Hi, I'm learning Japanese and though about doing RtK. But as all you now, you don't learn any Japanese at all while doing this.
So now I want to learn like 10-15 Kanji meanings (Keywords) and to all of them 2-4 vocabulary. I found a book which ordered the Kanji in frequency and shows to every Kanji up to 5 vocabulary, where only Kanji are that you learned until then. This way I would also learn vocabulary and after I'm done with the Joyo Kanji I should know like 4.000-8.000 vocabulary, so I could directly jump into native material and then only add new words from there.
What do you think of my plan?

I recommend looking at the core 6k deck.

Xanpakuto Wrote:I recommend looking at the core 6k deck.

I second this. I would say a majority of the users on here work through the core 6k deck. It's a great start on learning the mot commonly used words in japanese.

I'm not sure what else you may have planned for your studies, so one thing I want to mention is that you should not not neglect grammar. Right now I'm almost finished with Tae Kim's grammar guide and I'm supplementing it with Japanese the Manga way; I'm also reading Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication and How to Tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles. Even now I still feel like I still have a long way to go.

When I did RTK1, I did it along with Genki I and II for a change of pace. I really think you should plow through RTK1 first before doing any serious deep vocabulary dive. You can work with grammar with the Genki books or Tae Kim's guide when you are bored of RTK. But of course you can do it the way you suggested also. It'll probably add up to the same mount of time as if you did one and then the other in succession so I don't think you are gaining anything. So I would vote "no" if I had a vote :>

Learning Kanji in frequency order might not be as efficient as learning in RTK order. Depending on your goals, this might be a trade-off that you are willing to make. RTK order makes it a little easier(faster) for a lot of people to learn kanji. This is because RTK orders the kanji where you learn a radical, then you learn all of the kanjis that use that radical. Presumably if you are not using RTK then you would not be taking advantage of the stories, which are quite useful for learning the kanji, but you could always make up your own stories.

Otherwise, your plan makes a lot of sense to me. So it seems like a choice between (slightly)faster/more efficient learning vs news you can use immediately.

coincidentally, I am doing something similar to your plan since I am biased towards conversation sooner. I stopped learning kanji at around 400 and have been learning as much raw vocabulary as possible. I've also been reading the core sentences with furigana to get some grammar practice and listening to the sentence audio for listening practice. Eventually I would hope that this will get me to the point that I can have some basic conversations. When I get around ~4k or so vocab, I will go back and finish either RTKlite or the full RTK and practice reading without the furigana. The jury is still out on wether this is a smart approach, but I'm sticking with it.

I think in the end, it really boils down to that you need to memorize a whole lot of bits of information and get used to how they are used. The order you learn probably doesn't matter as much as we would like to think it does. Much more important I believe is how you study because that affects how likely you are to keep going and not quit. For me, Anki made all the difference. Before I found Anki, I was walking around with hundreds of flash cards in my pockets and that was no fun. Whichever you choose, good luck.

If I'm voting, then no to RTK, no to your plan and yes to plowing through Core.

Raijin Wrote:4.000-8.000 vocabulary, so I could directly jump into native material and only add new words from there.

Aside RTK, what other resources have you been using to come to terms with how Japanese words are used to relate to each other and provide an overall meaningful consistency? Diving right into the waters is going to be a chilling experience if can stay afloat but have no understanding of tides and currents.

How said words are defined in English are not exactly the way they are uilized by the Japanese. Godspeed, either way. ヽ(^。^)ノ

Thank you all, then I'll just learn the meaning of the Kanji and then directly move to Core 6k.
Hope I can learn them in 1 month or less.

Raijin Wrote:Thank you all, then I'll just learn the meaning of the Kanji and then directly move to Core 6k.
Hope I can learn them in 1 month or less.

You probably want to go at a pace of about 100 a day, then, which will give yourself sometime at the end of the month to consolidate your learning...