Kanji Cards, Vol. 1 (Tuttle Flash Cards) [Cards]

Alexander Kask (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0804833974 | ISBN-13: 978-0804833974 | Publication Date: September 15, 2004

All 448 kanji in this set are those prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education for the first three grades of school. This thorough revision of the 1995 language learning book is designed for travelers and beginning learners of Japanese.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Translator and freelance writer Alexander Kask lives in Tokyo, Japan.

Product Details

• Cards: 448 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (September 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804833974
• ISBN-13: 978-0804833974
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Language Nonfiction > Japanese
  • #97 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Japanese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Get the White Rabbit cards, December 26, 2005

By 

A. Schrenk - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kanji Cards, Vol. 1 (Tuttle Flash Cards) (Cards)

I had already purchased the 1,000+ Tuttle (aka Alexander Kask) cards, but I was convinced to try the first set of the White Rabbit cards. I think the White Rabbit cards are far superior:

*I know romaji is in frequent use. However, think about a Japanese person using katakana to learn English long after the novice level. Ridiculous, right? Very.

*The layout makes a lot more sense on the White Rabbit cards. The layout on the Tuttle cards is poorly thought through, the kanji stroke orders are on the back, and the radical meanings are on the front, which means that I need to cover parts up if I want to use them as flash cards. The White Rabbit cards have a much more useful layout, making them better as flashcards.

*The examples are way more relevant on the White Rabbit cards. The Tuttle examples are often so obscure I don't see any reason to learn them. But the examples on the White Rabbit cards are words are phrases I can actually see myself using.

*Also, the White Rabbit cards are ordered to fit the JLPT, while the Tuttle cards fit the grade school levels. There are so many different kanji to learn that it's worth giving thought to which ones are important to learn first. For an adult learner, the JLPT ordering will give you more useful kanji first.

*Not that this is the most important thing, but the White Rabbit cards are also made out of a sturdier material, so they will last much longer.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You get what you pay for, July 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Kanji Cards, Vol. 1 (Tuttle Flash Cards) (Cards)

These cards are cheap. At $13.97 they are about $.03 per card, but you get what you pay for: poorly design cards printed on small, thin squares of paper; stroke order characters scrawled by hand; and the use of romanji despite strong sentiment among educators that it should be abandoned as it interferes with mastering basic kana skills. I give this product only 1 star because even though it is very cheap, I still felt a little ripped off because the quality is so poor.

I recommend 'Japanese Kanji Flashcards 1' published by White Rabbit Press, ISBN 0974869406. True they cost a few cents more per cards, but they are well worth it. I bought mine through the "New and Used" link so I paid about six-and-a-half cents per card, but the features are well worth it for me: the design and printing is excellent, you get more vocab, better definitions, images of kanji which look similar so you don't get confused them, stroke order diagrams in typeset fonts (not handwritten); and, of course, readings in kana scripts (no romanji). Also, they are the same size and shape as regular playing cards, a little large for some people's hands, but I've gotten use to them.

Learning kanji is a lot of hard work. If you are a student on a very limited budget, then the Tuttles cards do have the basic kanji information in a flashcard format, but if you can afford a few pennies more per card I recommend investing in the "Japanese Kanji Flashcards 1" product--you get a lot more for the money. It's worth is just for the extra example words (six per card).

The biggest problem with the White Rabbit Press cards is that there aren't enough of them. I have written the publisher about this, and they said we can expect Set 2 with 700+ cards sometime later this year, so hopefully they will be out by the time I'm finished with Set 1. Nihongo Ganbatte!

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pass these up..., March 6, 2005

By 

BrokenSword - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kanji Cards, Vol. 1 (Tuttle Flash Cards) (Cards)

The pronunciation of kanji in romaji killed the functionality of these cards for me. Why would anyone learning to read Japanese, want to read the pronunciations in anything but hiragana? I also found a number of mistakes with the cards. I've returned the cards and ordered the White Rabbit Press kanji flash cards.