Hey guys.

I just wanted to ask about vocab study methods. It's quite a different experience to studying RTK so far. What I currently have is my core 10k deck and what I do is take 20 new cards a day and power through them with raw force. While the meaning sticks quite easily the readings are easily the toughest to learn so far, and sometimes it takes me 10 tries until it sticks- until the next day. I believe that over time I will be able to really memorize them but it just feels dumb to repeat the same 10~ cards over and over again to what feels like no avail until one by one I barely remember.

I was just thinking whether this is what all of you went through or if I'm just really not getting something here. It's fantastic how much my recognition has improved for vocab I already know but new words are really tough nut to crack. Any suggestions perhaps?

I learn/cram a bunch of vocab in a short amount of time using jflash. It's an app you can get if you have an ipod/iphone. Just select JLPT level n4 and learn the 631 vocab words. It took me about a week to go through that list but they were words I already knew through immersion. The N3 list took me about a month. But it will take a couple of months to go through the n1 list.

After I went through the n4 list and n3 list, my listening was improved noticeably.
If you tried Anki and don't really like it and don't like being tied down to it all the time, cause reviews pile up, then I recommend jflash.

http://www.japaneseflash.com/api/
http://www.japaneseflash.com/features/

If you're repeating the same card over and over again, then you should probably suspend it, or set anki's 'leech threshold' lower and it will get automatically suspended.

When a word won't stick, you need to take the time to actually study it instead of just look at it. Look up the full dictionary entry, find examples of it being used. (If you take words out of your textbook or reading material, you already have at least one context.) ALC is also good for finding context.

I like to put dictionary sentences on my flashcards - they are usually short and illustrative anyway, and come with a reasonably reliable translation. Short or easily shortened sentences from my reading are also good candidates. If I have a 5-7 word sentence with my question word highlighted, I almost never get it wrong again.

If you simply can't remember the pronunciation, try creating a mnemonic for the sound of that word. (It doesn't have to be good, it just has to last one day usually to get the ball rolling and then you'll just remember.)

If that doesn't work, break up your learning - study the vocabulary as a hiragana word and only when you're solid on that do you add the kanji. It's very taxing on the brain to learn both at once kanji->meaning, kanji->reading ... it's easy to go through a card many times remembering one or the other but never both on the same viewing.

Thanks for the advice guys. The deck I use is actually quite comprehensive in that it provides an example sentence which you can also listen to. Having some context definitely helps.

Most of the time the meaning is simple enough to memorize, but the spelling is where I stumble (probably because I have no tricks to help me remember). It's quite silly because I understand what is being said, I just can't spell it.

This is definitely a case where knowing the individual readings would help me out immensely. I guess I'll just have to press on with what I have and hope it works out. I'll try the mnemonic system, usually if I remember one syllable the rest comes automatically.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. With time you will start to have the opposite problem, where you can frequently guess or remember easily the correct reading of new vocab words, but not the meaning. You will start to notice that certain radicals seem to cause the same ON-reading in different kanji, etc.

My biggest fear right now is that once I start seeing vocab with similar kanji compounds I'll be unable to identify them from each other. What I realize at the moment is that I tend to remember one kanji out of two(+) when I try to recall how individual words are written. Or even worse, I only remember the spelling, and as a result I only recognize the words in text but can't write them out. Usually seeing that kanji in a compound is a good enough indicator for identifying the meaning, but I fear that once the kanji start overlapping I'll be in trouble. I guess what sammyb is saying might be the result.

I can't really help myself there I guess.

In my quest to speed up review time I came across a piece of information that has changed the way I review for the past 6 months. Go through the cards and when you fail a card, fail it. Next time it shows up pass it and wait for it tomorrow. You won't get the reading right tomorrow or maybe you will. but eventually you'll get it right and it will be fine.

Be Awesome Tip: Write your failed cards down on paper three columns Kanji, kana, english and glance at it through the day. Works best if you review in the morning. At the end of my days I throw the piece of paper in a folder and never look at it again. Repeat.

I like that Be Awesome Tip. I'll definitely start doing that in some form.

I think I'm shooting myself in the foot here by adding so many new words a day. It's interesting and addictive but knowing Anki one day I'll wake up to meet the Burj Khalifa of review piles.

Another I use when I'm lazy. Is limit my new cards based on reviews for the next day. So for instance if after my reviews the next day says there will be 76 reviews I would only add 24 cards for a total of 100 reviews the next day. That way I'm always sure what the work load will be for the next day. When I feel adventurous I'll add more but that has come back to shoot me in the foot more often then I'd like to admit.

