Yatagarasu wrote:

I'm currently going through JtMW but I still feel like I don't truly grasp some concepts, I wonder if this is just a matter of reading exposure or if I should give some other text book a shot (Genki or Tae Kim's, I suppose).
Any thoughts or input would be highly appreciated.

JtMW is a good textbook as many people have stated BUT I didn't use it as a beginner textbook.  I feel it is better to use for review later in grammar study.  I used Genki 1, Genki 2, Tobira, then Kanzen Master 2kyu and 1kyu in that order first.  I then went through JtMW as a review tool and for more info on casual speech and writing.  Genki I and II have more detail and are much easier to understand for a beginner in my opinion.  If I were you I would study Genki 1 and 2 and then go through JtMW at your leisure.  I didn't like Tae Kim's Guide so I used Genki 1 and 2 instead.  I think they're the best.

Zgarbas wrote:

Making your own cards is time-consuming, and since time is an issue then just start doing core from scratch. If you can afford iKnow, I'd recommend it for core6k.

Have you used iKnow? If so did you have an Anki deck with the same cards as in iKnow for long term reviewing?

I have heard people complaining on iKnow that it takes to much time reviewing and of course the cost of membership.

To OP: I also agree with PotbellyPig that Genki is the best beginner book. IMO, JTMW is best for retaining knowledge and not learning. Tae Kim is decent.

Zgarbas wrote:

Yeah, I kept reviewing with Anki after finishing core6k in iKnow. Anki is much better for long-term reviews than iKnow, but iKnow is best for learning, imho. It really drills words in, the interface helps your concentration, and the listening/recognizing/production combo is very efficient.

Okay but did you add the courses to Anki after you had all 6000 core cards mastered or in like 100/1000 piles?

I am using iKnow but I don't know which Anki deck resembles the decks that iKnow offers. Would be really cool if you could tell me, would really help.

--

OP, I can also recommend you http://mykikitori.com/ for listening practice - especially if you decide to go with Genki.

Zgarbas wrote:

Somewhere around core4k-ish I just added the core6k* deck into anki and did everything again (as review, really; I modified the intervals so that if I clicked "very easy" from the get-go it would go straight to mature) whilst continuing with the core deck normally in iKnow. Once I finished iKnow I had a core6k deck ready to SRS as normal.

For the record, almost all the terms in core6k were left in the mature zone and moved up to a year+ interval, as opposed to the words I learned with Anki later on which would have a pretty low retention rate by comparison (also, I advanced much slower).

*I think I jumped straight to the CorePLUS deck since it would go through core6k and have extra vocabulary after that. However, I don't like the coreplus deck that much since the post-core6k order makes no sense. Any core6k deck would do, I guess? I had Kanji->reading&meaning, with the sentence audio playing by default.

Okay thanks, really interesting to see the learning difference between 2 SRS.

You don't happens to remember the numbers you used to modify the intervals? Your settings seemed to be working.

Thanks everyone for such in-depth replies. I just woke up so please excuse my poor English for this post.

Zgarbas wrote:

First of all, see if you can make some extra time. Podcasts during commuting/going to school/doing menial tasks around the house/whatnot, reviews when using the bathroom... you'd be amazed at how much can stack up:P.

You make a decent point. To be fair, I'm sure I could get an extra hour or two daily for Japanese if I really wanted to, but since I spend most of my day either studying or attending class by the time I get home I'm already pretty exhausted and would rather relax for a bit.

About iknow, I already knew about it but was under the impression it was pretty much the same as a core6k anki deck, guess I was wrong! I'll check it out.

Zgarbas wrote:

2 hours per day for 4 months is actually a pretty good pace. Your aim at the moment is to get to a basic enough level to benefit from your time in Japan, right? (Or is it to make the most of 4 months of study so as to enjoy your trip?)

Both, really. I know I'm gonna enjoy my trip anyway but I really like the language and I'm in it for the long-term. Since I get the chance to go to Japan why not try and make the most out of it?

PotbellyPig wrote:

JtMW is a good textbook as many people have stated BUT I didn't use it as a beginner textbook.  I feel it is better to use for review later in grammar study.  I used Genki 1, Genki 2, Tobira, then Kanzen Master 2kyu and 1kyu in that order first.  I then went through JtMW as a review tool and for more info on casual speech and writing.  Genki I and II have more detail and are much easier to understand for a beginner in my opinion.  If I were you I would study Genki 1 and 2 and then go through JtMW at your leisure.  I didn't like Tae Kim's Guide so I used Genki 1 and 2 instead.  I think they're the best.

Yeah, I was thinking of giving Genki a try too. It's not that JtMW isn't clear, but I just can't seem to internalize the contents. I actually tried Tae Kim a while ago and didn't like it much either so Genki was my first choice if I were to switch text books.

Aspiring wrote:

The link posted by kodorakun has some helpful advice
http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?id=11646

Thanks for this, it was an interesting watch. While going through it I realized this is pretty much how I learned English, I just didn't give it much thought at the time since I was so young. I don't feel I can do the same with Japanese just yet though, I tried to start reading some stuff a while ago but the amount of unknown vocab and especially grammar points was way under my comfortable threshold. I'm pretty much sure this is the approach I'll take after I get the basics down though.

NoSleepTilFluent wrote:

TL;DR IMO Stick to the path of RTK/CORE because you are trying for long term success. Focusing more on RTK. But also I would add some more sentences from grammar lessons so you can have better conversations.
Try speaking to yourself in japanese. I've been doing this lately and when I can't figure out how to say something I write it down in a small pocket notebook or on my phone and look for grammar/vocab for it.

Not quoting your whole post but I did read it all! I'm also not expecting to finish core by the time I get to Japan, that would mean more than 50 words a day and I know I'd just burn out way before then. Do you recommend I go back to reviewing RTK then? I may not remember all the stories/keywords but I feel comfortable around kanji after having finished it, I can even recognize most of the radicals with a few exceptions.
And I'll try to speak to as many Japanese people as I can, for as long as they can stand me. I kinda feel sorry for them really!
I also speak to myself in my limited Japanese all the time, not consciously but I did the same in English (I still do, actually) and even French when I was learning it (but my French didn't get anywhere since I was only learning it for school and didn't have much interest to begin with).

I wouldn't start the core deck from scratch. Anki is designed to handle information you've forgotten, so by doing that you're essentially throwing away material that you did retain.

Zgarbas wrote:

Yeah, I kept reviewing with Anki after finishing core6k in iKnow. Anki is much better for long-term reviews than iKnow, but iKnow is best for learning, imho. It really drills words in, the interface helps your concentration, and the listening/recognizing/production combo is very efficient.

But is Anki really that much better for long term reviewing?

Is it the intervals or the amount of reviews per card (or maybe combo) that makes iKnow worse?

What everyone else said.

Also, I would consider thinking about what you plan on doing while you are in Japan and study specifically for that.  For instance, learn the kanji for the neighborhood that you are staying in, the different kinds of trains (快速...), learn to recognize the name of your hotel if it is kanji.  Learn how to ask for things that you may need, foods that you might order at the restaurant...  In short prepare to do as much in Japanese as possible(or what would you need to know if you couldn't use anything but Japanese in Japan.

Enjoy!