I just went out to the University of Hawaii Press site to see if there was any update regarding the second volumes of Heisig's Remembering the Hanzi, and I got a pleasant surprise. They've been released!

I tried buying both the Traditional and Simplified versions, but for some reason, the 'Add to Cart' button on the page for the Simplified version didn't work properly, and kept bringing up the Shopping Cart without having added the book.

Still, I'm happy that I didn't have to wait until March to buy the book.

Thanks for letting us know!

Very strange question, but did you study Chinese at UW-Milwaukee? I got a very similar post in our Chinese Facebook message group about 20 minutes ago.

Either way, glad to hear the new book is out.

Cheers.

Your question isn't as strange as you might think. I did study Chinese at UW-Milwaukee. I was there from Fall 2004 through Spring of 2007 or 2008 (I forget when I stopped classes). I am also the one that made the post on the Facebook group as well. :)

If you could provide a review of the book when you get it then I would be much obliged.

Thanks for posting this!

The first five lessons of the Traditional Book 2 are available at:

http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/books/heisigTradHanzi2Sample.pdf

Is there a reason it omits the pinyin?

@atdlouis

You can read the introduction to either the Simplified or Traditional version of the Book where the method used by the book is explained including why there is no pinyin. It's available at:

http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/publications/miscPublications/Remembering%20Hanzi%201.htm

The method of learning the characters is based on a keyword in English for each character. Associated with each keyword is a story which you are supposed to visualize. This is the mnemonic which helps you to remember the character. The keywords as they are learned are used to build up stories for the characters that come after it. There's a bit more to it which is explained in the introduction above.

OK, now why no pinyin? In my understanding of the method, Heisig considers learning the pronunciation to be an extra burden which will slow you down. Additionally the mnemonic is not designed to help you remember the pronunciation, just the character and how to write it. There is no repetitive writing of characters either.

In the long run, many people are amazed at how fast they can learn characters this way. You can learn the pronunciation and meanings of the characters by other means like using textbooks or reading or you may already be able to read and want to add writing to your skills in Chinese.

There is an appendix which includes the pinyin.