i am at frame 1150 so not far into it, but i feel slightly crazy! i have been steadily doing 25 a day for the last couple months and it had been going wel. haven't missed a single review so am averaging around 90-120 a day in reviews. In most reviews i score around 85-95% and according to anki my mature cards are at 98%.

but i don't know if any of u guys are experiencing this or its just me, but i don't feel like i am remembering new ones. even though i am scoring highly on the SRS i dont feel like i can just call them up from memory without having to think about it for almost a minute. Also when i try to read a word i see somewhere like a menu etc. i know i should know the character but it takes quite a long time to get the keyword to pop into my head.

so basically i feel like i am going a bit crazy, kinda like every character is at the tip of my tongue, but just not very easily accessed without having to use some brain power. this is not the case for all kanji, just a few more abstract ones like rightousness, freight, fare, discriminating, auspicious etc. its kinda like i KNOW I KNOW them, i just can't access them very easily, and if reading is going to be like this then i'm not sure i can do it lol.

PS i know u can't read of the bat just with RTK1 but i am scanning pages for recognisable kanji whenever i pass a japanese restaurant or even chinese restaurant.

That's a normal state. It get better with various kinds of practice.

Solidarity

xoxotagrande Wrote:i know i should know the character but it takes quite a long time to get the keyword to pop into my head.

Are you studying from Kanji -> to keyword? No. You are studying Keyword->Kanji. Just because one of the parts are in the question does not mean that you can simply reverse the equation and get back to the start. This is just as applicable when studying other stuff. If you study words in a reading format, don't expect to be able to easily remember them when you hear them. There is SOME overlap but not much. It is easier to learn stuff in a different direction once you have it down in one way though (so it seems).

xoxotagrande Wrote:i am at frame 1150 so not far into it, but i feel slightly crazy! i have been steadily doing 25 a day for the last couple months and it had been going wel.

Something doesn't fit well. If you are doing 25 a day, then getting to the frame 1150 would take you 46 days, not months.

Quote:haven't missed a single review so am averaging around 90-120 a day in reviews. In most reviews i score around 85-95% and according to anki my mature cards are at 98%.

If you do 25 new frames a day, with that pass rate, I think you shouldn't be getting so many reviews a day.

Quote:but i don't know if any of u guys are experiencing this or its just me, but i don't feel like i am remembering new ones. even though i am scoring highly on the SRS i dont feel like i can just call them up from memory without having to think about it for almost a minute. Also when i try to read a word i see somewhere like a menu etc. i know i should know the character but it takes quite a long time to get the keyword to pop into my head.

so basically i feel like i am going a bit crazy, kinda like every character is at the tip of my tongue, but just not very easily accessed without having to use some brain power. this is not the case for all kanji, just a few more abstract ones like rightousness, freight, fare, discriminating, auspicious etc. its kinda like i KNOW I KNOW them, i just can't access them very easily,

How's your memory usually? I have the impression you could probably have a not so great memory in genera (because the numbers you give don't seem to fit, so probably you are not remembering well how many reviews you do each day, or how long you've been reviewing).

Anyway, don't worry too much. Memory is a skill, and as any skill, it can be trained. That's precisely what you're doing with kanji and spaced repetition, so as long as you are constant you will definitely see improvement. Just be patient and enjoy the process, it will take some time but your effort will pay off.

Quote:and if reading is going to be like this then i'm not sure i can do it lol.

Do you remember how you started reading your first language? I guess at first you didn't read very well for a probably rather long time. It will be the same with Japanese, you will start with tiny baby steps, and then eventually you will stand in your feet and walk, and even run.

Quote:PS i know u can't read of the bat just with RTK1 but i am scanning pages for recognisable kanji whenever i pass a japanese restaurant or even chinese restaurant.

That's great. You seem to be in a very good track, so don't despair.

If you use this site's SRS, you can review each box individually. If you do so you will have a better grasp of how well you remember kanji at different stages of your studies. If you have some problem in the first 2 or 3 boxes, but nail the kanji when they go beyond that point, then you have nothing to worry about.

Once you are done adding new cards you will be only reviewing learned material, so your command of the kanji will only grow. I think you will feel much more secure about all of it before long after you finish the book.

Just enjoy the process and don't stop.

[s0apgun]

Sebastian Wrote:Just enjoy the process and don't stop.

Yup, this. I'd say what you're experiencing is pretty normal. In 5-6 months post back in this thread about how hard it is to forget them. Also don't put such an importance on remembering them perfectly, get used the kanji and how the primitives are put together. RTK is more or less a trial of things to come and is just the beginning of a long journey in Japanese.

I got to 1500, and then started to falter. But then again, I was studying the langauge for 3 years before attempting Heisig.

If you are not used to the language, I would assume it would be normal to reach a plateau earlier.

Anywho, its really hard to cram all that goodness in when you reach that level. Just fight through it, or take a break.

I myself took a 3 month break only doing reviews when I reached the point where my brain said NO!

xoxotagrande Wrote:but i don't know if any of u guys are experiencing this or its just me, but i don't feel like i am remembering new ones. even though i am scoring highly on the SRS i dont feel like i can just call them up from memory without having to think about it for almost a minute. Also when i try to read a word i see somewhere like a menu etc. i know i should know the character but it takes quite a long time to get the keyword to pop into my head.

It's very good. Logical.

This is how retrieval of memories works:

First it takes 5 minutes to remember,
then it takes 3 minutes to remember,
then it takes 2 minutes to remember,
then it takes 1 minute to remember,
then it takes 20 sec to remember,
then it is a natural part of you that you can't forget and what's better, it will be like your sixth sense

Just keep up at the same pace and everything will be very good

Alec_xvi Wrote:I myself took a 3 month break only doing reviews when I reached the point where my brain said NO!

I can't believe that I spent 7 months on kanji, seemed like forever

I actually wasn't that of a good student as many other members

I had intensive periods of some weeks when I did a lot and some other weeks on which I almost reviewed nothing or only a bit

Being able to guess, what few words mean from something written in japanese, is enough to get you back to reviewing. It's good to have something in japanese that you can look at, to get some motivation back, this way you know that you're learning and going forward. I can't wait to add last card into Anki, it's probably the hardest stage to get done with, because you can't use your knowledge right away and that's what RTK haters dont like about it the most. After you're done with RTK, it will be fun to learn japanese, because you're already familiar with all those strange symbols. There will be no frustration that you have no idea how to write and distinguish them

ok makes sense what u guys have been saying! i did a couple days where i only added like 10 cards and re-read the stories for the ones that i was finding difficult. I feel a little more confident so have moved on again adding 25.

is 85-95% correct an ok amount to progress effectively?

xoxotagrande Wrote:is 85-95% correct an ok amount to progress effectively?

That's perfect. 90% is generally considered the optimum level to balance reviewing soon enough to remember and far enough out to not waste a lot of time better spent learning new stuff.

meeatcookies Wrote:Being able to guess, what few words mean from something written in japanese, is enough to get you back to reviewing. It's good to have something in japanese that you can look at, to get some motivation back, this way you know that you're learning and going forward.

This very thing.

There's not a great deal of motivation when only doing RTK, but just flipping through some old magazines I have and being able to "half guess" at the meaning of some of the article headlines is great motivation that something good is actually happening.