playadom
Member
Registered: 2007-06-29
Posts: 468
I've been hearing about these books in the forums. Those of you who have used/are using it: Do you recommend that I do this after RTK1? From what I've heard it seems quite good(albeit rather expensive).
rich_f
Member
From: north carolina
Registered: 2007-07-12
Posts: 1708
It all depends on your Japanese language ability level.
Kanji In Context (KIC) is recommended for people who already have the readings of the first 250 kanji it covers down, so it's best for people who already have a good bit of Japanese under their belt.
KIC does not provide English translations of its sentences. It does have a reference book (sold separately) that translates the kanji and vocab you're studying, but the rest is up to you. (The reference book is okay, but all you need is a good dictionary, really.)
Also, KIC's workbooks don't provide sentences for every iteration of every kanji. It inexplicably skips some readings, and some kanji. So it's not an ideal sentence mining source. (If that's your method.)
That said, if you're at an intermediate level and are already going J->J, then it's a pretty good set of books, albeit a little pricey.
I planned on using KIC after finishing RTK1, but after buying the books and looking through them, I decided to go with KO instead for now. I'll probably come back to KIC later on. Both books are going to be a little tricky for someone who's just starting out learning Japanese, but KO will be a little bit easier. (It's also better organized, IMO.)
billyclyde
Member
Registered: 2007-05-21
Posts: 192
I'm not a fan, though several others here like KiC a lot. I've had the books for years and rarely use them, mainly because I find the sentences rather unwieldy for flashcards/SRS. If I'm going to read, I'd rather read something interesting.
The chapters usu. group kanji by similarity; the one part I do like is the pairs of related words that begin the chapters. I agree with rich_f that it's best left for intermediate level students, as some of the sentences can be long & confusing for beginners. Other than that, it's a textbook, and I think not a particularly exceptional one.
