Hey all,
I’m sorry if this type of post shows up here often, but I’m having a hard time deciding before I invest in the book. I’m currently halfway through Genki I and haven’t started learning any Kanji yet, besides previous knowledge of the characters, having taken a few classes on Mandarin and a brief bout with WaniKani. What method would you suggest? I’ve heard both good and bad things about RTK, the same with WaniKani and other books on Kanji.
My short try of WaniKani went fine, but I found that it was hard to stick with, with all the readings to memorize. This is why RTK appeals to me more, as the method of getting the characters and their meanings down in your head and then later learning their readings in context through other sources and general exposure. Handwriting is also a big priority for me (which seems to be seen as less so around here).
Which method would be more effective? I plan on taking one of the JLPT tests in the future, however I have no deadline or rush for fluency.
Anyways, thanks for sitting through my droning. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
A
4 comments
I’d say it really depends on the person but RTK doesn’t give you the readings(unless they do now) so thats a down side to it. If I really had to choose though, I would go with other learning methods.
More effective is whatever you like more, rtk in this case. You can always come back and try other methods but try to sticking to a routine and not jump between methods every day
If you are using Anki to study I am a big fan of the Migaku Kanji God Addon. Once set up it only gives you Kanji that are currently on your Anki cards so that way you only learn the Kanji for the words you already know. The cards are made automatically. This didn’t exist when I started learning Kanji, but my wife used it from day one and loved it. You can also set it up to go in JLPT order or a few other ways as well. It works off the same principles as RTK and uses the same radicals and stories (plus more stories) but its free. https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1872210448
The most effective way is to just read and learn in the context of vocabulary. If you want more in addition to that, keep a journal or something.