I finished learning hiragana & katakana, but I feel a bit stuck. I’d like to move on to learning words and kanji now but am I just supposed to memorize a bunch of words, like for example should I just get a list of 100 japanese verbs and try to memorize them all?
Or like, is there another way or better way of learning Japanese words.
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[Here you go](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/s5mtva/comment/ht1lo0x/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).
PS. I recommend you start with a pre-built anki deck for the first 1000 or so words.
The words aren’t going to be much use to you without grammar. Language books and courses use a mix of these things for a reason. You may want to use an existing course/lesson plan to base your studies off of.
Short answer: kinda.
Long answer: initially all you really can do is start memorizing basic words. I wouldn’t necessarily start with verbs. Start with nouns around you, those will be the easiest to reinforce in the early stages.
This is where I tend to recommend gamified apps of some sort… I started with a dictionary but when My Japanese Coach came out I started using that. Like duolingo it grouped words in to categories for easier learning. Things like “family” “food groups” “animals”.
I recommend Duolingo in this instance just because it will give you a few words to start, then build those into short sentences, and then into longer more complex ones as you go.
**HOWEVER** it will need to be supplemented with a grammar guide. Duolingo’s explanations aren’t the best. But it’s good for getting your feet wet and gathering new vocab.
From there, do what you like really. Some people prefer Anki, and to make their own flashcard decks from media, or from textbooks.
Textbooks are an option too.
I like Memrise better than Anki if I want a flash card deck, but that’s just me, I need something more gamey.
You can pick through media… though this I don’t recommend at such a low level.
There’s a lot of options, you kinda gotta try them out and pick what works best for you.
No, it’s not just memorization. I can memorize the entire e-dictionary and not know how to read basic things. Grammar is what glues it all together….without grammar you you can’t make cohesive sentences or even understand much of what you read. This is true for any language. Even just memorizing grammar doesn’t mean you can use it.
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That being said, at first…yes….you can’t do much more than just memorize (or at least try to) everything you see….Eventually (at a more advanced level) you will see it’s all just interpretation….what can you interpret from what you just read (or listened) to rather than just plain memorization.
Beginner myself, have been studying 6-8 months now, learned hira and kata pretty quick, recently finished studied Genki 1, level 11 in Wanikani, also memorized my Genki Anki Deck for the studies. So I’ve been working hard, but drop in the ocean of things to go.
After Genki I, was tempted to keep studying aggressively straight into Genki II, but instead I’ve been going over what I’ve learned by watching other instructors on Youtube talk Genki I and other N5 material (Learn Japanese From Zero, TokiAndi, Game Gengo, and Cure Dolly specifically.)
Decided to reshape how I’m going to study this next month as a sort of experiment, recharge the batteries because it’s not a fling, be doing this for years. With this mindset switch, I’ve been having so much fun.
I made a seperate Japanese profile on my netflix and started watching Dora the Explorer, 日本語 audio, no subtitles and was dying laughing at myself sing along with Dora “しげみ、もり、 ドラの家!!”.
There’s certainly times to be serious and read the texts, but never forget the fun.
no it’s not all memorization, you need to learn grammar and how to use it
but yes you need to memorize, you cannot possibly speak a language without learning the words
At beginner level yes. But after 2k / 3k words you have to spend (a lot) of time with the language (doing immersion) if you want to get understand “naturally” the content you listen/read.
no but there is a lot of memorization and I mean a *lot*
but you also have to practice various things (reading, listening, speaking, writing)
Any language is about memorizing vocabulary at first, not just Japanese.
Yea, learning vocab is basically rote memorization.
In the same sense that learning anything is memorization. There’s a lot of it, but there’s also synthesis.
Everything is at first. You get to be creative later 😉
Get the genki 2 books and workbook.
Try bunpro for grammar.
Get used to listening to stuff in Japanese.