Hi everybody..
I've already taken two years at uni level, but it's been about two years since then. One of the main reasons that I quit was that I just couldn't learn the kanji (At one point I was supposed to know around 500 by rote, but I don't think I learned a lot of them very well). So, I started going through RtK a few days ago, because I'm looking to get back into Japanese.
Right now, I've done about 30/day, and this has been extremely manageable. I've been pretty inspired here, and I've thought of just plowing through as many as I feel like in a day. I bet some of this is because I'm still fresh, and the novelty is still present.

Basically, what kind of advice do you guys have for someone in my position? Would you recommend just adding as many new kanji in a day as I want to? What other sorts of general tips do you have?

Thanks in advance

heyo1 Wrote:Basically, what kind of advice do you guys have for someone in my position? ...What other sorts of general tips do you have?

Start going through Core6k. The first 1000 or so should be really easy, the next 1000 will be pretty easy, and the ones after that should start to get fun/interesting. Around the 4000th card or so it starts to get a little harder. Maybe try the deck that's organized in i+1.

Going through Core6k really helped me get to the next level without feeling like I was doing much work.

Other than that, I would suggest watching anime/dramas. Listen to podcasts.

Also, I would say you don't really need to go through RTK unless you want to learn how to write the kanji. I don't feel like it really helps when your goal is learning new vocab/learning how to converse. If you already have exposure to 500 or so kanji, then going through RTK isn't going to help you (much). There may be other people on this forum who disagree with me, though.

I would recomand to try to learn x each day. Forming a habit is much more beneficial in the long run. If x is too large at some point you will have too many reviews and will probably slack. Just for fun try to search for '100 kanji a day' thread.
A useful thread for you is http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=5110 (Nukemarine's Suggested Guide for Beginners
)
Anothe useful one is something like 'don't repeat my mistakes' thread.
Try to understand that you are in a long term project. Beginners try to give 110% the first 100 meters and then realize that for 10.000 meters run this is a terrible strategy.
Be warned.

Even if you don't add new kanji some days, do your SRS reviews daily to avoid swarming.

Yeah, slow and steady will win the race. Stay motivated. Remind yourself *why* you want to learn Japanese in the first place. Don't burst and burn-out. Take a day off if you have to. Do fun stuff in Japanese to balance out the stuff that feels like work. (Carrot and stick, I suppose?)

I took 6 semesters of Japanese, then quit for a few years, so I've been there. It's work, but it's not too bad if you just pace yourself and have realistic expectations.

You can get through RTK relatively quickly and also study/review some grammar at the same time. Grab those old Uni books and review them if they're any good.

SRS will save your butt. Try to do it every day so you don't drown in expired cards and get demotivated.

That said, even if you do build up some reviews, don't let the number of expired cards freak you out. Just review whenever you can in small chunks. Expired cards are just cards you should get to reviewing as soon as possible. You won't get thrown out of the "kanji club" if you don't get to them RIGHT NOW.

Don't be like me.
I did what was boring to try to learn Japanese (Pimsleru Audio tapes, tried to work thorugh Genki Textbook), until I met this site and SRS.
Since then, everything's been so much easier.

So, try to use the best materials out there. Use SRS (I use Anki), do RTK, and have fun. No one likes getting board 5 minutes into the Pimsleur Audio Tape. Instead, watch a drama; listen to a song; do what ever motivates you.