Kanji Clues: A Mnemonic Approach to Mastering Japanese Characters introduces a novel approach to character acquisition that combines the ancient practice of memory enhancement with a modern appreciation for active learning. By placing phonology at the center of the reading-writing process, the learner establishes an essential link between sound and meaning before addressing each character's orthography, much in the way native speakers do. Another prominent feature of these volumes is that the lessons are organized thematically according to components in order to enhance their retention and to distinguish between similar looking kanji. As a result, character order is determined by the frequency of their primary elements or components. Once a character is learned, it retains the same meaning when it appears as an element in other characters. There is thus an internal recycling of components and characters throughout the course that serves as an additional aid to their retrieval. Proceeding from components and characters, each lesson then introduces ten new compounds, half of which appear in sentences. Here again, the learner actively forges meaningful links by responding to the clues provided. Indeed, the entire learning sequence is based upon mnemonic principles, such as attention, association, and elaboration, which, when employed together, comprise a memory-enhancing network that facilitates accurate recall and retention. Designed for students who wish to master the Japanese reading/writing system, each volume is comprised of a year's worth of lessons, which can be used alongside a primary textbook, as well as for self-study, reference, or review. Upon completion of the course, the learner will have not only mastered all the 2,136 everyday use characters, but also be familiar with more than 1,200 kanji compounds and the most common sentence patterns in the Japanese language, thereby providing a deep understanding of the inner workings of the language and the tools to decipher new words. Volume 2 is an ideal supplementary resource for students throughout their second year of Japanese-language study.

Kanji Clues: A Mnemonic Approach to Mastering Japanese Characters introduces a novel approach to character acquisition that combines the ancient practice of memory enhancement with a modern appreciation for active learning. By placing phonology at the center of the reading-writing process, the learner establishes an essential link between sound and meaning before addressing each character's orthography, much in the way native speakers do. Another prominent feature of these volumes is that the lessons are organized thematically according to components in order to enhance their retention and to distinguish between similar looking kanji. As a result, character order is determined by the frequency of their primary elements or components. Once a character is learned, it retains the same meaning when it appears as an element in other characters. There is thus an internal recycling of components and characters throughout the course that serves as an additional aid to their retrieval. Proceeding from components and characters, each lesson then introduces ten new compounds, half of which appear in sentences. Here again, the learner actively forges meaningful links by responding to the clues provided. Indeed, the entire learning sequence is based upon mnemonic principles, such as attention, association, and elaboration, which, when employed together, comprise a memory-enhancing network that facilitates accurate recall and retention. Designed for students who wish to master the Japanese reading/writing system, each volume is comprised of a year's worth of lessons, which can be used alongside a primary textbook, as well as for self-study, reference, or review. Upon completion of the course, the learner will have not only mastered all the 2,136 everyday use characters, but also be familiar with more than 1,200 kanji compounds and the most common sentence patterns in the Japanese language, thereby providing a deep understanding of the inner workings of the language and the tools to decipher new words. Volume 2 is an ideal supplementary resource for students throughout their second year of Japanese-language study.

Kanji Clues: A Mnemonic Approach to Mastering Japanese Characters introduces a novel approach to character acquisition that combines the ancient practice of memory enhancement with a modern appreciation for active learning. By placing phonology at the center of the reading-writing process, the learner establishes an essential link between sound and meaning before addressing each character's orthography, much in the way native speakers do. Another prominent feature of these volumes is that the lessons are organized thematically according to components in order to enhance their retention and to distinguish between similar looking kanji. As a result, character order is determined by the frequency of their primary elements or components. Once a character is learned, it retains the same meaning when it appears as an element in other characters. There is thus an internal recycling of components and characters throughout the course that serves as an additional aid to their retrieval. Proceeding from components and characters, each lesson then introduces ten new compounds, half of which appear in sentences. Here again, the learner actively forges meaningful links by responding to the clues provided. Indeed, the entire learning sequence is based upon mnemonic principles, such as attention, association, and elaboration, which, when employed together, comprise a memory-enhancing network that facilitates accurate recall and retention. Designed for students who wish to master the Japanese reading/writing system, each volume is comprised of a year's worth of lessons, which can be used alongside a primary textbook, as well as for self-study, reference, or review. Upon completion of the course, the learner will have not only mastered all the 2,136 everyday use characters, but also be familiar with more than 1,200 kanji compounds and the most common sentence patterns in the Japanese language, thereby providing a deep understanding of the inner workings of the language and the tools to decipher new words. Volume 1 is an ideal supplementary resource for students throughout their first year of Japanese-language study.

