Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Printable Version

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Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Kashiyuka - 2013-12-14

Hello everyone my name is Kashiyuka and I started on Japanese a couple of months ago.

So this is my current situation: Until August, I learned about 900 kanji via RTK1 and Anki, but from there I never studied again because of school. Now I have free time again and I want to continue on my studies but I'm not sure what would be the best option at this point.

I'm going to assume I only remember about 150-200 kanji right now so I know I have to work on reviewing, but from there? What should I do?

My friend told me I should simultaneously do the Japanese grammar guide by Tae Kim but I'm not sure if this is the appropriate route I should be taking?

Any tips are welcome, thank you in advance!

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - meeatcookies - 2013-12-14

Check http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=5110
If you're going to use core deck, use this one tho http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=11095

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - imabi - 2013-12-14

I'll make the following suggestions for grammar.
Grammar:

TextFugu - http://www.textfugu.com/
EtoEto (Tofugu) - http://etoeto.com/
Imabi - http://www.imabi.net/
Tae Kim - http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/
Visualizing Japanese Grammar - http://www.gwu.edu/~eall/vjg/vjghomepage/vjghome.htm
JGram - http://www.jgram.org/
Stack Exchange (System to ask questions about Japanese) - http://japanese.stackexchange.com/

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Xanpakuto - 2013-12-14

Perhaps pick up a genki textbook and start from there. When I first started learning japanese I used the book japanese demystified, it's pretty bad. When I did tae Kim after I learned hiragana/katakana and a little from Japanese demystified, it was so overwhelming I almost quit the language.

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Kashiyuka - 2013-12-14

Thanks for the help guys. Also, I'm not sure what a core deck is? I downloaded the first option (0-10k)

I'm processing it in Anki right now

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Socky - 2013-12-14

I learn Japanese fully and wholly online. Here are some of my favorite resources:
-This website ^_^
-Tae Kim's Guide http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/introduction
-A dictionary that gives you a cool animation with kanji stroke order http://www.yamasa.cc/ocjs/kanjidic.nsf/SortedByKanji2THEnglish?OpenView

These two sites are both databases of Japanese grammar. I wouldn't use them for learning all the way because they're not very structured. But they're very very helpful when you don't know what something is or are trying to find the use of a specific word/phrase.
http://www.jgram.org/index.php
http://jiten.clanteam.com/index.html (This was recently posted in this thread: http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?pid=200491#pid200491 Thank you very much to the poster because it has already been very helpful to me.)

And if you just wanna have some fun and learn to speak like you're in the Yakuza (not recommended for use among Japanese people, hahaha):
http://www.jingai.com/yakuza/introduction.html#Essential Vocabulary

This is a Japanese chat website that pairs you up with one person. It's type chat, not face. Helps me improve my speaking skills (I don't do any speaking, but I have to think quickly so it is similar to speech, and you can learn Internet slang.) http://chatpad.jp/chatroom.html

My number 1 piece of advice is to never assume English is the same as Japanese. They are so so different so don't try saying something if you don't know how.

And use lots of this website: http://lang-8.com/
This is by far the most useful website for me and has improved my grammar and naturally-speaking skills so much.

Hope this helps!

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Hirakana - 2013-12-14

I'd recommend using Nukemarine's Optimized Core Deck. It's pretty amazing. I personally use it with the word and example sentence on the front, but that's just me. I really recommend it.
I never finished RTK, and I don't think what I did helped me much. If you want to write Japanese, you'll probably have to finish it at some point, but for now, I don't know if you want to bother with it.

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - TheViking - 2013-12-14

I second using Nukemarines deck with the sound and image files. I just finished the first 2k words using it. I use it production style(english word on front, japanese word on back).
For example if the word "Something" comes up, i write 何か on some paper in front of me, then check the back of the card. If im right i click hard/good and move on.
This way i've learned to write 975 kanji in 2 months, + 2k words, without doing RTK.

If u decide to do RTK, it would probably be smarter to do Core recognition style, since u would already know how to write the kanji. But i wouldn't know, also depends on whether or not u remember thing better by writing them down.

