Harold Goodman's review:
I am the author of the Michel Thomas CD courses to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese. I was taught by Mr. Thomas how to insure success for learners without memorization, homework, anxiety and testing. I am interested in innovative ways to teach; innovative ways that have proven track records.
Dr. Heisig is justly famous for his previous books on how to learn to write the Japanese kan ji ( Chinese-derived characters). Writing the kan ji and original Chinese han zi ( characters) has been a major stumbling block for most students. Without knowing the characters one cannot be literate in either of these languages.
The genius of Heisig's method is in devising an approach whereby he breaks the characters down into component parts and then systematically teaches the student to build them up again in a skillful way that results in the learner knowing the characters.
The first volume presents the most commonly used 1,500 Chinese characters. This will get you through 90% of any common Chinese text which is a nice place to start. The second volume, which is in the works, takes us through an additional 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000. With 3,000 characters the reader can tackle 99.5% of written Chinese.
One thing which is important to understand ahead of time is that this book does not encourage repetitive writing of the character being learned. Indeed, with Dr. Heisig's approach one need only write the character one time. What we are doing here is learning English-language keywords that are related to each character. These are attached to mnemonics or little stories which help fix the necessary keyword(s) and primitive elements ( smaller particles necessary to write the characters). Thus, the concentration here is on learning material in English which will automatically produce a perfectly written character. There is also an emphasis on stroke order which pays off richly later on in one's studies.
By concentrating on teaching and learning in English, the anxiety level is kept quite low.
In order to get the most out of this book I recommend reading the following pages first: Introduction, 105-107 (the best and clearest explanation of the method) as well as 260-261 ( the fruit of the method is finally revealed). Also, make the flash cards described ( p.47-48) and use them as suggested; from Keyword to mnemonic story to actual character and NOT the other way around. This approach will get you the desired result.
There are also two lists in the back of the book providing pin yin pronunciation for each character. However, Heisig does not recommend attempting to learn these the first go around.
This is the most extreme deviation from traditional teaching of Chinese characters ( han zi) that I know of. However, if faithfully followed you will learn 3,000 characters in record time and, more importantly, remember them.
At some point the mnemonic stories and keywords just drop away and you are left with the characters. You just have to understand this when you begin.
Don't go too fast. Find your own pace and be gentle with yourself. Some days you will do more, others less. The important thing is to keep at it.
Until something better comes along this is the only book I would recommend for anyone desiring to learn Han zi.
I am the author of the Michel Thomas CD courses to learn to speak Mandarin Chinese. I was taught by Mr. Thomas how to insure success for learners without memorization, homework, anxiety and testing. I am interested in innovative ways to teach; innovative ways that have proven track records.
Dr. Heisig is justly famous for his previous books on how to learn to write the Japanese kan ji ( Chinese-derived characters). Writing the kan ji and original Chinese han zi ( characters) has been a major stumbling block for most students. Without knowing the characters one cannot be literate in either of these languages.
The genius of Heisig's method is in devising an approach whereby he breaks the characters down into component parts and then systematically teaches the student to build them up again in a skillful way that results in the learner knowing the characters.
The first volume presents the most commonly used 1,500 Chinese characters. This will get you through 90% of any common Chinese text which is a nice place to start. The second volume, which is in the works, takes us through an additional 1,500 characters for a total of 3,000. With 3,000 characters the reader can tackle 99.5% of written Chinese.
One thing which is important to understand ahead of time is that this book does not encourage repetitive writing of the character being learned. Indeed, with Dr. Heisig's approach one need only write the character one time. What we are doing here is learning English-language keywords that are related to each character. These are attached to mnemonics or little stories which help fix the necessary keyword(s) and primitive elements ( smaller particles necessary to write the characters). Thus, the concentration here is on learning material in English which will automatically produce a perfectly written character. There is also an emphasis on stroke order which pays off richly later on in one's studies.
By concentrating on teaching and learning in English, the anxiety level is kept quite low.
In order to get the most out of this book I recommend reading the following pages first: Introduction, 105-107 (the best and clearest explanation of the method) as well as 260-261 ( the fruit of the method is finally revealed). Also, make the flash cards described ( p.47-48) and use them as suggested; from Keyword to mnemonic story to actual character and NOT the other way around. This approach will get you the desired result.
There are also two lists in the back of the book providing pin yin pronunciation for each character. However, Heisig does not recommend attempting to learn these the first go around.
This is the most extreme deviation from traditional teaching of Chinese characters ( han zi) that I know of. However, if faithfully followed you will learn 3,000 characters in record time and, more importantly, remember them.
At some point the mnemonic stories and keywords just drop away and you are left with the characters. You just have to understand this when you begin.
Don't go too fast. Find your own pace and be gentle with yourself. Some days you will do more, others less. The important thing is to keep at it.
Until something better comes along this is the only book I would recommend for anyone desiring to learn Han zi.
Code:
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