A Guide to Reading & Writing Japanese

[HairyCockroach]

Has any ever used a book called "a Guide to Reading & Writing Japanese" by Kenneth Henshall? I'm seriously thinking of getting myself a copy but I wanted the opinions of someone who has used it before.

[Vixen Argentum]

I don't know about that book, but the books that were recommended to me by my Japanese teachers and my friends who live abroad in Japan are the Basic Kanji and Intermediate Kanji book series. The first one is here. I used it along side my lessons when I was learning Japanese at my university, and it taught kanji very well.

[HairyCockroach]

What kind of content do the books have? Did they just show Kanji or were there exercises to practice with?

[ParaParaJMo]

Yeah, it shows all the kanji readings and shows you stroke order and has drills for you to practice the individual characters.

[Vixen Argentum]

What kind of content do the books have? Did they just show Kanji or were there exercises to practice with?

Yes, there is the kanji with the onyomi and kunyomi, stroke order, space for you to practice, vocabulary/common kanji compounds, and practice exercises.

Wonderful books!

I used them in conjunction with this series of flashcards

[ParaParaJMo]

Yup, I used the flashcards, too. But with being so reliant on computers nowadays, I can't really write much kanji by hand anymore. I mean, I can read the kanji and I can type it, but when it comes to writing by hand. These days it is easy to forget. Even native Japanese people have this problem as well. It is not just PCs that contribute to the problem, but the use of cell phones that is much bigger since Japan is a society that relies on cell phones so much.