The general consensus around here is first and foremost finish Remembering the Kanji so recognizing kanji is not an issue.  I don't ever recall reading a post in which somebody advocates memorizing on and kun readings, so I would stop doing that.

A lot of people do the core2k/6k/10k anki decks after RTK. Memorizing on and kunyomi turns in to a lengthy process that impedes your learning of japanese and will probably cause you to burnout. I personally follow nukemarines guide (except I finished RTK before doing anything else just to get it out of the way).

Both of these might help you find a direction in your studies:

http://japaneselevelup.com/japanese-quest-walkthrough/

http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?id=5322

Last edited by ryanjmack (2013 July 10, 7:01 pm)

Whichever way you can keep up your motivation is the best.

Some people lose motivation from doing only kanji study and not doing any real Japanese.
Some people lose motivation from struggling through real Japanese and not knowing many kanji.

Try both at the same time, two things that could possibly happen:

1. They provide a type of synergy and enhance your studies
2. One drains your energy and you drop it.

Your first plan sounds like a good idea. I'd advise against so much writing though, it seems as if this will sap your energy over a period of time. And as I said before keeping up motivation is key.

As a matter of fact, if you're going to study kanji I'd echo what others have said and say try RTK.

Last piece of advice, definitely learn how to break apart kanji if you haven't already. RTK does a great job in this.

WHAT I DID
Did about the first 1000 kanji in RTK and kept trying to come back doing less and less each time.
Started reading real Japanese and picked up kanji as I went.

Last edited by blackbrich (2013 July 10, 7:22 pm)

I rote memorized over 1800 kanji, but I didn't memorize through kun and on. I found textbooks that give examples of common compounds and just memorized the compounds along the way. I started with only 1 character a day, and slowly started doing more after a few months. After I got to 1000 Kanji, I started doing reviews about 4-5 days a week. I would write the kanji and the example compounds for 50 kanji, and after a month or so, when I finished reviewing all the kanji I learned, I started the reviews again, but doing only 10-20 kanji per day. After a while of doing this, I decided to do RTK1, didn't like it that much, finished it anyway, and went back to my original method. At this point I started learning 10+ kanji and their common compounds every day, with mini reviews of those characters added to my other reviews. While I don't have any retention rates to give out (didn't use anki or skritter at the time), I can say that the teachers at my Shinjuku school called me the kanji hakase, and I always got 100 on my kanji tests/exams (my final exam included about 300 new characters).

My current method is the one you suggested: learning kanji as a I find them in books, but then I add them to skritter.

So yes, you can succeed with this kind of method, but of course, I love doing this and don't get tired or sore. If you're having that problem, it might be good to switch things up, or just slow down.

I would say that any method that stresses you out and doesn't teach you anything is a bad method.

I'm giving you my point of view mainly because it's different from a lot of other learners on here:

Contrary to most people on this forum, I learned on and kun readings along with the meanings (by using physical flashcards and making up stories). I did this mainly because I find it fun and I've had a lot more time on my hands than the average person. I'm not learning how to write at this point and I wouldn't put much priority in it if I were you unless you specifically want to focus on that.

This does not mean that I could remember every on/kun reading in a single sitting. That was never the point. But it's a very useful addition to memorizing the meanings.

I'm now in the process of finishing up the 200 final joyo's and learning actual words and kanji-combinations. This entire endeavor took me about 1 year (including a couple months break+regular reviews). While learning Heisig might take you less, it's not teaching you the readings so if you include those, it might take the same amount of time. Who knows- everybody is different.

_________________________________________________________________________

*PROS:
You get to immerse yourself in reading materials much quicker. It's a really cool and empowering feeling!

Vocab grows when you learn the kun readings. Especially verbs.


*CONS:
Learning the kanji out of context is not helpful to some people (which is why you have to immerse yourself as soon as you can).

Needs a lot of patience and acceptance that things don't move as fast as you want them too.
_________________________________________________________________________

In conclusion/my advice: Don't listen to people who say "this method will never work. NEVER TRY IT" or "You HAVE TO do it this and that way".
Every learner is different. A part of this experience is to find the method that suits you the best (even if it turns out to be different from everybody else).

Last edited by Onara (2013 July 13, 11:10 pm)

No matter what method you use, I would say start using an SRS. You will be overwhelmed doing it on paper. An SRS will keep track of what you know and don't know, and will pace the introduction of new characters accordingly. That will go a long way to cut down on the "overwhelmed" feeling that you report.

As pointed out, general wisdom around here is RTK. I use a combination of Skritter + Henshall's GUIDE TO REMEMBERING JAPANESE CHARACTERS. I like Skritter because it lets me combine character production w/ word readings and definition drilling. I learn pronunciations in context, i.e., as part of words I'm trying to learn, and not independently; learning them in isolation will drive you crazy, IMO.