Hi all,
I’ve noticed that there is a handful of users targeting the higher echelons of the KK and NK on this subreddit.
I’d love to hear your goals, strategies and insights! Even just sharing your progress is welcome. Maybe we could make it a regular thing, providing updates every few months.
I’ll start.
* **Concrete goals:** KK1.5 + NK1 + BK2
* **Stretch goal:** KK1
* **Next step:** Pass KK2 during 2023, ideally with a high score
* **Primary tools:** Unofficial textbooks (e.g. 漢検マスター ), past exams, Anki (self-curated deck), official 3DS game, unofficial iOS games, iOS dictionary app [辞書 from 物書堂](https://www.monokakido.jp/ja/dictionaries/app/) (漢検 漢字辞典 etc.), 漢検 四字熟語辞典, YouTube channels of KK1 repeaters (e.g. [this one](https://www.youtube.com/@abikanji))
* **Motivation:** I like Japanese. I like kanji. I want to read more without needing to guess the correct reading for a kanji compound. And I really want to cut short the “…but can you *read* Japanese, too?” conversations at work and with customers. You can also learn a surprising amount from the example sentences in the KK reading sections (new expressions, correct usage).
* **Past success:** Never sat the KK, the NK or the BK. Scored 180/180 on JLPT N1 around 10 years ago.
* **Where I could use some help:** If anyone knows the correct page numbers for the older KK1.5 past exams (問題) and answers (解答), it would be amazing if you could share them! I want to order scanned copies from the 国会図書館, but most bloggers and YouTubers typically only share the page numbers for KK1 (e.g. Heisei 30)…
*< Summary of terms used >*
* *KK = 漢検 (*[official website](https://www.kanken.or.jp/kanken/)*)*
* *KK1 = 漢検一級*
* *KK1.5 = 漢検準一級*
* *NK = 日本語検定 (*[official website](https://www.nihongokentei.jp/)*)*
* *BK = 文章読解・作成能力検定 (*[official website](https://www.kanken.or.jp/bunshouken/)*, only goes up to 2級)*
*< Shout out to Redditors who posted/commented about the KK in the past year or so >*
u/Mindless_External_16
u/frenchy3
u/efugeni
u/Potbellypig2000
1 comment
Don’t have time to go into it in depth but I have 準2級 having passed it this past June. I started in December of 2021, started with level 8 in Feb of ’22, jumped to level 5 in June, then 4, 3, and finally pre-level 2. I went ahead and did the ステップ book for level 2 and took it when I took pre-level 2. I did surprisingly well, failing by about 14 points. I should be able to knock it out next time for sure.
I made my own Anki decks which I’ll eventually share. I just added all the vocab from the ステップ books as reading cards, and from level 4 onwards added missed problems. I also do the 出る順 books from 旺文社. And running the 過去問題集 from the Kanken association.
Oh I should mention: I completed Remembering the Kanji in the Spring of 2021,making up my own stories for ALL the Kanji after number 500 or whatever, and while I rarely use mnemonics now, having a mental tool for breaking down how radicals work and their “strong” positions has been essential.
Needles to say, I’m a big Kanken fan. Anyone can do it, it’s just a whole lotta work. Happy studying!