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Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - cherie91 - 2012-05-17
I have been using the sentence method for the past 5 months, and I have about 1700 sentences in Anki (extremely little as compared to others)
My main source of sentences is from "A dictionary of beginner/intermediate Japanese Grammar". I input about 10-15 sentences (from 2 grammar points) each day and of course review it constantly (eg. repeating the sentence out loud, understanding the grammar points)
But until now i have no idea how the sentences method is helping me....I am just hoping that some miracle will happen and I will be able to produce similar sentences when the time comes. (But this does not seem to be happening) I have stop inputting sentences recently due to my exams but have not stop inputting Kanji and Vocab. I feel rather discouraged that nothing seems to be materializing from the sentences method...
For all those who are using the sentence method, how has it help you?? I am doing something wrong???
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - Tzadeck - 2012-05-17
Well, input doesn't actually lead to output directly. You can review sentences in anki until you're blue and you won't actually be able to use any of that actively.
However, if you try to use and write Japanese, while constantly reviewing grammar points and vocabulary via whatever method you choose, you should get better at output and the review with enhance what you can output and how correct it is.
In other words, if you want to actually be able to use Japanese you need to practice using Japanese in one form or another. You could probably start out with textbook activities or something if you can't actually write sentences. If you can write sentences you have a lot of options, such as writing a journal on lang-8.
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - Inny Jan - 2012-05-17
@cherie91
Which of the below are you doing?
Q: English sentence
A: Japanese sentence
or
Q: Japanese sentence
A: English sentence
If the first one then stop doing that right now - you are wasting your time.
In my opinion the most efficient way to study grammar is to have the second format where the Japanese sentence contains cloze deletion (you also need a hint as for what the sentence is about). Something like:
Q:
I wish I had asked my teacher.
先生に[...]。
A:
先生に聞けばよかった。
せんせい・に・き・けばよかった。
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - nadiatims - 2012-05-17
I wouldn't get too hung up on the number of sentences in your deck if i were you.
How well do you know all those sentences?
How much unique vocabulary does that represent?
how many kanji/readings are covered?
are much more important questions.
Are you actually using japanese outside of anki? listening to the tv or podcasts or trying to read things? Can you follow things like simple anime or get the gist of a drama?
you can't learn to speak japanese well just by robotically installing a catalogue of grammar into your head. To comprehend japanese you need to train your japanese grammar/vocab intuition and speed by interpreting meaning from Japanese speech or text, not just by memorizing sentence pairs. Instead of attempting to 'memorise' a set of 1700 sentences by revising them over and over again, instead try to 'interpret' (to meaning) 170,000 authentic sentences in context (in text and speech that is interesting to you). A consequence of which will be that you start to memorize the recurring patterns and vocabulary while developing your intuition and speed.
also, don't expect to be able to speak with much degree of fluency after only 5 months unless you're really putting in the hours (i.e at least a couple of hours a day).
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - cherie91 - 2012-05-17
I actually listen to podcast almost every single day...I basically listen till i understand almost 70% of it and move on to other podcast.
I think my major problem is always trying to "translate" my sentences when i try to speak Japanese. I would think in English first, then figure out those grammar points and finally produce the sentence. I have been trying to get rid of this terrible habit but it is difficult!!!
I hope that watching more Japanese shows will help me to understand what real Japanese is. I can understand roughly 50% of the show without subtitles, but of course it depends on what types of shows you are talking about.
I just get discourage sometimes when i see people improve much faster than i do, I just want to make sure that I don't do the wrong thing and 1 year down the road my Japanese is still crap.
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - nadiatims - 2012-05-17
actually it sounds like you're not doing too badly.
bear in mind that to understand most things easily and completely requires that you can recognize and understand the vast majority of the words coming at you (perhaps 95% or more) and that constitutes a lot of words because natives draw from a very large pool of vocabulary across a huge range of subjects when they speak and write. Then there's idioms and cultural things to factor in as well.
I would focus if I were you on what is holding back your comprehension, and I'll hazard a guess that it's vocabulary (unless your deck of 1700 cards contains like 10,000 unique words or you've learned a lot of words some other way).
Don't expect to be able to speak with anything close to the fluency of your native language if you can't understand most books, TV, etc easily.
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - incepator - 2012-05-17
cherie91 Wrote:My main source of sentences is from "A dictionary of beginner/intermediate Japanese Grammar". I input about 10-15 sentences (from 2 grammar points) each day and of course review it constantly (eg. repeating the sentence out loud, understanding the grammar points)There is a shared Anki deck with those sentences. No need to lose time to type those in. Just sayn'.
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - Crispy - 2012-05-17
Don't ever get discouraged by people improving faster than you, it's almost always something that is in your head.
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - kainzero - 2012-05-17
i also think there's no singular moment where everything clicks. sometimes i get stuff, sometimes i don't. just roll with it and continue to improve.
Doing sentences method the wrong way?? - Inny Jan - 2012-05-17
kainzero Wrote:i also think there's no singular moment where everything clicks. sometimes i get stuff, sometimes i don't. just roll with it and continue to improve.Well said kainzero, different things work for different people at different times - no silver bullet.