Study Techniques That Work!!! (vocab)

[markystar]

I decided to get a sticky thread going where we can exchange our own study techniques that we've found successful.

one thing that i'm interested in building up a vocab. it's one of the biggest hurdles for japanese learners since the vocab and etymology bears no connection to indo-european languages.

sometimes i use ANKI to practice vocab (or phrases, or kanji), but since i don't carry my laptop everywhere with me, i can't use it all the time.

so what i do is make flashcards (japanese on one side, english on the other). after i guess the japanese word, i have to make a sentence with it. when i guess the next word correctly, i have to make a sentence with it, if possible, using a previously guessed word. i don't know if this is a great technique or anything, but its what i do.

how about you guys?
how do you memorize new vocab and phrases?


(also, if anyone wants to start a similar thread for verbs, kanji or something, copy this subject heading and change (vocab) to (kanji) or whatever and i'll sticky it for you!)

[watermen]

This is how I study. Very effective.



I type all the vocabs into my email and send it to my iPhone. I download it in Mail and read it from there. I find it extremely effective. I can read it when I am not doing anything like lining up, waiting for friends, train...etc.


This is how I revise old lessons. Listen to it again when I am not doing anything.


This is lesson #1 PDF...basically most of Jpod101 PDF can't display properly on an iPhone. All the characters just disappear.


Using stickies on my dashboard is another effective method.

[maxiewawa]

Watermenさん, that looks like a really good idea. It's a shame about the PDF though. Being able to read jPod PDFs would be a big reason for me to buy an iPhone; I don't think I'd buy an iPhone unless it could do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6AisYnJ8yU

I'm not sure how to post photos here, but have made this video. I think my technique is basically the same as Watermenさん's. (Watermenさんの?)

[mieth]

I purchased a really cheap software for like 40 bucks that allows me to create a card with kanji on the front and english on the back. Or it could be kana on the front as well. On top of this I can import a picture and record audio for each individual card. On top of this I seperated my lists into nouns verbs (by type) regular iru/eru etc. SO that is approximately 700 verbs cards that I made with a native speaker friend doing the recording. From there I made conjugation lists for all of the verbs for past tense negative past tense command form etc and had those all voice recorded. The biggest is that I have spent a couple hundred hours making over 6000 cards or so and haven't been able to study with them. Don't get me started on having to find pictures to import. It takes sooooo much time. I think a big vocab problem is that form verbs especially for a new learner is that each conjugated form is a completely different word. So you have to learn the same word many many times. You ear is not used to hearing the word in the different forms. It is real easy to just say oh ya that is the negative past tense of such and such but to be able to recognize that form in natural speech is a completely different story. Japanese being so conjugation heavy it is extremely easy to get lost really quickly.

[jkeyz15]

Eingang?

[Psy]

Ah, a kindred soul! I too know what it's like setting up thousands upon thousands of flashcards. The experience is mind-numbing, though the exposure of simply typing that many words has to have some effect on one's subconscious. Still it takes forever-- I call it "monkey work"-- it's good to hear that I'm not the only one this stupidly dedicated. Anyway, I think you might've gotten ripped when it comes to software. When I need flashcards, I use either Genius for Mac or Teach 2000 for PC. Both are highly effective and also completely free.

Regarding study and verbs conjugation, you're completely right when it comes to common usage. It's extremely easy to conjugate into a given form once you've learned a few examples of it, but to do so on-the-fly during conversation will slow you down horrendously. You have to know the conjugations well enough to where you don't need to think about them-- when you think "don't want to write" you shouldn't have to stop and process: "ohh, what's 'write'? Ah, kaku. What's the masu-stem? Kaki. What's 'I want to write'? kakitai. What's the -ku attachment? kakitaku. What's the negative? kakitakunai. How do I make it polite? kakitakunai desu." Much, much too slow indeed.

As for my methods, studying the kanji in-depth has given me a huge jumpstart on the more complicated Chinese vocabulary as found in newspapers and the like-- rather like learning all the word roots. However, it's a mistake to study any kind of vocabulary lists out-of-context, "words for the sake of words," you could call it. Context is key to determine usage. If you can't ask someone (as is usually the case for me), just search online to find an example. One of my favorite tools for this is my Doraemon children's dictionary, which was a gift I received a couple of years ago. Many entries are illustrated and all have example sentences, conjugations, and often synonyms/antonyms. The language is simple so it can be read swiftly. When that isn't enough detail, I'll pop online to one of the grown-up J-J dictionaries (usually http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/) and search there. Aside from that the best way to learn is exposure, exposure, exposure. Unfortunately, for most that is easier said than done.

