Hi,

Currently I know both kana and around 1200 kanji (by doing RTK with Anki). However, I feel like spending 1hr a day on the kanji is too little and I'd like to do more with my time.

I can easily get around 3-4hrs of study into a day, so I thought about getting into sentences, as that's supposedly one of the next steps.

I've downloaded the corePlus deck from Anki and have started reviewing, but I was surprised at how incredibly hard it was... Right now, I did 10min and I barely memorized 8 words. More importantly, it annoys the hell out of me that I have keep on listening to a word over and over again, to not even have the slightest clue as what it means.

I can watch series and movies without understanding most of it, but that doesn't bother me. Kanji has never been a bore either and I like to occasionally try and read a few sentences on some J-blog to see whether I understand anything. I listen to podcasts regulary and even that is enjoyable, but now this core deck is really getting to me.

Still, I don't want to quit and abandon it. I just believe there to be something I'm doing wrong...

What I do is:

1. Listen to the word
2. Read the hiragana version of it
3. Guess the English translation of it
3. Press space and hear the full sentence
4. Read the english translation and check my answer

I'm not writing anything down because I feel it's a bit odd writing kanji I don't know yet. I also don't get how to grade myself on this...
Should I just keep trying and bare with it?


I'm slightly confused and frustrated at the moment, so I'd really appreciate any help anyone could give me.

Thanks in regard!


PS To clarify: I specifically want to do sentences, not use my time to learn more kanji. I'm doing 20/day and I feel that is my limit.

I would recommend using a text book as a first step. Go through (or sentence mine) something like Genki I&II. After that maybe go through Tae Kim's guide. After that you should be well prepared to start on Core6k.

Also, keep in mind your goals. If all you want to do is read/listen to Japanese, you don't need to do any sort of production cards. For instance, you can set up your Core6k cards with Kanji and a sentence on the front, and kana and an English translation on the back. Make sure your cards fit your goals.

Thanks for the recommendation, I have already considered Genki but I'm still unsure as to what it will offer me. Does it teach you grammar? Or is it more like an exercise list used with a grammar guide such as Tae Kim?

I'd like to keep my goals as wide as possible, meaning I'd like to be fully functional and leave nothing out: speech, writing, reading, ... I'd like to be able to use the language to its fullest later on, so I think this current method is still okay. Any feedback on this is always welcome though!

Genki is like every other langauge textbook. Every chapter consists of:
- A set of short conversations
- Vocabulary lists (I pretty much ignore those...)
- Detailed explanation of grammar
- Exercises (I ignore those too...)

What I do is reading the grammar section and mining the sentences... pretty much the same method as described on japaneselevelup.com. By putting them into Anki I feel that I can be sure that I will not forget what I just learned; either remind me of it if I have forgotten it or reinforce it if I still remember.

I like it though; its grammar explanation is easy enough for a 馬鹿 like me to understand.

And if you don't feel like paying for it, there are ... methods ... to acquire it online.

EDIT: I didn't like the first two chapters too much though. Please look up the words to find out if they have kanji, because they are all hiragana+katakana, but the sweet kanjis show up after the first chapters...

And please pardon my English language mistakes... It's not my first language and I am a bit sleepy :p

Thanks for your help!
I will look into Genki as I've seen it recommended many times but now feel more sure it fits my needs.

I'm just wondering: how exactly do you input sentences from Genki into Anki? Do you simply switch to Japanese input and type it out in kana?

Thanks once again for your help and trust me, your English is indistinguishable from a native! (I'm not English either, so *highfive*)

Yup. That's what I do. You know how to use the IME right? Just type it out in kana, press space and the IME will provide a few suggested kanji and/or kanji+kana combinations.

どうぶつえん -> 動物船
でんしゃのなか -> 電車の中