The Kanji Kentei is an exam available in Japan to test the examinee's knowledge of Chinese characters (kanji) + as they appear in Japanese. The test comes in 12 levels, spanning from level 10 (the easiest) to level 1 (the hardest), + with levels 2 and 1 have easier versions called pre-1 and pre-2. +
+It's said that the hardest level, level 1, is also functionally the hardest credential to achieve + among the Japanese culture's rich array of similar exams (such as on geography, cultural heritage, etc.), + lining up with the Nihongo Kentei as the top of the hardest Japanese-language-testing exams. +
+Evgeny Uskov, via his website Roshijin.jp, has been my ambassador in learning + more about this exam through his YouTube channel and website expounding details of the exam in English. + Thanks to Evgeny, it's become clear to me that I, too, wish to take up the gauntlet and achieve a pass (80% or more) + on the hardest exam of its kind, namely level 1. At this time (15 August 2024), only 5 non-Sinosphere foreigners + appear to have passed it, according to Evgeny's most recent information, so I aim to hopefully line up somewhere + in the top 10 my the time I eventually finish! :)
++ Due to the illumination of people who came before me, the task of passing the exam has, in my opinion, + been significantly lessened in ardour, because I am able to view comprehensive details about each part of the + exam and its precise details ahead of time, as well as the fact that many resources have already been + made widely available that weren't as accessible before. +
+In keeping with this trend, I would like to also share my own offering in the Kanken resource space, + namely a massive dataset adequate for comprehensive study of the Kanken level 1 material, + all in one centralized location. I'm still working on this in various aspects, but for now, + an Anki deck and a general data sheet (in CSV/spreadsheet-friendly form) are in the works. +
++ These will contain the contents of the Kanken Kanji Jiten, i.e. the (relatively) exhaustive authority on the + Kanken level 1 (and below) exam, to whose contained kanji the exam will be constrained, in Japanese. + Ultimately, the exam may feature some vocabulary outside the scope of the dictionary, but the large part of + the exam should come from the contents of the dictionary. I will also, over the course of my personal studies, + build up the English Wiktionary's coverage of the Kanken material, with the late-stage goal of + transforming Wiktionary into an adequate resource for Kanken study, albeit allowing you to study the same + material in English for more efficiency for us English-speakers. However, if the deck itself is to take a while + to be produced, then the English version I prepare only after I've basically finished studying will take + literal years. Please be patient if waiting for this one! +
++ As for my own course of study, I intend to work through the 42,000 vocabulary entries and 6300 kanji + over a course of a bit less than 2 and half years, with the hope of getting a high coverage of the full + exam material. This would equate to 50 cards a day, which, from my experience of prior study in Anki, + would amount to several hours of study a day by a year in; however, thanks to the "FSRS" algorithm's + recent development, which vastly improves scheduling in Anki, it may be possible to push back that + inevitable inkstone-grinding labor a year or so, so that only towards the end will the study truly + reach any laborious heights. +
++ Additionally, once the deck and data have been prepared, I would like to offer a website to provide + (a) practice exams, and (b) the ability to perform online practice ad-hoc in each of the exam categories, + and have the computer tell you if you're right, etc. + Since the Kanken exam always follows the same format, it's possible to make this generation very + programmatically, and this will allow one to gauge one's own progress with a quite satisfactory degree of accuracy. +
+Perhaps if I'm feeling up to it, I might also consider offering a tracker to let you note which kanji you've + learnt, and which words, etc. you now "know", or even expand the service to a live online SRS like Anki, + but ultimately these functions would be largely unneeded given the reasonable efficiency of Anki itself. + It can at most be a fun game if a leaderboard, etc. were to be implemented. +
+ + \ No newline at end of file