books and kanji

we went shopping yesterday. i need a backpack and some shoes for school. i've been looking for a while and can't seem to commit to anything. especially the backpack. we wandered around shinjuku, then made our way to shibuya. we looked through a pretty huge used clothing store. i picked up a bag and carried it around while i looked for a black blazer (something i've been wanting but don't want to spend $60.00 on...). i ended up putting the bag back when i saw it better in the light, i couldn't find a blazer i liked (can you wear a black skirt with a different colored blazer? google offered mixed answers), and wearing used shoes is gross to me.

so, abandoning our quest for things we actually need, in true sweatt fashion, we went to a used book store. WITH AN ENGLISH SECTION!!

this is what we ended up going home with...

the start of our lemony snicket collection-for our future children, of course! :)

in other news, i've been studying kanji with renewed passion. we found a new book/method called "remembering the kanji" by james heisig. this man is brilliant. he rearranged the kanji in a way that is easier for the brain to remember by putting together kanji that have the same kinds of parts. in addition, heisig tells a small story using what he calls "primitives" (a different breakdown of the kanji parts than the traditional radicals) and asks you to draw a picture in your mind. he doesn't offer any pictures or drawings, stating that such visuals only cause the imagination to become locked into someone else's idea. by asking you to visualize it yourself, you then form pathways in your brain that cause you to remember. some stories work better than others. but overall i have been really surprised at how much easier the remembering has been.

there is something else kind of weird about the method. it doesn't teach you how to read. the book offers one basic word or phrase to associate with the kanji and that's it. heisig states clearly that his book isn't to teach you to read, only to help you "remember the kanji" (a brilliant title, if i do say so myself). 

if you've struggled with remembering the kanji (oops, sorry) by starting with the traditional ones given to 1st graders or you've tried studying them in the "most used" order, i highly recommend this book. it's actually fun and i look forward to seeing how cleverly heisig can put together primitives to create a story.