Product Description

The Japanese in MangaLand series from JPT introduced language learners to an innovative, entertaining and educationally-sound way of learning Japanese through the use of manga. Now, this same approach is applied to the often-daunting task of mastering kanji -- the Chinese ideograms in Kanji in MangaLand, the first of a 3-volume course covering the 1,006 basic kanji characters.

Aimed at Western students aged 12 25, the Kanji in MangaLand program differs from traditional methods in that it uses distinct drawings for the parts that form each kanji character; then it shows a manga-style illustration to help the student connect the shapes and the meaning. In addition, the books present information on compound words, stroke order, meaning and such unique features as identifying similar-looking kanji and alternative or older shapes for the same character.

Kanji in MangaLand: Levels 1 & 2 includes 21 lessons. The first seven of these cover all 80 kanji characters learnt by Japanese children in their first primary school year. Lessons 8-21 cover the 160 kanji studied in the next year. In every lesson, the student will learn 8 to 12 kanji and then move on to the exercise section, which features one page of manga using all the characters learnt in that lesson; a page of different types of exercises; and a page with the correct answers, translations and a summary of the new drawing-compounds that will appear in the next lesson. The book also has two special exercise parts one at the end of each level as well as indexes of kanji and reading.

With manga sales booming in 2006, they approached $200 million and interest in learning Japanese skyrocketing as well, the Kanji in MangaLand series is the perfect blend of entertainment and solid language instruction to make learning fun and effective.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #370965 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9784889962215
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author

MARC BERNABE is a Japanese-Spanish/Catalan translator and interpreter, working mainly on manga and anime translations. He also specializes in language and Japanese culture didactics for foreigners. He combines his professional and academic activities with the web page Nipoweb.com, of which he is founder, co-webmaster and regular contributor.

Customer Reviews

Vitamin-C for Studying Kanji
This book is a supplement for people who want to study kanji in addition to their Japanese text books. Kanji in Mangaland Volume I covers around 240 kanji, the Kyoiku kanji taught in the first two years of elementary school in Japan, and also the kanji for Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) level 3 & 4. Unlike other kanji studying materials such as Kanji flashcard, this book provides more than kunyomi, onyomi, and a list of jukugo (compound words). It illustrates the kanji stroke ordering sequence, uses a picture representing the kanji to help reader's memorization, and demonstrates the usage of different kanji via manga examples. The best part of the book is the history overview of where and how the kanji got imported to Japan and the influence on the Japanese language phonetic symbols: Katakana & Hiragana. However, few manga dialogs have some kanji that never been covered in the book, this may cause confusion to the readers. Overall, like Vitamin-C to your body, this book is a pretty good supplement to your Kanji studying.

(Reviewed by Otto Yuen, 01-Jan-2008)

I am looking forward the complete serie
That's by far the best method of learning Kanji I ever met.
It combines traditional carving-by repeat method with visual method.
You have to write a lot in order to master Kanji, but there is no other way, I am afraid, to master Japanese writing and, most important of it, not to forget it the day after.
Drawings are wonderful, and even if it's aimed to teen-agers, it's good for elderly ( like me, fori instance) too.
I hope to be able to purchase the entire serie as quick as possible.

great seller
Item is very helpful in learning Kanji. I never gained an interest in the Japanese in Mangaland series, but this series is well organized and good at reinforcing the lessons as you go. I'd definitely recommend it to other self taught learners.