I was always confused about this title because when I first saw the title I assumed the "context" would be stories and articles. But when I opened the book it just seemed like every other kanji textbook.
I am about 700+ kanji into the KICL so I will look into this series. The graded reading sets have been phenomenal for me but I feel like kanji in context with the workbook seems like a better tool to help me remember long term.
1:26, this is pretty much how I felt when I found out about the On/Kun reading. I had learned almost 200 kanji using 'Remember the Kanji' and my favorite Kanji apps (kanji senpai and another one) and was quite proud of myself for being able to write and recognize the meaning, but when I tried to apply it to reading them(with the proper sound) I became overwhelmed. I took a break....over a year ago....I'm just now getting up the nerve to try again.
Figuring out the best study methods for you is a whole process, so don't get discouraged! It's not just you! I found WaniKani really helpful for learning the readings. A lot of people say not to learn the readings out of context, but it was actually really effective.. I could see a word I'd never seen before and be able to guess accurately how its read more often than not. Made reading feel sooo much better. I took a break because after a certain point (around WK level 15), I was having a lot of trouble differentiating between similar looking kanji and wanted to incorporate writing practice into my studies, since I never really had issues with this when I was studying in college and was forced to write by hand all the time. Like you, I've recently started to feel up for giving it another shot. I'm starting with KKLC (designed specifically to prevent the problem I had) and handmade flashcards this time, but there are a few things I really miss about WaniKani. If you already feel confident in writing and recognition, it might be a good tool for you. Also has a very involved and dedicated community that creates a lot of cool tools for it. One of my favorite extensions was a font randomizer for your reviews.. helps a lot with being able to read different fonts and handwriting styles.
I think KiC is fantastic, but a major issue with the first edition is that the words appearing in the book aren’t the most common words in Japanese. It seems more geared towards academics or journalists. There are difficult words like “Article 9 of the constitution”, “exposure” (in photography) or “acoustics” - words that aren’t probably part of most people’s active vocabulary. Not sure if revised edition is any different. Even if it isn’t, it is still a good way to practice reading unknown words.
After a huge searching after a really good and systematic kanji book, I found about this series and your review was exactly what I was thinking about combining this series with SRS/Anki. This provides a huge knowledge of vocabulary/Kanji for N1 level
I bought this back in 2010 but never really used it as I quit studying Japanese shortly afterwards. Digging it out now to go back and learn the jouyou kanji. Great video!
Great video my man! Living in Japan I was lucky to have a teacher that helped me get started on learning kanji through each grade level. But I kind of fell off after 3年生 because of complacency on the level I was at understanding everyday Japanese lol. I really need to get back on that, might be a nice book to start up with again. Seems pretty good! Thanks again brother!
As always…thanks for watching, commenting and sharing your thoughts. It’s so awesome that you got off to a good start. It makes all the difference in the world. I don’t know them all yet, but I just try to keep learning.
I'm somewhere in the advanced level, but have developed some persistent knowledge gaps over the years that need filling. Both workbooks just really caught my eye at Kinokuniya and I didn't even know there was a 'main' book in the set. Came here specifically to vet the textbook, but it looks more or less like the other materials I already have, so I'll give it a pass. The workbooks are gorgeous though!
Oh snap!!! Kelvin?!? You’re one of the people I was talking about. You mentioned it to me, and I never forgot about it. So, thank you for recommending it to me.
Loved the video and bought the books this week! I'm so glad I found your rec and am overall very pleased with KiC. So far I've made flash cards for the Kanji and key vocab in Level 1, and have been drilling through those. I wanted to ask you about how you studied them? Did you first try to memorize all the key vocabulary and the Kanji shapes+readings associated with them, and then move to the workbook? Or did you go back-and-forth with memorizing and doing exercises? I also want to ask about how did you overcome mixing up Kanji characters? I already know most of the Kanji in Level 1 and a decent amount in Level 2, but I still occasionally mix up characters. I really appreciate your suggestion for these books! 😁
Great questions! I definitely started with writing the kanji characters, memorizing jey vocabulary (with flash cards), and then the workbook exercises. Truth be told, I still mix up characters sometimes. But two things that really helped with that was 1) writing similar characters when they would pop up in my flash cards and 2) using my Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Course as a reference when characters get too confusing. I hope that helps!!
