So. I got a reply. And he didn't really learn with RTK1 but rather used the book as a reference... Other stuff from his post shows that he also seemed to not bother to thoroughly read and understand the introduction of the book (and also didn't bother to really read and understand my posts and questions...). He also seems to completely misunderstand the idea behind the mnemonics in RTK, talking of learning formulas and sentences; though that might be just due to a misinterpretation/misuse of words.

Quote:Jarvik7 wrote:
If he only had 50% after a year, it's pretty clear he wasn't reviewing. He closed the book after the last page and never opened it up again. Point him at an srs.

Interestingly enough he is also one of the persons who strongly recommend the use of SRS. He also repeatedly (in different posts) points out that it might be better to learn the Kanji when you have some grasp of the language itself, as not to loose the reason why you started to learn Kanji - to aid in learning a spoken language. So same as some here pointed out too.

Anyway, I'd like to thank you for your input, since it helped to shed some light on questions I was starting to get myself. Now I have a better picture what I'm up to and what I have to watch out for. Ta!

Quote:johnzep wrote:
Adverse effects? Sounds like a pharmaceutical commercial:...

Yeah, I guess that was a bad choice of words... but it got your attention, didn't it?

Quote:Jarvik7 wrote:
Even when I was just beginning with RTK I beat some Japanese people at the radical type game I mentioned above, as well as another game where you have to add 1 stroke to 日 to make a variety of different kanjis.

Never heard of that game, but it sounds interesting.
Even though I'm only about 1/3 through RTK1 it does help me to communicate with my japanese tandem-partner. Maybe when I'm half through with RTK1 I might try out that game with her and some of the other Japanese. Even if I loose it could be great fun.

I did the radical game with my HS English club students and blew them out of the water. Haven't done it with any adults yet. They use the same game sometimes on that kanji challenge variety show on TV.

What are some other little kanji games like this?

Biene Wrote:Interestingly enough he is also one of the persons who strongly recommend the use of SRS. He also repeatedly (in different posts) points out that it might be better to learn the Kanji when you have some grasp of the language itself, as not to loose the reason why you started to learn Kanji - to aid in learning a spoken language. So same as some here pointed out too.

I agree that it's probably a good idea to have some Japanese ability before starting RTK. That way the kanji that you learn are immediately usable (if not pronouncable) in your other learning. You can also make some easy associations if you already know the kunyomi from vocabulary practice (essentially letting you skip the English keyword step).

From your follow up post I see that the mentioned guy just used RTK as a reference. That means that he has no grounds to criticize the RTK method, since he didn't even follow it, or apparently know what it was. RTK isn't a kanji dictionary.