The "I just finished RTK1, please congratulate me" thread.

Index » RtK Volume 1

Reply #1001 - 2010 February 13, 12:18 pm
seminotti Member
From: Brasil Registered: 2009-02-07 Posts: 14

Thanks a lot georgative and Koos83!

Reply #1002 - 2010 February 13, 12:50 pm
Evangelo Member
From: Osaka Registered: 2008-05-08 Posts: 55

Congrats to everyone on taking this massive step towards fluency!

Reply #1003 - 2010 February 14, 10:47 pm
yvanc New member
Registered: 2007-06-02 Posts: 5

Its now 2010/02/15 12:45PM.

Started Studying at December 2009. Around 100 Kanji a day. There are also days that I don't do anything. But I usually catch up during the weekends when I'm not doing anything.

Finally finished RTK1. Now I'm FREEEEEEE!!!!!

Oh well, gonna have to do some massive review on this one. lol

Oh, and congratulations to all who have gotten this far too. ahehehe

Last edited by yvanc (2010 February 14, 11:02 pm)

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Reply #1004 - 2010 February 15, 1:12 pm
Koos83 Member
From: The Netherlands Registered: 2009-08-26 Posts: 318

Congrats yvanc! Good luck with all the reviewing! lol

Reply #1005 - 2010 February 19, 9:03 pm
martinnz New member
From: nz Registered: 2009-05-16 Posts: 5

A lovely sunny afternoon,  just plowed through to the end.  So happy.  Took 9 months, fitting it in between work and play.  But after a while learning the kanji became play also.   

Onto KO2001 + anki + building my own decks. Have had the KO2001 book sitting around for ages.

Thank you so much for all the great stories, and this fantastic forum. 

Now off to a bbq party with some Japanese friends, who stare a bit blankly if I mention how I'm learning Japanese.  But I've never heard one word of discouragement - pity really as that would be great motivation (just kidding)

Congrats to everyone.

Last edited by martinnz (2010 February 19, 9:05 pm)

Reply #1006 - 2010 February 19, 9:17 pm
kazelee Rater Mode
From: ohlrite Registered: 2008-06-18 Posts: 2132 Website

jolliet wrote:

Finally! After approximatively one year of study, learning 6-7 kanjis a day. I've completed RTK1. This wouldn't have been possible without this truly awesome website!
Now I have 700 kanjis in box 8 and 700 in box 7, and 1960 kanjis above box 4. I have to say, I am impressed by those who study more than 20 kanjis a day! 10 per day was definitely my limit.
And now comes the reading part :-)

Awesome. I'm gonna save this post.

Reply #1007 - 2010 February 19, 9:51 pm
genini1 Member
From: America Registered: 2010-02-03 Posts: 22

I have now completed RTK1. It took 2 months of study but I did it and I'm proud of myself. The last 400 or so I did with 100+ a day but since I had the days off it worked out well. I am somewhat sad to finish the book however as RTK really simplified my choices on learning. What I mean by that is I had a clear linear path to follow once I started. In order to really learn Japanese you need to know the kanji and this is almost universally the first recommended step but what comes next is far less absolute. Should I begin smart fm and learn a lot of vocab or start with KO and the sentence method. Or perhaps Tae Kim for grammar and utilize an actual book to mine my sentences. More then likely a mixture of the above but in what amount and what order when to start and when to stop, perhaps it is best not to think about which one is the best way to get where I want and merely focus on where I want to go, after all the destination is important not how I got there.

Reply #1008 - 2010 February 20, 11:18 pm
thekonfuzed Member
Registered: 2009-04-02 Posts: 10

I've been trying to finish RTK1 for years and finally did it. I kept trying to do too much at a time, and then burning out and taking long breaks, discouraged more with each passing day by the huge stacks of expired cards. I found my pace towards the end though. I figured out that the more I try to let myself quickly fail a card I struggle with instead of trying too hard to get the right answer, the faster I make progress.


