It's one thing to learn to read with an alphabet that has 26 letters. It's something else to master an alphabet with 2,600+ kanji. Once you master the basic principle of ideographic writing, anyone can start reading kanji. T.R. Reid, former president of the Japan America Society and longtime correspondent for The Washington Post, explains the concept of ideogram and then moves rapidly through most important kanji used in both Chinese and Japanese writing. CAS Speaker Series. Tuesday, April 8, 4 p.m., Hale 230.