Stansfield123 Wrote:I spent two weeks going over RtK, then a few weeks doing the reviews while starting reading through and using nukemarine's Tae Kim grammar guide anki deck. After those extra two or three weeks of reviewing, I got stopped reviewing RtK and went on with writing and reviewing Japanese as I came by it.uisukii Wrote:I "finished" RTK in about 14 days. For what it's worth, it wasn't a bad way to spend two weeks, and it certainly made recognizing kanji as 漢字 and not かんじ, or just confusing blobs of ink and print.So you just spent two weeks going over RtK, and then stopped? How would you describe what you actually accomplished by doing this, using as accurate a language as possible? (I'll provide an example of what I mean later in this post)
Stansfield123 Wrote:Heisig created and completed "RtK", in a matter of weeks himself, all without a digit SRS system. He went straight onto learning Japanese. I'm "claiming" no more than the author himself. He may have been a religious man, but I doubt even he claimed to be superhuman.uisukii Wrote:As for the actual impact it makes on one with their self-learning, only time will tell. Though it isn't really a "big" part of learning Japanese, as some people tend to make it.What are you basing this on? Are you claiming that you actually learned RtK in two weeks, and you are now drawing conclusions about its effectiveness from personal experience? You must be Superman.
Quote:I have spent about 5 weeks exclusively on RtK (adding about 60 Kanji a day, and keeping up with reviews). It took me around 5-6 hours/day (I took my sweet time, never rushed through any reviews). Then I spent about another 10 weeks reviewing my Rtk deck every morning. This took me about an hour/day the first week, and then 20-30 minutes from that point on. I also added a few RtK3 Kanji to my deck, as I encountered them elsewhere.Cool. Whatever works for you.
Quote:Here's how I would describe what I accomplished:
1. I learned to correctly write around 90% of the 2042 Kanji. (by correctly I mean stroke order, and ease of writing, without much effort trying to recall each element; but I do not mean that my handwriting looks natural in any way, or has any kind of consistent style; it doesn't, and it never will)
Quote:2. I learned a rough primary meaning for about 40% of the Kanji (meaning that I can now spot those Kanji when used in this primary meaning, and know what they mean in the text)So you roughly know about 40% of the 訓読み of about 2042 kanji? Impressive, given the existence of multiple readings.
Quote:3. I learned to associate about 65% of the Kanji with an English keyword. This allows me to more easily remember the writing of about 2/3 of the words I learn. It also allows me to identify connections between words that I would otherwise struggle to identify, and thus helps me remember them (not just their writing,but also their reading).The English keyword for 生 helps you remember the 音読み セイ、ショウ and the 訓読み い・きる、い・かす、い・ける、う・まれる、う・まれ、うまれ、う・む、お・う、は・える、は・やす、き、なま、なま－、な・る、な・す、む・す、－う? Incredible.
Quote:I would consider these three accomplishments a big deal (a BIG part of learning Japanese), and something I would not have accomplished if I hadn't given RtK the attention it deserves.As would I.
Quote:However, I have now stopped reviewing Kanji. As far as point nr. 2, I feel that very little more could be accomplished (because the rest of the Kanji don't really have keywords that would allow such easy understanding). With point nr. 3, I could of course continue and learn 90% of the keywords just to help me "handle" another 5-600 Kanji more easily,Do you mind sharing the secret to unlocking the different 音読み and 訓読み a given character can have from a single English keyword? I'm willing to pay for the advice.
Quote:but since it would do little to also further benefit me when it comes to understanding them on first sight as they show up in Japanese text, and since I can already write them, I feel that spending that 20 minutes daily on this would no longer be the best use of my time. But, again: this is after four months spent on carefully reviewing and writing the Kanji. Not after two weeks.I see. Incredulity is a powerful thing.
I imagine that spending just two weeks trying to learn Kanji would indeed have very little benefit. I'm not surprised that you think RtK is not a big part of learning Japanese. If you only spend two weeks on it, it's not.
Quote:P.S. I keep saying RtK, but, of course, RtK is not the only method for studying the Kanji. There are plenty of others, no doubt also useful (I wouldn't even claim that RtK is the best method - but I would claim that it is better than skipping studying the Kanji, and just jumping into vocab and grammar - which is what you have essentially done).Thank you for telling me what I have done. Your insights into my mind are powerful.
*bows*
なぁぁむぅー
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