Minor Question Regarding The Beginning of the Journey

Polly New member

From: United States Registered: 2008-08-29 Posts: 3

I started RTKv1 on Friday going at 2 lessons a day. Today, I'll pass the 100 character mark (hooray!) I have a bit of a question regarding how I'm doing this, though.

I plan to try and keep the pace of 2 lessons a day so long as the number doesn't go over 50 characters per day. This is just a preference for now. I've found that with the introduction of new characters (specifically today) that they easily either get completely forgotten or the details remain fuzzy. Sometimes the stories I give them stick but the final Kanji itself just won't pop out.

I'm also using this site and Anki to SRS.

My question is, is this pretty normal and should I just stop fretting about not remembering newer characters and forgetting a few older ones and let the SRS take care of it for me?

I guess the question may seem whiny or too obvious, but some confidence building confirmation or any other advice is greatly appreciated.

mbaron New member

From: USA Registered: 2008-07-22 Posts: 8

Yes, it is normal to forget characters. Sometimes, if you are like me, you will fail a kanji over and over again, but then suddenly, it will stick. Every time I am worried about not being able to learn a Kanji, I just reflect on some of the earlier Kanji that I failed 6 times in a row, but now come to mind quite easily.

Try not to think of it as "fail." Rather, "I need to work on this one some more."

Zarxrax Member

From: North Carolina Registered: 2008-03-24 Posts: 949

Just make sure to spend a bit of time studying each character trying to remember it, before you move on to the next. And after a while, go back and review those characters (not literally review in the srs, but just study again quickly).
If you are feeling confident about them, move on to more.

Towards the beginning of RTK, I would say don't arbitrarily limit yourself to a certain amount per day. Do as many as you think you can. Then, later on once your review piles start getting really big, that's a good time to scale back and add less new cards per day. Towards the end, you probably WONT be able to keep up at the same pace you are now, so you may as well try to get a little bit ahead while you can.

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alyks Member

From: Arizona Registered: 2008-05-31 Posts: 914 Website

Polly wrote:
My question is, is this pretty normal and should I just stop fretting about not remembering newer characters and forgetting a few older ones and let the SRS take care of it for me?

I guess the question may seem whiny or too obvious, but some confidence building confirmation or any other advice is greatly appreciated.

Don't panic.

stehr Member

From: california Registered: 2007-09-25 Posts: 281

After completing RTK, I found that having seen the kanji in different contexts helps it stick to memory much longer. For the really tough kanji it may help to add an example Japanese sentence using it to your deck, as a separate card or in conjunction -if you're using Anki. It may not be wise if you're a complete beginner to the japanese language, but if you fail a certain character more than 5 times then this can be a useful trick to reinforce its meaning. Though it should be used sparingly until you complete RTK.

wccrawford Member

From: FL US Registered: 2008-03-28 Posts: 1551

mbaron wrote:
Yes, it is normal to forget characters. Sometimes, if you are like me, you will fail a kanji over and over again, but then suddenly, it will stick. Every time I am worried about not being able to learn a Kanji, I just reflect on some of the earlier Kanji that I failed 6 times in a row, but now come to mind quite easily.

Try not to think of it as "fail." Rather, "I need to work on this one some more."

This is really important advice. Remember, you haven't failed until you give up. Some kanji just do NOT stick. I've had a few that were just insane, and I still have trouble with them, but others that I see once and never forget. Don't let the bad ones get you down.

Polly New member

From: United States Registered: 2008-08-29 Posts: 3

Thanks. I was pretty sure it was normal, but it always kinda helps to get a few people saying "Yeah it happens, but it's cool" to keep the motivation going. No getting down in the dumps here.

I'm also assuming that since I'm going the route of "learn/expose yourself to new kanji everyday" that it'd be okay to even follow an off-day with new stuff to keep the feeling of forward momentum going?

Again, thanks

leosmith Member

Registered: 2005-11-18 Posts: 352

Polly wrote:
I'm also assuming that since I'm going the route of "learn/expose yourself to new kanji everyday" that it'd be okay to even follow an off-day with new stuff to keep the feeling of forward momentum going?

Yes. But you may want to level out your work load a bit by going for a set number of frames, rather than lessons. Number of frames in the lessons is pretty lopsided.

Since your reviews will be getting longer and longer as you go along, you may even want to start out with a high number, then reduce it every day until you finish. That way your workload will stay pretty level. For example, start with 30 on the first day, and let it gradually decrease to 15 by the time you finish the book.

snallygaster Member

Registered: 2007-06-11 Posts: 98

Like the others said, don't worry about it. But see if you notice any patterns in the stories you tend to forget and the ones you tend to remember. It will help you create good stories to improve your learning/memorization speed.
(50 characters a day is great, but as leosmith says, it's hard to keep up the same pace for the entire book -- YMMV!)

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Polly wrote:

mbaron wrote:

Polly wrote: