I’m trying to learn kanji right now and I have been recommended a handful of anki decks but I feel like these decks throw way too much information at you.
Is there a better resource that will allow me to ease my way into kanji, vocab, and grammar. Anki kinda gives me a panic attack. I am using a rtk heisig order deck and it started me at 1234, that kinda stuff. But it also shows me a bunch of words it’s used in and it’s a lot of information.
Any better way?
6 comments
You can just interact with the language and use a dictionary. Before that though, you’d probably want to get the basics down from a textbook or grammar guide. The specifics can be found on the sidebar wiki.
This is exactly why kanji study never worked for me. People would keep telling me the readings were absolutely necessary for me but I’d get information overload, become overwhelmed in 2 minutes and stop for months.
Try making decks on kanji Koohii if you don’t wanna make your own deck. It’s kinda necessary to make your own here.
Have only the keyword on the front and the kanji/story on the back
I prefer using a website called Wanikani. It’s simple and easy to use. It’s focused on kanji learning, while also teaching radicals and encouraging retention by teaching vocabulary the kanji is used in.
You’re given 5 cards to learn, mnemonics provided, and then you’re given a short quiz to see if you retain those cards before being added to your overall list.
Though it’s not entirely free, an informative portion is free, and it doesn’t enforce you to subscribe or anything. Even still, everything to be learn in the app can actually be searched within the app, and you can make your own cards from them.
Otherwise I recommend making your own flashcards, learning the kanji/vocab that is important to you in that moment. If you’re learning grammar, for example sentences based around the verbs ある and いる, learn the names of things that can be found around the house.
If you’re learning how to say “where is —-“, learn place names, that sort of thing.
And always try apply the stuff you learn outside of flashcards. Write a journal, that sort of thing. Without relying on notes, or turning to your cards for the answer. Otherwise you’ll rely on your notebook for the necessary word/kanji, instead of your brain. Check your notes afterwards to assess what needs improvement.
Imo anki is great but not as a main way to study. You should find a preferred way to study that works best for you and then make a deck with the words you know so that you can review them all and stay current. It’s also easier if you’re using a textbook to study such as genki 1 since people have made decks for those books.
> these decks throw way too much information at you.
That’s not Anki’s fault, though.
Maybe spend 30 minutes reading the Anki manual instead of picking up random decks that contain information [you clearly don’t understand](https://docs.ankiweb.net/getting-started.html#shared-decks):
> Creating your own deck is the most effective way to learn a complex subject. Subjects like languages and the sciences can’t be understood simply by memorizing facts — they require explanation and context to learn effectively. Furthermore, inputting the information yourself forces you to decide what the key points are, leading to a better understanding.
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> If you are a language learner, you may be tempted to download a long list of words and their translations, but this won’t teach you a language any more than memorizing scientific equations will teach you astrophysics. To learn properly, you need textbooks, teachers, or exposure to real-world sentences.
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> `Do not learn if you do not understand. –SuperMemo`
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> Most shared decks are created by people who are learning material outside of Anki – from textbooks, classes, TV, etc. They select the interesting points from what they learn and put them into Anki. They make no effort to add background information or explanations to the cards, because they already understand the material. So when someone else downloads their deck and tries to use it, they’ll find it very difficult as the background information and explanations are missing.
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> That is not to say shared decks are useless – simply that for complex subjects, they should be used as a ‘supplement’ to external material, not as a ‘replacement’ for it. If you’re studying textbook ABC and someone has shared a deck of ideas from ABC, that’s a great way to save some time. And for simple subjects that are basically a list of facts, such as capital city names or pub quiz trivia, you probably don’t need external material. But if you attempt to study complex subjects without external material, you will probably meet with disappointing results.