Lastly, there are mnemonics. Sure, roll your eyes if you wish, but I've never forgotten 詳細 (しょうさい, show Psy the details) ever since I applied it. Most of the time one can't apply a fitting English mnemonic to a Japanese word, so when a word gives me trouble, I try to associate it with other Japanese words-- say, as an example, hagaki. Perhaps think of writing (書き) a message into a tooth (歯), or leaf (葉) or whatever. It may seem pointless to try remembering things in a 2-step fashion like this, but believe me, after you use the word a few times, the connection will be made and you will stop relying on the mnemonic.

So, study it. Learn it. Reinforce it. That's my philosophy. F lashcards work and mnemonics work. Rote doesn't so well. That's pretty well all for me.

[Jyodan]

As a University student studying English, along with Martial Arts, volunteering, a part-time job, and a regular exercise routine, I find it pretty damn hard to find a good medium for practicing Japanese. My time is restricted too, since I'll be heading there with the JET program next summer (they can't say no to me).
So, I'm doing a few things to try and maximize this experience:
1) I have a Japanese tutor (who taught Japanese in Osaka) who is giving me some good practice phrases, worksheets, flashcards and e-mails; 1 on 1, for 2 hours and a cheap rate. I practice talking it with her, and this is probably the best way to familiarize yourself with using the words you learn.
2) I'm going to the OJLS (Ottawa Japanese Language School) here in Ottawa every Saturday, 2 hour lessons, curriculum'd and standard. Just more exposure.
3) I started by listening to Pimsleur's Japanese Tapes, which in comparison to Japanesepod101.com, are outdated, boring and just a pain in the ass. Useful if you plan on visiting there once in a lifetime. Now, I just load up my Ipod with pod101 and jam to it on the Bus or between classes.
4) I heard people mention time and time again to just EXPOSE yourself to all forms of media. My tutor tapes TVJapan for me, which is also available to many people on their cable/satellite services. You can also find lots of them on Youtube. Watching this, listening to JPOP, watching Anime or movies are great ways to just hear it in the native tongue (although if the movie is set in feudal Japan, there might be some words you won't recognize or that are outdated).
5) I take all the material I can, from Pop101's Kanji sheets/lessons, phrases I pick up from my friends when I go out for Karaoke or Sushi (check Meetup.com for a local Japanese Language group near you!), and put them into either my Vocabulary section, or my Useful Phrase section in my Japanese Notebook. This gets very tedious, and I'm currently looking for ways to minize this time killer. It's not like I'll be carrying this growing book around with me as a quick-reference guide, nor will you find my pouring over it to study.
6) I take all the Kanji I commonly use or see in phrases, and put them into a quick-reference sheet I made up using Excel. I just block them out, include the rough English-equivalent, its Hiragana, and sometimes put an example sentence. Again, time consuming, but useful when I'm reading passages and I don't remember the meaning exactly.
7) I take all common household objects, find their Kanji and Kana, and post up cards for what they are. Every time I take a leak, I see the words for Toilet, potted blant, mado, Kabe, Magazine Rack--I turn around, and there's my Nagashidai!
Flashcards: I do similar things to what was mentioned, except I try to minimize the words I try to learn. If I can't point at something in my every day life, or a verb that I'll use in everyday speech, I don't bother with written kanji cards.Instead, I like to put opposites (hantai...not hentai!). So, opposite verbs (magaru-nobasu) or adjectives (chisai-ookii), with pictures (if applicable).If you're trying to memorize your kana, and you don't have a premium membership, what I did was just wrote out the kana charts out by memory after doing flashcards, and it stuck.

I tried to only list the main things I'm doing, yet I still can't help but feel like I'm spending too much time looking at worksheets and writing down all those words I only see when I approach the exercises, instead of learning new and useful phrases. Pod101 is helping with that, but I'm open to suggestions.

[markystar]

can you install & run ANKI on the iPhone/iTouch?

[watermen]

can you install & run ANKI on the iPhone/iTouch?

I don't know what is ANKI, but I went to check it out and it can only be run on Palm, I guess? Regardless of the OS, Apple has locked the iPhone and has not allowed any 3rd party application at this time. The only exception is through Safari. Unless you decide to use those online hacking software such as Jailbreak, there is no way to install a 3rd party software.

Here is what I do, I use Kanjiroushi.


My list of Japanese study aids.


Kanjiroushi website. Since iPhone comes with AT&T EDGE, I am connected to the internet 24/7/365. So it is not a problem.


Up to JLPT 1. Great kanji study aid.


Example of a kanji.

To Maxiewawa,

The PDF of SPod101 and Spod can be displayed perfectly on iPhone...so you may want to consider having one.


SpanishPod101 PDF without any problem, this is how I learn Spanish...


SpanishPod PDF without any problem too, another great source for learning the language.

[kc8ufv]

Eingang?

Looks like German. Especially with the other screen shots.

[typerlc]

I have a mobile Japanese language environment too ... but on an old HP iPAQ Pocket PC.

I don't have a camera handy to take shots, but may later.