The conflict between Islam and the West is as disturbing on the outside, as it polarizes the world, as it is on the inside, when it divides families and causes enormous stress to Muslims living in the West. A mutual understanding is the answer to both of these conflicts. This work enhances the West's understanding of Muslim minorities and helps Muslims to understand their own identity problem in Western culture. Ultimately, Professor Akhtar delineates how Muslim families can integrate into Western society in a creative way that will benefit their families and society-at-large. Muslim Family in a Dilemma provides empirical examinations of many problems in the Muslim family in the U.S. and Europe, such as divorce, mental health, and the abuse of women. One chapter gives a special analysis of the maltreatment of Muslim women in Turkish families in Germany. In regard to these issues and women's equality, the Western position is accepted, and Islam is interpreted in several chapters as reconcilable with this outlook. Further consistent with the Western position, is what the writer of the last chapter, a Muslim female, has to state: pleasing your wife sexually is a religious obligation in Islam. That is in regard to sex in marriage. However, sex outside of marriage or free sex is irreconcilable to Islam. In a detailed critique of some of the Western practices and anti-family forces, Professor Akhtar determines the mutually exclusive relationship between unrestricted sex and marital integrity. One can have free sex or long-lasting marriage, but not both. He considers extra-marital sex as a paradox of Western culture, as it derives from an overvaluation of sex and overemphasis of individualism and cuts into relationships.

Globalization, understood as an intensification of modernism, has over the past fifty years been a powerful force for cultural change. This study examines how one aspect of globalization, Hollywood films, influences Japanese thinking as regards to human-nature relationships. A critical discourse analysis of the most popular cinematic texts in Japan during a five-year period (1997_2001) uncovers the latent ideologies and messages linked to a modern worldview. This interdisciplinary work evaluates the influence of these films by way of a descriptive survey of Japanese culture; data from a university student focus group; and an analysis of linguistic, behavioral, and attitudinal changes toward environmental issues. A holistic approach to curricular reform that grounds ecological principles in traditional perceptions of nature is proffered as a way of countering exogenous influences while restoring a sense of balance to the culture-ecosystem.

Kanji Clues: A Mnemonic Approach to Mastering Japanese Characters introduces a novel approach to character acquisition that combines the ancient practice of memory enhancement with a modern appreciation for active learning. By placing phonology at the center of the reading-writing process, the learner establishes an essential link between sound and meaning before addressing each character's orthography, much in the way native speakers do. Another prominent feature of these volumes is that the lessons are organized thematically according to components in order to enhance their retention and to distinguish between similar looking kanji. As a result, character order is determined by the frequency of their primary elements or components. Once a character is learned, it retains the same meaning when it appears as an element in other characters. There is thus an internal recycling of components and characters throughout the course that serves as an additional aid to their retrieval. Proceeding from components and characters, each lesson then introduces ten new compounds, half of which appear in sentences. Here again, the learner actively forges meaningful links by responding to the clues provided. Indeed, the entire learning sequence is based upon mnemonic principles, such as attention, association, and elaboration, which, when employed together, comprise a memory-enhancing network that facilitates accurate recall and retention. Designed for students who wish to master the Japanese reading/writing system, each volume is comprised of a year's worth of lessons, which can be used alongside a primary textbook, as well as for self-study, reference, or review. Upon completion of the course, the learner will have not only mastered all the 2,136 everyday use characters, but also be familiar with more than 1,200 kanji compounds and the most common sentence patterns in the Japanese language, thereby providing a deep understanding of the inner workings of the language and the tools to decipher new words. Volume 1 is an ideal supplementary resource for students throughout their first year of Japanese-language study.

Makers of Contemporary Islam examines the biographies of nine major activist intellectuals whose work provides the core of what the Islamic resurgence became in the 1990's and is an important foundation for what it can become in the 21st century. The profiles of these internationally recognized figures provide a new understanding of the intellectual foundations of contemporary Islamic awareness and Muslim politics. Nine figures are covered: Ismail al-Faruqi, Khurshid Ahmad, Maryam Jameelah, Hasan Hanafi, Anwar Ibrahim, and Abdurrahman Wahid. These intellectual activists represent a distinctive phase in the evolution of Islamic thinking: the ongoing effort to create an effective synthesis of modernity and Islamic tradition. Makers of Contemporary Islam is essential reading for students and scholars of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies as well as general readers interested in the Islamic resurgence and international affairs.

On Saturday night, November 28, 1942, Boston suffered its worst disaster ever. At the city's premier nightspot, the Cocoanut Grove, the largest nightclub fire in U.S. history took the lives of 492 people--nearly one of every two people on the premises. A flash of fire that started in an imitation palm tree rolled through the overcrowded club with breathtaking speed and in a mere eight minutes anyone left in the club was dead or doomed. The Grove was a classic firetrap, the product of greed and indifference on the part of the owners and the politicians who had knowingly allowed such conditions to exist. Against the backdrop of Boston politics, cronyism, and corruption, author John C. Esposito re-creates the drama of the fire and explores the public outcry that followed. In retelling the horrific events of one of America's most cataclysmic tragedies, Esposito has fashioned both an incomparably gripping narrative and a vibrant portrait of the era. But it is the intense, detailed narrative of the fire--harrowing yet compulsively readable--and the trials that followed that will stay with the reader well after they finish this remarkable book. "[Esposito] reminds us that the cautionary tale of the Cocoanut Grove is still relevant today." ("New York Law Journal")