Charlie san,
Let's respect the rules and refrain from posting. However, do let me know if you've got my email.
Let's respect the rules and refrain from posting. However, do let me know if you've got my email.
2006-07-06, 3:03 pm
I'm going to buy a copy anyway, when it is re-printed in the fall, but I'd like to look it over, if possible. I've heard that the ebook has lots of errors in it that they might be fixing. Lets hope so!
2006-07-09, 3:53 pm
KanjiTown sounds interesting. I may very well try it out. That stupid AKUmulator story got stuck in my head after me briefly reading it. 
I started RTK2 on January 1 of this year, and so far I've gotten to the end of Chapter 6. I gave up trying to memorize every single exemplary compound at Chapter 1. It was far too time-consuming for me, and I got nowhere. Furthermore, many of the compounds is are rather obscure and uncommonly used.
I have found that RTK2's method works very well for me. So far, at least. I'm starting to get a little bit annoyed with the constant work of incoporating new Kanji into my brain, and the exceptions are starting to anoy me. Now that I've gotten out of the pure signal primitives area, I might try KanjiTown. It sounds intriguing and fun.
I will say that RTK2 is a good, solid method, but, like RTK1, you have to stick at it, and it can get very frustrating at times. I know from experience. I got very frustrated with RTK1 on several occasions, almost to the point of giving up, but I never did. I finished it in about 7 months. With a 95% retention rate, I feel quite proud of my accomplishment in that area.
However, you need to read Japanese and use the readings that you learn daily. No amount of mneumonics is going to help you if you can't use the stuff you've learned in everyday life. I read Japanese blogs, translate Japanese, and go through things like that on a daily basis, and it really helps. The readings that I use and see regularly are the ones I remember clearly, while ones like 慈 and others, which aren't used regularly, I remember less clearly. Review past readings regularly, as well. It's amazing how much a reading sticks in your mind once you see it outside RTK2, like on a computer or a Japanese TV show. That alone can force the reading into long-term memory permanently.
Also, don't become dependent on the RTK2 compounds. You need to use the readings in different compounds in different positions, otherwise you'll be learning to read the compound instead of the Kanji. There are certain places where this is totally acceptable and encouraged (明日 is a very good example.
), but most of the time it's not. Like I said, practice, practice, practice.
I started RTK2 on January 1 of this year, and so far I've gotten to the end of Chapter 6. I gave up trying to memorize every single exemplary compound at Chapter 1. It was far too time-consuming for me, and I got nowhere. Furthermore, many of the compounds is are rather obscure and uncommonly used.
I have found that RTK2's method works very well for me. So far, at least. I'm starting to get a little bit annoyed with the constant work of incoporating new Kanji into my brain, and the exceptions are starting to anoy me. Now that I've gotten out of the pure signal primitives area, I might try KanjiTown. It sounds intriguing and fun.
I will say that RTK2 is a good, solid method, but, like RTK1, you have to stick at it, and it can get very frustrating at times. I know from experience. I got very frustrated with RTK1 on several occasions, almost to the point of giving up, but I never did. I finished it in about 7 months. With a 95% retention rate, I feel quite proud of my accomplishment in that area.
However, you need to read Japanese and use the readings that you learn daily. No amount of mneumonics is going to help you if you can't use the stuff you've learned in everyday life. I read Japanese blogs, translate Japanese, and go through things like that on a daily basis, and it really helps. The readings that I use and see regularly are the ones I remember clearly, while ones like 慈 and others, which aren't used regularly, I remember less clearly. Review past readings regularly, as well. It's amazing how much a reading sticks in your mind once you see it outside RTK2, like on a computer or a Japanese TV show. That alone can force the reading into long-term memory permanently.
Also, don't become dependent on the RTK2 compounds. You need to use the readings in different compounds in different positions, otherwise you'll be learning to read the compound instead of the Kanji. There are certain places where this is totally acceptable and encouraged (明日 is a very good example.
), but most of the time it's not. Like I said, practice, practice, practice.
Advertising (Register to hide)
May 16 - 30 : Pretty Big Deal: Save 31% on all Premium Subscriptions!
- Sign up here
2006-07-11, 3:17 am
Aye that is what I try. I am still at "canned texts" state so I read various beginner and intermediate texts from that e-learning site I have linked to sometime, somewhere. And yes, kanjis that you run across "RL" sometimes strike home and stays there much harder
2006-07-11, 4:20 pm
Quote:I also used Jim Breen's examples but I'm a little wary these days. There's a very big problem which surfaces after you read about how the examples were collated. (...)Regarding this I would recommend Kodansha's furigana Japanese-English dictionary. It's chock-full of example sentences.
2007-07-15, 7:37 pm
Can I ask what is so bad about the RTK2 method? I just started a short while ago, and it's going fine so far(which might change once I'm out of the pure group). I looked into Kanjitown a bit, and I'm not sure how well it would work for me. I don't have the Heisig keywords cemented in my head(in some cases I don't know them, even though I know what the kanji means) and I'm not sure how to tie in the pronunciations to the stories.
2007-07-15, 7:55 pm
I haven't gotten to far into RTK II, still stuck in pure groups, myself, but the pure groups are fairly logical and easy to remember, as you are discovering. However, from when I've scanned ahead, the book's actual methods become somewhat questionable with the introduction of semi-pure groups and even more so with mixed groups and onward, to the point that the structure appears to be extremely hard to follow, due to the amount of exceptions (to he who has persevered through RTK II, how does it hold through?).
Personally, I could care less about learning readings and would rather just learn a word that demonstrates a reading than arbitrarily learning readings, as with kanjichain, kanjitown, or RTK II. However, RTK II has plenty of vocab, and that's mainly why I'm sticking with it.
Personally, I could care less about learning readings and would rather just learn a word that demonstrates a reading than arbitrarily learning readings, as with kanjichain, kanjitown, or RTK II. However, RTK II has plenty of vocab, and that's mainly why I'm sticking with it.
Edited: 2007-07-15, 7:57 pm
2007-07-16, 2:39 am
I've heard of people completing RtK2, it works if you're dedicated to completing it just like RtK1. Since there are thousands of kanji, and at least twice as much as RtK1 if you really get into Japanese literature (?); learning the pure groups and semi-pure groups at least should be really worthwhile. I'm guessing the kind of literature you will find lots of non-RtK (non-jouyou) kanji will also be without furigana.