Hi.
I've been reading a lot about RTK lately, and, when I read good stuff about it, I wanna buy it. On the other hand. If I start reading bad stuff about it, I quit the idea.

(I still I'll buy it sooner or later, please, make buy it!)

Like, wow, I can learn how to write hundreds of kanji extremelly fast! I'll get fluent faster! Wow!
Then there's the downside.
Learn all these kanji and not knowing how to read them? And how to combine them?

I'm using Genki 1 as of January. I shall start lesson 9 tomorow, I have Kodansha's Essencial Kanji dictionary (really useful btw). I already bought Genki 2 and will buy when I finish it "an integrated approach...".
(I plan to finish both genkis and an integrated approach in September, and if possible, RTK)

So, how should I use it? How many kanji do you learn in hours? (I wanna use 2 hours rtk and other 2 hours with genki or AIAIJ).

Tomorow (where I live is 10.33 PM) I might post more questions, because now I'm really tired :|

よろしく。

I'm in a japanese class, and we started Kanji second semester. I started this book a week ago, and it really does help.

Before I would look at the kanji, memorize it by stroke order, and forget it after the test...

Already when I look at new kanji, or kanji that I'm supposed to already know (like time for example) I'm able to break it apart mentally and the stroke order makes A LOT more sense.

Definitely try the sample before hand if you're on edge http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publ...sample.pdf

Good luck!

I can't recommend Genki and RTK at the same time. It might work for you, didn't for me tho. Focus on one. Finish. Move on. I'd say RTK first, Genki second. Good luck and have fun!

Edit: Whatever you do, be sure to use a spaced repetition software such as Anki!

CarolinaCG Wrote:Hi.
I've been reading a lot about RTK lately, and, when I read good stuff about it, I wanna buy it. On the other hand. If I start reading bad stuff about it, I quit the idea.

(I still I'll buy it sooner or later, please, make buy it!)

Like, wow, I can learn how to write hundreds of kanji extremelly fast! I'll get fluent faster! Wow!
Then there's the downside.
Learn all these kanji and not knowing how to read them? And how to combine them?

I'm using Genki 1 as of January. I shall start lesson 9 tomorow, I have Kodansha's Essencial Kanji dictionary (really useful btw). I already bought Genki 2 and will buy when I finish it "an integrated approach...".
(I plan to finish both genkis and an integrated approach in September, and if possible, RTK)

So, how should I use it? How many kanji do you learn in hours? (I wanna use 2 hours rtk and other 2 hours with genki or AIAIJ).

Tomorow (where I live is 10.33 PM) I might post more questions, because now I'm really tired :|

よろしく。

You won't know how to read the kanji no matter how you learn them. You can sit for ages and try to remember all the readings for each kanji but you'll have to give up eventually since it simply takes way too long to do it for all the kanji and still remember it. There are techniques to remember one reading for each kanji but that's still just one reading. There's not really any good solid technique to learn every reading for every kanji.

The superior technique is to learn to recognize and write the kanji so that you are completely comfortable with them. The kanji should be images connected to contexts in your brain, not wierd symbols with readings and possible connections. When you have finished that (after RtK), you are ready to learn how to use them. Instead of learning all the ways a kanji can be read and all the ways kanji can be connected, learn words. Let's say you know that 自 means "oneself" and you know 分 means "part". Then you learn the word 自分... you learn that it's read "jibun" and it means "oneself". There you go! You learned that 自 can be read "ji" and that 分 can be read "bun"! You also learned that 自 together with 分 becomes the word jibun meaning oneself!

So you see, readings aren't important to memorize ahead of time since there's really no use for the readings by themselves. The readings are only relevant to you if you know words which use them, what good does it do to know that 情 can be pronounced "sei" if the only word you know with it is 情報 where it's read "jou"?

Don't sweat the readings, you will learn them in time. Focus on knowing the kanji so that when you see a new word, you know what it's made up of, that will make the word easier to learn.

"Do, or do not." But... there is such a thing as TRY!