Thanks to everyone who contributes to the site. On to RTK3! And trying to rent any blu-rays that have the Japanese dub/subs on the same disc as the American version from Netflix, that should be fun.

Reply #1009 - 2010 February 21, 1:30 pm
KMDES Member
From: Canada Registered: 2009-09-28 Posts: 306

Finished it about 2 minutes ago. Took me from the beginning of Oct.09 to Feb 21st 2010. This is not counting all the jouyou I studied before discovering RTK of course. ;D

On to reviews I guess, and maybe RTK3 in the future sometime.

And don't forget to come check out the people who helped me through it at IRC.RIZON.NET in the #RTK chat room.

- KM

Last edited by KMDES (2010 February 21, 1:31 pm)

Reply #1010 - 2010 February 26, 12:51 am
xatlasm New member
From: Berkeley Registered: 2009-11-08 Posts: 1

Finished yesterday. Took 109 days totaling 172.5 hours of study time. Feels great to be finally done. Now to reviewing them and learning more once I get the hang of studying sentences...

Reply #1011 - 2010 February 26, 12:55 am
kriskelvin Member
From: Dresden - Germany Registered: 2009-07-30 Posts: 13

Just added and reviewed the last 17 kanji. Started almost exactly 7 months ago. A big thank you to everyone contributing to the stories in the study section, I would never have made it without them.

I started Core 2000 about two weeks ago, to learn compounds and readings. I've also been reading into Tae Kim. So that's what I'm doing now besides keeping on the reviews for RevTK. Oh, and watching anime to get a subliminal grip of the spoken language.

In the long run, I have three goals:
1. read a Japanese novel (already have ノルウェイの森 by 村上 on my bookshelf)
2. pass JLPT2
3. find a use for Japanese in my field of work

Reply #1012 - 2010 March 02, 8:01 pm
shamano Member
From: Brazil Registered: 2008-02-24 Posts: 16

Just finished! it took two years and one week to do it! but I made it!
thanks for all the stories and farewell!

Reply #1013 - 2010 March 02, 8:09 pm
ta12121 Member
From: Canada Registered: 2009-06-02 Posts: 3190

shamano wrote:

Just finished! it took two years and one week to do it! but I made it!
thanks for all the stories and farewell!

Two years!!!! That's a long time. But the good thing is that, you finished it. So good job.

Last edited by ta12121 (2010 March 02, 8:09 pm)

Reply #1014 - 2010 March 02, 9:27 pm
LazyNomad Member
From: both countries Registered: 2009-03-06 Posts: 155

Wow! Congratulations!!! 2 years to finish RTK1 is very impressive in its own sense.

Reply #1015 - 2010 March 02, 10:16 pm
jesse Member
From: Austin Texas Registered: 2009-12-12 Posts: 14

Wahoo!

Just added 2042 to my stack. Pretty sure I rushed the last 200 (added 103 today -_-).

Started mid December, so it's taken about 3 months. I added ~30 a day.

I've already made it through most of Tae Kim, and I'm planning to start up KO2001 as soon as my reviews for RTK are manageable again!

Thanks everyone for the stories. I doubt I would have made it without them!

-Jesse

Reply #1016 - 2010 March 04, 8:13 am
shamano Member
From: Brazil Registered: 2008-02-24 Posts: 16

Congratulations Jesse!

the maximum amount I could add in one day was 40. Even in the end.
I think I'll start Tae Kim soon too.

and Thanks LazyNomad and ta12121!

Last edited by shamano (2010 March 04, 8:14 am)

Reply #1017 - 2010 March 04, 10:39 am
gyuujuice Member
From: USA Registered: 2008-09-24 Posts: 828

Congratulations everyone who has finished RTK!
Last year I did 1000 in a month but then I got incredibly busy with school and then a wedding. I started Kanji all over again the next year and I finished in a month and a week. It feels so good to have finished after being told consistently that I wouldn't be able.

