I'm feeling similarly, although I've -been- learning Japanese for years. I'm going through RTK now because my Kanji knowledge is a big problem - I often misread Kanji, or don't realize the character in two different words is the same character ... or worse, don't realize it's different! Being able to recognize many words and more or less read is nice, but Kanji errors slow me down incredibly so. I know... I need to learn (relearn?) the characters systematically ... and RTK is the shortest route to the knowledge I need... but... but...!

Anyway, I listen to podcasts and watch dramas and such to get my fill of Japanese without muddling my head too much with written vocabulary that might blur my keyword retention. That said, well, the only reason to -not- do other kinds of Japanese reading is exactly that: You'll blur keywords with real vocabulary, which will increase the number of repetitions you need to fully learn the Kanji.

However, stopping out of discouragement is even -less- productive than muddling your knowledge, so... go ahead and start looking at some basic grammar resources or even try reading something if you want.  I know I've given into that temptation!

It's a balance that needs to be struck... in -theory- purely working through RTK is the most efficient use of your time, if you have that kind of focus. In practice... only as long as you're motivated is it efficient! If you need to work on some other areas to keep your motivation, then go for it.

And try to remember when you're working on RTK that it's going to save you a lot of effort in the future when you can easily recognize almost all the characters you encounter.

I thought about that but I dread the thought of going back I all ready had to start over twice T.T

Don't 'take a break' completely, just drop your new kanji rate to 5 or so a day and use the extra time to explore other aspects of the language.

Make your review periods nice and short (7 minutes works well for me) and break your review time up with other Japanese-exploring activities. Even watching subtitled anime, drama, or movies (since raw stuff is presumably incomprehensible still) is fine... you might even see some of your known characters in the course of it!

I really started struggling about 1650 or so. I've been learning at 10 a day, so not so fast. But the last few hundred have been much harder than previously; I found myself losing track when doing reps, forgetting things I'd previously known thoroughly, and so on. I just pressed on, keeping the steady pace, not worrying too much about things going wrong. And now I'm at 2042. But I need now to consolidate for a bit. My previous plan had been to press on with grammar really quickly, but I'm going to just prioritise doing RTK reviews till the numbers go down, and then ensuring my kana is rock solid. Perhaps for a month or two with nothing new except stuff I happen to come across in reading.

But there's a huge benefit to having done them all; it feels quite different from 80% or 90% (mind you I still have to add in the 'new' 2010 ones). I'm so glad I pressed on.

jordan3311 wrote:

I want to be done sooo bad so that I can start learning.

You are learning - try not to think of the kanji as some separate thing or hurdle you need to get past, they're all part of the language too.

However, if the problem is you're sick and tired of the same thing day in and day out, then I'll just repeat what others have said - switch it up!  I would say that the best way to change things around and maybe find some motivation is learn a few new words or readings for some kanji you know well.  If that's still too close to "kanji study," then do something more enjoyable (dramas, etc.) or different (grammar).

Last edited by mlorenz (2011 September 27, 10:58 am)

Like SomeCallMeChris I have been studying Japanese on and off for years and kanji were a big problem.

I also felt like quitting when I reached the 1650 mark; the number of kanji seemed interminable...

What happened in the end, was apart from doing reviews, I stopped adding new kanji for a week or two, then, after sulking, and when I had some free time, I added about 200 kanji, then I added the remainder. I only had a tenacious grip on the new kanji  I added but the SRS on this site meant that I eventually learnt the ones that were giving me trouble and it surprised me how many stories I could retain.  The downside was that every day  I had a large number of review cards due for a week or two,  but because I wasn't adding new kanji they dwindled away.

Somehow it was more relaxing (for me) studying kanji I had seen briefly (and knowing I had completed the set) rather than fretting about my lack of progress.

I agree with the other posts on this thread. There is really no right or wrong way. You could for example change your study methods and add kanji as you come to them. Then come back when you feel like it.

Good luck... Let us know how you get on.

EDIT: If you add too many cards, you can always remove them later. This is what I told myself but I never had to.

Last edited by Harpagornes (2011 September 27, 10:06 pm)

Around the end of it I too found it to be a bit frustrating.  What helped for me, and might for you, is looking over the RTK supplement.  Since quite a few of them are built on the earlier primitives, I found it very easy to retain them.

The "classical" rtk1 finishes at 2042 kanji, but since the old days, something like 123 have been added (in the 6th edition I think) to include the new joyo kanji.

http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?id=6111

I know what you mean, I stopped for a few days after reaching around 1000 and the reviews kept piling up to the point that they were so old it was like seeing the kanji for the first time, so I had to start over. In my second run it's going far better. If you're short on time or motivation, set your new kanji rate to a low value (even 0 is possible) as long as you review what you've learned. Never skip more than 1 day.

Oh, well, I'm sure they can -say- much more than you can, but you know about 1400 kanji more than someone who has been taking a typical first semester of Japanese, and 1650 kanji more than some first semesters of Japanese out there! (Although a kanji-intensive curriculum might cover 400 kanji in the first semester; there are courses that try to achieve 'read the newspaper' within two years and that's a lot of kanji study.)

Doing RTK first is definitely postponing gratifications, but having completed it you will soon be outstripping anyone in a formal curriculum in terms of reading and writing ability, which will give you more exposure to grammar and vocabulary, which will eventually let you pass them up in speaking too!

As far as putting hints or stories on the front side of cards is concerned... eh.... if I was having terrible trouble with most kanji on the first few reviews (like less than 50% correct on newish cards), I'd probably do that, but it seems to me I'd want to remove the hint after a few 'good' reviews and that's getting into too much manually rewriting the cards. I'd rather have simple cards unless the failure rate is depressingly high.

I'm not as far as you but one thing I'm doing is using audio courses. I've used Michel Thomas for grammar and I've done some Learn in  Your Car Japanese. It's nice because I'm learning/reviewing basic grammar and vocab while driving, exercising, etc. so it doesn't take additional time on top of kanji. So I'm at least learning some actual Japanese instead of doing kanji-only study.

@MissJun
How many new kanji do you learn in one day?