A couple of thoughts on Kanji:
From the Reviewing the Kanji Forums:
I’m not quite finished [with Hesig's Remembering the Kanji], I need about a month to finish, but it bugs me when I see kanji like 俺 not in the first book. This kanji is extremely popular and should have been taught a lot earlier. This makes me wonder, is 2042 not enough? Are there tons more out there like 俺? I wanted to quit once I finished but it looks like I may have to continue.
Learning a language is about communication - Not memorizing lists of words and Kanji. You learn to read Kanji to receive what others have written and how to write them to accomplish the opposite.
That Hesig has developed a technique to help memorize kanji writings doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself. It also doesn’t mean he’s an authority on what you need or want to know.
If you want to learn a character now, learn it.
Another from Reviewing the Kanji:
Does anyone have/know of a list of the everyday kanji that the average Japanese person would know which are not included in RTK1 (ie not joyo kanji)?
Do native Japanese speakers keep lists like this? Do Japanese learners who’ve attained fluency keep lists like this?
The only way to really answer the question of what non-Joyo Kanji you need to know is to read and read and read. The non-Joyo Kanji you run into repeatedly are the ones you need to know - Assuming you even bother to look up whether they are Joyo or not.
I realize that I sound cynical here but my underlying point, I think, is quite reasonable: If you listen to and read enough Japanese, most questions about how much and what order become irrelevant.
Reading thousands of pages of Japanese and learning those Kanji as you go, you can’t help but build a feel for which are more common and you’ll inevitably see all the Joyo Kanji and whatever extra ones you need to know.
The real question is not, How much? or What order?, it’s: How can I find enough to read and listen to that captures my interest and furthers my desire to learn Japanese?
