ah, OK. I see what you mean.
I don't have an android device to test it with right now, but on iOS in both the Safari and Chrome browsers when you load the page, the text "Look inside" appears just above the book cover image. You may have to wait a second for that to load. Tap the "Look inside" text, and a new window opens that lets you browse through the book.
I would think that android is the same, but will check it later.
If you tell me what device and browser app you are using, I can check it out and make sure it is working OK.
 
Ah, OK. I see what you mean.
I don't have an android device to test it with right now, but on iOS in both the Safari and Chrome browsers when you load the page, the text "Look inside" appears just above the book cover image. You may have to wait a second for that to load. Tap the "Look inside" text, and a new window opens that lets you browse through the book.
I would think that android is the same, but will check it later.
If you tell me what device and browser app you are using, I can check it out and make sure it is working OK.

I have a Huawei P8 phone. Tried it with both the standard issue and firefox browser. The look inside option does not appear.

However, when I change the browser setting to "desktop view" the "look inside" shows up. I guess the option is unavailable for mobile or android users. Maybe someone else with android can confirm?
 
The book is called Kanji no Satori. You can find it on most of the amazon sites, including the US, Canada, UK, and Japan. Here is the link for the US site, which allows you to "look inside" the book: Kanji no Satori: A comprehensive guide to unlocking the secrets of the Chinese writing characters, as used in the Japanese language: Steve Thenell: 9780997222302: Amazon.com: Books

This seems to be a good book, though I spotted some minor errors: the reading for 両足 should be リョウアシ, not リョウソク (p74); the on reading for 秋 should be shuu, not shun (p294).
 
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I found an old reading リョウソク in a dictionary, but I don't think it's something to be mentioned in a textbook.
 
Thanks for catching problems in the text. You have a good eye.
Actually, the compound 両足 can be read as both りょうそく and りょうあし, as you can confirm using multiple dictionaries. The りょうそく reading was used in this instance just to demonstrate how a character with the same reading can have a different meaning in different compounds. However, because the りょうあし reading is more common, I will replace this with a different example.
The item you mention on p. 294 is an error. I will fix that promptly.
 
I just finished writing a new book for learning kanji, and would like to briefly describe it here, in case it might be of interest to anyone visiting this forum.

What I have tried to do with the book is to go into a lot of detail explaining the underlying principles of how the characters are designed and how they are used in the writing of Japanese. I do this to try to eliminate much of the confusion that inevitably occurs when learning kanji.

It's my belief that once you have the solid foundation in kanji this book helps you to achieve, learning and remembering the characters becomes easier.

Compared to other kanji books, this one has lots of discussions, explanation, and examples, so if you are not fond of reading, then it might not be for you. I do believe, though, that the insight gained from reading it will ultimately pay off and benefit one's kanji studies.

For someone who only ever plans to learn a few hundred characters, this book is not necessary. I wrote it for those hoping to learn thousands of characters, who don't want kanji struggles to get in the way of Japanese literacy.

The book is called Kanji no Satori. You can find it on most of the amazon sites, including the US, Canada, UK, and Japan. Here is the link for the US site, which allows you to "look inside" the book: Kanji no Satori: A comprehensive guide to unlocking the secrets of the Chinese writing characters, as used in the Japanese language: Steve Thenell: 9780997222302: Amazon.com: Books

Thanks for your time.

Steve Thenell

If you want to actively sell more books in non-Amazon countries..

For The Netherlands you should contact Bol.com, the biggest online retailer, with lots of English educational books.

As for your target group, there are a few institutions that teach Japanese:
Leiden University (Japan studies)
Hogeschool Zuyd (Oriental languages)
Rotterdam university of applied sciences & amsterdam university of applied sciences both have a program called Asian Trade Management in which Japanese is an elective course.

Good luck!
 
You went from a general interest in kanji about 10 years ago to writing a textbook (or reference book at least) about it. Very impressive.
 
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