Counting: not as easy as 1-2-3

In my quest to learn Japanese (I've been studying kanji for about 4 hours today) I have come across what are known in the Japanese language as "counters." In English when we count objects we say "One, two, three, four...." etc. A sudden image of Count Dracula from sesame street comes to mind! "Three, three bats flying in the dungeon, ha ha ha!" Or, 1 helicopter, 2 helicopters, 3 helicopters, etc. One banana, two bananas, three bananas...One pencil, two pencils, three pencils, four pencils - you get it, right? If you want to count in English, you use numbers. NOT SO IN JAPANESE. For almost every different set of objects you desire to count you have to use a different "counter." Here are some examples:

When counting people:
1. hitori
2. futari
3. san-nin
4. yo-nin
5. go-nin

When counting flat objects (paper or plates, etc.)
1. ichi-mai
2. ni-mai
3. san-mai
4. yon-mai

When counting books or magazines (Different from flat objects?!?!?!?!?!?)
1. is-satsu
2. ni-satsu
3. etc.

When counting small objects like oranges or eggs
1. ik-ko
2. ni-ko
3. san-ko
4. etc.

When counting floors of a building
1. ik-kai
2. ni-kai

When counting the days of the month:
1. tsuitachi
2. futsuka
3. mikka
4. yokka
5. itsuka
6. etc.

A general counter for cups, or several other random objects I've forgotten:
1. hitotsu
2. futatsu
3. mitsu
4. yotsu
5. itsutsu
6. mutsu
7. etc.

There is a different way to count small animals and large animals! And if you want to count cups that have liquid in them then you have to use a different counter! One of my JTEs has a book that lists counters and it is almost 2 inches thick. Learning about the different counters Japanese people use makes my English sound barbaric: "ONE book TWO books THREE books, derrrr! ONE potato TWO potato THREE potato, derrrr!........"

What a novelty! I think I'll stick to my kanji study for now.....There's only a small 2000 of them.

Luther