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Kashiyuka - 2013-12-14

Thanks guys!

Also, I downloaded Nukemarine's 2k6 deck but I was baffled, is this how I'm supposed to learn phonetics? I couldn't answer any of them lol

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Xanpakuto - 2013-12-14

Kashiyuka Wrote:Thanks guys!

Also, I downloaded Nukemarine's 2k6 deck but I was baffled, is this how I'm supposed to learn phonetics? I couldn't answer any of them lol

Yes of course. I really recommend picking up a beginner textbook before you cram any vocabulary.

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - TheViking - 2013-12-14

I might take some getting used to, some words I cant remember even after having seen it 10 times(grrrr). But they are 1/100 maybe less. I would also recommend altering the deck to show furigana ontop of the kanjis, instead of in parenthese. I found the parentheses confusing.

I set the furigana to hover about the kanji when I mouse over the kanji.

I too would recommend a beginner textbook, and then learn from both the textbook and Anki at the same time. But if you know basic japanese grammar, and can understand the core sentences(If you look up the words you dont know), i would focus primarily on core.

I think whatever u choose to do, it will work as long as you stick with it, and avoid burnout.

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Kashiyuka - 2013-12-14

So I should basically study Tae Kim's book before I start on core? Because I can read the kana but I don't know what it means lol. Also how do I change it to Furigana?

Sorry I'm such a hassle =\

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Daichi - 2013-12-15

Kashiyuka Wrote:So I should basically study Tae Kim's book before I start on core? Because I can read the kana but I don't know what it means lol. Also how do I change it to Furigana?

Sorry I'm such a hassle =\
Do yourself a favor and learn to read and write kana fast. Furigana is not what you want to be reading if you have the choice. In the long run it's quite a hindrance.

I don't think there is any problems with doing RtK and grammar at the same time. For some people they prefer to get all the kanji out of the way, but if you keep hiccuping on getting through RtK, it might be better to mix things up. You can also look into lightweight versions of like RtK Lite. Which cover just the more common kanji.

Core 2k is not an easy pickup if you are starting from scratch, but it's worthwhile once you get over a few of the hurdles. What you want to be focusing on during reviews, is probably the vocab word, the sentence is mostly for context.

There are also aural based lessons, like Japanese Pod101, Assimil and Pimsleur to give you a starting point with the language. Assimil specifically is really good for shadowing.

Anyone no-one knows what works best, except for you, so you need to figure it out. Good luck.

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Vempele - 2013-12-15

Daichi Wrote:Do yourself a favor and learn to read and write kana fast. Furigana is not what you want to be reading if you have the choice. In the long run it's quite a hindrance.

I'm not seeing the connection between being able to read the kana fast and being able to read kanji without furigana?

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - zurisu - 2013-12-15

Kashiyuka Wrote:So I should basically study Tae Kim's book before I start on core? Because I can read the kana but I don't know what it means lol. Also how do I change it to Furigana?

Sorry I'm such a hassle =\

(Note: In my humble opinion [plenty would disagree with me], I wouldn't even worry about grammar and vocabulary/Core until you've got a good number of kanji under your belt, like probably 1,000+, unless of course you feel comfortable with them (even the unknown ones) already, in which case diving into everything else is obviously fine. But as for me and maybe you, the best option is to just tackle RTK to near-completion before starting on all this other stuff. Honestly, it's personal learning styles. Some people work best by focusing on one thing to avoid being overwhelmed, and some people would be bored to death by that. So do what's best for you, but by no means feel pressured to start on everything else right away. Marathon, not a race, and all that yadda yadda.)

So anyway, to answer your question.

If we're talking about the Tae Kim Japanese Grammar Guide, once you get down to around, "Making requests　（～ください、～ちょうだい、～なさい、command form）," you shouldn't have much trouble with the majority of Core's sentences.

