Kanji is one of those subjects that classroom Japanese students and Japanese self-study advocates alike struggle with. Believe me, I know first hand that studying kanji can be a rather sharp pain in the butt.
Why is learning/studying kanji so damn hard? Well, for starters there are just so frickin’ many of them: they say to be proficient at reading newspapers, magazines, etc. you need upwards of 1500 characters!
Just hearing that is enough to dissuade the Japanese dabbler, or even a well-intentioned beginner, from ever truly learning kanji or causing them to quit somewhere along the way.
Another issue is that reading kanji can be flat out confusing!
There are multiple readings for each symbol (on-yomi and kun-yomi). There are times when I’ve even seen native Japanese people struggle with how a symbol is read. If a Japanese person is stumbling over characters, what hope does a non-native have?!?
Well, there is still hope. I just think kanji is one of those things where you have to get a plan of how you want to do it, and just enjoy learning them as you go. I’m nowhere near perfect with mine, but I’m picking up more and more every single day.
One book that was really effective in helping me get a bit of self-study kanji clarity was the hot pink, “Nihongo Challenge Kanji N4-5” book by Ask Publishing.
First let’s examine some of the things that make this book really useful. Here are Seven Good things about the Nihongo Challenge N4-5 Textbook:
In my opinion, this is the number one benefit of this book. Showing the original pictorial idea behind each of the kanji symbols helps you understand why the kanji are the way they are.
These pictures take a rather complex, sometimes dry (let’s be honest), subject and turns it into something fun and memorable, something that you look forward to doing every day.
Even though I’m a huge fan of constant writing and repetition when it comes to kanji, learning through pictures and repetition sure as hell beats sitting down and just looking at bland strokes and just writing them over and over.
The pictures are also helpful because they can be a great way to start delving in the meanings of kanji radicals, common symbols that certain groups of kanji share.
Yes, there are wonderful kanji apps on the market today, but what better way to truly get a handle on your kanji than by breaking out a pencil and writing them?
This book gives you a chance to practice writing each kanji six times during the initial lesson, and more during the practice sections at the end of each unit.
Quizzes force you to show what you know. Even if you’re studying by yourself, please don’t underestimate the value of a good quiz. The quizzes every three lessons can really be a great method to ensure that you’re regularly getting the opportunity to see just how much you remember.
In addition to having the mini quizzes, there are longer そうごうれんしゅう tests. There are two in the book. One that covers units 1-11 and the second covering units 1-20. I really like that these tests don’t solely rely on multiple choice questions. There are more complex questions that incorporate tables, diagrams, and light reading.
This textbook follows a simple format:
*Initial tutorial & exercise (usually basic hiragana/kanji matching)
–*Practice using Nihongo Challenge-style pictures
*Practice 1: 読み方 (Yomikata – How to Read)
*Practice 2: Fill in the Blanks
*Every 3 Lessons Quiz
Every 10-11 Lesssons Cumulative Exam
In addition to having this straightforward format, keep in mind that each lesson covers ten kanji, which is “bite-sized” lesson that doesn’t overwhelm you.
One of the most useful things about this book is that it takes the beginning-level kanji student and exposes them to how kanji work. For example, there is a unit that goes into how certain parts of kanji are positioned. Here’s an example:
Here’s an example of one of the many useful snippets that this book has about kanji. In this pictures the book explains the positioning of different part of a kanji.
This book has kanji that will not only help to get ready for the JLPT, but it has kanji that are useful in a variety of different everyday situations: from numbers to signs, professions to body parts, family to food, common adjectives to common verbs, and more.
I’m not a big fan of just learning random info just because. When you can apply/connect what you’re learning to something in the world around you, it becomes so much more powerful. That’s why I like much of the content that this book covers.
It’s equally important to look at why a Japanese textbook might not be so good. There isn’t a whole lot of bad to mention with the Nihongo Challenge N4-N5 kanji book, but here are a few things:
Wait, aren’t pictures one of the benefits of this Nihongo Challenge textbook, too? Yes, they are. BUT…sometimes the drawings that accompany the kanji you’re learning don’t look anything like the actual written symbols. More often than not, the pictures are okay, but in those instances when you’re really trying to remember or reproduce a kanji symbol it can be irritating when the pic in your mind isn’t doing anything to jog your memory for the way the kanji is written or the way it’s read.
