Hello!

New to the forum, but I have an interesting question. This is in regard to Genki, Kanji and the overall order in which we learn Japanese. 

First, a bit of background: I took two semesters of Japanese in college, have hiragana and katakana down and have about several hundred words in my Japanese lexicon. I have been away from learning Japanese for a year or two, but have decided to really dive head first into the language and ascertain some level of fluency as I intend on teaching English in Japan in the near future.  In college we used the Genki textbook, which I have always enjoyed. However, the more I pour through online forms and am introduced to other learning methods and the sheer amount of struggle that others have had trying to learn the language, I'm looking to start off on the right foot, in order to ease my potential suffering. 

My eyes have just recently been opened to how truly daunting learning Japanese is (I can say that my Japanese Sensei's really never communicated how difficult it would be). If anybody is familiar with Ken Seeroi's stuff at japaneserulesof7.com he has a knack for bringing people down to reality. But after reading Ken's site, along with Tae Kim's blog and the opinions of thousands of other Japanese learners, I feel far more confused as to where to really re-start this whole language learning journey. I barley remember the grammar and just recently reviewed the kana, and my vocabulary. 

So here, is my question, albeit a very broad question (much like "what is the meaning of life?"). To those of you who have at least picked up some level of fluency, in what order did you begin to study the materials? More importantly what was the foundation? Did you, for example, use Genki, Tae Kim or Learning Japanese the Manga Way to build up your grammar foundation and learn vocabulary and Kanji later? Or should it all be done simultaneously? I always read about ways to find reading material of your level and immersing yourself in Japanese drama, but when is really appropriate to start such activities? 

Another concern I had, is when to start learning the Kanji? Should I start that up ASAP and get acquainted with Wanikani? or Anki? 

Basically I'm at the point where I am quite familiar with the language, how it sounds, the kana and some basic sentence structure. I can only imagine there are other former Japanese students who may be in the same position I'm at and want to know how t"re-build"  the best foundation, and hopefully fill in some of the cracks they had originally. 

I apologize if this has been covered in a multitude of posts, however I felt as though this would be a useful discussion to have. 

I would be glad to hear any and all opinions or links you have to share. 

Thank you

-GreenCross

From my experience, consuming native material and checking back to a grammar guide when I encountered something I didn't understand was the easiest way for me to gain a very solid understanding of basic fundamental grammar structures. 

Of course, to even recognise that something is a grammar structure, I had skimmed through Tae Kim's grammar guide. I started reading simple manga like Yotsuba& while checking back to the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar or Tae Kim before I even knew 1000 Japanese words from the core deck, but seeing grammar structures used in the wild definitely helped me more way more than staring at a grammar textbook ever would (input hypothesis). Bear in mind though, it was torturously difficult at first -- I took an hour to finish the first chapter! -- but the sense of accomplishment when my reading speed and comprehension improved was unparalleled.

I'm not saying that this is the only way to learn Japanese, but this is how I learnt it to a respectable level:

• Tae Kim (1 chapter per day or more if I had more time)
  
• Core6k deck (10 per day at first, slowly ramped up to 30-70 once I was halfway done with it)
  
• Reading (I started this when I had a 700 word vocabulary)
  
• Mining words from reading material and suspending duplicates from Core
  
• Listen to Japanese music when commuting (I barely understood any of it at first, but perhaps I subconsciously learnt some grammar and vocab from it 笑)
  

Please note that:

• I spent a year in secondary school learning Japanese learning basic grammar, some vocabulary as well as following a textbook so my starting point for self-learning was somewhat similar to yours (I only paid attention to lessons for 6 of those 12 months though )
  
• I did not spend more than 2-3 hours a day reading, but I would read for at least an hour a day on average. Some days if I was too tired I would just do Anki and forget about reading completely
  
• I believe that consuming native material is what helped me gain a strong foundation and understanding of how verbs are conjugated as well as which particles, structures etc would be used in a particular situation
  
• I did not actively study using any grammar textbooks besides Tae Kim and only used the Dictionary of Japanese Grammar as reference
  
• I only read things that I was at the very least mildly interested in and did not force myself to read anything that I knew I would not like as doing
  
• While there are some questionable nuances in Tae Kim's grammar guide, I find that it covers all essential Japanese grammar and there is no better grammar primer for Japanese self-learners right now
  

Right now I would recommend that you start with a grammar guide of your choice -- I recommend TK, but all paths lead to the summit -- and get Anki set up. Anki is better than wanikani for many reasons, but I shall not delve into that topic for now. As for learning the kanji individually, that's completely up to your discretion. Some have had great success with it, others haven't, but one thing is for certain -- If you stick with whatever method you choose, you will achieve fluency eventually.

