familiarize yourself with its meaning, pronunciation, usage examples, and radical. Be creative and make associations to help you remember the shape, composition, meaning, and sound of the character you are working on. Your associations can be logical or natural, or can be silly or funny. Your imagination and creativity will always help you learn and remember new things, especially when you are dealing with numerous items. Under each character in this book, the first several boxes show the stroke order and direction. Refer to them, and try writing the character once. The number of strokes for each kanji is specified in the upper-left corner of each page. Check whether you used the correct number of strokes when you wrote the kanji. Then compare your character with the one printed on the page. Pay attention to the size and the position of the character in relation with the box as well as the proportion and shape of the lines.
Practice writing the character
When you have fully understood the given character in terms of meaning, pronunciation, usage, radical, and stroke order, write it about 10 times in a row. You may not believe it, but your hand muscle will remember how to write a kanji if you repeat writing it many times. If helpful, trace over the gray characters at the beginning of each page.
Review kanji periodically
Practice a few new characters at a time every day following the above steps. Once you have worked your way through the first half of this volume, in which the kanji are introduced for the first time, move on to the practice exercises in the second half of the book. These practice exercises will allow you to use the 207 kanji you have learned in this volume and in the previous volume (104 + 103), plus your existing knowledge of hiragana and katakana, to write real vocabulary words, which is a great way to reinforce and remember the kanji. Each exercise gives particular emphasis to the four kanji given in the heading, and you should find that as you work your way through the exercises that your writing becomes smoother and your recall of the characters easier. The more vocabulary words you learn, and the more you practice writing them, the easier it becomes to memorize the kanji!
頑張ってください。
Ganbatte kudasai!
Try your best (and good luck)!
春
spring
9 strokes
日 radical
ON readings
シュン SHUN
KUN readings
はる haru
common words
春休み はるやすみ haru-yasumi spring vacation
春分 しゅんぶん shunbun spring equinox
春雨 はるさめ harusame spring rain
春先 はるさき harusaki beginning of spring
新春 しんしゅん shinshun new year
立春 りっしゅん risshun the first day of spring
思春期 ししゅんき shishunki puberty
夏
summer
10 strokes
夊 radical
ON readings
カ KA, ゲ GE
KUN readings
なつ natsu
common words
夏休み なつやすみ natsu-yasumi summer vacation
夏時間 なつじかん natsu-jikan daylight saving time
夏ばて なつばて natsubate summer heat fatigue
春夏秋冬 しゅんかしゅうとう shunkashūtō spring- summer-autumn-winter (four seasons)
真夏 まなつ manatsu midsummer
冷夏 れいか reika cool summer
夏期講習 かきこうしゅう kaki-kōshū summer courses
秋
autumn, fall
9 strokes
禾 radical
ON readings
シュウ SHŪ
KUN readings
あき aki
common words
秋分 しゅうぶん shūbun autumnal equinox
秋空 あきぞら akizora autumn sky
秋月 しゅうげつ shūgetsu the autumn moon
秋口 あきぐち akiguchi beginning of autumn
立秋 りっしゅう risshū the first day of autumn
秋葉原 あきはばら Akihabara Akihabara (place name)
秋晴れ あきばれ akibare clear autumnal weather
冬
winter
5 strokes
冫 radical
ON readings
トウ TŌ
KUN readings
ふゆ fuyu
common words
冬休み ふゆやすみ fuyu-yasumi winter vacation
冬山 ふゆやま fuyu-yama wintery mountain
冬空 ふゆぞら fuyu-zora wintery sky
冬眠 とうみん tōmin hibernation
冬祭り ふゆまつり fuyu-matsuri winter festival
暖冬 だんとう dantō mild winter
真冬
