Japanese Character Writing For Dummies

Description

Learn to write 100 Japanese characters If you want to join the ranks of more than 128 million speakers of Japanese worldwide, this book should be your first stop! Whether studying for school, business, or travel, learning to write the Japanese Kanji characters is essential to gain a working knowledge of this language. Japanese is considered to be the most complicated writing system in the world, with tens of thousands of characters. But with Japanese Character Writing For Dummies, you’ll find easy step-by-step instructions for writing the first 100 Japanese Kanji characters with ease. • Includes online bonus content featuring videos, downloadable flashcards, and printable writing pages • Offers easy-to-follow instruction for writing 100 Japanese characters • Helps you take your understanding of the language to a new level • Shows you how to use the written word to communicate with native speakers Learning to write Japanese Kanji characters is fun ― and now it’s fast and easy too! Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Where to Go from Here Chapter 1 Wrapping Your Head around Japanese Writing and Pronunciation Brief History of Three Writing Scripts: Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana Taking a cue from Chinese writing — Kanji Creating writing scripts better suited to Japanese — hiragana and katakana Pronouncing Japanese Sounds Making Variations of Sounds Two diacritical marks Long vowels Small ya, yu, yo Small tsu When to Use Kanji Chapter 2 Exploring the Nature of Japanese Kanji Getting to Know the Four Types of Kanji Pictographs Simple ideographs Compound ideographs Phonetic-ideographic characters On’yomi versus Kun’yomi Readings Okurigana Kanji compounds Sound shifts in kanji compounds What Are Kanji Radicals? Positions of Radicals Writing Kanji Stroke order Types of strokes Chapter 3 105 Characters Appendix Blank Grids for Extra Practice EULA