Thank you so much for your suggestions Risu. It was enlightening. 

First off, do you have any other suggestions for low-level manga to start reading besides Yotsuba?

Also, I HAVE already started WaniKani and I find it to be fairly practical, but I plan on using it in conjunction with Anki, Genki and Tae Kim. I figure that at the end of the day, its all about what works best for us as individuals. 

I'll have to work on finding Japanese materials to start reading, as well as figuring out Anki.....those are two parts of this equation that I have yet to get a solid grasp on......particularly the Word Mining part, I followed the link you posted but I was overall confused on what was going on. 

But thank you again. I feel as though since I already have Genki I & II, I will just work through those books again in order to build up my grammar, basic kanji recognition and then supplement with Tae Kim. I'm going to continue to experiment with WaniKani because frankly being spoon feed Kanji doesn't seem like a bad deal (although I hear that it has its downsides, but I digress) and get Anki set up. I feel like what you described in accordance to reading is probably %100 true. I will certainly begin reading once I feel I have roughly a 700 word vocab.....so thank you for that suggestion. (Fortunately I listen to Japanese Music daily anyway, so I've already got that point down!) 

As a side question, in terms of the different grammar patterns and conjugations that arise in Formal, Informal, and Honorific/Humble scenarios, were you able to absorb those through your reading to the point where you could chat informally with friends, formally with co-workers and Honorifically/Humbly with your superiors? Or did you make sure to pay special attention during your grammar study?

Once again, thank you.

(6 hours ago)GreenCross Wrote: I will certainly begin reading once I feel I have roughly a 700 word vocab...

Just a suggestion. Instead of doing something like core or another frequency list, why not pre-learn vocabulary for materials that you intend to read immediately. The reason I say this is because I know several thousand words now and I still find reading difficult. Having to look up several words in most sentences makes reading quite a slog. Lately I've been pre-learning vocabulary before reading and it's made reading much more enjoyable. It's a similar approach to core because you are learning common words, but they are words that you will see again soon so you get the additional reinforcement. And reading when you know all of the words is so much more enjoyable.

That is a very interesting concept Yogert909.

So in terms of "pre-learning" vocab, what would you suggest? Say I'm looking to read a Manga, do I go through the first chapter, picking out words I don't know, then looking them up and studying them in order to read the chapter without pause? Or do you mean find lists of commonly used phrases and terms in Manga in general and study up?

Or does this apply more to a Newspaper article you know is going to be on Politics so I would be looking up Political terminology?

Just interested in hearing a bit more in-depth about your approach.

Look into Assimil's Japanese With Ease vol 1 and 2. Genki is overly suggested in the self learning community despite not being self learner friendly. After JWE and RTK you can go immediately into native materials.

(5 hours ago)GreenCross Wrote: That is a very interesting concept Yogert909.

So in terms of "pre-learning" vocab, what would you suggest? Say I'm looking to read a Manga, do I go through the first chapter, picking out words I don't know, then looking them up and studying them in order to read the chapter without pause? Or do you mean find lists of commonly used phrases and terms in Manga in general and study up?

Or does this apply more to a Newspaper article you know is going to be on Politics so I would be looking up Political terminology?

Just interested in hearing a bit more in-depth about your approach.

I'm not sure this approach would be useful for materials that aren't in electronic text format.  The materials I've been using have all been in electronic text format so that I can automate card creation.   

I take the text from something I want to read and past it into the jdic glosser then clean up the output to create anki vocabulary cards.  Then I delete the words that I already know and study the rest before reading or listening.  You could also do something similar with subs2srs.  I believe this kind of thing works best taking things in small chunks and not studying too much before actual use.  It's all about understanding words within larger contexts than a single sentence and actually using Japanese to enjoy materials that you want to.  I think this approach can also benefit from multiple readings or watching a show multiple times.

