I hope you all are safe and well during this terrible global health crisis. I post this update troubled with thoughts of how people and communities around the world are being affected right now.
This post is mainly to announce that I have released Volume 7 of the KLC Graded Reading Sets. Please take advantage of this Opening Weekend 30% Discount, which will expire at the end of Monday, March 23, Hawaii time:
Volume 7 consists of 4,013 exercises covering all KLC kanji 1301-1600. In all, it contains over 36,000 kanji, with increasingly complex and stimulating material that builds gradually on Volume 6.
If you have a chance, I most sincerely appreciate your help with getting the word out about the Graded Reading Sets on your favorite online forums related to learning Japanese. Thanks so very much.
Previously announced updates to Volumes 1-5
Amazon has now pushed out my last round of updates, so your content should now be updated if your auto update setting is enabled. Instructions on how to enable auto updates for either Kindle or iBooks can be found at keystojapanese.com/ebookupdates.
Learning Kanji Through Extensive Reading
Ever since I finished the KLC textbook, I wanted to create some kind of kanji-graded reader like the GRS. I felt it would be more conducive to actual literacy to absorb kanji by reading them in their natural usage and context—after having learned their components and basic meaning(s)—than by rotely memorizing flash cards.
As you know, the resulting GRS series has drastically reoriented the entire KLC approach toward learning kanji in the context of reading (although it had already been focused on learning kanji in the context of vocabulary). I recently updated the KLC series homepage (keystojapanese.com) to reflect the new orientation, and to try to introduce more people to the idea of learning kanji through extensive reading. I will be posting blogs on this and using the site to try to nudge the field in that direction. If you think other learners might gain from learning about this approach, I would be very grateful if you could link to keystojapanese.com from your blog/social media, or on online forums for Japanese learners. Thanks very much for your support.
I wish you strength and health over the coming months as we try to make it through this 新型(しんがた)コロナ crisis.
Warmly,
Andrew Conning