The only way to find out if a method will work for you is to give it a decent trial. If the price of the book is an obstacle, I'd suggest checking it out of the library if you can (if you are at a college, they can get it for you via interlibrary loan if they don't have a copy) and trying out the method using the book and this site for, say, 200 kanji or so. That should be enough of a trial to see if it is going to click for you.

Clearly, Heisig works amazingly well for lots of people on this site, including me. I was beginning to despair about my ability to remember kanji after taking college classes and studying on my own using quiz sites such as http://www.msu.edu/~lakejess/kanjigame.html Not a bad site but it wasn't a method for LEARNING, only a method for review. I swear there are some kanji among the Kyōiku that I probably learned and forgot 50 times. I just couldn't get them to stick. Now, they do! Hallelujah! All I need to do is keep up with my daily reviews. Although of course I have fails the number of "draw complete blank" are few and far between. I almost always remember several elements of the kanji, or perhaps confuse it with a synonym.

Good luck!

Thank you so much to everyone.
As of tomorow I'll start using the sample.

I wanted to ask you a few questions though.

I'm going to college (hopefully) in September, and will have japanese as minor (chinese as major). I wanna be the best (I'm very ambitious) in each subject. I know I'll have an advantage to my classmates (I intend to finish this book in 3 months at least and hopefully before october).

I actually memorized 古, 吾, 冒, 朋, 明, 唱 and 晶 really fast, like in 10/15 minutes the first and only time I, just out of curiosity, started trying to learn with this book, which was a week ago or so. I really liked the method, specially the story on the "risk".

Well, tomorow I shall study for like 1 hour in the morning and another in the afternoon (not more because I wanna finish genki 1 in the next 2 weeks ) and if I see that is really effective I'll buy it.

Damn, I had so many questions...I forgot them all.

Where do you get flashcards? I think I'll make some on paper after knowing some kanji.

If you are majoring in Chinese you should probably do Remembering the Hanzi first...

CarolinaCG Wrote:Thank you so much to everyone.
As of tomorow I'll start using the sample.

I wanted to ask you a few questions though.

I'm going to college (hopefully) in September, and will have japanese as minor (chinese as major). I wanna be the best (I'm very ambitious) in each subject. I know I'll have an advantage to my classmates (I intend to finish this book in 3 months at least and hopefully before october).

I actually memorized 古, 吾, 冒, 朋, 明, 唱 and 晶 really fast, like in 10/15 minutes the first and only time I, just out of curiosity, started trying to learn with this book, which was a week ago or so. I really liked the method, specially the story on the "risk".

Well, tomorow I shall study for like 1 hour in the morning and another in the afternoon (not more because I wanna finish genki 1 in the next 2 weeks ) and if I see that is really effective I'll buy it.

Damn, I had so many questions...I forgot them all.

Where do you get flashcards? I think I'll make some on paper after knowing some kanji.

Who needs flashcards, it's such a bore to make them, administrate them etc. Use a program which does all of that stuff for you:
http://ichi2.net/anki/

If you're still wondering why Anki is SO much better, search on wikipedia and google for "SRS" and you'll see.

How to use the book?

You could use it to prop your laptop up as you study on Reviewing the Kanji

Thank you all, again.

I started today. I studied probably one hour and managed to memorize 26 kanji (I already knew about 4/5, I started on lesson 2 because the others I already knew). But I couldn's imagine stories to them. What should I do. I can't remember the stories. I can only remember the meaning, and I know that I'll forget them eventually, or not (with reviews).

I'm really worried because I'm afraid that if I don't memorize the stories the same will happen to the kanji.

If there's some thread talking about this I'd be gratefull if you redirect me.

CarolinaCG Wrote:Where do you get flashcards? I think I'll make some on paper after knowing some kanji.

It's not clear from your posts whether or not you know about the SRS flashcards and wonderful story sharing on this site. Click the icon or the "Go to Reviewing the Kanji" at the top of this page. (http://kanji.koohii.com/) There's a Learn More section worth reading. good luck with univ.