I'd say I'm at around a intermediate level in Japanese and decided to just buy a 小学漢字辞典 and 小学国語辞典 because I want to start doing the monolingual transition. Decided to forget memorizing anything but how to write the Kanji from the RTK books no meanings no readings nothing just how to write it. Just getting used to writing it since I didn't try writing at all. Then writing definitions from the dictionary in a note. It's been very time consuming doing what I'm doing but I think it's helping at least to look at a kanji now and be able to write it without too much searching online anymore. Trying to detox from the phone too. 😆 How have you been dealing with the intermediate plateau?
I'm at an intermediate level and the textbook I'm using isn't working so well for me. I know about 700 kanji. No SRS I can find for my current book so I was wondering if you had to choose, would you use KiC or KKLC? Thanks!
That’s a REALLY good question, Nikolas. I think it would depend on your learning goals. Both books are excellent resources, in my humble opinion. I’d say KKLC is great if your goal is to get troublesome kanji to stick in your memory. KIC is great if you need a structured way to comprehend a broader range of kanji. I needed both things, so I bought both 😅. I hope that helps a little.
Wow I've really got a ways to go from the Looks of things b4 I'll be Good enough to read alot of this stuff, @ least my Speaking of Japanese is Improving though, & as Ryoma Echizen would say from the Prince of Tennis Anime, Mada, Mada, Dane, (Which I think roughly translates to: "I've got a ways to go!")
![Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course Review [Is It Worth Buying?]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rF6OIINqZ3U/mqdefault.jpg)
Have you tried Kanji in Context? Is it worth using? Let me know in the comments!
I was always confused about this title because when I first saw the title I assumed the "context" would be stories and articles. But when I opened the book it just seemed like every other kanji textbook.
I am about 700+ kanji into the KICL so I will look into this series. The graded reading sets have been phenomenal for me but I feel like kanji in context with the workbook seems like a better tool to help me remember long term.
1:26, this is pretty much how I felt when I found out about the On/Kun reading. I had learned almost 200 kanji using 'Remember the Kanji' and my favorite Kanji apps (kanji senpai and another one) and was quite proud of myself for being able to write and recognize the meaning, but when I tried to apply it to reading them(with the proper sound) I became overwhelmed. I took a break....over a year ago....I'm just now getting up the nerve to try again.
Figuring out the best study methods for you is a whole process, so don't get discouraged! It's not just you!
I found WaniKani really helpful for learning the readings. A lot of people say not to learn the readings out of context, but it was actually really effective.. I could see a word I'd never seen before and be able to guess accurately how its read more often than not. Made reading feel sooo much better. I took a break because after a certain point (around WK level 15), I was having a lot of trouble differentiating between similar looking kanji and wanted to incorporate writing practice into my studies, since I never really had issues with this when I was studying in college and was forced to write by hand all the time.
Like you, I've recently started to feel up for giving it another shot. I'm starting with KKLC (designed specifically to prevent the problem I had) and handmade flashcards this time, but there are a few things I really miss about WaniKani. If you already feel confident in writing and recognition, it might be a good tool for you. Also has a very involved and dedicated community that creates a lot of cool tools for it. One of my favorite extensions was a font randomizer for your reviews.. helps a lot with being able to read different fonts and handwriting styles.
I think KiC is fantastic, but a major issue with the first edition is that the words appearing in the book aren’t the most common words in Japanese. It seems more geared towards academics or journalists.
There are difficult words like “Article 9 of the constitution”, “exposure” (in photography) or “acoustics” - words that aren’t probably part of most people’s active vocabulary.
Not sure if revised edition is any different. Even if it isn’t, it is still a good way to practice reading unknown words.
After a huge searching after a really good and systematic kanji book, I found about this series and your review was exactly what I was thinking about combining this series with SRS/Anki. This provides a huge knowledge of vocabulary/Kanji for N1 level
I bought this back in 2010 but never really used it as I quit studying Japanese shortly afterwards. Digging it out now to go back and learn the jouyou kanji. Great video!
Ganbate! Keep trying again and again (like me)
Great video my man! Living in Japan I was lucky to have a teacher that helped me get started on learning kanji through each grade level. But I kind of fell off after 3年生 because of complacency on the level I was at understanding everyday Japanese lol. I really need to get back on that, might be a nice book to start up with again. Seems pretty good! Thanks again brother!
As always…thanks for watching, commenting and sharing your thoughts. It’s so awesome that you got off to a good start. It makes all the difference in the world.
I don’t know them all yet, but I just try to keep learning.
I'm somewhere in the advanced level, but have developed some persistent knowledge gaps over the years that need filling.
Both workbooks just really caught my eye at Kinokuniya and I didn't even know there was a 'main' book in the set. Came here specifically to vet the textbook, but it looks more or less like the other materials I already have, so I'll give it a pass. The workbooks are gorgeous though!
Great review brotha! This Kanji series is one of my favorites.
Oh snap!!! Kelvin?!? You’re one of the people I was talking about. You mentioned it to me, and I never forgot about it. So, thank you for recommending it to me.
Thank you JapanGuy for the excellent review of KIC. Got me thinking about Kanji again!
Aww, thanks Allen! It’s always good to hear from you! I hope all is well, brother.
Thank you for this video, very helpful 👍🏽
So glad to hear it! My pleasure, J.
Loved the video and bought the books this week! I'm so glad I found your rec and am overall very pleased with KiC. So far I've made flash cards for the Kanji and key vocab in Level 1, and have been drilling through those. I wanted to ask you about how you studied them? Did you first try to memorize all the key vocabulary and the Kanji shapes+readings associated with them, and then move to the workbook? Or did you go back-and-forth with memorizing and doing exercises?
I also want to ask about how did you overcome mixing up Kanji characters? I already know most of the Kanji in Level 1 and a decent amount in Level 2, but I still occasionally mix up characters. I really appreciate your suggestion for these books! 😁
Great questions! I definitely started with writing the kanji characters, memorizing jey vocabulary (with flash cards), and then the workbook exercises.
Truth be told, I still mix up characters sometimes. But two things that really helped with that was 1) writing similar characters when they would pop up in my flash cards and 2) using my Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Course as a reference when characters get too confusing.
I hope that helps!!
Ok nice! I sincerely appreciate your help and love the energy you bring for learners. Have a wonderful day! :D
Thanks for this thorough review!
100% my pleasure. Thanks for watching 🙏
I'd say I'm at around a intermediate level in Japanese and decided to just buy a 小学漢字辞典 and 小学国語辞典 because I want to start doing the monolingual transition. Decided to forget memorizing anything but how to write the Kanji from the RTK books no meanings no readings nothing just how to write it. Just getting used to writing it since I didn't try writing at all. Then writing definitions from the dictionary in a note. It's been very time consuming doing what I'm doing but I think it's helping at least to look at a kanji now and be able to write it without too much searching online anymore. Trying to detox from the phone too. 😆 How have you been dealing with the intermediate plateau?
Missed your videos brother.
Hope you're doing well
I'm at an intermediate level and the textbook I'm using isn't working so well for me. I know about 700 kanji. No SRS I can find for my current book so I was wondering if you had to choose, would you use KiC or KKLC? Thanks!
That’s a REALLY good question, Nikolas. I think it would depend on your learning goals.
Both books are excellent resources, in my humble opinion. I’d say KKLC is great if your goal is to get troublesome kanji to stick in your memory. KIC is great if you need a structured way to comprehend a broader range of kanji. I needed both things, so I bought both 😅.
I hope that helps a little.
@@TheJapanGuy Thank you for putting it into perspective.
@@npahomsky My pleasure! Thank you for a really good question.
Which is your level of japanese?
I’d say I’m intermediate to high intermediate but I’ve been on a plateau for quite a while. Time to break out of it.
Wow I've really got a ways to go from the Looks of things b4 I'll be Good enough to read alot of this stuff, @ least my Speaking of Japanese is Improving though, & as Ryoma Echizen would say from the Prince of Tennis Anime, Mada, Mada, Dane, (Which I think roughly translates to: "I've got a ways to go!")
As long as you’re improving, that’s all that matters. You seem to be really motivated and that goes a long way. 頑張ろうよ！
@@TheJapanGuy Yeah I guess your right, & I am, thanks for the Comment/ Compliment, Ja Mata! 🤔😄👋