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Pseudo-Japanese?
Index » RtK Volume 1
Spirarel wrote:
Looking at the approach from a distance, it seems to me that learning the Kanji in this manner would be a hindrance to truly acquiring a reading ability like a native(how are you going to banish English from your mind when you're seeing the Kanji as if they were just strange permutations of English words?)
This won't happen. It's just that simple. The more you're exposed to the language through reading, the less and less those english "meanings" will be present in your mind. The brain is remarkably good at developing shorcuts, i.e. indecipherable scribbles(kanji)->deconstruction->english keyword->japanese will eventually (like the removal of training wheels) become kanji->japanese as you go about learning readings, and as you read more and more. This is the nature of all learning. The more you practice, the more intermediate steps in your mental process will disappear. The only situation in which you might have a problem, is if you stubbornly hold on to the mnemonic route (i.e. the english keywords) because of some psychological reason, some belief that you should do so, or an inability to let go.
Example: I never learned to read sheet music properly. In the beginning, I had to count the lines of the notes to find the corresponding keys on the piano. Doing it like this allowed me to read much more advanced stuff earlier than I would have if I'd learned one note a week, so to speak, like many young students do. Sure, I used this counting method for some time, and it worked out nicely for memorizing the music as I went along, but it was way too slow to read the music at tempo. The solution? Practice. The more I practised, the less often I'd rely on this counting, and instead I would just look at a note, and see in my mind the right key on the piano. Sure, I could have stubbornly kept counting the lines, perhaps to always make sure I hit the right note, but by trusting myself, and the process, the "training wheels" slowly became unecessary. Similarly, with Heisig, as you dive into the vast ocean of "real Japanese"... well, you get the idea. 
Last edited by Myrddhin (2011 March 15, 7:30 pm)
kitakitsune wrote:
Most people who do RTK phase out English keywords (in their reading) over a period of time as their Japanese abilities improve.
When I read Japanese I don't even think of keywords unless I come across kanji I don't know. Then I fall back on RTK and try to decode it.
I am in the phase where i gradually substitute the English keywords with Japanese vocab. Instead of having autumn on my card i have あき written in it's place now which leads to 秋. It makes things a whole lot easier, and reinforces vocab as well. So don't worry about the keywords, or the stories, if you plan on doing RTK. Both will fall away over time, and you will not need them anymore. That is, once you learn vocab, or start reading native books, manga or whatever else it is, you are interested in.
Just to add, you don't have to do RTK to learn kanji. I don't plan to, and I know of a couple other people who haven't on here as well. The way it is used just doesn't work for some people (myself included).
But it's really useful for some people, and that's a good thing.
Myrddhin wrote:
Example: I never learned to read sheet music properly. In the beginning, I had to count the lines of the notes to find the corresponding keys on the piano. Doing it like this allowed me to read much more advanced stuff earlier than I would have if I'd learned one note a week, so to speak, like many young students do. Sure, I used this counting method for some time, and it worked out nicely for memorizing the music as I went along, but it was way too slow to read the music at tempo. The solution? Practice. The more I practised, the less often I'd rely on this counting, and instead I would just look at a note, and see in my mind the right key on the piano. Sure, I could have stubbornly kept counting the lines, perhaps to always make sure I hit the right note, but by trusting myself, and the process, the "training wheels" slowly became unecessary. Similarly, with Heisig, as you dive into the vast ocean of "real Japanese"... well, you get the idea.
Love this analogy. Funny I never thought about it like that though.
ta12121 wrote:
nohika wrote:
I learn kanji through vocab. It's not as efficient as RTK, in a way, but it's what makes sense to me. I do mostly vocab and sentence cards (for grammar). It's fun for me.
vocab building is key for understanding both text/listening. But in the beginning, context is golden. As you won't understand a lot to begin with.
I pull all my vocab from Yomichan, so I do get context with them. I don't pull the sentences quite yet since they're still a bit complicated for my level, but I remember the context of the translation when I recall the word. Since most of the time the word I was searching for (the contextual translation) is one of the first two listed.
I like pulling from novels. It's hard, but it's fun. Plus I have a pretty deep background with the basics, since I've been studying on and off for years.