[ファブリス]

Tobberoth Wrote:Who needs flashcards, it's such a bore to make them, administrate them etc. Use a program which does all of that stuff for you:

Exactly! You don't even need to install a program! There is an Spaced Repetition System here called Reviewing the Kanji !

CarolinaCG Wrote:Where do you get flashcards? I think I'll make some on paper after knowing some kanji.

Hi Carolina and welcome,

just register over at http://kanji.koohii.com/ (it's free) and you can start reviewing right away. Unless you need an offline solution, that is the easiest way to get started, and you don't need to install anything. Just review from your browser.

PS: Carolina, please sign out once on the main site (kanji.koohii.com) and check out the NEW homepage. I'd be curious to have your feedback on it. Would you have noticed then, if you registered now, that the site lets you review the RTK kanji ?

ファブリス Wrote:Carolina, please sign out once on the main site (kanji.koohii.com) and check out the NEW homepage. I'd be curious to have your feedback on it.

I'm not exactly Carolina (haha) but I just logged out to take a look. Love it. Good job!

Thanks Thora! I still hadn't discovered that P:

ファブリス, yeah. I learnt yesterday how to use the main site. And I searched a bit and found a thread where the creator had the same problem I did and I already know how to solve it, I hope itll work.

About the new homepage, I had already seen it a few hours ago, and really liked it. Its really usefull.

Thanks!

I believe the best program you can use to learn the kanji in Heisig's order is the one based in this site. As you move higher on the kanji count, you'll be able to use hundreds of incredible and vivid stories and, hopefuly, offer the community a couple of your own.

Don't be afraid to (re-re)-read Heisig's words of advice, they're invaluable and will certainly keep you from falling on not very obvious pitfalls. Also, this forum is packed with advice and resources, so I'd suggest you to read it frequently.

CarolinaCG Wrote:But I couldn's imagine stories to them. What should I do. I can't remember the stories. I can only remember the meaning, and I know that I'll forget them eventually, or not (with reviews).

If you already know the meaning of some of the kanji, you can just skip the stories for those. The stories are just an artifact to learn and make the kanji stay in memory for some time. As you do the reviews, the stories will fade and only the meaning will stay. Keep reviewing and keep checking the "success rate" for the ones you don't have a story for; if you notice it's not working for you, then just attach a story to each one.

I see this forum's portuguese population is growing. Great!

Boa sorte!
- Nuno

Olá companheiros falantes do Português. =D

You have to find what works best for you. I'm one that found out that stories were not really good. I do much better with rhimes or pictures. Rhimes are the best, but its hard to come up with them. Images are easier to make and I use them for the vast majority of my mnemonics.

Nomad Wrote:I believe the best program you can use to learn the kanji in Heisig's order is the one based in this site. As you move higher on the kanji count, you'll be able to use hundreds of incredible and vivid stories and, hopefuly, offer the community a couple of your own.

Don't be afraid to (re-re)-read Heisig's words of advice, they're invaluable and will certainly keep you from falling on not very obvious pitfalls. Also, this forum is packed with advice and resources, so I'd suggest you to read it frequently.

If you already know the meaning of some of the kanji, you can just skip the stories for those. The stories are just an artifact to learn and make the kanji stay in memory for some time. As you do the reviews, the stories will fade and only the meaning will stay. Keep reviewing and keep checking the "success rate" for the ones you don't have a story for; if you notice it's not working for you, then just attach a story to each one.

I see this forum's portuguese population is growing. Great!

Boa sorte!
- Nuno

Ah! Great then!
I thought that by not-knowing the stories I wasn't learning the kanji. But the 44 I memorized (I already knew a bunch), were memorized with the keyword only, in most cases.
Well, I think I'm really going to buy the book, I really hate to study in the computer (except for reviewing). But I shall continue with the sample PDF version and maybe my mum will give me the book thanks to my school grades (atherwise I'll be the one to buy it).


mentat_kgs, just like you, I can't study through the stories of the book at least, so I come to RevTK and read the user's stories to get some more basic.

Obrigado aos dois!
(E eu que pensava que era a única portuguesa a conhecer este método XD)
(I thought I was the only portuguese knowing Heisig's method XD)