kanji book

[spank]

can anyone recommend a japanese kanji book(written in english) that ranges anywhere from introducing 2200-3000 kanj? i haven't seen any but i haven't really been looking either.

thanks...and happy new year...

spank

[Harisenbon]

2200-3000 Kanji?
I don't know if you're going to find anything like that, as most text books stop at the 2000 or so that you need for the JLPT. A lot of Japanese people don't know 3000 kanji.

Also, high level Japanese books are generally written in Japanese. I have yet to find anything over intermediate level in English. :/

But if anyone does know of such a book, drop me a line too! =)

[zengargoyle]

i also haven't seen any high-level kanji books in english (or japanese for that matter ). but if you just want the bare-basics, go to Jim Breen's EDICT site and check out edict and kanjidict.

kanjidict has 6,356 entries for single kanji like:
阿 3024 U963f B170 G9 S8 XN5008 F1126 N4985 V6435 H346 DK256 L1295 K1515 O569 MN41599 MP11.0798 IN2258 P1-3-5 I2d5.6 Q7122.0 Ya1 Ye1 Ya5 Ya2 Ya4 Wa Wog ア オ おもね.る T1 くま ほとり あず あわ おか きた な {Africa} {flatter} {fawn upon} {corner} {nook} {recess}

if you've mastered the general-use kanji then you probably won't have much trouble with figuring out stroke order and radicals and the like all by yourself.

and edict has 110,873 dictionary entries like:
〆切 [しめきり] /(n) closing/cut-off/end/deadline/Closed/No Entrance/

and they're free, so you can't go wrong. most of the free kanji learning tools (wakan, jwpce, gjiten etc) use these files as their source of information.

[IkimashoZ]

Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji" series covers about that many kanji, I think. Maybe more. Volumes 1 and 2 cover the 常用 and volume 3 is the one that adds all the extended kanji. I believe all three of them are on thejapanshop.net. If not, at least 1 and 2 are there.

Here in Japan there are LOTS of exercise books written for the 漢字検定 that go up to 6000 kanji. But those are naturally written in Japanese. Although, if you can read all the 常用, I can't imagine why reading the explanations for the more advanced kanji would be a problem.

Can I ask why you want to learn so many kanji?? The 常用漢字 (daily-use kanji) only number around 2000, and you only need about half of those to effectively read a newspaper. Even less for stuff like manga. I'd personally like to pass level 5 of the 漢検 before I leave Japan, and that's 1,006 kanji exactly. I'm pretty sure anything after that would be more work than it'd be worth as far as reading and writing effectively are concerned.

[richvh]

Nelson's Japanese-English Character Dictionary has over 5000 kanji in it (I have the 1974 Second Revised Edition, which has 5,446 kanji)

[Infidel]

Any one book that introduces that many will not have many exercises or reinforcement. Still, If you wast them all in one Kanji book, then the Kodansha Kanji Learner's dictionary would be the way to go. In the back is an updated 1000 most common kanji (albiet weighted for newspaper reading) and the most common kanji are in red with illustrated stroke orders and several common words that use each kanji. With the red kanji you can prioritize the kanji with the greatest utility and come back to the black kanji later.

Heisig's Remembering the Kanji is also good, although the general use kanji list is out of date and there are more limited word examples and no stroke order.

I do know of a good textbook that introduces about 1000 kanji over the course of 52 lessons....

[spank]

The reason I am interested in learning 3000 kanji is because I am training to be the great white kanji master. kidding...but....
I want to become proficient in two languages in this lifetime. I feel that reading a newspaper is sufficient for many adults, but as time goes on, I will want to read advanced publications in japanese. I think some japanese know upwards of 6000 or so?

Well, I like the number 3000, even if it isn't practical. I've come across a lot of kanji used in newspapers that aren't included in my book of 2000. This is why I want 3000 as a safeguard that encompasses as many as I'll dread seeing.

There's the reason.B)

[IkimashoZ]

Cool.

I'd say go with Heisig. It's probably the quickest way to achieve what it is you want to do. Then, after Heisig, pick up one of the aforementioned dictionaries (I've see the ones suggested here, and they're all high quality, IMHO) and that'll fill in the blanks. If you want practice for the latter 5,000 though, I'd highly recommend getting copies of 漢字検定 practice books. They're great fun. But then, I'm a wierdo who would think something like that.

[Infidel]

I suggest just working it in stages. It really isn't something meant to be taken in one big chunk. And i don't think you'll really find what you are looking for.

On the other hand, there is the Kanji Aptitude Test. It has 10 levels. Level 10 tests you on only 80 kanji all the way up to level 1 which tests 6000 kanji. This test carries a bit of prestige in Japan because it really is going overboard. It doesn't just test your ability to recite readings and write them properly, but how to use them properly in a sentence. Because of this. I suggest just working towards JPLT 1 like most other students do. There are plenty of study sites devoted towards getting JPLT 1 certified. So there is plenty of material. While you work towards JPLT 1, you will be building the foundation necessary for you to persue the KAT later.

After finishing the JPLT could start studying for the KAT pre-Level 1, which tests you on 3000 kanji.

[spank]

Thank you all for your replies. I'll be checking out some of those books that were mentioned. As for the JPLT 1, does anyone know roughly or exactly how many kanji are involved? Is it over 2000? Also, are there any websites dedicated to JPLT 1 study? I can only find level 2.

Thanks.

[IkimashoZ]

ishnar wrote:
I suggest just working it in stages. It really isn't something meant to be taken in one big chunk. And i don't think you'll really find what you are looking for.

On the other hand, there is the Kanji Aptitude Test. It has 10 levels. Level 10 tests you on only 80 kanji all the way up to level 1 which tests 6000 kanji. This test carries a bit of prestige in Japan because it really is going overboard. It doesn't just test your ability to recite readings and write them properly, but how to use them properly in a sentence. Because of this. I suggest just working towards JPLT 1 like most other students do. There are plenty of study sites devoted towards getting JPLT 1 certified. So there is plenty of material. While you work towards JPLT 1, you will be building the foundation necessary for you to persue the KAT later.

After finishing the JPLT could start studying for the KAT pre-Level 1, which tests you on 3000 kanji.

Kanji Aptitude Test = 漢字検定

[IkimashoZ]

spank wrote:
Thank you all for your replies. I'll be checking out some of those books that were mentioned. As for the JPLT 1, does anyone know roughly or exactly how many kanji are involved? Is it over 2000? Also, are there any websites dedicated to JPLT 1 study? I can only find level 2.

Thanks.

１級 tests all the 常用漢字, so 1,945 to be specific.

[Harisenbon]

IkimashoZ wrote:
１級 tests all the 常用漢字, so 1,945 to be specific.

And then some. The official number is 2000 Kanji, and 10,000 words.

[Infidel]

I was going to post a link to their official site, but the site seems to be temporarly down.