I'm hoping to finish RTK1 in the next two or three weeks, and that means moving onto the 2kyu vocab. I want a list of vocab that I can print out and work from (i don't want to have to use a PC), that is ordered by kanji (not by word) and that preferably uses translations close to those of Jim Breen's dictionary.

Given all that, I found this: http://www.jlptstudy.com/2/index.html
(thank you to whoever posted this link on this board a while back)

After learning from this list, I also plan to go through the vocab list on the same site to find any hiragana words that have been missed out.

So my question is, is there a big mistake that I have made that is going to come and kick me in the face as soon as I start looking at practice papers? Have I missed out anything in my calculations? Am I going to learn this vocab then realise there is another 1000 words somewhere that I didn't know about?
I think i'm going to be OK, but I wanted to try to draw on the pool of experience here to avoid any mistakes before I begin.

Thanks for any help / support / advice that you can throw my way.

Craig

Have you learned all the level 3-4 vocab yet?
I use the kanji section of that site, since learning several words for each kanji at a time really helps me get a feel for the kanji's meaning and readings. But in the forum, someone(maybe the person who made the site?) said there's a lot of errors in the vocab section of level 2. I don't know if there's errors in the kanji section too...

So, this site http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt2/ has vocab lists for download(or reading online). I'm going to use this after to fill in the vocab gaps after using the kanji section. It also has level 1 materials

Hi craig,

I think it all depends on what your goals are. Are you intending on taking the JLPT? If so, then yea, definitely memorize those lists. Otherwise, you are probably spending time on vocab that isn't essential. Sure, it'd be nice to learn all the words on those lists, but there are definitely more efficient ways to go about learning vocab. Unless you are focused on the JLTP, of course.

Do you know a good vocabulary source, then, if JPLT isn't very good? I want to have a better vocabulary so I don't have to look up so many words...

Well, I personally use Kanji in Context, I think some others here use that as well. It's a good systematic way of learning compounds. I believe some sort of structure is good. Also look up the AJATT method. There's nothing wrong with JLPT vocab lists but it seems as though many of the words aren't commonplace. I'm sure more qualified individuals will chime in here.

I'm a voracious reader - I try to get in a couple of hours every night. I think many will agree that this is crucial to naturally absorbing the language. It will probably be difficult at first, especially right after RtK1, but you gotta make the jump eventually.

I typically read manga and magazines that interest me. This is absolutely critical. I also don't bother looking up words I don't recognize (which are plentiful). I know I'll either learn it eventually from context or I'll come across it in Kanji in Context.

Thanks to the super cheap prices of used books from Book Off, I'm literally flooding my shelves and floors. I will be moving onto some novels soon, but I haven't lost any interest in what I'm reading so I'm not in a rush. I plan on switching to novels once I hit the ~1200 mark in Kanji in Context.

Hm, I can't be buying any more books right now.

I try to do some reading everyday(I found a novel I can handle :D), but those reoccurring words, how can you learn them only from context? You won't know how to pronounce them(at least not for sure). I can understand that for other languages/kana words, but not for kanji compounds.