Dude!please don't quit!Japanese sure takes a lot of effort and time and dedication,but its not that difficult...In 6 months i have mastered katakana/hiragana,finished RTK1,studied most of japanese grammer and learned about 400 words from Core 2000,And now i can actually freaking READ!!!,Its not as difficult as everyone says,at least give it another try or find something fun to do like watching anime for a while until you can get back to study mode.

Don't give up, it may take time but mastering just comes as you keep learning it. I can tell you that I've gained the ability to understand japanese to that 95% mark now, my reading is to that 90%+ mark. Sure I still screw up even till now but. Just keep going. I'm getting into the phase of getting even more hardcore if I can.
Because I want my speaking/writing skills to excel as well.

1 year and 2 months of learning so far. Sure I'm not fluent, probably only half way there. But hey no one said that's a bad thing...

Think of it in another way. You can't cook something to it's fullest(and tastiest) until it's cooked at the right temperature and for a consistent amount of time. Same applies to japanese, you gotta keep learning until it get's to the point of mastering it(fluency). Then you can turn of the temperature for a bit.

I'm at 1583.

Suddenly my retention rate has dropped dramatically. I seem to have forgotten everything. Terrible feeling.

Anyone noticed anything like that?

I was fine until now. It's very depressing... Feels like my brain has melted.

Here are my Anki stats:

Correct Answers:
Mature cards: 91.2% (423 of 464)
Young cards: 77.6% (6396 of 8240)
First-seen cards: 71.4% (1075 of 1505)

Any comments are very welcome...

I fail to see the drop in retention here...
My lowest rate was 63% I think (RevTK). Take it easy. Keep reviewing every day (if you can!).

But anyway, regarding your previous post where you described your method, you're overdoing it.
Stop all collateral research. Just learn the English keywords, look up the german keywords in this page

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=...l=en#gid=0

and make a story. That's it. The last 500 are a pain, no need to drag yourself even more.

Also, knowledge is about cycles. The line between conscious memory and unconscious memory keeps shifting. Eventually, what you feel you've forgotten will come back.

But seriously, stop the overkill.

@truando: I suppose i know that feeling and just let me say here once again that forgetting is just so natural! (especially with kanjis we are absolutely unsurrounded and isolated from) I had this when i reached 1200/1300 or so, when i recognised i knew the last 600 Kanjis just too well and the rest seemed so.. vague, brain stew. The only thing that sort of helped me out of this drama ("Oh my gosh, i wasted my time so far, what a pity, was Heisig the right and best choice for me?" Such questions popping up..) was: Revising. Search for the actual problem, the core causing trouble (and maybe you discover a special chapter) and start revising the trouble-causing kanjis or even whole -- for you -- difficult chapters. That's what i did and hey, I'm at 2005 now. Coming to the end I'm sort of "preparing myself mentally" for this huge developement and progress (for me within an age of 17!). I want to enjoy this moment, so delicate~

You'll get it, i know it.

Thanks, both of you. Very helpful comments. Tori-kun - that's exactly how I feel, the mature cards are so easy, and some chapter just mush. And, as EratiK pointed out to me before, the troublemakers that are almost synonyms.

But it's good to know that you went through the same phase, I guess I'll just have to chill and review.

RE the collateral research - I kind of enjoy that, and it helps me find the right feeling for the Kanji. I changed quite a few of them, it really helps me. I guess it doesn't really matter now that I'm 450 from the end.

Anyway, thanks again to both of you. EratiK - always a morale-booster!

Now off to my Japanese class for another bashing session :-)

truando Wrote:RE the collateral research - I kind of enjoy that, and it helps me find the right feeling for the Kanji. I changed quite a few of them, it really helps me. I guess it doesn't really matter now that I'm 450 from the end.

I see what you mean, my stuff was looking up the etymology, I'd better to look up the compounds, it would have been more useful. But keep it short.

Quote:Anyway, thanks again to both of you. EratiK - always a morale-booster!

Just finish the damn thing already!

P.S.: I don't remember which one of you had Heisig's email, but could you please ask him when "Remembering The Hanzi 2" is going to be published? It's for a good cause. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: it's cool, rcloud did it.

Quote:Just finish the damn thing already!

はい！！！

I'm not as high as you guys but I just reached 250! Feeling like a boss of kanji. I'm treating myself with a kanji poster from kanjiposter.com! I hope it gets here tomorrow or Monday.I navigate websites and I'm like "I know that one, I know that one" every other kanji and its like holding a lantern in the darkness. Soon I'll have a lamp and then someone will turn on the damn light. Roughly 1/8th of the way WOOO!

That's a good start! Keep up the high spirit!

And now off you go to the next 250, see you in the 500 thread!

I am definitely needing some motivation now. I didn't find this site until i was about 180 in and just added them all at the same time (big mistake). Now at around 250 I am buried in reviews and have decided to stop adding new ones until I get all these into the 3 or 4 reviews done. It is a trudge for sure, but it has to be done or that huge review stack and low retention rate is going to destroy my morale. Still though I never thought I could possibly learn this fast! (and I have only been doing 10 new ones a day).

aaroncp Wrote:I am definitely needing some motivation now. I didn't find this site until i was about 180 in and just added them all at the same time (big mistake). Now at around 250 I am buried in reviews and have decided to stop adding new ones until I get all these into the 3 or 4 reviews done. It is a trudge for sure, but it has to be done or that huge review stack and low retention rate is going to destroy my morale. Still though I never thought I could possibly learn this fast! (and I have only been doing 10 new ones a day).