My favorite kanji are still 天、雨、雲. ^__^

Reply #1018 - 2010 March 05, 2:30 am
Koos83 Member
From: The Netherlands Registered: 2009-08-26 Posts: 318

Congratulations to everyone that has finished! big_smile

Reply #1019 - 2010 March 06, 9:57 pm
jcdietz03 Member
From: Boston Registered: 2008-12-19 Posts: 324 Website

I just finished.  There are a lot of funny comments on #2042!
I like the one that says "We must thank Dr. Heisig, Mr. T, Spiderman, and all the other RTK users who helped."  Funny!  I also got rickrolled for the first time!  No time like the present!

Reply #1020 - 2010 March 06, 9:59 pm
wulfgar Member
From: canada Registered: 2009-06-15 Posts: 151

jcdietz03 wrote:

I just finished.  There are a lot of funny comments on #2042!
I like the one that says "We must thank Dr. Heisig, Mr. T, Spiderman, and all the other RTK users who helped."  Funny!  I also got rickrolled for the first time!  No time like the present!

congratulations on finishing!

Reply #1021 - 2010 March 07, 12:08 pm
shamano Member
From: Brazil Registered: 2008-02-24 Posts: 16

wulfgar wrote:

jcdietz03 wrote:

I just finished.  There are a lot of funny comments on #2042!
I like the one that says "We must thank Dr. Heisig, Mr. T, Spiderman, and all the other RTK users who helped."  Funny!  I also got rickrolled for the first time!  No time like the present!

congratulations on finishing!

I second that! congratulations jcdietz03

Reply #1022 - 2010 March 11, 1:38 am
Dorum New member
From: Bucharest Registered: 2008-01-09 Posts: 1

09:17 11.03.2010 EEST. I have just finished RTK1. All in all it took under 6 months of work (About 4 months actually) but in REAL time it took 2 years and 3 months.

I only found about this site after 4 months. During this time I gave up on learning new kanji a few times but I NEVER gave up on reviewing.

So here are my few bits of advice:

0) SRS really work.
1) Never give up reviewing. It takes little time and you always can start from where you left off.
2) Only learn 4-5 radicals each day.
3) If for some time you forget reviewing, don't start everything all over. Recover each day a little bit until you know them all.
4) It will be easier to learn Japanese afterwards (but you won't be able to read just from knowing RTK).

Thank you for this site...

Reply #1023 - 2010 March 15, 12:45 pm
robin Member
From: California Registered: 2010-02-16 Posts: 13

Whew, what a relief. I just finished, after a very hard 4 weeks of work. I couldn't have done it without all your shared stories! Thank you.

I can't wait to recline in a hot tub, and let all the kanji accumulating in my brain fade away, like rising clouds, into...  nothingness. cool

Last edited by robin (2010 March 15, 12:47 pm)

Reply #1024 - 2010 March 18, 11:24 pm
katesurleweb New member
From: Osaka Japan Registered: 2010-02-04 Posts: 1

Yeay !! Finished yesterday kanji #2042 !!
It took me about 2,5 months, but I didn't study every day, so if I count every day, all in all it was about 6 weeks smile
I had a lot of good laughs just by reading the stories, especially for 騒
I also want to thank : all the contributors/stories writers, Mr. T, Spiderman, Venom, Bruce Lee, Domyôji Tsukasa, the legal prostitute... and let's not forget the anonymous taskmaster (I should find a name for him/her !)

Reply #1025 - 2010 March 21, 12:50 pm
Captain Kanjipants Member
From: Philadelphia Registered: 2009-11-05 Posts: 13

Man, I started last winter and was doing 30 a day every day without missing a single one even when I was on vacation. Then Christmas Eve hit and I missed a day and it was all downhill from there. Turns out I was 2 days away from finishing. Blerg. But then I started up again last month and did 50 a day until today, the day before I leave for my trip to Japan, lol. I guess I'm ready now, right? I can speak Japanese? big_smile