Hey all,

This is my first post here and its great to be around.
I haven't started using RTK 1 yet because I have one very stupid question.

Question: When doing the lessons, do you write each kanji, keyword and story out (including the ones given at the beginning) or do you go straight to Reviewing the Kanji and input the new characters there? And when reviewing, do you write each one out?]

Thanks for all and any answers in advance !

Don't use paper cards or something to review, the book was made before efficient flashcard programs like Anki or this site existed.

When going through a kanji for the first time you can write it out somewhere if you want of course, but the importance is in taking note of how the "primitives"--the smaller parts that make up the characters--are written. If you can write the primitives, you're able to practice writing the whole characters as you review.

All you really need to do when adding a new kanji is to input the story you've used/come up with/chosen from this site, into its field in the story page on here, or on the kanji's card in your Anki deck if you'd use that.

Whether or not you write the characters out when reviewing depends on how thorough you want to be. You'd save time not writing, at the sacrifice of becoming sloppy with the writing ability. If you always check if you can write the kanji properly before you see the answer during review, you'll have a great way to practice writing and you're making sure you're doing the reviewing properly, but it's obviously gonna be taking time to do it.

Anki is one of many (but probably the best) spaced repetition systems--flashcards with long-term memory favored reviewing schedule, based on the difficulty you rate each card with as you review. I think you should check it out now as you're at the starting point, to save yourself from the trouble of switching to it, should you check it out later and really want to use it.

I personally think Anki is a better alternative to reviewing kanji than this site, but the downside is that you'll have to spend time figuring it out and either making your own RTK deck, or finding the right one to download. But the thing is that you're most likely going to want to use it for you further Japanese studies (mainly vocabulary), and it's nice to have your kanji studies in the same place so you don't have to keep switching between them.

I think you have to develop your own system. I didn't find this site until about 500 frames in. I wrote everything down (stories and all) and soon stopped writing the kanji next to the keyword/story so when I reviewed my notes I would have to imagine it or draw it on scrap paper. By the end of the book I was relying on this site and my own handwritten notes together, depending on where I was. If I did it again, I don't know that I'd change anything, but when I try new study methods now, I take the time to research efficient methods and regimins beforehand like you are doing now and it pays and saves time off in the end.

unrelated: @TwoMoreCharacter Did you have two more characters left to go in RTK1 when you made your username?

Thanks you both very much, everything is now cleared up I am aiming at learning a modest 15 kanji/ day. Just to check; after understanding (and I will probably write each one out) and noting how each character is formed from primitives, input the character(s) into Anki and just review and write when it comes up?

Thanks a ton

And to reiterate what many have said, you'll bolster your memory and thus save time later on reviews if you take a moment to really visualize the story you have chosen and the kanji when you first encounter them. Have fun!

Thanks! How can I not?

What about the simple kanji like the kanji for 'one'. Is a story really needed?

It is a story already, a very simple one you already know from the same Roman numeral turned 90 degrees. Yeah I just mean for kanji that are complex or totally new, just focus on the story like Heisig says. It will all be building blocks in your head, like the game Jenga you'll slowly grow higher and you won't need certain blocks anymore to grow taller but uh, yeah that metaphor falls apart as soon as the tower does.

Jrummer Wrote:Thanks you both very much, everything is now cleared up I am aiming at learning a modest 15 kanji/ day. Just to check; after understanding (and I will probably write each one out) and noting how each character is formed from primitives, input the character(s) into Anki and just review and write when it comes up?

Thanks a ton

Yes, I'm not sure about this site's reviewing system, but in Anki, you just sit back and review whatever is due. You don't have to choose when to review what, once you're sure about your story and have added a kanji to the deck, you can move on and be sure that it's going to be up for review later.

Jrummer Wrote:Thanks! How can I not?

What about the simple kanji like the kanji for 'one'. Is a story really needed?

Nah, some very few kanjis and primitives are so simple they don't need to be thought about much. Or at least even if you did, the story would drop out so quickly anyway because it's not needed for its purpose. I think Heisig does that for 土, dirt, which you'll reach pretty soon. Always see what Heisig says, the first 250 or so frames are supposed to be completely guided.

tashippy Wrote:unrelated: @TwoMoreCharacter Did you have two more characters left to go in RTK1 when you made your username?

Haha, I guess my username seems like some sort of motivation driven thought related to Japanese studies, but it's not at all. I don't know if it was this site or if it was Ankiweb first, but the username I was thinking of having was simply just 4 characters long when it needed to be at least 6... I couldn't think of anything so I just put what I was thinking about, that it needed to be two characters longer. Daft story, but there you go. 適当すぎる

Thanks! Better get studying now!

Jrummer Wrote:Thanks! How can I not?

What about the simple kanji like the kanji for 'one'. Is a story really needed?

My own two yen on the matter, yes.

I say this not for the first 250 which the stories are provided, but for ones down the road that you know already for whatever reason, it's helpful (or at least in my case) to get used to making those stories. The experience you get for even simple ones, the easier it is down the road. That doesn't preclude you from using this site or the book's stories though.

Back to the original topic, I found what worked best for me was to write the kanji down with the story in a notebook and THEN enter it into the review system here. I'm currently on my 5th notebook as I chew my way through Vol 2.