Greeting from Author - ごあいさつ
初めまして. I am Noriko Williams, the creator of VISUAL KANJI, free online kanji tutorials employing visual images and etymological analyses of 1100 kanji.
I taught the Japanese language in college programs in the United States for a long time. Over the years I have met many people outside the classroom who expressed their disappointment, regret or even embarrassment that because of kanji they stopped learning Japanese. I always felt sad to hear that, as if we Japanese teachers had not been doing the job right for these people.
I searched for a way in which learners could feel stimulated and engaged in kanji study – something that would give them an alternative to the rote memorization that had made them weary of kanji. My search moved me to look at the origins of kanji. In my 2010 kanji reference book, The Key to Kanji, which is the textbook for these tutorials, we used illustrations to show how the shapes and meanings of ancient Chinese writing influenced current kanji. With visual help, a reader could immediately grasp the relationship between shape and meaning. In this course, I am also incorporating how ancient writing looked in three styles – oracle bone style (甲骨文), bronze ware style (金文), and ten (official seal) style (篆文), wherever available. Learning has to involve an opportunity for you to do your own thinking, and when you use this site you will be able to see for yourself the connection between shape and meaning of kanji, going back to its origins.
Learning 1100 kanji is not the end of kanji study, but it covers a great deal of kanji and gives you a solid foundation to move on. Studying kanji and applying it in real life should go hand in hand. That means vocabulary is an essential component of kanji study. So, I have included a vocabulary study component in this kanji course.
I hope these tutorials will be helpful to you, and I look forward to meeting you in the course.
I taught the Japanese language in college programs in the United States for a long time. Over the years I have met many people outside the classroom who expressed their disappointment, regret or even embarrassment that because of kanji they stopped learning Japanese. I always felt sad to hear that, as if we Japanese teachers had not been doing the job right for these people.
I searched for a way in which learners could feel stimulated and engaged in kanji study – something that would give them an alternative to the rote memorization that had made them weary of kanji. My search moved me to look at the origins of kanji. In my 2010 kanji reference book, The Key to Kanji, which is the textbook for these tutorials, we used illustrations to show how the shapes and meanings of ancient Chinese writing influenced current kanji. With visual help, a reader could immediately grasp the relationship between shape and meaning. In this course, I am also incorporating how ancient writing looked in three styles – oracle bone style (甲骨文), bronze ware style (金文), and ten (official seal) style (篆文), wherever available. Learning has to involve an opportunity for you to do your own thinking, and when you use this site you will be able to see for yourself the connection between shape and meaning of kanji, going back to its origins.
Learning 1100 kanji is not the end of kanji study, but it covers a great deal of kanji and gives you a solid foundation to move on. Studying kanji and applying it in real life should go hand in hand. That means vocabulary is an essential component of kanji study. So, I have included a vocabulary study component in this kanji course.
I hope these tutorials will be helpful to you, and I look forward to meeting you in the course.
Acknowledgements
A lot of time and care have been put into developing the materials for this course. I am truly fortunate to be around people who are so willing to help me with all their talents, skills and their understanding of what I am trying to do. I would like to say “お疲れさまでした” ("Thank you for your hard work") to the following people: Marion Madsen, Luke Pelerno, Grace Ahern and Mark Williams for their bilingual narration work; Yutaka Houlette for his web design; Ayako Williams for her illustrations; Treemotel for the use of their music; Masako Swihart, Michiko Stephens and Yuko Kurosawa for their data filing work. I have no doubt that in the course of improving this course I will be relying on many more people, and I look forward to it. [December, 2015]