Hey kurisucyan, and welcome to the forum.
On the contrary, you should start as soon as you can to see how the method works: you see, Heisig breaks down kanji into smaller units -- which are not unlike radicals -- which he calls primitives. So my point is you need to go as far as possible in the book (or at least to mark the kanji you'll meet in genki and see where they are in Heisig) , so you can learn how to break down the kanji you'll encounter in Genki. When you'll be used to the method, you'll be able to learn 16 kanji in about an hour and a half.
Rote learning is a waste of time, start Heisig as soon as you can, it will really make a difference in your Japanese class: you'll have much more time to learn/practice real Japanese.
Good luck on the way!

Last edited by EratiK (2011 February 23, 9:25 am)

^ Been doing something like this

Only at ~400 in RTK
but I know quite a few of the readings and compounds those kanji turn up in,
so its definitely not a waste of time

also for some people like myself the imaginative memory thing just doesn't work
so going slow and doing it more in context may help

different strokes for different folks ^_^

Yeah, start RtK right away, but don't advertise the fact that you're doing it. You'll just invite a lot of skeptics who'll call it ineffective, useless, and all this other stuff -- despite them not being much better than you anyway.

Also, since you're doing it in class, I'd probably suggest adding the reading to the kanji as one of the primitives (look up the movie method -> it's a similar idea). Adding 1 primitive shouldn't be too hard, and it'll help you know the words you're supposed to be learning in class.

Yes, keep them separate, but don't ignore it when characters you know from RtK show up in class -> that's a good thing! Recognize it, see how it fits in the word, and love it!

I did this through my intensive summer course where we went through An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese. My regret was that I hadn't started sooner.

@kurisucyan:
Just wanted to say what KMDES says about changing Heisig's method from imaginative memory to learn with pictures (like kanji damage?) is a minority vote, and most of us don't feel there is a need to change anything*.

Although, some say you can add onyomi to your mnemonics because it's the most frequent reading (cf RTK2 pure group) and it saves time for later on (when you'll have to learn the readings)(Apologies in advance if I've completly mixed up the reading thing).

*:For example, remaining in an i+1 perspective, Heisig keywords aim at signifieds (so it's only English in an indirect way) so you only have to learn/produce the signifier-kanji. So not using the keywords but Japanese puts you in a i+2 situation and removes the bridge of the signified. If you want to replace that bridge with a picture, fine, but then it's another method. It's okay to discuss methods, but simply altering Heisig just to recommend your stuff can be perceived as rude or stubborn by some members (because there is a warning about that kind of behaviour in a sticky somewhere). Sorry if I seem rude, but I've been witnessing at least 3 highjacks, and it's kind of annoying since you never have any acquisition argument to uphold your posts. The only thing you say about "embedding English" only shows it seems you haven't done the method yourself, because it doesn't work that way at all (at least for me).

Last edited by EratiK (2011 February 24, 7:28 am)

I've done the RTK twice. Well, 2.5 times technicaly. I also SRSed for about a year of it. (Through Anki) My acquistion argument is how children learn languages and studies from books on the brain and memories. If you have millions of people learning a language fluently before they reach the age of 7, then we probably should take a closer look at that method.  Yet with the basic approach we see people having problems with something a child can easily grasp. I just think maybe we should look into other possible approaches instead just unquestioningly follow one specific plan to a tee.

Of course I am gonna seem rude even though I mean well. Anybody that even insinuates that some other person/method could possibly be wrong would be considered rude, but of course that's just something that has to be dealt with if possible change is to occur.

Of course, you're right. It doesn't matter if any variations of systems I suggest could help people learn as probably no ones gonna listen. If you're stuck in your way, you're stuck in your way, no amount of arguing or proof will change a person's mind once it's set. It's just strange to see people who want to learn a different language not consider slight variations on a method let alone factors like exercise, stress levels, sleep, diet, behavior conditioning and dopamine levels. If you wanna really learn something, why not take every advantage you can?

Of course saying this stuff is probably gonna get me banned.

KMDES wrote:

My acquistion argument is how children learn languages and studies from books on the brain and memories. If you have millions of people learning a language fluently before they reach the age of 7, then we probably should take a closer look at that method.

Just like some clarification here.  You're referring to spoken language... right?  Surely you don't mean that millions of 7 year olds are running around reading and writing fluently with over 2000 kanji under their belt.

If the spoken language was all we were going for, this forum probably wouldn't exist.  It's easy enough to acquire the spoken component of any language (It's called immersion.  Of course you'd be fluent in a language if that's all you used to communicate with for 7 years).  It's in the written language that most of us, as westerns, run into a bit of a hitch when we have to wrap our heads around this pictographic writing system that at first glance seems much more complex than our own 26 or so letter alphabet (depending on your language).

The way that children in Japan learn kanji is ineffecient.  They are taking 12 years to learn 2000 kanji.  As adults, we don't have/want to spend 12 years learning 2000 kanji.  We want to maintain our status as adults and not be treated like children because we're illiterate.  Thus, RTK was created and systematized so that we, as adults, can take advantage of our higher mental faculties and learn faster and more efficiently than Japanese children.

But yes, don't stick to one strict method as if that's the gospel doctrine and you'll be hanged if you change it.  Do add variations to methods so that they are individual to you because we're all different and education is not one size fits all.  Some pants are better with elastic... that's all I'm saying.   But, if you chop off the bottom half, they're no longer pants... now you're wearing shorts. Totally different.

Last edited by Eastwood (2011 February 23, 10:56 pm)

chill peeps
hit the bong or something

I think the pictures could work too
ill check that thread asriel, thanks

Hey thanks for all your thoughts on this, ive already started RTK and just wish i started sooner

Right now im short on time, i havn't read all of the wisdom above yet. But im gonna do it tomorrow! Thanks again.

I prefer to study Kanji readings in full native sentences. That way we learn Readings / Vocab / and pieces of grammar all from native sources. It's the AJATT method of learning.

I would use Japanese keywords for the Kanji you already know, but stick with Heisig's keywords for the rest until you know a word that uses that Kanji. I have been doing the Japanese keyword conversion for a while now.