However, since Core is mainly used for learning/studying individual vocabulary words (with the sentences there for reference and context), you don't even need to know that much. So you can start Core whenever you feel like, and waiting until you're finished with Tae Kim is probably a bad idea since Tae Kim is rather, er, boring (but extremely useful!), so take Tae Kim slow and easy in order to give yourself enough time to digest everything.

Although, like I said above, if you prefer to focus on one thing at a time and want to do Tae Kim first, that's fine also. Just do whatever feels right to you, and there is nothing wrong with experimenting with different combinations of learning methods.

As for furigana, if you decide to use Nukemarine's core deck, feel free to copy my styling (this is recognition-style) if you need a jumping off point (this should include furigana, well, it works for me). Edit it as you see fit, by changing the fonts and colors and sizes, etc, adding and removing fields, etc, and if you use Pmnox's Core10k deck instead, you'll have to change the names of the fields to match that deck.

(You can insert all this code by going to "Browse," clicking on the deck, then clicking the button called "Cards")

Front Template:

Code:

<span style="font-size: 104px; text-shadow: 0px -1px #FFFFFF;">{{Vocabulary-Kanji}}</span> <br><br>

<span style="font-size: 28p; color: #39555B; font-family: Meiryo;">{{Expression}}</span><br>

Styling:

Code:

.card {

 font-family: ubuntu light, meiryo;

 font-size: 20px;

 text-align: center;

 color: #33BCC5;

 background-color: #28444A; 

}

Back template:

Code:

<hr id=answer>

<span style="font-size: 104px; text-shadow: 0px -1px #FFFFFF;">{{Vocabulary-Kanji}}</span> <br><br>

<span style="font-size: 28p; font-family: Meiryo;">{{Expression}}</span><br>

<span style="font-size: 28px;">{{Vocabulary-Audio}}{{furigana:Vocabulary-Furigana}}</span><br><br>

<span style="font-size: 15px; color: #5555ff">[{{Vocabulary-Pos}}]</span>

<span style="">{{Vocabulary-English}}</span>

<hr>

<span style="font-family: Meiryo; ">{{furigana:Reading}}</span><br>

<br>

<span>{{Sentence-English}}</span><br><br>

<span style="">{{Sentence-Audio}}</span>

<span style="">{{Sentence-Audio}}</span>

<span style="">{{Vocabulary-Audio}}</span>

<span style="">{{Sentence-Image}}</span><br>

-- <span style="font-size: 10px">{{Notes}}</span> --

But yeah, doing a Core deck without knowing much vocab means that you're going to fail the majority of the words that come up the first (and probably second) time you see them. Nothing to worry about, Anki will know what to do with that, just be honest with it ^_^

Edit: Actually, I know we're all just throwing a bunch of random advice at you in the hopes that you get what you're looking for, but this is probably all rather confusing, ahahaha, so if you need clarification on something in particular you are welcome to ask more questions, that's what a forum is for after all, to ask questions, participate in discussion, and give feedback ^^

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Kashiyuka - 2013-12-15

You guys don't know how much I appreciate this information, thanks so much! I sincerely thank everyone for their input, I don't feel lost anymore, thank you!

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Daichi - 2013-12-15

Vempele Wrote:
Daichi Wrote:Do yourself a favor and learn to read and write kana fast. Furigana is not what you want to be reading if you have the choice. In the long run it's quite a hindrance.
I'm not seeing the connection between being able to read the kana fast and being able to read kanji without furigana?

I apologize, I wrote this when I was dead tired, sorry, my mind read that as romaji, lol.

Edit:
If you want furigana in your template, make sure you have the Japanese plugin installed, then it's as simple as adding "{{furigana:Reading}}" or whatever the field is called that you want to give furigana.

Beginner here, looking for tips on where to go - Onara - 2013-12-15

Make out with a stranger in Ueno park at 2 a.m on a Friday night.
That's the best way to learn Japanese.

Ok, I'm actually too tired to give you a serious answer to your question at the moment.

Come to think of it... making out doesn't involve much talking. Unless it's stuff like "ecchi shitai?" which..uh.. also doesn't lead to much talking. Unless you're into that kinda thing. Whatever floats your bubbles.