A while ago, I got stuck on the thread chapter (pretty early in the book) and never really managed to get past it. Since then I've been picking sentences anyway, and just learning to read instead of write. Now I'm going through the book again and writing in all the Kanji words I know.
Turns out, I can read a fair amount, probably around 1/3 to 1/2 the kanji, plus multiple more on readings already for some of them, too smile
But, more and more, as im going through, it just bothers me that RTK isn't already in japanese.
1. The book is arranged in a very logical manner. All the kanji are kind of n+1 already. They're composed of components we've seen before in previous kanji. Lots of the Kanji are component + keyword already studied. So why aren't we making simple story sentences in Japanese?
2. The keywords that are included in the book, sometimes don't correspond to the meaning you have when you learn the word in context. I notice a lot that if I see a Kanji, i would recognise it and understand it immediately. But the keyword draws a total blank.
3. Because of this, it leads to having two seperate understandings of Kanji, one for listening and reading, and one for writing / translating. I'm not sure if that's really the thing to be aiming for.
I think if the keywords were simply one reading in Japanese (the most common, preferably Kun readings), with a few translation keywords, along with simple n+1, logical stories, in Japanese, wouldn't it be better? By the time of finishing the book, we'd already have over 2000 sentences completed in Japanese. It would take a bit longer than the english keywords way, but not really more than a few months longer, i think, since sentences in context are easier anyway. If i'm going to learn and remember 2000 stories, why shouldn't they be in Japanese??
e.g. 休 ： 休む ： rest / holiday 夏休みには人が木に休みます。
by the time we reach this in the book, because RTK is organised so well, we know every word in the sentence, it helps us to write it, and it teaches the meaning of the Kanji in a more useful way than thinking "rest". It doesn't get rid of the picture element in your head, either. Lots of the Kanji even have really useful components that are sound components in the 1st place. e.g. 仲 － 人 ＋ 中 pronounced, なか. Or 時 as a component is often じ.
Has anyone done this already with the book anywhere? Or anyone interested in starting? (i can't guarantee my grammar skills though
)
Turns out, I can read a fair amount, probably around 1/3 to 1/2 the kanji, plus multiple more on readings already for some of them, too smile
But, more and more, as im going through, it just bothers me that RTK isn't already in japanese.
1. The book is arranged in a very logical manner. All the kanji are kind of n+1 already. They're composed of components we've seen before in previous kanji. Lots of the Kanji are component + keyword already studied. So why aren't we making simple story sentences in Japanese?
2. The keywords that are included in the book, sometimes don't correspond to the meaning you have when you learn the word in context. I notice a lot that if I see a Kanji, i would recognise it and understand it immediately. But the keyword draws a total blank.
3. Because of this, it leads to having two seperate understandings of Kanji, one for listening and reading, and one for writing / translating. I'm not sure if that's really the thing to be aiming for.
I think if the keywords were simply one reading in Japanese (the most common, preferably Kun readings), with a few translation keywords, along with simple n+1, logical stories, in Japanese, wouldn't it be better? By the time of finishing the book, we'd already have over 2000 sentences completed in Japanese. It would take a bit longer than the english keywords way, but not really more than a few months longer, i think, since sentences in context are easier anyway. If i'm going to learn and remember 2000 stories, why shouldn't they be in Japanese??
e.g. 休 ： 休む ： rest / holiday 夏休みには人が木に休みます。
by the time we reach this in the book, because RTK is organised so well, we know every word in the sentence, it helps us to write it, and it teaches the meaning of the Kanji in a more useful way than thinking "rest". It doesn't get rid of the picture element in your head, either. Lots of the Kanji even have really useful components that are sound components in the 1st place. e.g. 仲 － 人 ＋ 中 pronounced, なか. Or 時 as a component is often じ.
Has anyone done this already with the book anywhere? Or anyone interested in starting? (i can't guarantee my grammar skills though
)
Edited: 2011-02-15, 3:47 pm