That's one thing about the srs, you gotta keep a balance of what new cards you add. Because there will be always reviews coming up more if you do more. So getting past that phase where "Srsing takes so much time". Try to find ways for speeding it up and enjoying it. Because you have to be in it for the long run, that's how it works well, for the long-term

aaroncp Wrote:I am definitely needing some motivation now. I didn't find this site until i was about 180 in and just added them all at the same time (big mistake). Now at around 250 I am buried in reviews and have decided to stop adding new ones until I get all these into the 3 or 4 reviews done. It is a trudge for sure, but it has to be done or that huge review stack and low retention rate is going to destroy my morale. Still though I never thought I could possibly learn this fast! (and I have only been doing 10 new ones a day).

Have you considered removing them? You can take them off and then add them back on 25 at a time, everyday. Depending on how fast you study new ones, you should catch up fairly fast. It ought to drop your reviews down to something a bit more managable.

Or do what I do, only do 30 or so reviews at a time. Come back two or three times a day if you have a lot, and just do them in pieces.

adoette Wrote:Have you considered removing them? You can take them off and then add them back on 25 at a time, everyday. Depending on how fast you study new ones, you should catch up fairly fast. It ought to drop your reviews down to something a bit more managable.

Or do what I do, only do 30 or so reviews at a time. Come back two or three times a day if you have a lot, and just do them in pieces.

Honestly I hadn't considered that first option, but since I've already started doing what you do I am just going to stick with that for now. With a full time job and reasonably severe ADD, 30 in a day is about tops for me. Thanks for the advice.

Just a question...

I've done around 250 kanji now, and I must honestly say that I'm not enjoying this book.
Reading tons of stories to memorize characters and their english keywords is just plain boring, and it's affecting my progress.

Is this normal? Am I supposed to be having a blast with this book because of the playful method?
I know that Heisig is by far the best method out there to learn kanji, but it's still just... Boring.

.... Yeah. Sorry for being a partypooper. :I

Er... you're not suppose to read all the stories. They are just here to save you some time if you cannot come up with stories of your own. But some people just don't go along well with the method. Sure, learning 2000 characters is a repetitive task, but you should really try to make personal stories, try to think of happy moments, funny anecdotes, or whatever usually stimulates your interest (sport, movies...), and put it in your story. That's a way to keep the boredom at bay.
Also, what is your current pace? Too much boredom might be a sign of burning out.
Hope this helps.
Good luck!

EDIT: also, the customize keywords function will soon be available, if it really gets too hard on you, you can wait for it, and use Netherland keywords. How does that sound?

Steffan Wrote:Just a question...

I've done around 250 kanji now, and I must honestly say that I'm not enjoying this book.
Reading tons of stories to memorize characters and their english keywords is just plain boring, and it's affecting my progress.

Is this normal? Am I supposed to be having a blast with this book because of the playful method?
I know that Heisig is by far the best method out there to learn kanji, but it's still just... Boring.

.... Yeah. Sorry for being a partypooper. :I

You're not enjoying the book, ok, but do you enjoy learning kanji? I mean, the book just presents a method a be able to write the kanji when you see the keyword. Of course you could not like the method, but general opinion here is that it helps a lot to follow the story method.

Perhaps you're taking the 'stories' too literal: don't let them just be stories or "donkey bridges" but really make a vivid imagery in your mind, as EratiK wrote. If necessary close your eyes to come up with a vivid scene, drawing from (good) memories of yours and bizarre situations you can come up with.

So again, in the beginning you might feel that the story method is preventing you from progressing faster, but in the end you'll see its benefits. You just can't rote memorise (i.e. learn by brute force and repetition) 2000 kanji.

Quote:EDIT: also, the customize keywords function will soon be available, if it really gets too hard on you, you can wait for it, and use Netherland keywords. How does that sound?

That's a nice idea, I'd be glad to help if a group effort was started.

I'm taking the Japanese SAT test next week and the NJLPT2 next month! I REALLY need to get a move on!

I'm so stressed out. >.<

Wool gyuujuice I k ow just what you mean!!! I'm currently signed up to fail JLPTN1 come December, but I just had 3 weeks absolutely cram packed with projects, papers, midterms, the continuing selection process with Square Enix, and just --- no time to even do my homework let alone independently study my Japanese...

I really hope I don't fail this semester.... D:

Back on track after a bad case of pneumonia. No way did I have the strength to review while I was in bed with 40 degrees fewer.

I got well only to find myself in front of a massive review stack of 986 expired Kanji. It took a lot of willpower to tackle them especially considering my overall weakness.

I'm down to zero as of today and ready to rock. I will finish the book by the end of the month.

Once again I realize how important it is to stay in control. Once you let it slip it's almost unbearable to get back into it, even or especially if you were ill.

Gyuu comes from 牛 not sheep 羊. (I'm just teasing you.)

Yeah, we just have to make the best of what we got and be confident.

Sorry to hear about the pneumonia. (I remember the last time I had a fever, I was delirious, a really bad trip) Hope you feel better. Take it easy with the kanji okay?
Incidently, I started my first 608 cards review (10 days without reviewing). Already half done. Yay. Good luck.

EratiK Wrote:Incidently, I started my first 608 cards review (10 days without reviewing).

you're getting soft? didn't expect that from you ;-)

thanks for the good wishes!

Believe it or not, after awhile (currently @ 13 000 reviews) it gets tedious, since you don't learn anything new. There's nothing like the thrill of starting or completing a chapter of a grammar book (especially the newbie books I use). I start to get isolated cues in anime, that feels awesome (before I only heard particles). I also get transparent compounds without looking them up. One day... Anyway, you're welcome. じゃね.

Yep, you're right. That's why I make smaller goals and more of them. They are easier to start and complete -- even when they are the same amount!