Kana Pict-o-Graphix: Mnemonics for Japanese Hiragana and Katakana | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Rowley
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press
Category: Book
List Price: $6.00
Buy New: $2.79
You Save: $3.21 (54%)
New (29) Used (10) from $2.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 15259
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 72
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 4.9 x 3 x 0.3
ISBN: 1880656183
Dewey Decimal Number: 495.682421
EAN: 9781880656181
ASIN: 1880656183
Publication Date: September 1, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
This compact book is a lively collection of contemporary memory aids (mnemonics) that teaches you the shapes and sounds of hiragana and katakana, the two basic syllabaries used in written Japanese. Combining clever drawings and text memory aids, each hiragana and katakana pair is presented on a single page for comparison, with separate visual and text mnemonics. Fits handily into any pocket.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Wonderful Learning Tool ! July 30, 2008
Nice tiny little book. Take it anywhere. I found that it's a great way to remember how to pronounce the kana of the Japanese writing!
Believe the hype- it's really a great little book. June 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When I saw reviews for this book, I was worried that too many of the reviews sounded canned, but I thought for $6, there wasn't much to lose. After getting the book, I think all the enthusiasm might just be genuine. Please note- this is a *very* little book, as in measuring perhaps 5"x3", and consisting of 73 pages. This is beyond pocket-sized, it's micro. But for what you get, this book (er, "pocket guide" is more appropriate) easily qualifies as one of the best pound-for-pound deals in the industry.
Included are the full katakana and hiragana (absent are the kanji, but the author has a book just for that titled "Kanji Pict-o-Graphix"). The book opens with a short introduction and pronunciation guide to the romanization, and ends with a nice selection of useful topics in concise from, from voiced and unvoiced characters to combined forms and doublers. There are even quick-lookup indexes. There really is enough in here to read and (passably) pronounce these two alphabets. Note that a dictionary of actual meanings is absent, so you'll need to compliment this with other materials if you want to do more than meaninglessly sound out phrases.
The central gimmick of creating mnemonics to help you quickly memorize and retain the kana is absolutely praiseworthy. Each page has one sound / character, in its katakana and hiragana equivalents. You see the actual character, and the author's look-alike picture and sound-alike phrase. You can see this on the cover- the symbol Chi is presented by a figure cheering, and CHEer is your pronunciation clue. Some of the look-alikes are pretty far-fetched, but overall, it works. (Like the phrase for Mo is "Catch MO' fish with two worms", with an appropriate picture- I doubt I'll ever forget that one, which might be a good thing)
If you're looking for a quick and easy way to learn your katakana and hiragana, I've frankly never seen a better pocket guide than this. The best possible reason to get this volume is if you're already in a Japanese course (or have another book on learning the language) and your real trouble is just memorizing these alphabets. Most of the characters will instantly register with you, and retention is excellent. Understand that this book is what it is- a guide to memorizing the kana- and that it is no more and no less. If that's what you need, I highly recommend this product.
The Perfect Tool For Learning the Kana! May 3, 2008
This tiny little book does exactly what it says it does--it teaches you the kana in a matter of minutes/hours. I've tried other mnemonic pictures available on the Internet, but none are better than these. You'll learn the kana quickly and painlessly--I can't recommend this one highly enough!
 Don't buy this BOOK!!!! April 14, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you plan on continuing Japanese studies then do not buy this book!
Buy Kanji Pict-o-Graphix: Over 1,000 Japanese Kanji and Kana Mnemonics (Zzz). It contains all katakana and hiragana inside plus thousands of Kanji!
And to get free shipping also order Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese Dictionary (the best portable dictionary I've come across).
Learning kana March 25, 2008
I loved this little book. The pictures are very helpful when trying to remember new letters (some are more helpful then others, but in general I loved it).
|
|
|