Some of the pictures in this book can be a bit harder to make out. They only make more sense after reading.
I know this sounds like I’m nitpicking, but that bright pink sleeve announces to the entire world that you’re studying beginning Japanese. Of course there’s nothing wrong with studying beginning Japanese (everybody had to start somewhere), but it draws all kinds of attention to yourself: “HEY EVERYBODY! LOOK! I’M A BEGINNER!!”
If you buy this book, try unsheathing it on the train, in all of its pink glory, and see how many eyes cut in your direction. If you’re trying to be low key about your studying while using this book, you can forget about it, or you may wanna just lose the sleeve.
On the bright side, though, I don’t think I’ve ever misplaced this book…EVER!
Although I think the book accomplishes what it’s intended to, the actual amount of stroke order practice you get is quite limited. It will take a lot more practice than you’re getting here to actually paste these symbols to your memory. But hey, limited practice beats no practice at all, which some of later, Nihongo So-Matome Kanji books are guilty of. But we’ll save that discussion for another time.
Often when you purchase Japanese books, you may end up studying them for a while, and eventually put them away to collect dust somewhere in your house. I think having a method to using these books can be very important. Here are the ten steps I followed to through this book cover to cover:
1. Go through the basic intro: The exercises at the beginning of each unit are a rather light, fun, and helpful way to start learning the ten kanji for the lesson.
2. Scan through each kanji and its basic meaning: The second part of the unit shows meanings, readings, and pictures.
3. Take a second look at each kanji’s picture and why it is the way it is.
4. Practice writing each kanji in the spaces provided.
5. Practice writing at least the gray highlighted compounds/words: Seeing the kanji in word form is very important in order to be able to read it later. Ideally you would write each and every listed word. But at the very least, write the highlighted words (the ones the book says are useful).
6. Do Practice Exercise One (simple readings and simple sentences)
7. Do Practice Exercise Two (Fill in the blank)
8. Review on your own and do the 3-Lesson Review Quiz
9. Do the そうごうれんしゅう (Sougou Renshuu or Cumulative Practice)
10. Rinse, Repeat, Review
JAPAN GUY TIP: I highly recommend trying these quizzes without referring back to the earlier lessons. This forces you to tap your memory and get a true sense of where your weaknesses are. It can be so easy just to go back, especially if you’re doing self-study. But if you can fight that urge, it can make a marked difference in what you get out of this textbook.
This is one of the better books available for true blue beginners who want to learn kanji. If you’ve never studied or just studied a little, this book can be an interesting way to learn that doesn’t insult your intelligence. This is a great textbook for the visual learner.
If you’re a strong intermediate or an advanced level student, unless you just wanna go back for kicks, I don’t think this is the best book for you. I also don’t recommend this book for those who don’t like to study with pictures.
The Nihongo Challenge Book has a 4.4 star rating on Amazon Japan. There aren’t many ratings for the U.S. site because the book is sold primarily in Japan. But it is a good kanji book for beginners.
All major Japanese bookstores carry the Nihongo Challenge textbook if you browse the study guides section. I’m not sure whether or not the book is sold in U.S. bookstores, though.
You can CLICK HERE to go to the Amazon order page.
All things considered, for the beginning, self-study Japanese student who has absolutely no concept of Japanese kanji, this book can be quite effective.
The Nihongo Challenge textbook provides you a means to see kanji in a way that’s both interesting and non-intimidating.So if you’re looking to learn some kanji and/or maybe even pass a JLPT test, this book can help you. This is the very book I used to help me pass my very first JLPT test (JLPT 4).Because this book is geared toward beginners, if I had to grade this textbook, I would give it a B+.
Have you ever tried the Nihongo Challenge Textbook Series? If so, did you like it? Why or Why not? Got another kanji book you love? Tell us about it?
Textbooks aren’t your thing? Another possible option is Japanesepod101.
Donald Ash is an Atlanta, Georgia-born, American expat who has been living in a Japanese time warp for the last eleven years. While in that time warp, he discovered that he absolutely loves writing, blogging, and sharing. Donald is the creator of thejapanguy.com blog. Wanna know more about this guy? Check out his "What's Your Story" page.
