Hi all, I’m studying since one month with genki (and Japanese from zero, surely more easy)
But I find that with genki all exercises has to be done once you know all vocabulary in that lesson.
Is that a good way to stick with anki and learn every vocab before going to do exercises? Otherwise I have to go back to that vocab page and copy the name and don’t remember that things.
With this method probabily I double the time spend for that chapter.
Any advice? Is this bad? Thanks!
6 comments
When I went through Genki I always started learning vocab 2 weeks in advance before every chapter. If you already know the vocab, everything (readings, sample sentences, grammar exercises) is easier and you can go through the chapter much faster. And the words you learn in Genki (excluding the additional vocab sections) are all so basic, you need to learn them anyway. I really cannot think of a downside to doing it this way, unless you really hate Anki or something. If this is working for you then stop doubting yourself and keep going.
Edit: I also don’t understand why you think this doubles the time spent with each chapter. Just don’t wait with memorising the vocab of upcoming chapters until you finish the previous chapter. For example: Start learning the vocab for chapter 5 while working through chapter 3, start with vocab for chapter 6 while working through chapter 4, etc.
I don’t think you necessarily have to know the vocab before diving into the chapter. The exercises will help you learn a lot of the vocab, too, since you’ll have to use them in context.
I take a half and half approach with Minna textbooks. I just try to know about half the new vocabulary when I start. Some of its kinda hard anyway. I especially don’t sweat having it all memorized in kanji.
on one hand there’s no need to beat every single word into your head before moving forwards with other things, that’s sure to slow you down unnecessarily
on the other hand, genki is not enough vocab on it’s own, i recommend supplementing it by looking up words related to the subject you’re learning, i.e. if you’re learning about food and the words for delicious and disgusting, also look up spicy and bland and bitter
on the third hand, you’re going to forget stuff no matter what, don’t sweat it, treat this as normal and incorporate review into your study habits to reinforce things
I used to study every word before starting a new chapter/learn how to write them everyday + learn additional new words on Anki: it was tideous but it also served as a major boost when I transitioned into harder content (I had no issues with Tobira and Quartet 1/2)
I find it easy learning the vocab when the studying the chapter itself (I use MNN) as the grammar points and sentences help the vocab stick, at least in my case. I tried learning the vocab a week ahead for 2 chapters and I still couldn’t remember much when I studied the actual chapter.
That being said, different people absorb and learn differently so stick to what works for you.