So my plan right now is:
\- learn 10 new (optimized core 2k/6k) words per day
\- Do 1 Genki chapter per week (including vocab and Worbook)
Grammar wise I surely want to work through Genki 1 and Genki 2.
With the vocabulary I’m thinking about starting Immersion and sentence mining at around 2k words learned from the Core 2k/6k deck
So my questions regarding this plan are:
\- should I first fully study the Genki vocab before starting with the grammar’
\- should I make the Genki Anki decks myself?
\- should I additionally do a Kanji Anki deck? (if yes which one?)
\- Any other tips for my plan?
Thank you guys in advance, I’m hoping you guys can help me out.
4 comments
I don’t see anything in your plan about input, which is critical from the get go. Without it you are just learning about the language, because native input is what puts all the pieces together for you and makes it stick. Everything you’ve listed is good, but in isolation you will have a very hard time with it if you’re not getting a high level of consistent input in the firm of listening at least and preferably reading.
Tadoku graded readers are great for starting out, and of course there are a ton of YouTube channels for listening content. Don’t wait until you are 2000 words in.
>- should I first fully study the Genki vocab before starting with the grammar’
I learned vocabulary with a 2 week head start, i.e. I started learning the vocab for lesson 4 while working on lesson 2, for lesson 5 while working on lesson 3, etc.
>- should I make the Genki Anki decks myself?
That’s not necessary. I used this deck and it was good: [https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1742947823](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1742947823)
>- should I additionally do a Kanji Anki deck? (if yes which one?)
Do as little kanji study as possible but as much as necessary. Your goal is to remember actual words. If you can remember those without any kanji study then don’t do any. Personally doing (R)RTK for at least the most frequent kanji really helped me.
>- Any other tips for my plan?
Add some listening comprehension. Genki does not have nearly enough of that. E.g. podcasts like Japanese with Shun or Con Teppei Beginner.
Also, don’t plan this too much. Just get started and then see what works for you.
You can probably find Genki decks for Anki. Genki has about 1700 vocabulary items, so there might be considerable overlap on the core 2k.
I’d have kanji integrated into vocab as much as it makes sense. Front: 木曜日; back: もくようび (Thursday)
I’d suggest may using the Kanji Look&Learn for both more vocab and a boost in kanji (duh). It’s like 520(?) characters, which goes beyond Genki’s 317.
There is no need to do the Core2k deck and a genki deck, pick one or the other otherwise you are just doing overlapping study which is a waste of time. I am a big fan of the Tango deck series (especially N5 and N4) but if you are using Genki then a genki deck makes good sense too. Pick whichever you like better. 10 new words a day is a good pace.
For grammar Genki might be enough but you can always use Bunpro (which has a Genki setting) for extra if you want. Tokini Andy has an excellent free series on YouTube that goes chapter by chapter through Genki that you should definitely watch along with Genki. Cute Dolly on YouTube is also awesome.
For kanji I really like the free Anki addon Migaku Kanji God. It will automatically create kanji and radical cards for you based on kanji you will learn soon in your Anki decks. You can also set it up to go in JLPT or other order if you prefer. It uses the same logic as RTK or Wanikani, but doesn’t give you out of context things to learn.
Once you get a few hundred words in you should start trying to immerse. Read, listen, watch, play games. At first that might just be kids shows with japanese subtitles such as Peppa Pig or Shimajiro, both of which can be watched on YouTube for free. You can also try kids books or graded readers and eventually manga and NHK News Web easy. At first immersion is hard, really hard but the goal is to pick out words here and there and then eventually sentences, before long you’ll be looking for words you don’t know.
You do not learn a language in Anki. You learn it when you use it so don’t get too hung up on Anki alone like it’s the end all be all. It’s just a tool to help with memorization, the real magic happens in immersion.
When all is said and done, pick a path and stick with it. The thing that gets people stuck the most is jumping around. がんばって
Tango N5:https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1295779105
Genki Deck: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1742947823
Bunpro: https://bunpro.jp/dashboard
Tokini Andy: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA_RcUI8km1NMhiEebcbqdlcHv_2ngbO2
Cure Dolly: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA_RcUI8km1NMhiEebcbqdlcHv_2ngbO2
Migaku Kanji God: https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1872210448
Edit for formatting