"Kana: Pict-O-Graphix" by Michael Rowley

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A simple, pocket-size companion using illustrations to help those learning the beautiful, written language from Japan.

👤 Kris Caballero 📅 Jul 16, 2012 🗨 1 comment 📂 Book Reviews

Along with Korean and their pop music, the same held right with Japanese and thus wanted to learn their language. The Japanese writing system is completely different and having to get a hold of learning the Kana, before I jump start on the Kanji, wasn't as easy as I thought. Fun books like this make it that much easy, using humorous drawings, to help remember the Kana. If that isn't enough to help you remember the Kana, the words/sentences on how each Kana is pronounced should. Personally, I haven't mastered the Kana yet, but reference books like this is helping a lot.

Also, inside the front is the complete Hiragana palette and inside the back cover is the Katakana palette, so you don't need to scroll through the pages to quickly remember that one character you forgot.

Overall, anyone looking to learn the beautiful Japanese language and looking to stock up on some decent, inexpensive books and guides to help you attain fluency, this book should be on your list as one of your references.

Because Japanese is one of the more popular languages along with Chinese, and more popular than Korean, the language does take a bit of time and effort to get a hold of the entire Kana. The illustrations on this book is making it easy, for me at least, to memorize the Kana better (funny because I couldn't find a book like this for Korean, but was able to memorize the entire Korean alphabet quicker than the Japanese Kana!). I also learned about "Noodle held by chopsticks," the "Cheer," the "Koi is Japanese for 'carp'," and the "Key." A very helpful book!

CONTENTS5/5

COVER5/5

WRITING5/5

PRICE5/5

PLUSES

Fun little reference book, using illustrations to memorize the Japanese language.
Affordable.

MINUSES

None.

100% (A+)

Fan Rating

PROFILE
Title	Kana: Pict-O-Graphix Mnemonics for Japanese Hiragana and Katakana
Author(s)	Michael Rowley
Description	*Kana Pict-o-Graphix* is lively collection of contemporary memory aids that teaches you the shapes and sounds of hiragana and katakana, the two basic syllabaries used in written Japanese. Each hiragana and katakana pair is presented on a single page for comparison, with separate visual and text mnemonics. Also included is a brief introduction, pronunciation tips, notes on kana combinations and characters easily confused, and complete kana charts. The book fits handily into any pocket for quick use and reference.
Dedication	"To my good friend Joshua"
ISBN	978-1-880656-18-1
Book Dimensions	Width: 3.0″
	Height: 5.0″
	Depth: 0.25″ (¼″)
Page Count	72
Contents	Introduction, A, Ka, Sa, Ta, Na, Ha, Ma, Ya, Ra, Wa, Voiced Sounds, Unvoiced Sounds, Doublers, Combined Forms, Look-alikes
Book Design	Michael Rowley
Author Photograph	--
Published	September 1, 1995
Publisher	Stone Bridge Press (www.stonebridge.com)
Copyright	© 1995 by Michael Rowley
Printed in	United States of America
Book Format	Paperback
Quoted Reviews	*"Rowley has created a visual vocabulary that is striking and, most importantly, memorable." — Wired Magazine*
Best Seller's List	--
Other	Michael Rowley is a book designer and illustrator living in Northern California. He is the author of Kanji Pict-o-Graphix, Imagine Nation: A Visual Guide for Learning the States, and The Atom Families: Visual Mnemonics for Learning the Periodic Table of Elements.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data	1. Japanese Language—Writing—Kana.
	2. Japanese Language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English.
	I. Title.
CIP Number	94-48537
LC Control Number	94048537
LC Call Number	PL528.R69 1995
DDC Call Number	495.6´82421—dc20

Kris Caballero

Founder of KCU Network and KCU Plus, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially back to doing computer programming (software development) and video production, Kris enjoys reading books on Mathematics, Quantum Computing, Philosophy, playing old video/DOS games, digital video archiving, and listening to sports, public radio and classical music.

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