I'm a newbie at this whole japanese thing..., I know very little vocab as of now, well... not even that much, I now almost no vocab, anyways, I finished with the kanas like 2 days ago and have been trying to figure out what to do next, so I started listening to Japanesepod101.com podcasts they help with the vocab and grammar right?, but then I remembered I needed to learn the kanjis too... and I found out about heisig's method and this website, but I'm wondering what should I do first... anyways I'm worried about what after RTK1... what should I do, and apparently the most effective method after RTK to learn the on readings is Kanji chains, but I don't know what are they or how to make one , guide me please people I don't want to quit at this, I'M NOT A QUITTER!!!

It sounds like you're a bit too worried. Watch this first: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ESbvqyDF2-s

Then take your time and look around the forum, there are plenty of ideas and suggestions for people starting learning Japanese.

Have fun!
Misha

Do you have any suggestion?

I recommend:
http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blo...rview-page

misha Wrote:It sounds like you're a bit too worried. Watch this first: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ESbvqyDF2-s

Have fun!
Misha

Funny! Although I always though Bobby Mcferrin sang that song!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yjnvSQuv-H4&feature=related

He is actually amazing vocalist!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iimMKWF7SK0

I like this one:

Once you know the kanji and a little bit of grammar, you can have a whole lot of fun. I think I was most excited after finishing RTK and reading a short story without using a dictionary. It didn't sink in until after a while I realized I had read the whole thing and had a basic grasp of the whole story. Suddenly I realized I had never really tried to read real Japanese stuff before, but that now I could and it was easy! I didn't know all the words or all the grammar, but when I read through the story a second time and then later a third time, I could understand the whole thing. Understanding manga is my next adventure (there are a lot of different sentence structures and stuff in there), but just by reading lots of stuff, I can already understand most of it, which has done wonders for my listening ability too.

Here is the book I started with after RTK:
http://www.whiterabbitpress.com/catalog/...16459.html

I started with Level 4 of this series and I don't regret it. It was way above my ability level, but since I was so excited about my newfound kanji abilities, working my way through the books was a blast and I learned a ton (a few months later, I am way beyond the level of that set). You may want to buy from amazon.co.jp though, because the price is cheaper, you just need to order enough to make the shipping worth it (which really isn't that much, in the grand scheme of things).

To sum up, read lots of Japanese stuff. RTK, books with furigana, and a good dictionary (yes you will need one sometimes), will get you most of the way there.

For a dictionary I use Nintendo DS's Kanji sono mama rabuhiki jiten. It is awesome and has example sentences for pretty much every word.

First: Breathe. You're rushing waaaay ahead of yourself. Congratulate yourself on learning the kana. That's step one.

Second: Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Educate yourself on how to educate yourself. Read the posts on this message board. Go to alljapaneseallthetime.com (people just call it AJATT here) and read what Khatz has to say about how he learned Japanese. Gather as much info as you can, and figure out what suits your style the best. You aren't the first person to ask this question, so you should be able to find some good ideas out there.

Finishing RTK1 will take some time-- anywhere from 3 months to 1 year, depending on how fast you try to go. There's a bit of a split in opinion on whether to learn Japanese language/grammar at the same time as you do RTK1. It's really up to you. If you feel you HAVE to learn some JP grammar, grab one of the textbooks people recommend. (A lot of folks like Japanese For Everyone, I liked Genki I and II pretty well.) There are discussions on books for beginners all over the message board.

I like the idea of using kana-based graded readers if you can find them, just to keep your kana skills sharp. The more kana you read, even if you can't read the kanji, the better you will be able to read it down the road. It really is about practice and immersion, in my opinion.

I wouldn't worry about kanji chains until I was close to not only finishing RTK1, but also had 1600-2000 cards in my 4th pile. But that's just me. I started worrying about RTK2/chains while I was at ~1000, and it got me distracted from the task at hand.

What to do next depends a LOT on how you learn, and how much time you're willing to put into learning Japanese. (It also depends how long you can focus on RTK each day with your sanity intact, and without burning out.)

Come up with a plan that you think will work for you, but be willing to CHANGE it if it doesn't work for you. And don't skip a day. Ever.

zazen666 Wrote:Funny! Although I always though Bobby Mcferrin sang that song!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yjnvSQuv-H4&feature=related

Yeah, you're right, the guy that posted the video on Youtube made a mistake in the title (and paid for it dearly, if you read the comments )