IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Please keep in mind the OP is outdated as of now. I made this thread 6 months ago and I've made considerable progress since then. I've decided to bump this thread because the question is still related to the topic of SRS vs Extensive Reading, so please keep in mind I'm not talking about Core decks specifically anymore. Unless you're interested in the previous discussion, you can safely skip the OP and read from this point on!
Hello everyone!
So, I've been self-studying Japanese for about 3 months. I'll be finishing Genki 2 in a couple of days since I have only 2 lessons left to go. I have a little less than 700 kanji left to finish RTK, which I should be done with by the beginning of January. My next big goal I suppose is to do Tobira. But I think this is probably a good time to start reading more since I know a whole lot of kanji and basic grammar.
Lately, I've been reading a handful of graded readers. I think I've read 8 so far. They seem to be N5 level books (I'll be moving on to slightly more difficult ones shortly), so that means they're pretty easy to read since I'm about to be done with N4 grammar and stuff. But there's always something to learn in them and they make it easier to assign meaning to some of the kanji that I already know. I like this approach because I don't have to worry about memorizing vocabulary much, since I know I'll stumble upon the truly important stuff again soon enough.
I guess I should get to my question, right? So, I've noticed a lot of people talk about core decks, but are they actually worth doing if you're already doing some sort of extensive reading? I'm asking this because I feel graded readers or something like NHK easy news would not only improve my vocabulary in general, but also provide me with enough exposure to internalize more properly most of the grammar that I've studied so far.
This puzzles me because I'd rather not rely on srsing to learn new words. Let me say this right now - I don't know core decks work. I find it appealing to have a handy vocabulary list (kind of) in context to give me some initial exposure, but I'm not sure about testing myself or getting a whole bunch of reviews. 100+ kanji reviews (production though, not recognition) are more than enough to turn me off, so I don't want to imagine what having several entries for the same word with core decks is like.
So when it comes to core decks, would it be worth it to put everything in the front to get it out of the way quickly, just to get a little bit of a headstart with vocabulary and help me learn how to read some kanji? Or maybe there's something else worth doing that would still allow me to learn mostly through input?
I frankly don't know if this is any better than tons of reading alone, so I'd rather hear the opinion of those who've done one of these things, or perhaps even both. It's easy to read for an hour or so every day, but srsing is time consuming and I'll be starting Tobira in January as well. Doing both Genki and RTK turned out to be really rough even though I'm okay with studying for hours on end daily, so I don't know if things will be any more difficult. As you may have realized, I'm not too worried about production as of now, so I'd rather keep it all efficient, yet simple and manageable if possible.
PS: While I'm at it, would you have any tips on how to transition from Genki 2 to Tobira? (such as other grammar points that weren't in Genki 1-2 that I may need to go over and stuff like that)
Hello everyone!
So, I've been self-studying Japanese for about 3 months. I'll be finishing Genki 2 in a couple of days since I have only 2 lessons left to go. I have a little less than 700 kanji left to finish RTK, which I should be done with by the beginning of January. My next big goal I suppose is to do Tobira. But I think this is probably a good time to start reading more since I know a whole lot of kanji and basic grammar.
Lately, I've been reading a handful of graded readers. I think I've read 8 so far. They seem to be N5 level books (I'll be moving on to slightly more difficult ones shortly), so that means they're pretty easy to read since I'm about to be done with N4 grammar and stuff. But there's always something to learn in them and they make it easier to assign meaning to some of the kanji that I already know. I like this approach because I don't have to worry about memorizing vocabulary much, since I know I'll stumble upon the truly important stuff again soon enough.
I guess I should get to my question, right? So, I've noticed a lot of people talk about core decks, but are they actually worth doing if you're already doing some sort of extensive reading? I'm asking this because I feel graded readers or something like NHK easy news would not only improve my vocabulary in general, but also provide me with enough exposure to internalize more properly most of the grammar that I've studied so far.
This puzzles me because I'd rather not rely on srsing to learn new words. Let me say this right now - I don't know core decks work. I find it appealing to have a handy vocabulary list (kind of) in context to give me some initial exposure, but I'm not sure about testing myself or getting a whole bunch of reviews. 100+ kanji reviews (production though, not recognition) are more than enough to turn me off, so I don't want to imagine what having several entries for the same word with core decks is like.
So when it comes to core decks, would it be worth it to put everything in the front to get it out of the way quickly, just to get a little bit of a headstart with vocabulary and help me learn how to read some kanji? Or maybe there's something else worth doing that would still allow me to learn mostly through input?
I frankly don't know if this is any better than tons of reading alone, so I'd rather hear the opinion of those who've done one of these things, or perhaps even both. It's easy to read for an hour or so every day, but srsing is time consuming and I'll be starting Tobira in January as well. Doing both Genki and RTK turned out to be really rough even though I'm okay with studying for hours on end daily, so I don't know if things will be any more difficult. As you may have realized, I'm not too worried about production as of now, so I'd rather keep it all efficient, yet simple and manageable if possible.
PS: While I'm at it, would you have any tips on how to transition from Genki 2 to Tobira? (such as other grammar points that weren't in Genki 1-2 that I may need to go over and stuff like that)
Edited: 2016-06-08, 11:04 pm