Index
Japanese Language Proficiency Level Index
Theoretical Approach
Foreigners who study Japanese often question why all four writing systems must be learned to master the language. First, the four writing systems—Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji characters, and the Roman ABCs—each have unique roles. Hiragana is generally used for native words and grammatical values, while Katakana is reserved for foreign words. Here, the function of Katakana shows the cultural consciousness to draw a line between what is Japanese, and what is not. Roman alphabets are valued for initials, such as APEC, WHO, and EU, and for commercial advertisements. Kanji characters must be learned to differentiate between the large bodies of Japanese homophones; words that sound exactly alike though the meanings may differ. A separate Kanji character exists for all the homophones whose meanings would be unclear if written in a purely Hiragana or Katakana text. Second, and more obviously, one must learn all four writing systems to read Japanese text, which in one sentence can utilize Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji characters, and the Roman ABCs. In addition, as the usage of Japanese language is more defined by the regiments of Japanese culture than by conventional reason, one must gain a basic understanding of the Japanese way of life. As such, one cannot isolate the study of the language from the confines of Japanese culture itself.
The uniqueness of Japanese civilization was reinforced by its insularity as one of the few nations to never have been colonized, when colonization swept three-fourths of the globe. Predating Japanese society, the significance of Kanji characters can be understood as the oldest existing, and most widely-used writing system in the world. The earliest forms of Kanji characters were found on oracle bones made from tortoise shells dating back to 1,700 BC—1,100 BC in Hénán, China. However, the evolution of modern-day recognizable Kanji characters was established in approximately 200 AD, reaching the shores of Japan two centuries later. Though other ancient writing systems, such as the Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian scripts, have become nothing more than museum pieces, Kanji characters have flourished; surviving numerous tests of time. Moreover, attributable to the sheer population size of its users—China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and the Koreas—Kanji is arguably the world’s most widely-used writing system. Yet, in spite of these characteristics, Kanji characters remain a "black hole" to the rest of the world; a situation that need not continue.
Kanji characters and the Roman alphabets are separate and distinct writing systems. The Roman A-to-Z system is based on a combination of letters to form words expanding into sentences. Individually, English letters contain no inherent meaning. One could, therefore, create a new word, like common names or pronouns, without necessarily attaching any meaning. Kanji characters are the exact opposite. Each one already has assigned meanings before combining them to form word compounds. Consequently, one could not form a Kanji word compound stripped of meaning. For highly Kanji literate people, reading Kanji characters is somewhat like reading pictures. That’s not entirely an exaggeration since each Kanji character represents an inherent meaning. Also, many Kanji characters resemble their meaning. For example, the characters for "person" and "river" actually look like a walking person, and a streaming river: 人 and 川.
Communication through symbols, like Kanji characters, takes place all over the world through universal ideograms. When we see the symbols
Kanji characters are remarkably complex; the pronunciation of many characters sound alike, and even more numerous are the characters that look alike. The readings of each character can be split in two groups: ON-yomi, the Chinese reading, or KUN-yomi, the Japanese reading. A large number of Kanji characters may have the same ON-yomi reading. For example, the ON-yomi reading for the following characters can all be read as "kan," though their meanings are completely different: 間、 官、 感 and 漢. A quick count of the Jōyō (most common) Kanji characters pronounced as "kan" would reach the figure of 64, though their meanings are hardly related. Hence, the key to mastering Kanji characters is to aim for their core English meanings. When one contemplates an object in visual form, its pronunciation becomes secondary. When one sees David Beckham playing his game, whether it’s to be called "football" or "soccer" becomes not so important. As a meaning-focused writing system—not pronunciation based—one major advantage is as follows: Though Chinese or Japanese people cannot necessarily converse in a common spoken medium, Kanji characters would enable the two vast cultures, nevertheless, to communicate.
Other Kanji books approach the teaching of Kanji the same way young children are taught Kanji in Japan; by means of the grade-level approach. The needs of children and adult language learners are much different, thus, this teaching method designed for children clearly cannot be the most effective way for adults to learn Kanji. While children learn languages with a symmetrical progression between simple ideas and simple linguistic skills, adult learners have to cope with an unbalanced equation between complex ideas and simple linguistic skills. For adults learning a second language, new linguistic skills must first catch up with his or her already complex thinking—a process that could be frustrating. The main theory behind this book is to simplify Kanji learning through the process of comparison. The study of Kanji through the grade-level approach would completely ignore a significant hindrance of learning Kanji: many Kanji characters look alike and are therefore difficult to differentiate.
In Kanji Handbook, the easily-confused Kanji characters are grouped together so the learner can notice the subtle differences between The similar-looking characters. The learning process navigates through visually distinguishing one from the other, to identify their unique differences, in order to get the core meaning. This book is a humble attempt toward the mastery of Kanji characters within a meaning-focused framework. The core meanings should be of central importance. The conventional presentation of Kanji characters in contemporary Kanji books has the Kanji characters and English words sitting side by side, such as: 水 = water, 山 = mountain, and
