Well, normally as a native you learn to speak before you learn to read and write.
However the way Japanese kids learn kanji is at a relatively leisurely pace, and enforced over years of reading & writing exposure. Adult foreign learners often have neither the patience nor the exposure to learn the same way and reach the same level.
In the context of RTK some of the ideas are "divide and conquer" as well as "strike the iron while it's hot". That's why we learn to write & recognize lots of kanji first in one go, and then start learning words after. It's not like it's very long - I mean 3 months (which seems average for RTK1) is such a short time on the long road to learning Japanese.
However the way Japanese kids learn kanji is at a relatively leisurely pace, and enforced over years of reading & writing exposure. Adult foreign learners often have neither the patience nor the exposure to learn the same way and reach the same level.
In the context of RTK some of the ideas are "divide and conquer" as well as "strike the iron while it's hot". That's why we learn to write & recognize lots of kanji first in one go, and then start learning words after. It's not like it's very long - I mean 3 months (which seems average for RTK1) is such a short time on the long road to learning Japanese.
Edited: 2009-06-19, 4:04 pm