I like to use Anki's "New Cards/Day" function to set a maximum on new cards that are going to show up per day, so I can use my weekends to add a bunch of cards to my deck without worrying that the reviews are going to be heinous. Then I can adjust it up or down if I find I'm getting more reviews, or fewer, than I want. (I like to have about 400 young cards at any one time.)

My experience was that memorizing readings is at its most difficult when you're just starting out. The more words you know the easier it gets. Just keep a steady pace and don't be frustrated with slow progress in the beginning. If something's really giving you trouble, then, like others have suggested, you can try using a mnemonic technique. Heisig outlines one in RTK2 if you don't want to come up with your own.

Jaxon Wrote:My experience was that memorizing readings is at its most difficult when you're just starting out. The more words you know the easier it gets. Just keep a steady pace and don't be frustrated with slow progress in the beginning. If something's really giving you trouble, then, like others have suggested, you can try using a mnemonic technique. Heisig outlines one in RTK2 if you don't want to come up with your own.

Gotta agree here, it does get easier the more farther you get at doing it. I've come to love my vocabulary deck. I delete anything that I don't think is common but I try to gather them all from native material which makes learning more fun.

What's the name of the deck you're using?
I just finished RtK 1 and want to look into it for learning vocab.

Core10k, a bigger version of core2k/6k. Might be an overkill but so far so good!

Here's a link http://www.mediafire.com/?nieqms7ju0ome5a

It seems to be a used deck so what I did was to reset it's progress before starting.

Thank you for the encouragement. I'm happy to say my earlier studies (although inefficient) have helped me with quite a few words along the journey. Right now I am trying to figure out how many new words I should aim for per day at this point.

Betelgeuzah Wrote:Core10k, a bigger version of core2k/6k. Might be an overkill but so far so good!

Here's a link http://www.mediafire.com/?nieqms7ju0ome5a

Hi! I have a question: Are there any audio files for this deck?

Thank you!

I figured the audio is included. I can't access it because the android anki app is so glitchy but it always gives me the option to listen to the sentences anyway.

The file also seems rather large for having just text included? Now I'm unsure..

The audio for Core 10k is separate and can be downloaded from here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0C84FEL6
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S1FLTWLN

Oh, fantastic. Thank you.

Betelgeuzah and mmhorii,

thank you for your quick reply!

mmhorii Wrote:http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0C84FEL6
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S1FLTWLN

Thank you for the link. Do I have to use both files and make one folder out of them?

After you download both zip files, unzip them, and you'll have a big set of mp3 files. Copy all of these files into your .media folder for the deck, and then start studying...

I'm going to agree with Jaxon as well. The learning gets easier as your vocab expands. One thing I will not though as I downloaded the Core10k deck off shared decks on Anki, is that the cards are not set up in the optional n+1 format. I exported the core2k cards out first and started on those, but when I got to adding in the other 4k for the full core6k I used the revised lists over in Nukemarine's beginner thread. I reorganized the 4k to fit the modified version and found the 4k much easier going now.

I will say though I am a bit skeptical about the rest of the core10k deck after the 6k stuff because much of it looks like stuff just ripped from EDICT definitions and haphazardly put together. I guess I'll see though. Still trying to catch back up on reviews. No reviewing for 4 days resulted in a 500card back up, I'm about 60% through the core6k. Kind of annoying.

EDIT: Oh, something else I would like to tag on for any kind of SRS reviewing be it vocab or RTK. Go into Anki preferences and uncheck "Show next time before answer." Knowing the intervals for stuff WILL affect how you answer. For SRS you need to be trusting in the algorithm to really get the benefit.

mmhorii Wrote:After you download both zip files, unzip them, and you'll have a big set of mp3 files. Copy all of these files into your .media folder for the deck, and then start studying...

It works perfectly, thank you!

The 10k sentences are somewhat quirky. Here's a small sample:

　
人前 で おなら を して しまった
I farted in front of other people.

そんな こと を 言う と 君 の 人間性 が 疑われる よ
When you say such things I doubt your humanity.

怒った 父 に げんこつ で 殴られた
I was punched by my angry father.

叫びたい 衝動 を なんとか 抑えました
I managed to suppress the impulse to shout.

It should be a continuation of 6k, no?

I haven't done any of the 2k/6k/10k sets, but those sentences look pretty normal to me, like things you would see in novels.

I don't know that I've actually seen おなら anywhere but the book on farts by the same author as "Everybody Poops," but a person with a 10k vocabulary probably should know the word.