Session expired
Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.
I have been hunting a good Kanji book to get. This helps out so much thank you so much.
200% my pleasure, Lauren. I hope your kanji study is going well!
I would really like to buy this book but to have it shipped to Sweden thru amazon it costs alot! Could you please help me see what it would cost to ship it from Japan if a friend bought it for me?
Oooh, good question. I’ll have to look into that, Sascha!
Hey Don, quick question.
I found a similar looking book under the same series in all its pink glory, but entitled ‘N4 Vocabulary’ instead of ‘N4-5 Kanji’. Am I right to presume that the former simply focuses on building vocabulary whereas the latter focuses on the system and workings of kanji?
Gosh, I apologize for not ever seeing this comment. YOU are 100% right on that, Zikri! Yep, this book focuses on how the kanji work. I’ll have to dig around to see if I actually own the vocabulary book for this level
This one, right?
Whoop, I noticed this was one of the books easily available in the local bookstore bookstore. I wanted to look it up online to see if it’s any good, cos I liked what I saw but I like to hear from someone who actually used it first. Thanks for the review!
Truly my pleasure, Reno. This text served me well. I used it to pass N4 when I took it (in conjuction with my Genki stuff of course). But take this with a grain of salt, because once you get the kanji in your head, via the pictures they teach, not all of them stay in there just because you pass the test. It’s consistent review that really makes a HUGE difference!
I didn’t read the whole article yet, which I will do soon, but just in case my question doesn’t get answered anyway I wanted to post it here: How many Kanji does this book teach? And also, why N4-5? Doesn’t this series (it is one right?) start with N1-2 or something?
The easiest levels are N5 and if you pass N1 it means that you have proficiency of a Japanese like it was your mother tongue.
Hey thanks for the reply! Are you sure about that? And if you own that book: do you know how many kanji it teaches?
This book covers 310 kanji. That’s 110 from the N5, and 200 from N4. There are books covering N1-3 from the same publisher under the title “Nihongo So-matome”, they are very good books.
I have to disagree with the above poster about something though; passing N1 will not necessarily put you anywhere near native-level.
Thanks, I’ll pick this up then if I find it cheap enough somewhere.
You beat me to this one. My answer is a bit of a duplicate. But thank you sooooooo much for sharing!!!
As far as the native-level thing goes. I think it depends on the tester. I’ve seen some incredibly fluent speakers and even a couple of translators who had a heck of a time passing N1. On the flip-side I’ve seen other non-English-speaking foreigners (e.g.-Chinese, Tawanese) who can ace the JLPTs because of their familiarity with the symbols, but who struggle to communicate in spoken Japanese, it happens.
There are those balanced Japanese students who have both skills, though. Their reading/comprehension is on point, and they can talk their arses off!
Truthfully, I can’t claim to be a genius at either one. I just have fun and keep working on improving. I take the “Rock Lee” approach (for you Naruto fans out there) to Japanese…work hard, even when you fail… day in and day out until you become amazing 😀
Hey, thanks for answering, even if it’s 7 months late xD
Would be nice if there was a Naruto approach in real life. Just create as many kage bunshin as there are kanji and everyone just learns one and voila, you know everything! I’m not a big fan of the Rock Lee approach ^^
God I wish! LOL
Couldn’t have said it any better myself, SolaraN! Good stuff
Hey Serjo! This book teaches 310 kanji. Thanks for asking that, it’s actually worth updating the post with that information. I’ve seen a few books that group N4 and N5 kanji together. Those are the starting levels for the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test, for those who read this comment later) and there will be some overlap in the info you have to know for those two levels. I hope that helps.
P.S.-Sorry for the late response. I’ve come to the sobering realization that I need to take more time to be useful, right here on my own blog. Thanks for your question 😀
A really good place to learn Kanji is a place called Wanikani! It focuses on the easiest Kanji first and works its way up to the complex ones. Its lets you do the first 2 levels for free and its a worthy place to check out if your struggling to with your Kanji learning!
WaniKani is good stuff. Honestly I haven’t been using it so much these days, but I remember interviewing Koichi about it. He knows what he’s doing! Thanks for sharing, SolaraN! 😀