Welcome to Visual Kanji!
VISUAL KANJI is a free online video tutorial program to study 1,100 Japanese kanji and 7,000 related words by focusing on a group of kanji that share the same components. Common shapes in kanji, in fact, were derived from the same origin in ancient times, and their meanings, and sounds in many cases, have been retained over time. To show this historical lineage visually, this video tutorial included ancient scripts (oracle bone style 甲骨文, bronzeware style 金文, and seal style 篆文); thus, it is called Visual Kanji.
This program was primarily developed for mature kanji learners at the intermediate level or above who have been searching for a way to study kanji beyond mere rote memorization. It is also designed to fit a self-paced study for busy learners. You can pick a particular group of kanji that you want to know at the time. The 1,100 kanji are grouped into 110 videos. You can view each video independently of the course order.
All 110 video clips are fully narrated in English and Japanese by bilingual narrators. As you watch the video clips, you will see visual information on the screen and hear audio information simultaneously. This gives you a sense that you are being taught by your teacher in a classroom, rather than studying alone.
Additionally, the vocabulary lists (with standard Japanese accent location) and exercise sheets are also provided as PDFs so you can download them to firm up your understanding of the lesson. Building good vocabulary takes time in any language, and yet it is crucial for higher proficiency. Studying kanji and its related words goes hand in hand.
What You Need:
The creator of this tutorial program is Noriko K. Williams, PhD. She has taught Japanese language in university programs in the U. S., and is the author of an origin-based kanji reference, The Key to Kanji – A Visual History of 1100 Characters 漢字絵解き (2010) in print, and The Key to All Joyo Kanji: A Study Guide Using Common Shapes and Ancient Characters 字源と共通形による常用漢字の学習ガイド (2023) in print and eBook. She also maintains a blog: http://kanjiportraits.wordpress.com.
This program was primarily developed for mature kanji learners at the intermediate level or above who have been searching for a way to study kanji beyond mere rote memorization. It is also designed to fit a self-paced study for busy learners. You can pick a particular group of kanji that you want to know at the time. The 1,100 kanji are grouped into 110 videos. You can view each video independently of the course order.
All 110 video clips are fully narrated in English and Japanese by bilingual narrators. As you watch the video clips, you will see visual information on the screen and hear audio information simultaneously. This gives you a sense that you are being taught by your teacher in a classroom, rather than studying alone.
Additionally, the vocabulary lists (with standard Japanese accent location) and exercise sheets are also provided as PDFs so you can download them to firm up your understanding of the lesson. Building good vocabulary takes time in any language, and yet it is crucial for higher proficiency. Studying kanji and its related words goes hand in hand.
What You Need:
- Online access so that you can view the lesson videos with audio. The videos are fully narrated in English and Japanese in standard Japanese.
- A printer to print out the PDF materials for your exercises and vocabulary lists.
- The Key to Kanji – A Visual History of 1100 Characters by Noriko Kurosawa Williams (2010). Cheng and Tsui Company, if you have a copy, but not required.
The creator of this tutorial program is Noriko K. Williams, PhD. She has taught Japanese language in university programs in the U. S., and is the author of an origin-based kanji reference, The Key to Kanji – A Visual History of 1100 Characters 漢字絵解き (2010) in print, and The Key to All Joyo Kanji: A Study Guide Using Common Shapes and Ancient Characters 字源と共通形による常用漢字の学習ガイド (2023) in print and eBook. She also maintains a blog: http://kanjiportraits.wordpress.com.