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+--- Thread: A newbie's question regarding kanji (/thread-11754.html)
A newbie's question regarding kanji - Raedrob - 2014-04-05
Hey, y'all!
I'm pretty much as much of a newbie as one can get when it comes
to japanese. I decided to pick it up as something to do on the side
of my other studies and have only been at it for a couple of weeks.
My big question is regarding RtK1. At this point I know hiragana and
most of the katakana, but reading them is still a chore that takes
a long time. I'm learning basic sentence patterns etc through
japanesepod101, and was wondering if it's too early for me to start
chipping away at Kanji. Should I get more comfortable with hiragana
and katakana first? There haven't been any kanji present in the lesson
transcripts I've read so far. Should I go through some more lessons and
increase my vocab a bit first?
Any pointers, tips and opinions would be greatly appreciated!
A newbie's question regarding kanji - Dustin_Calgary - 2014-04-05
It's never "too soon" to start chipping away at the kanji.
A newbie's question regarding kanji - Dustin_Calgary - 2014-04-05
Also, check out tae kim's guide to japanese grammar
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar
A newbie's question regarding kanji - poblequadrat - 2014-04-06
Raedrob Wrote:Hey, y'all!In my opinion you might try to get acquainted with the most basic kanji you come across, but I think I'd wait a little bit more until you feel like you need to know kanji to learn vocabulary.
I'm pretty much as much of a newbie as one can get when it comes
to japanese. I decided to pick it up as something to do on the side
of my other studies and have only been at it for a couple of weeks.
My big question is regarding RtK1. At this point I know hiragana and
most of the katakana, but reading them is still a chore that takes
a long time. I'm learning basic sentence patterns etc through
japanesepod101, and was wondering if it's too early for me to start
chipping away at Kanji. Should I get more comfortable with hiragana
and katakana first? There haven't been any kanji present in the lesson
transcripts I've read so far. Should I go through some more lessons and
increase my vocab a bit first?
Any pointers, tips and opinions would be greatly appreciated!
Anyway, kanji are always helpful so go ahead if you feel like it - keep it simple at this stage, though: check out the first few lessons of Basic Kanji Book, for example.
But if it's going to distract you from getting the basics down, I'd say it's much more important to put your energy into learning basic grammar (and kana!)
A newbie's question regarding kanji - Raedrob - 2014-04-06
Thank you both for the replies!
I'll make sure to check out that grammar guide,
and to start up, slow, but steady, with the most basic kanji on the side
A newbie's question regarding kanji - andikaze - 2014-04-06
RTK and Japanesepod go well together. They don't interfer, like Tae Kim would do, as you'll encounter Kanji you learn after 2/3 of the book is done. It's not that big od a deal, but when you do Jpod, you don't really need Tae Kim. Can use it as a reference later.
A newbie's question regarding kanji - fxlle - 2014-04-07
Maybe both are OK.
A newbie's question regarding kanji - Stansfield123 - 2014-04-07
RtK is intended to be learned before anything else. That is how the book is meant to be used (by Heisig), that is also how people on various popular blogs (AJATT, JALUP) recommend it be used.
Now, don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that's how you should learn Japanese. There are other ways to learn Japanese, with or without Kanji. But, if you wish to use RtK, it's best to do it up front, before you start learning vocab and grammar to any significant degree.
You can wait a couple more weeks, get better acquainted with the Kana and various study methods (to be a little more informed when you choose), but, once you choose to go with Heisig, you should go all in and go through it as fast as you can. Consider using Anki as well (not obligatory, but probably the best option for reviewing what you learn). And, barring maybe 100 or so Kanji at the beginning (just to understand the method), start using the stories on this site, not the ones in the book. They are better.
P.S. I studied full time and got through RtK (including keeping up with the Anki reviews) in 5 or 6 weeks. It was on my second try though, the first time I gave up midway due to unforeseen circumstances.
If you try hard and have 3 hours/day or more, it shouldn't take you more than two months. Then you can get started on studying grammar and vocab, but this time in a position of familiarity with the Kanji in those words and sentences.
On the other hand, if you don't quite have the time to finish relatively fast (if I had to pick a cutoff point, I'd go with 120 days - that would require you to work about 90 mins to 2 hours/day), then perhaps you should not do RtK at all. Choose a more direct method (perhaps learn the language without the writing system for now). I don't think it's a good idea to spend 6 months or a year on studying Kanji out of context.
A newbie's question regarding kanji - Raedrob - 2014-04-07
Thank you all for the great response!
I've sorted a proper deck in Anki and have just dipped my toes in,
to get a feel for it.
If I were to commit that much time doing RtK, that would leave me
with very little time to follow more lessons on Jpod. Do you guys think
it would be an okay approach to halt the Jpod stuff and focus primarily
on familiarizing myself with the kanji? I haven't really gotten into proper
grammar yet, mostly sentence patterns.
Again, thank you for taking the time to help me out with this stuff,
much appreciated
A newbie's question regarding kanji - Dustin_Calgary - 2014-04-07
It really depends on you, your long term goals, your enjoyment etc.
Remembering how to write over 2,000 characters, while simplified with RTK, is still no small task. It's easy to overdo it and suffer burnout.
There are multiple trains of thought as far as the "best" way to approach using RTK, some say get it out of the way as soon as possible, others say wait until you have at least some basic grammar down, can communicate a little bit in japanese, etc.
Personally I am a fan of getting them out of the way as soon as possible, as the kanji tended to be my biggest stumbling block once they were being introduced in more words, and distinguishing between them became guesswork at best.
If you can dedicate your time to it and slog through it halting the rest of your studies with confidence that you'll stick to it, go ahead.
If you think you'd possibly go crazy doing just kanji reviews and kanji studies every day without and vocab, then another approach might work better.
Whatever you do, keep up with your reviews, and if anything, take it slow at first, cause the reviews can build up FAST!!
A newbie's question regarding kanji - codex - 2014-04-07
I'd already studied Japanese (including kanji, to no effect) for quite a while before I even heard of RTK, but if I had it to do over I'd still want to have some grounding in at least basic grammar and vocab before I started RTK.
To have the SRS work for you, keeping up with the reviews is essential. If you start, be sure you have the time to devote to both studying and reviewing the kanji, but especially the reviewing. It's OK to fall behind on adding cards, but reviewing, not so much.
Personally, I like this site for reviewing; it's dead simple but still allows for customization. Others prefer Anki, but I haven't heard why.