I have finally been given the chance to travel to Japan. I'll leave for Kyoto in early November this year.

I've started studying Japanese several times but gave up because of lack of motivation. Now that I have a clear goal, I'd like to try once again. I own a copy of RTK1 and a few Minna no Nihongo books. Currently I only know the kana and about 150 kanji. I don't know any words/grammar whatsoever.

In the past I have done plenty of research on how to go about learning the language but since this is the internet I find contradictory advice everywhere, which is quite confusing. That's why I'm asking this: Are there any methods or is there any order of studying that you would definitely recommend? I'm a fast learner and am neither in school nor employed. I do have health problems so the time I'll be able to spend on studying will depend on how well I'm doing. I'd like to learn as much as possible before November, though.

Thank you for reading!

Nukemarine's Suggested Guide for Beginners ● Users study methods

Those above resources and the whole "The Japanese language" section of this forum in general are worth looking into if you haven't already. Yes there's going to be contradicting advice everywhere, but I don't necessarily think opposite advice proves the other method wrong; there are many many ways to get to the end goal.

Personally, I went with RTK1 + Tae Kim + Core2k6k (still doing Tae Kim and Core) and I haven't really felt the need to try something else because I feel like doing those with Anki is doing its job as efficiently as possible. (Of course, supplemented with exposure to native material.)

Since you only have a few months to work with, you might want to try doing this 'RTK lite' list I've heard about, it'll be quicker to get through, (I don't know anything about it though, sorry) and you'll be able to start with vocabulary sooner. So I would recommend powering through RTK Lite, then jumping straight into Tae Kim + Core2k6k as soon as you finish. Luckily Core has a lot of audio to help you get used to listening, but you should probably also listen to as much native media as you can, stuff you enjoy, even if you don't understand much, just to get used to the sound of the language.

But I've never been to Japan, and I've only been studying seriously for 6 months, so take my advice with a grain of salt 8) There are probably other methods better tailored to preparing for an actual trip? I don't know, hehe.

But good luck and have fun!! Welcome to the forums.

[RawToast]

Quote:Since you only have a few months to work with, you might want to try doing this 'RTK lite' list I've heard about, it'll be quicker to get through, (I don't know anything about it though, sorry) and you'll be able to start with vocabulary sooner. So I would recommend powering through RTK Lite, then jumping straight into Tae Kim + Core2k6k as soon as you finish. Luckily Core has a lot of audio to help you get used to listening, but you should probably also listen to as much native media as you can, stuff you enjoy, even if you don't understand much, just to get used to the sound of the language.

With only 3 full months, I would also look at either RTK lite.

Are you in Japan for a long time? If so, Nukemarine's guide will be a good start for you.

Hello,

I had tried to learn Japanese with private teacher, classes and methods without success until I found this website (http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/). The founder, khatzumoto, is well known for his approach. He advises how you can teach yourself, while others popular methods give you vocabulary or grammar rules. It like this proverb: "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The most interesting thing is that he reached a proficiency level in Japanese without going to Japan.

His blog give you a boatload of advices: what to start, how to do things, what material to choose,... in order to be able to understand real discussions.
For example, he took 3 months to do the first 600 kanji with Anki (my retention was bad). I discovered lazy kanji cards recommended on the Khatzumoto's blog. Then I tried it and I finished RTK within 20 days by doing 100 kanji per day. Of course you need 3 months to assimilate properly, however my rep was less painful than before.

Send me if you want more information.

It's impractical to learn 100 kanji a day considering you'll continue reviewing for a long time (reviews span across many months, maybe a few years). I recommend aiming for 1-20 kanji per day.

There's no specific order but generally the order is as follows:
1.rtk, vocabulary, grammar
You then go on to:
2.vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar
And then you do whatever you want.

Work at your own pace.
Generally you're on 1, it doesn't matter where you start or where you end, you'll go on to 2. [1 being the "foundation"] [2 is learning from both pre-made material and from native content]