Kanji: 台 調 味 野 氷 枚 組 白 冷 送
6: Strolling Along a Shopping Street 近くの商店街で買います
Finding Shops and Services
Kanji: 商 写 真 酒 米 花 横 美 容 古 落
7: Recycle リサイクル
Handling Garbage and Recycling
Kanji: 考 別 指 以 遅 聞 紙 類 制 個 願
8: Visiting Friends 友だちの家へ行きます
Signs and Getting Around
Kanji: 友 現 橋 川 池 町 転 置 公 園 駐 育
9: Let’s Go to a Library 図書館へ行きましょう
Reading Materials
Kanji: 辞 雑 漢 英 初 心 必 要 選 単 力 字 思 困
10: Learning Japanese 日本語を勉強しています
Language Studies
Kanji: 課 試 点 問 題 反 対 難 読 勉 強 忘 練 習 答
11: Seasons in Japan 日本の季節
Four Seasons
Kanji: 節 風 運 春 夏 秋 冬 暖 暑 寒 温 度
12: Going to Akihabara 秋葉原へ行きます
Visiting Akihabara; Digital Camera Functions
Kanji: 説 次 画 音 声 再 多 量 額 重
13: Events and Fairs in Japan 日本の年中行事と祭り
Celebrating Holidays, Events and Festivals
Kanji: 昨 神 若 赤 昔 伝 的 少 化 打 言
14: Visiting Kyoto 京都へ行きます
Kyoto’s Sites
Kanji: 幹 乗 宿 泊 得 夕 寺 由 石 庭 朝 昼 海
15: Going to Onsen 温泉に行きます
Tourist Attractions
Kanji: 早 起 島 静 然 村 飯 晩 夜 寝
16: What’s Wrong? どこが痛いですか
Body and Illness
Kanji: 悪 治 頭 痛 顔 鼻 足 背 熱 元 笑 泣 弱
17: How About the Weather? 天気はどうですか
Weather Reports
Kanji: 天 側 晴 雨 雪 最 低 降 接
18: Writing a New Year’s Card 年賀状を書きましょう
New Year’s Greetings
Kanji: 失 結 婚 卒 賀 状 配 達 返 信
19: Shopping at a Department Store デパートで買い物します
Department Stores
Kanji: 絵 形 色 服 世 界 贈 決 黒 忙
20: Meeting People いろいろな人に会います
Japanese Name Cards, Names, and Job Titles
Kanji: 社 係 長 青 作 林 進 員 森 授 夫
21: What are Your Weekend Plans? 週末は何をしますか
Amusements and Recreation
Kanji: 末 泳 体 歌 遊 術 変 楽 映 未 走
Appendix A: Main Radicals
Appendix B: Kanji Compounds
AP Japanese Kanji List
Answers to the Introductory Quizzes and Advanced Placement Exam Practice Questions
On-Kun Index
Vocabulary Index
INTRODUCTION
This book contains 21 lessons introducing 250 kanji. Each lesson focuses on an everyday situation in Japan.
There is a short explanation of kanji and kana before the lessons begin. You will also find the Appendices, the On-Kun Index and the Vocabulary Index useful to refer to as you learn.
A modified Hepburn system of romanization has been used.
Each lesson is composed of the following sections.
1. Introductory Quiz — This section describes situations that you may encounter in daily life, and is followed by a quiz. By referring first to the words in Vocabulary, you’ll learn the readings and the meanings of the words that are introduced in the lesson. And by solving the quiz, you will understand the situation that’s presented. Try the quiz again after the lesson, and you’ll find out how much you have learned.
2. Vocabulary — This section contains the readings and meanings of the words used in the Introductory Quiz. Refer to it when studying the illustrations or taking the quiz. The numeral above each kanji indicates the lesson where the kanji is introduced.
3. New Characters — This section introduces the kanji of the lesson using Kanji Charts with their meanings, basic on-kun readings, stroke orders, etymologies or memory-aid hints, and compounds with their English translations.
The compounds essentially consist of newly or previously introduced kanji. (Kanji that are not included in the 500 taught in the two volumes of this series are marked with ×.) More important compounds are shown in the upper part of the list. However, you are encouraged to study those in the lower part of the list as well. When kana is optionally added to kanji (okurigana), the most common usage is adopted and formal usages are shown in parentheses.
4. Practice — This section provides practice for reading and writing the kanji found mainly in the upper part of the kanji charts. You should use the practice as a final check for the kanji learned in each lesson. Answers to this section are not provided.
5. Advanced Placement Exam Practice Questions — This section provides an exercise similar in format to the College Board’s Advanced Placement examination for Japanese Language and Culture. You can try the exercise after each lesson, or after completing all the lessons.
UNDERSTANDING KANJI
The oldest Chinese characters, the precursors of kanji, originated more than 3,000 years ago. Originally they were simple illustrations of objects and phenomena in everyday life, and developed as a writing tool mainly characterized by pictography and ideography. Thus each of the Chinese characters carries its own meaning within itself.
Chinese characters, or kanji, can be classified according to origin and structure into four main categories:
1. Pictographic characters are derived from the shapes of concrete objects.