Download Kanji Cards Kit Volume 4 Learn 537 Japanese Characters Including Pronunciation Sample Sentences Related Compound Words Tuttle Flash Cards Alexander Kask Books

Product details Series Tuttle Flash Cards (Book 4) Cards Publisher Tuttle Publishing; Bilingual edition (April 30, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 080485176X

Kanji Cards Kit Volume 4 Learn 537 Japanese Characters Including Pronunciation Sample Sentences Related Compound Words Tuttle Flash Cards Alexander Kask Books Reviews

• How easy it is to read them without my reading glasses.
• This series of cards makes learning kanji a lot of fun. Then after you know them, you can go back and learn the compound words.
• This is a review of Tuttle Kanji Cards Volumes Three and Four by Alexander Kask.
  
  I am reviewing these two products together since a student who wishes learn the 939 jooyoo (approved for "common use") kanji taught in Japanese secondary schools will need both. Volume Three contains 512 flash cards #897-1006 present the kyooiku kanji ("education" kanji taught in Japanese elementary schools) not covered in Volumes One and Two of this series; #1007-1408 present secondary-school level jooyoo kanji arranged by stroke count (1-11) and radical. Volume Four contains 537 flash cards (#1409-1945) for secondary-school jooyoo kanji, again arranged by stroke count (11-23) and radical. I can't imagine anyone wanting to study kanji in order of increasing stroke count; students will want to rearrange the cards in these two flash card sets to complement the course materials they are using.
  
  I give these products five stars because they do what they set out to do and do it pretty well at a reasonable price. The kanji, radicals, and remaining elements on the flash cards are printed clearly, stroke order is presented correctly, and the 2,560 definitions in Volume Three and 2,685 definitions in Volume Four are, with one exception (see below), accurate. There's an example sentence using each item; it provides a much needed bit of context. I also like the cross references to widely-used kanji reference materials. Finally, in the pamphlet accompanying Volume Four the author has included a list of not-so-uncommon kanji that were not included in the approved jooyoo kanji list at the time this flash card set was published.
  
  I like flash cards, but it is important to recognize that a commercial card set like this - no matter how well done - can only complement a comprehensive program. The student of a foreign language simply cannot get an accurate understanding of how and when words are used unless they are encountered in context. Students of Japanese have an added challenge, as the Japanese "register" is extraordinarily wide, including vulgar, colloquial, everyday polite speech, formal, plain literary, poetic/emotional, epistolary, and archaic stylistic values. The bottom line Vocabulary must be learned in context!
  
  An earlier reviewer has noted a significant error in a definition on card 1880 yoku/tsubasa means "wing," (as the tsubasa of a bird or sayoku/uyoku right/left wings in politics), not "healing, cure." Perhaps this can be corrected in a later printing. I haven't noticed other serious errors.
  
  The vocabulary on these cards - five or so items per character - is generally representative of higher frequency usage, though in some instances I might have preferred different compounds. In striving to provide four or five vocabulary items for each kanji, the author has occasionally offered some rather rare vocabulary items (ketsumaku/inner eyelid, shooan/ammonium nitrate.) People who need the vocabulary for a gift from the Emperor (onshi) during their audience (haietsu) are moving in different circles than I am! But maybe it's true that no knowledge is ever wasted.
  
  The kanji learner's task is never done. On November 30, 2010, the Agency for Cultural Affairs promulgated a revised jooyoo kanji list. Five kanji were removed and 196 added bringing the total of "recommended" kanji to 2,136. Few will mourn the passing of the five uncommonly used "common use" kanji that were removed, which include "sui" (as in suijuu/plumb bob) or monme (1/1000 of a kan or about 3.75 grams, a measure traditionally used in the pearl industry). On the other hand, many may be surprised that quite a few of the "new" kanji on the jooyoo kanji list weren't already on it hashi/chopsticks; ken (as in kentoo/boxing); and an expansion of the kanji bestiary (tora/tiger, kame/turtle, kuma/bear, shika/deer, tsuru/crane, hachi/bee). These kanji aren't really new; they're being used by everyone everywhere. Their inclusion in the revised list recognizes how the language is in reality being used rather than a doomed attempt to regulate it. The complete revised list of recommended kanji with "on" and "kun" readings and vocabulary examples is available at [...].
  
  Given the state of Japanese language studies, I can't imagine that this is a best-seller for Tuttle Publishing. But if the company does decide to bring out a Volume Five in this series, I'd suggest it include not only the 196 newly-approved kanji but also a selection of the jinmeiyoo ("personal names") kanji, which students (and not just students!) find a source of never-ending consternation.
• I have reviewed pack 1 to 3. Turns out that there are several different problems with these cards due mainly to sloppy editing.
  
  These cards are fine as long as you doublecheck everything with another dictionary before you start learning.
  
  I'm just writing a very short review here because I just got very irritated when I found yet another error. Card 1880 has totally wrong english translation. Somebody just mixed things up. When you're learning this is impossible to spot.