Superfreek
Member
From: Tennessee, USA
Registered: 2011-01-14
Posts: 46
So I'm at the final stretch of RTK but I have a vacation (to Japan of all places) coming up the week I'm due to finish. I have anki on my iphone but I dont want to be doing 100+ count reviews while I'm in Japan.
Should I stop adding new kanji about 1 week out and just do review for 2 weeks. 1 week before I leave and one week while in Japan? Im hoping to get reviews down to 30-60 per day in Japan. I assume I can knock those out pretty fast in the morning. When I return I can finish the last 200 or so?
Does this sound like reasonable plan?
LilFluff
Member
From: The Sunny Southwestern USA
Registered: 2009-02-08
Posts: 10
While I'm still pretty low in my count (just got to 238 today) it seems reasonable to me to stop or slow down in preparation for the trip. As the others have said, if you stop adding new kanji you should be able to do just the reviews which should involve fewer and fewer each day. So while you're on your trip you can do quick reviews.
While you're in Japan you should be able to immerse yourself in the culture and language. There will be kanji all around you. You might simply look around and ask yourself as you see them, "Is this one I've studied or not?" I wouldn't be surprised if making sure you consciously notice them, all around you, all day, helped build up those mental kanji recognition muscles. At least that's one of the things I'd be thinking of doing if I had the chance to head over for even a day right now.
Without 100+ reviews to do each day you can get some experiences in stead. Enjoy the trip and absorb the environment. You've probably already thought of it, but I'd suggest taking lots of pictures and looking for lightweight ephemera you can bring home with actual native everyday Japanese on it. Those can make for study material later that has a personal impact. Knowing it's not just a sign your reading, but a sign for a place you've been. Or a take away menu for a place you ate at. Or if you're a fan of a particular manga knowing it's not just a volume of a series you love but that it's one you actually bought in Japan.
If you find yourself feeling guilty for not adding new kanji each day you might cut back instead and just add one or two. Then use the extra time that would have been spent adding more than that to reduce work on the study pile and really make a production of studying the new ones -- to get through to your head that you aren't slacking off.
(It looks like I'm making up for my low posting count by posting a big reply -- I hope it is a helpful reply.)
