Kanji Cards Query

[hendomoto]

Hello!

I'm a casual learner of Japanese, and have decided to try take the JLPT3 at the end of the year. I've just been sorting through the kanji I need to learn, and am a bit frustrated with my kanji flashcards. I have the Tuttle Kanji Cards volume 1+2, and I'm finding that even though there I have something like 900 cards, I'm still missing some that are required for JLPT3. I'm now thinking over whether to go buy the next volume of Tuttle Cards, or to switch over to the White Rabbit cards, which seem to be more appropriate for JLPT study. I'm slightly concerned that even with Vol3 of Tuttle, I might be missing some cards?

Unfortunately, I can't find the White Rabbit Cards at any of our bookstores here in Sydney Australia, after checking Kinokuniya, Abbey's and Dymocks. If I went for them I guess I'd have to order from the US.

Anyone have an advice to share? Am I better off going with the Tuttle Vol.3 or switching over to the White Rabbits?

EDIT
I need to correct myself here, I made a mistake. The Kanji in my lists come from both the JLPT requirements and the Kanji I'm learning for my class, in the Japanese For Busy People books. I think the kanji that I'm missing FlashCards for are the ones for the JFBP books, and not for the JLPT. However, I'd still like to know what people who have studied using these cards prefer.

Thanks!

[Bueller_007]

Hello!

I'm a casual learner of Japanese, and have decided to try take the JLPT3 at the end of the year. I've just been sorting through the kanji I need to learn, and am a bit frustrated with my kanji flashcards. I have the Tuttle Kanji Cards volume 1+2, and I'm finding that even though there I have something like 900 cards, I'm still missing some that are required for JLPT3. I'm now thinking over whether to go buy the next volume of Tuttle Cards, or to switch over to the White Rabbit cards, which seem to be more appropriate for JLPT study. I'm slightly concerned that even with Vol3 of Tuttle, I might be missing some cards?

Unfortunately, I can't find the White Rabbit Cards at any of our bookstores here in Sydney Australia, after checking Kinokuniya, Abbey's and Dymocks. If I went for them I guess I'd have to order from the US.

Anyone have an advice to share? Am I better off going with the Tuttle Vol.3 or switching over to the White Rabbits?

EDIT
I need to correct myself here, I made a mistake. The Kanji in my lists come from both the JLPT requirements and the Kanji I'm learning for my class, in the Japanese For Busy People books. I think the kanji that I'm missing FlashCards for are the ones for the JFBP books, and not for the JLPT. However, I'd still like to know what people who have studied using these cards prefer.

Thanks!

Tuttle Flash Cards Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 expose you to all of the roughly 1000 kanji learned in Japanese elementary schools. There is not necessarily a correspondence with JLPT kanji, as the curricula were designed with different purposes in mind. There happens to be a hell of a lot of overlap, though.

If you're only taking JLPT3, you shouldn't even need the second pack of Tuttle cards. Vol. 1 should be enough. There may be some kanji that you don't understand on the test, but it won't be enough to fail you, and if you have any exposure to the written language at all, there should be no surprises on the san-kyu test. Try reading Japanese Wikipedia on easy topics such as food or your home country. You'll get a lot of useful exposure that way, and it's the kanji VOCAB that's the killer for JLPT tests, not the meanings of the characters themselves. So you should consider purchasing the "Kanji in Context" reference book, as well as workbook 1. After you have worked your way through the first two levels of KiC, you will have all of the kanji, vocab (and grammar) necessary for JLPT3.

As a former JfBP user, I can say that the kanji studies in that book are not particularly useful. (Although the kanji vocab itself usually is.) Stick with the cards.

And as for "White Rabbit Cards", I've never even heard of them.

[Belton]

I use Tuttle vol 1 and 2 for studying the JLPT3 kanji. (It was a slight effort to find the cards as I'd muddled the order early on! ) They're fine and complete but then I've never found any other flashcards on sale. You do need Vol2 to make a complete set of JLPT3 kanji.

I also like to use a flashcard program on my computer. Inputting the information helps me learn it and I can add examples and customise cards as well.
(If anyone thinks it's useful I could upload it to the iFlash online library)

Recently I've found that using Bonjinsha's preparation book is very helpful.

