zardoz73
Member
From: tokyo
Registered: 2008-07-28
Posts: 13
As I was buying Heisig's RTK, shelved next to it was Kodansha's Kanji Learner's Dictionary, and I was tempted to buy it instead. I didn't, mainly because I didn't have enough cash, but also because there didn't seem to be any progressive study method using *only* that dictionary. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; it IS a dictionary.
But the kanji order and layout is really unique, and I wondered if anyone has used it in conjunction with studying RTK. Is it worth buying? Anyone used it before?
alyks
Member
From: Arizona
Registered: 2008-05-31
Posts: 914
Website
Kodansha is awesome for beginners. Easy to use, easy to learn. I use it everyday.
Pros:
Easy for beginners. As long as you can count strokes you're good.
Accurate (Based off of the New Japanese-English character dictionary)
Compact
Cons:
If you want to look up anything past the Joyo kanji or Jinmeiyou, forget about it.
Not exactly the most durable of dictionaries, but it holds up.
About using it with RTK, maybe you should read the introduction to it. You learn readings and compounds after you master the kanji.
Last edited by alyks (2008 July 28, 9:29 pm)
ファブリス
Administrator
From: Belgium
Registered: 2006-06-14
Posts: 4021
Website
KKLD is great. It's certainly worth buying next to RtK. I used it a lot to clear up the meanings of Heisig's keywords.
As for using it instead of RtK, that's quite a stretch. It's called "Learner's Dictionary" but it's still a dictionary, more of a reference. Maybe it's a method in itself for the old school, rote memory system, but it's not comparable to RtK AFAIK. Perhaps you were interested by the keywords? KKLD's keywords are very helpful, as they are sometimes clearer than Heisig's choice, however KKLD's keywords are not unique, the same word can appear in many characters. KKLD also offers multiple keywords for some characters, this is why Heisig's choice of "meanings" is sometimes questioned, as it is a basic principle of RtK, that each character must have a single unique keyword as a "hook", so he had to pick one of the meanings.
Definitely a good buy if you have the extra money to spend, but not absolutely necessary until you complete RtK (you will find people have cleared up the meanings in many stories in the Study area here on the main site).
The Kanji Sonomama dictionary on the DS is also very good. It offers many example sentences, while KKLD offers little. However one is a book another is a software that runs on the DS which is not comparable. The latter is something you'd consider if you were looking for an electronic dictionary ?
And at the end of the day you can also look up all those kanji in a free program like the JWPce editor on PC, or the many other EDICT based programs available.
