Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good for beginners, March 5, 2000
The NTC dictionary is a good resource for beginning students of the Japanese language. Characters are found via a stroke-count lookup system that is (usually) pretty intuitive. Character entries are quite detailed, as well - character variants and handwritten forms are included, along with numerous definitions and usage notes.Eventually, though, the NTC dictionary will be outstripped by advanced users. Defined characters are half that of other dictionaries (approx. 3000 - compared to the 7000+ of the Nelson's), and the lookup system has no relation to that found in a (Japanese) Japanese character dictionary (i.e., once you advance to the level of using Japanese-language character dictionaries, you will have to re-learn the lookup system - something you won't have to do if you use Nelson's or similar dictionaries). Until the student reaches the advanced level, however, this is a good, informative and intuitive resource.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An indispensable guide for the serious Japanese student, October 29, 2002
There are few things I know enough about to justify speaking about them definitively. Learning foreign languages, in fact, is pretty much the only one. Japanese is the fourth non-native tongue I am trying to stuff under my belt so I've been through all the dictionary shopping before. And, I can say, without a doubt, that this is a miracle book. A bible for Japanese learner, it makes looking up characters remarkably easy and quick. I have never spent more than 90 seconds flipping through this mammoth tome before finding what I am looking for. In addition to an intensely comprehensive selection of kanji listed by stroke order, this dictionary also lists by frequency, by radical, by joyo/non-joyo/names AND by on/kun. I was unfortunately not intelligent enough to have purchased this book at this site, so I paid the full $$ for it. Three years later, I can say with 100% that it was well worth the investment. Jack Halpern is a genius for coming up with the SKIP method. If you're serious about becoming fluent in Japanese, buy this dictionary and the Random House English/Japanese dictionary. Both are fantastic investments.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding - A Great Learning Tool, August 7, 1999
I couldn't have learned the Kanji I learned without this book. Not only is it an outstanding dictionary, it's a great learning tool and amazing for reviewing. I think you should also own the Classic Nelson, only because it has far more compounds, but trust me, you'll want this too, as I've used it far more than Nelson. I would recommend this to any student of Japanese.
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