(ISBN 4-89358-294-1) (It has a Japanese title I can't fully decypher!!)
It's useful mainly because it is in the form of example questions, so I'm learning or revising the kanji as compounds and as part of a sentence, much more productive and maybe easier than as single cards. And it has the added bonus of working with JLPT3 vocabulary.
The book is also good at pointing out your weak points in various areas. The only minus is the listening tapes that go with it are very expensive. (so I didn't bother)

(I've also found I just don't have the vocabulary for JLPT3, so it'd be a waste to do the test this year )

Also while there is a lot of emphasis on kanji in online sites I did a breakdown for JLPT4 , that I'm sure holds true for JLPT3 as well, and kanji only account for 45 marks out of the 400 available in the exam overall; less than 12%. Vocab and grammar are far more important.

Also the kanji changed in 2005 so make sure you're using an up to date list.
http://www.jlptstudy.com/3/index.html

[Bueller_007]

I use Tuttle vol 1 and 2 for studying the JLPT3 kanji... You do need Vol2 to make a complete set of JLPT3 kanji.

A quick check reveals that there are 284 JLPT level 3 kanji, and there are 448 cards in the first Tuttle box. The number of JLPT3 kanji that you will miss if you stick only to box 1 is very small. IMO, studying the second box is a waste of time until you have finished your JLPT3 prep, because, as you said, the kanji section is not the most important portion of the test.

Don't study to pass the JLPT. Study to improve your Japanese. Just learn box 1, take the test and move on to box 2. The level 3 test is of no practical use anyway, so it doesn't really matter if you pass or fail. You should just use it as motivation, and a way to gauge your strengths & weaknesses.

[hendomoto]

Thanks for the replies

Yeah, I think it is true that all the JLPT3 kanji are contained within volume 1+2. I was just a bit confused with which kanji I was studying for what purpose. I'll make my own flash cards for the extras I think.

So far to help my studies I'm using software called jMemorize. I input all the data I want to learn into flash cards and it tests me daily. I've put in all the kanji I've learnt in singles and compounds, as well as vocab for the JLPT3+4, and from JPOD101 lessons and other sources. I find it very useful for learning vocab+kanji.

As for the practicality or the usefullness of JLPT3, I work as an artist, so I don't plan to use my qualifications in the language all that seriously. However, I'd like to do some work in Japan, and I think prospective employers would be reasonably impressed that I could handle the language to at least some decent level. That and its going to be a looong time until I learn enough to take JLPT2

Thanks for the advice on books too. I'll see if I can find them at my local bookstores. I'm hoping I can find something to help drill grammar rules into me too

[Bueller_007]

Thanks for the advice on books too. I'll see if I can find them at my local bookstores. I'm hoping I can find something to help drill grammar rules into me too

As is recommended in numerous other places in the JLPT section of the forum, UNICOM publishes an *amazing* JLPT level 3 guide, containing all necessary grammar points and kanji, as well as a decent portion of the vocab. It comes with 2 CDs to help out with your listening too. (Although the CDs only contain the example sentences in the book, not longer conversations/speeches.)

The higher level UNICOM JLPT books aren't quite as good, but the level 3 book is one of the best Japanese resources I've ever found. And it's only $15-$20.

[hendomoto]

UNICOM publishes an *amazing* JLPT level 3 guide

Thanks again Bueller_007! Yeah I've made a list of the books recommended in these forums. The trick is to try find them in stores nearby ..but I think I've seen the UNICOM books at Kinokuniya.

Cheers

[mberridge]

try Kanji Gold from http://web.uvic.ca/kanji-gold. - this is a windows based flash card system I use. It's free ( under GNU license ) .

[aldergrove]

Recently I've found that using Bonjinsha's preparation book is very helpful.


(ISBN 4-89358-294-1) (It has a Japanese title I can't fully decypher!!)
It's useful mainly because it is in the form of example questions, so I'm learning or revising the kanji as compounds and as part of a sentence, much more productive and maybe easier than as single cards. And it has the added bonus of working with JLPT3 vocabulary.
The book is also good at pointing out your weak points in various areas. The only minus is the listening tapes that go with it are very expensive. (so I didn't bother)

(I've also found I just don't have the vocabulary for JLPT3, so it'd be a waste to do the test this year )

Do you have a link to the listening that you can buy for this? Do you have the ISBN number or a link? Preferably on amazon.co.jp. Thanks.

[Belton]

The tape for level 3 has an ISBN of 489358300X
and costs 3,885 円 (£40 at inflated import prices in UK)
it's title is 項目整理 3級問題集 カセットテープ

Amazon says it'll take 3 to 5 weeks.

You could try direct from Bonjinsha but their site is completely Japanese. The English link doesn't do much.
https://ssl.bonjinsha.com/list/