The software I have:

* TCPMP for playing my downloaded JPod101 tracks.
* PocketXpdf for displaying the PDFs (yes, including Kanji & Kana!)
* KingKanji - an excellent Kanji learning tool ... shows you stroke order, and allows you to draw it and provides very good feedback on how well you drew a character! Also helps practice kana
* JWPce - a text editor that supports Japanese text. Includes a builtin dictionary using Jim Breen's edict. Also includes Kanji lookup using a variety of methods.
* And finally MiniLyrics so I can listen to my favourite JMusic with timed lyrics.

Of course, it's not as slick as an iPhone, but I think its more functional ... at least for now.

I would love to have Anki on there too ... which I guess I can sort of do using the web version of Anki. But a native version would be nicer. Oh well, can't have everything.

[Elfunko]

Lots, but one thing I always find myself doing is learning words in context only. I tried to study lists of words, but if I can't see it in context then its just impossible to learn I find. However, once I have learned one or maybe even both Kanji in a compound I study it. Also, get newspaper articles, movies, tv shows, conversation, etc. All the words I hear that I don't understand I put in my elec. dic., look it up later and write it in a small notebook, then make flashcards. Try to keep things organized though, and review after you study the words.

Finally, the Kanji flashcards, this is the best method I have found. Put the kanji on one side with an english explanation if necessary small and off in the corner, or if you can do the explanation in Japanese. The other side write the hiragana only. Study the kanji a few times to get it in memory and learn the meaning, then switch to Hiragana and try to write the Kanji. You could even test yourself on a piece of paper, but on the move I just write in the air with a finger. Review flashcards and practice writing as much as possible.

Good luck.

Verb conjugation just comes with practice. Read or hear things in context, understand, and imitate.

Bunpo is a whole other dragon.

[Jummp]

I use mnemonics which are suppperrr effective in my opinion!

Here are some

uma - horse

sounds like - uma (thurman)

uma thurman, riding a horse.

_________________________________
hairu - to enter

sounds like - “hi lou”

you have a friend named lou right? if you don’t, then make one up. and then make up a corner store that he owns. now ENTER that store, raise your hand, and say “hi lou“.

_________________________________

odayaka - calm

sounds like “old yak”

boy, this old yak is awfully calm, as he sits there, chewing his cud and smoking his tobacco pipe. i’d like to be more like this calm, old yak.

__________________________________

kubi - neck (job)

sounds like - “cool bee”

sample story

where would all the cool bees hang out? would they hang out near a person’s feet? yeah…no. would they hang out near the arms? no way, thats where loser bees hang out. the only place that cool bees would every want to be seen is on the smooth neck. that way, they can drive their cool cars around and around, forever.

kubi has the meaning of job also. so if you say that someone’s neck has been cut, it means they have been fired.

[Elfunko]

I use menomics also acutally, kinda, but not in the same way. Rather than use Henshall's or someone else's, I think you gotta make your own. First is learning the basic kanji and their meanings, from there I use them as pillars 柱 to build hte next kanji (ya, Im just tryin to learn that one thats why i wrote it). So you figure out hte parts, and if you think about hte meaning of the parts they make sense more times than not as far as learnign hte meaning of hte kanji, especially if rather than a single kanji if its a compound word. So think of it like that.


To get to that level you need exposure to kanji. That means not only translation, but also speed reading. Translation is nice, but it takes time. Speed reading exposes you to a large number of kanji. Even if you dont understand, you may have seen the same kanji 5 times before you learn the meaning, thus building a solid foundation to learn from. Language isnt just surgery precision, guess and take a shot in the dark and learn from it too. That is the most important IMO. I learned many kanji not after the first time, but after the 8th time. You think its a sloppy way of studyin maybe, but think of kids. Kids, like you and me, took 8 years to get to reading at a decent level, and even then we couldnt understand high school level texts. Now put that into context of how long youve been studyin Japanese. Has it been over 5 years? Over 10 years? Put in the time and the results will surface. The trick is studying not only effectively, but also efficiently.

[Javizy]

Lately, I've been reading the Nihongo Journal (White Rabbit Press), which has lots of cool bilingual up-to-date articles about Japan, that have the cool kind of furigana that only appears once for each word, and has audio readings by native speakers. So I've been making vocabulary lists using Wakan, which allows you to add words to your list straight from a dictionary lookup, and prints just like a jpod vocab list (minus the romaji). I gave up with Anki after about 10 words since you have the type out everything yourself.

Anyway, I just slot the printout in with its article, and review it either from English to Japanese or vice-versa, and then try to read the article through without looking anything up. It still takes a fair bit of effort, but you get the words in context with a chance to learn how to read them, as well as picking up other useful structures and stuff from the article itself.

The Nihongo Journal has loads of other stuff aside from the articles; like casual dialogues, kanji quizzes, JLPT quizzes, various language lessons, and comes with a CD. I'd definitely recommend it.