Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 09, 2024)

4 comments

1. Completely overwhelmed by options for learning Kanji (methods, anki decks, books, etc.)

   I debated even posting this because I know its probably a common issue, but I feel the need to dump all my thoughts here to ask for advice because my brain feels like tv static at the moment.

   I have a tendency to try to maximize things, especially when it comes to learning (so as to avoid having to start over if I choose a method that ends up not working for me) and so I went thru as many available options for learning kanji as I could (my bookmarks folder is a mess). RTK, RRTK, KKLC, KanjiDamage, Radicals first, Jo-Mako’s anki decks, etc etc etc etc. my head is going to explode.

   After going through all of that and thinking of what worked when learning hiragana and katakana**, I THINK flashcards with meaning and vocab prioritized first (and linked together somehow) with pronunciations/readings later would be ideal, but I currently have 15 different anki decks downloaded and the kanji god add-on (which i dont know how to use) and I am just completely drowned in trying to figure out what meets those requirements I’m imagining.

   I dont think mnemonics will be all that helpful for me, but I could be wrong. Can someone help recommend me a deck that fits these needs and maybe point me in the right direction?

   **: writing the kana/drilling while thinking the sound in my head, and then reinforcing by writing familiar character names in the kana over and over.

   Edit to add: is it possible to learn based on words I already recognize by how they sound? (ie I know “nani” is basically “what?” or a sort of question indicating word from hearing it so many times in anime lol)

2. Do you guys think it’s worth my time to do Genki 2? I worked through Genki 1 in a Japanese class at my college, but the pace we moved at was incredibly slow (9 months for the first book). I’m now at the point where if I want to continue learning it’ll have to be self studied. I’ve been doing a core 2.3k deck and doing listening practice throughout the day. I wasn’t doing either these during my classes, so the pace at which I feel like I’m improving now seems incredible. I feel like I have an okay understanding of a lot of conversations.

   With this in mind, would it be worth it to start work at Genki 2? I would hate to spend 9 months on a textbook so I would try to work through it at a quicker pace. Or would it be better to do something like sentence mining/reading practice instead?

3. I have just recently began attempting to learn Japanese and have a relative understanding of Kanji and some very basic vocabulary and grammar concepts. So far I have been learning on Duolingo and have gotten to Unit 6, but I am unsure if continuing on Duolingo is the right choice. After looking over the starters guide, I noticed that Duolingo was never mentioned. I’m not sure if this is because it is generally understood that it is extremely bad or is assumed to be used by most starters.

   I would prefer to spend as little money as possible on resources so I would also like to know if books such as Genki are almost necessary. If it is really that much better than free resources than I am still open to buying or (slightly illegally? I’m not sure) printing it out.

4. Other topics of learning aside, what are some ways you’ve had success quickly ramping up your vocabulary in particular?

   I’m about N4-ish working toward N3 as best I can guess based on the vocab and grammar they list, at about 1200-ish words. I’d like to get that to 3500 or so by December and feel good about N3 (I haven’t taken any of the tests yet).

   My current approach has been to simply look up any words or phrases I hear and don’t know from time to time, and any I can think of in English but don’t know how to say in Japanese. But I worry about some of the nuance in meaning or context (or even where in a sentence they might go: i.e. _のせいで). Google translate, for instance, I really hesitate to trust, so it makes my method kinda slow I think. Are there effective ways you’ve found to quickly increase vocab and navigate some of these issues?