You can do both Core and prelearning (or learning as you go); just suspend all the cards in Core to start with, and unsuspend them according to the vocab lists that you have for the material you intend to approach.

Personally I make my own cards, but many people don't like to take the time for that.

I started with the kana, improved my ability to distinguish kanji (RTK), started studying vocabulary (Core) and grammar (from Tae Kim's Guide).

I think it's easiest to start with reading skills. I think vocabulary study is most easily done with premade decks and reading practice. Core isn't perfect, but you save tons of time using it over making your own decks, and reading will iron out any vague definitions.

I like saving money. Spending money on things I can get for cheap/free is just wasteful. Some people see it differently. Time is money, so I like saving time (actually, I'm just lazy).

So I suggest Tae Kim's guide, familiarizing yourself with kanji early (for ease of vocabulary acquisition, not writing practice; writing can wait until later unless absolutely necessary), using Core, and reading as soon as it's possible.

(2 hours ago)sholum Wrote: Core isn't perfect, but you save tons of time using it over making your own decks...

Making your own focused decks is pretty quick and easy if you use one of the many tools out there like Japanese text analysis tool + epwing2anki or subs2srs, ect.

(5 hours ago)Mars Prism Makeup Wrote:  After JWE and RTK you can go immediately into native materials.

Whether or not to use RTK has me at a crossroads. I've read points of view from people who vehemently despise Heisig and the RTK. Then I've read from people (see. Ken Seeroi) who think that its useful to just use RTK to get your self familiar with visually distinguishing Kanji. Others apparently ascribed to the mnemonics and find some success.....what's your experience? 

 I'm currently experimenting with WaniKani, but yet again, that is another method that is widely debated?

(3 hours ago)SomeCallMeChris Wrote: You can do both Core and prelearning (or learning as you go); just suspend all the cards in Core to start with, and unsuspend them according to the vocab lists that you have for the material you intend to approach.

Personally I make my own cards, but many people don't like to take the time for that.

Actually, this is a great idea. I'm definitely going to use it.

Also, do any of you have any really good links to Anki tutorials. It seems there is a bit of a learning curve and I'm not too familiar with the jargon that is being used in regards to using Anki. I think I saw a few on here, but is there one that is better than the rest?

(11 hours ago)GreenCross Wrote: Hello!

New to the forum, but I have an interesting question. This is in regard to Genki, Kanji and the overall order in which we learn Japanese. 

First, a bit of background: I took two semesters of Japanese in college, have hiragana and katakana down and have about several hundred words in my Japanese lexicon. I have been away from learning Japanese for a year or two, but have decided to really dive head first into the language and ascertain some level of fluency as I intend on teaching English in Japan in the near future.  In college we used the Genki textbook, which I have always enjoyed. However, the more I pour through online forms and am introduced to other learning methods and the sheer amount of struggle that others have had trying to learn the language, I'm looking to start off on the right foot, in order to ease my potential suffering. 

Hello GreenCross and welcome to the Koohii forums! I too started my Japanese language journey via college courses. Though my school didn't use Genki but terrible books riddled in romaji D': I wish my school had used Genki though. These reddit topics about the Genki dialogs seem like a lot of fun XD

• Genki 1: I fear for Mary's safety
  
• Genki 1: Part 2 - I fear for Sue's sanity
  
• Genki 1: Part 3 - I fear for Mary's nutrition
  

lol in any case, you can read through Genki 1&2 if you'd like but if it bores you to tears, try something else like TK, Japanese the Manga Way or Visualizing Japanese Grammar. Btw, the Genki website has a useful page for Verb/Adjective Conjugation Practice.

(6 hours ago)GreenCross Wrote:  First off, do you have any other suggestions for low-level manga to start reading besides Yotsuba?

Though this question wasn't necessarilty directed to me, I thought I'd give my answer too I'm biased but I recommend Shirokuma Cafe. I couldn't get into Yotsuba for some reason -_- Besides, who doesn't love talking animals? xD That and pretty much it's the talk of the town (anime mostly) in the N3 thread hehe.  

