Why Are Newbies Learning The Freakin Kanji?!

[Yudan Taiteki]

Depends on your level. At first, you should use an integrated textbook that includes kanji, and just learn the kanji in the lessons of that textbook. After the basic level, I recommend Kanji in Context, although Basic Kanji Book v1 and 2 can be good before KiC if KiC seems too high of a level.

[RiderofNesme]

When you mean basic Kanji book volume 1 and 2 you are referring to James Heisig's book right?

[richvh]

No, he's recommended a pair of books titled "Basic Kanji", not Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji."

[Yudan Taiteki]

Basic Kanji Book v1:
http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Kanji-Book- ... 543&sr=8-1

Heisig's book is called "Remembering The Kanji."

I would strongly urge you not to use BKB without another main textbook.

[RiderofNesme]

When you mean another major textbook you are talking about the first two volumes of Kanji in Context? If not what kind of major textbook do you mean?

[Yudan Taiteki]

Something like Genki, Nakama, Minna no Nihongo, etc. A textbook that combines grammar, vocab, kanji, listening, etc.

[nukemarine]

Currently a group of us at Reviewing the Kanji are utilizing books 1 and 2 of "2001.Kanji.Odyssey Essential Japanese Kanji 1110", produced by CosCom Language Service, Inc.

I recommend KO books before Kanji in Context as it's: Cheaper or about as much as the KIC workbooks (whether you get them in Japan or abroad), provides upto 3 sentences per kanji while KIC averages about 1.5, and has furigana plus a English translation while KIC has no furigana. KIC is GREAT as an upper intermediate to advanced reference, and covers all the Jouyou kanji.

Note: KO goes "only" to 1110 kanji (3000 sentences), but that will cover about 90% of kanji used in everyday Japanese life.

Put it this way, spend 3 months with Remembering the Kanji / Pimsleur Japanese, move onto three to six months of Understanding Basic Japanese Grammar and/or Kodansha books such as "All About the Particles" and "Dictionary of Adverbs and Adjectives", then move onto 6 months of "2001.Kanji" you should be pretty far advanced in both spoken and written Japanese. This assumes you're using an SRS and incorporating other Japanese aspects into your non-studying time (movies, news, manga, anime, music, etc.).

After that, advanced books such as Kanji in Context WORKBOOKS (the reference guide is not needed) and Remembering the Kanji III can come into play. Though you should be eating through real Japanese texts like candy by that point.

Disclaimer: All of this is assuming you're using a Spaced Repetition System to input sentences, WRITING and SPEAKING OUT LOUD your sentences as the SRS brings it up for review, and having fun with Japanese. I'm real early in my studies so all the above could be wrong. YMMV.

[GraceyLike]

Hmm.. I guess I am a sort of newbie I can write about 50? Kanji off the top of my head, but I can recognise about 100-120.
I focus more on speaking though =3

[RiderofNesme]

Dude, you think your a noob I only know 1-9 and I mean numbers.

[NocturnalOcean]

Dude, you think your a noob I only know 1-9 and I mean numbers.

Your above schedule sounds rather absurd, and when we now learn that you also have never tried it out, it sounds even more absurd.