"whytebyrd" > writes:

> [...learning Chinese characters...]
> In my brother's Japanese character "dictionary", the ideograms are
> generally classified by the number of radicals they have. This, mind
> you, is just what he tells me, I haven't taken that particular bull by
> the horns yet. There are also other systems of classification,
> apparently.
>
> I just can't imagine that there is not somewhere a decent "abridged"
> version of the above. How do they teach children to read & write? I'm
> not looking for an equivalent to a desk model unabridged dictionary.
> For my purposes, that would be like swatting a gnat with an atomic bomb.

You might try _What Character Is That?_ by Gam P. Go, published by
Simplex Publications in 1995.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html