I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it?

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - Printable Version

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I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - stplush - 2009-08-06

Thanks, please recommend safest site.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - stoked - 2009-08-06

Then use smart.fm instead. It's free, fun and sexy.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - fugu68 - 2009-08-06

I bought mine direct from Coscom at http://www.coscom.co.jp/

They were very quick (domestic delivery in Japan), and they do ship internationally as well.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - LaLoche - 2009-08-06

The makers will be safest! Listen to Fugu.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - stplush - 2009-08-06

So you're saying smart.fm is better? I keep flip-flopping on what to do and it's getting tiring. Oh and thanks for the link guys.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - fugu68 - 2009-08-06

Depends on your study habits. The books are small enough (20cm x 15cm x 2cm) to carry around on the train or whatever, if you are away from a PC. Plus the sentences are not the same as the ones on smart.fm.

I use both - initially study from the books, then hop over to smart.fm for some reinforcement. There's some extra free material on Coscom's site as well - check it out, if you haven't already.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - ryuudou - 2009-08-06

stplush Wrote:So you're saying smart.fm is better? I keep flip-flopping on what to do and it's getting tiring. Oh and thanks for the link guys.

I'd also like some confirmation on this. Cool

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - Nii87 - 2009-08-06

I personally reckon they both work together pretty well.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - stplush - 2009-08-06

Hmmm I've heard something about smart.fm using KO2001's sentences or something, b ut I'm really in the dark on how to do so....sorry. If I do get KO2001 I'd get the ebook version. It includes everything I need right?

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - sup3rbon - 2009-08-06

The Smart.FM sentences are not the same as the sentences in the KO books, but the vocab is the same, and yes, the ebook will have basically everything you need, most people recommend it over the books!

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - zanzibar - 2009-08-06

The lists on smart.fm don't use the same sentences you'll find in KO2001. There was a group project on this forum to take all the vocabulary listed in the first two levels, find sentences for them on iKnow's listbuilder, and make them into a set of useful lists on smart.fm that could be easily imported into Anki. I believe we are intending to complete all the remaining vocabulary from Level 3 as well, though as yet those lists do not exist.
Here's a link to the project forum thread:
http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=2419

The KO2001 ebook contains about 3 example sentences, stroke order, audio readings, and a handful of (mostly)common-use vocabulary for each of the first 1110 kanji; after that The example sentences are image files rather than cut-and-pastable text--which can sometimes be inconvenient. Image file sentences can't be simplified or altered, and in many cases there are furigana that can't be removed. The Level 3 kanji are listed, but they have no sentences or audio: just a reference section with vocabulary words.

Like Nii87 and fugu68, I use both.
I personally find the smart.fm sentences to be a little easier on the whole, though your mileage may vary. I also enjoy the audio more on smart.fm, though it's not always available for every sentence. Cerego hired professional seiyuu to do the audio for their Core Japanese series, and the forum group chose sentences from Cerego to make their KO2001 lists.

KO2001, however, often tries to group several different readings of the same kanji into a single sentence. I find this has helped me get a handle on when to use which reading, and get an overall better feel for how a kanji is used. The CosCom website link above also contains a demo of the ebook; you can check it out and get a feel for the way it's set up to decide if it's what you're looking for.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - stplush - 2009-08-06

Thanks very much zanzibar. Sorry again, but I'm confused. You say you use both, is there not a set way...say chapter by chapter to progress that you have to follow? You just add what you want? Oh and how do you go about using both? You use Anki I'm guessing. So you add sentence for KO2001 and audio for that same sentence using smart.fm? What about spreadsheets, what are these for and how do you go about getting them? Sorry but I'm quite ignorant on the subject right now. Please someone tell me what to do or direct me to a topic, because I can't find one explaining it.

Thanks.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - zanzibar - 2009-08-07

The list of kanji in KO2001 is organized in order of utility; in other words, the makers chose the kanji that are (based on their research) most useful and/or frequently seen in Japanese text. They also took care to group kanji thematically, often grouping opposites together　or grouping the two kanji that make up a very common compound in succession. For this reason, I have worked through the kanji lists in the order given. It's precisely the way they've chosen to organize the kanji that makes it so effective for me as a study tool. That being said, there are no hard-and-fast rules, no chapter/level hurdles aside from the kanji groupings, so in theory you could study in any order you'd like.

For a typical kanji, I'll use the KO2001 e-book as my gateway to get a feel for the readings and usage. I will definitely input all of the example sentences from the e-book into Anki (though at present I'm not using their audio files). I'll also study the vocabulary for that kanji through the lists in iKnow/smart.fm. I'll get to see each vocabulary used in a different sentence, and occassionally a different context. When I've completed one of the lists, I can use the Anki smart.fm import plugin to shovel the sentences from that list, and their audio, into my Anki deck as well.
Recently, I've been getting a little more choosy about my sentences, so I've been hand-picking the ones I want to put in my deck. But choosiness aside, that's how I roll. Smile

A spreadsheet won't be necessary for the smart.fm lists if you use the smart.fm import plugin. From what I understand, people use and/or share spreadsheets of SRS-able items because they can easily be converted into text files that can then be imported en masse into Anki, saving time and a lot of typing. I'm afraid I don't know my way around this one so well, however, as I've always either imported or just typed the items in myself.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - stplush - 2009-08-07

Wow thanks for answering Zanzibar and being nice about it too. You've really cleared up many worries of mine. One more question if you don't mind. How do you grade yourself on sentences? If you don't remember one word you fail or what? Plus there's grammar and particles, if you don't understand just 1 item in a sentence do you fail it? I understand if you're tired of answering, so thanks for everything!

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - bombpersons - 2009-08-07

Don't waste your money. The thing is boring and monotonous. Get the e-book if you feel it necessary for you to buy it, even then you might as well download the anki deck that was posted a while back. Chances are you'll get bored about 500 sentences in anyway.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - zanzibar - 2009-08-13

I agree with just about everything that IceCream has said here. How strictly you grade yourself on cards is a judgment call that you have to make for yourself. In addition, your cards may test different things, such as vocabulary in isolation, or kanji production. Set a standard for yourself to start with and try it out; you can always change your system if it isn't working for you.

And if a sentence is boring, impossible, or not useful, by all means leave it out of your deck. That goes for any language source you use, not just KO2001 or smart.fm. There have been a few threads recently about the relative value of KO2001, and opinions vary.

IceCream's point about the quality of learning, however, is totally valid--and it's something I think I've been sort of taking for granted, doing without really thinking about the process of my doing. I'd say that the people who really thrive on the KO2001 types of sources enjoy the systematic, easy-to-crank-through nature of prepackaged resources. They want to ensure that they have X number of kanji covered in their deck, and X% of the major vocabulary they'll see in real life. But without those authentic sources from real life, KO2001 loses a lot of its usefulness for me. In my course of study, the big gains from prepackaged resources have almost always come from seeing a grammar point or vocabulary word I studied pop up in a real context. So if you can, you've got to keep a measure of authentic language as part of your study.

I want to buy KO2001, where do I get it? - mezbup - 2009-08-13

I'd say get the E-Book with the audio... Theres a premade anki deck of it floating around which is awesome. If you can blaze through it really quickly it's actually pretty helpful. I'm enjoying it so far.