(1 hour ago)RawrPk Wrote:

(11 hours ago)GreenCross Wrote: Hello!

New to the forum, but I have an interesting question. This is in regard to Genki, Kanji and the overall order in which we learn Japanese. 

First, a bit of background: I took two semesters of Japanese in college, have hiragana and katakana down and have about several hundred words in my Japanese lexicon. I have been away from learning Japanese for a year or two, but have decided to really dive head first into the language and ascertain some level of fluency as I intend on teaching English in Japan in the near future.  In college we used the Genki textbook, which I have always enjoyed. However, the more I pour through online forms and am introduced to other learning methods and the sheer amount of struggle that others have had trying to learn the language, I'm looking to start off on the right foot, in order to ease my potential suffering. 

Hello GreenCross and welcome to the Koohii forums! I too started my Japanese language journey via college courses. Though my school didn't use Genki but terrible books riddled in romaji D': I wish my school had used Genki though. These reddit topics about the Genki dialogs seem like a lot of fun XD

• Genki 1: I fear for Mary's safety
  
• Genki 1: Part 2 - I fear for Sue's sanity
  
• Genki 1: Part 3 - I fear for Mary's nutrition
  

lol in any case, you can read through Genki 1&2 if you'd like but if it bores you to tears, try something else like TK, Japanese the Manga Way or Visualizing Japanese Grammar. Btw, the Genki website has a useful page for Verb/Adjective Conjugation Practice.

(6 hours ago)GreenCross Wrote:  First off, do you have any other suggestions for low-level manga to start reading besides Yotsuba?

Though this question wasn't necessarilty directed to me, I thought I'd give my answer too I'm biased but I recommend Shirokuma Cafe. I couldn't get into Yotsuba for some reason -_- Besides, who doesn't love talking animals? xD That and pretty much it's the talk of the town (anime mostly) in the N3 thread hehe.  

First of thank's for the welcome. Second of all, thank you for the great, and hilarious reply!

I didn't realize that there were so many other people who found the hidden humor about Meerii-san and her cohorts! I vividly remember when I would study with my good friend Evelyn, who also took the class (and whom I was secretly in-love with...but that sadly didn't pan out :/). We would always comment on how much of an idiot Meerii-san was, or how Takeshi-san was blatantly a dick to her. To be honest, I think we even came up with our own narratives for why they were in the situations that the cast was presented in. Honestly, I suggest everyone read through Genki if only for the drama that unfolds with the characters, its ridiculous, but just like a J-drama, it somehow gets you hooked. 

Thank you for the suggestion about Shirokuma Cafe, I've heard good things about it. I'll make it the first thing I read when I get to that point. Personally, I've always been about dark, philosophical, and action packed manga and anime, however I don't think I'll be reading Kanshikan Tsunemori Akane, or Durarara! anytime in the near future. I am personally a big fan of Nichijou though, and it seems pretty simple in English, perhaps that would be another good choice. 

Anyway, thank you for the reply and the suggestions!

I actually prefer action and fantasy based anime/manga, but alas! I am nowhere near ready so I cling to the slice of life genre with dear life. As least with Shirokuma cafe I get to laugh at the hilarity that ensues in the lives of these silly animals. I can easily imagine actual people having to go through what they do (with the exception of working as a zoo animal because well...that's weird lol).

Also I'm sorry about your good friend Evelyn :/ At least you enjoyed the class and the baka that is Mary-san. & yes, I have plans to briefly read Genki 2 for the dialogs and to quickly read the grammar points as part of my self study. You can read more about it if you'd like on my blog.

As for the dialogs in my textbook, it was pretty dry:

[EDIT] It is WORSE than I remembered it! and in romaji too. I'll save you the torture and write it out in Japanese.

Quote:田中: じゃ、答えて下さい。これは本ですか。
ブラウン: はい、それは本です。
田中:　いい、本ですね！
ブラウン:　はい、かなりいい本です。
田中:これは本ですか、えんぴつですか。
ブラウン:それはえんぴつです。  
田中:いい、 えんぴつですね！
ブラウン:はい、かなりいいえんぴつです。

-_- The dry and boring lives of Tanaka-san, Brown-san and occassionally Yamada-san.