i find it fun to be given words in an easily learnable format that are super usable, necessary words I don't know yet. Also these are words that you know can be safely pulled out in conversation, possibly unlike the unknown vocab one might be pulling from novels, etc., that can be super uncommon and sound weird without your knowing it.

these are 'core' vocab... that's great to have separated out for you. plus native audio!

it's also fun to start recognizing these words in the world around you. going through core you see all those unknown words going away rather dramatically... and after finishing core10k it becomes infrequent to encounter an unknown word.

Actually, yeah - what is fun is statistics. Make sure you have the statistics plugins installed, so you can gaze admiringly at how consistent and awesome you have been recently, and how the height of the bars increase in such an elegant fashion, and generally have good proof that you're not just screwing around but are making solid progress. The actual studying doesn't have to be fun - it's the rewards around it that are the payoff - and if you can't get real payoff from, say, being able to read a novel or something - fake payoff from statistics telling you how great you are at studying helps nicely.

You could also simply not do core. There are many other ways of langauge learning, core is only one of them.

Stian Wrote:You could also simply not do core. There are many other ways of langauge learning, core is only one of them.

This. Core bored me so I stopped doing it.

overture2112 Wrote:

Flamerokz Wrote:Unfortunately Core 6k is rather dry

Agreed. I ended up eventually abandoning my core6k deck (felt like a constant forced march) and switched to 100% subs2srs, which actually is reasonably "fun" if you limit yourself to shows you really enjoyed. If you still want to study off the core 6k word list but with using native material, you can have a plugin tag all the easy subs2srs sentences with vocab from core6k.

The other option is to blend the two. Core 6k with subs2srs. This makes sure your getting a good blend of base vocab plus some fun sentences to practice the words with.

Actually this is more or less what overture2112 is saying here. ^^;

My only problem is that I would love to use subs2srs for 日常, but I can't find Japanese subtitles for anything beyond the first two or three episodes.

Betelgeuzah Wrote:Yes, I know drilling vocab in Anki doesn't make me truly learn the words. What it does give me, though, is a meaning I can make use of to comprehend native materials and little by little all the nuances and meanings of the word come clear through effortless (since I don't have to look up every word anymore) and enjoyable activity of doing what I want to do in Japanese.

Anki ftw.

Yup, I agree with you on this one. This actually makes it easier for me to create my own sentences because I am not randomly memorizing words. I love it

uisukii Wrote:My only problem is that I would love to use subs2srs for 日常, but I can't find Japanese subtitles for anything beyond the first two or three episodes.

I don't know anything about the anime, but I've been reading the manga. You could mine things out of the manga? Similar words are bound to show up sooner or later. But be warned, it's kind of difficult.

(You are talking about this, right? http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E...7%94%BB%29)

The phrasing of the thread title makes me want to make one of those Mordor memes that says:

"One does not simply...

make Core 6000 fun"

One might say that you cannot.

instrumental music is the only thing that can really help you... and even it will eventually get old

I would use yomichan with anime/drama subtitles then watch the corresponding episode over and over until you can hear and identify each word without any subtitles. This will give you the same mix of reading/listening, but the grammar will be more varied, the pronunciation will be more natural, and it won't be so damn boring!

quincy Wrote:I would use yomichan with anime/drama subtitles then watch the corresponding episode over and over until you can hear and identify each word without any subtitles. This will give you the same mix of reading/listening, but the grammar will be more varied, the pronunciation will be more natural, and it won't be so damn boring!

Except this is about as boring as doing Core if you're like me and can't watch things over and over, just less efficient.

Personally, I just do some Core and then read something. Sure I don't understand everything (I understand enough to enjoy it though), but the manga I'm currently reading has furigana and I can use ITH on VNs, not to mention the ones I've been reading are voiced.

Core is nice for getting a structured boost to your vocabulary and the words are quite useful, but if it's too boring, you should do less of it and add some variety to your study.

customize the card styling

Code:

.card {
...
background: url('敵.gif') no-repeat center center fixed;
background-size: 100% 100%;
}

tumblr, flickr, pixv, etc are good sources for backgrounds

In my experience (just above 2k in) core will never be fun. What makes it doable despite that is your enthusiasm. It seems rewatching three or so episodes of Gintama is enough "mindfood" to get me out of any burnout; it only really gets unbearably boring when I'm only reviewing for the sake of reviewing/not letting them pile up. I suppose what I'm saying is just 'keep japanese fun', and core won't be a chore

Edit: I also don't do it in the traditional "next card please" order, I bookmark words I come across in my phone's dictionary, and every now and then stage these into my deck, so it probably looks like I jump around quite a lot. I gave up doing it in order somewhere around 800 I think

Style you cards, I have the front a nice solid bold green colour and the back (depending on the field) nice bold blue and finally black. It makes it so easier to look at the cards and many of them in a row I don't get bored.

Looking at all black text tires my eyes and I get bored.

partner55083777 Wrote:(You are talking about this, right? http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E...7%94%BB%29)

うん, that is the one. I downloaded the first volume last night and are surprised to find furigana. Does あらゐけいいち use furigana throughout the entire volume and later volumes? If so, the key problem seems to be vocabulary, which isn't a huge hurdle.

Hmm, that gives me an idea. Thanks, wouldn't have downloaded the raw version without your post, （＾＿＾）ー自”自ー（＾＿＾）

uisukii Wrote:I find that I'm learning more words, enjoyable, as it allows me to understand more of the Japanese media I'm watching, reading, listening on a daily basis, to be more comprehensible, which makes the overall process more enjoyable. It's is a self feeding process.

^This. Boring things can become enjoyable when tied with enjoyable things. When I set down to review or study Core6k, the feeling I hold is the feeling I had when I started to understand more Japanese due to studying Core6k. And it's not like I force myself to go through it because I've experienced how helpful it can be. No, it really becomes enjoyable because you know that for every word, for every review, you're becoming better at something you enjoy.
My 2 cents.