Study Techniques That Work!!! (kanji)

[Serena27]

I wanted to start a sticky thread for kanji like the one for vocab (so I hope Markystar will make this sticky).

I just started studying kanji this week. I have been learning Japanese for about 6 months using JP101 almost exclusively. I have learned hirigana and just finished learning katakana (I was lazy). Now I want to embark on kanji.

I'm going to list my plan and then I hope others will post plans/techniques that have worked for them. One rule (not that I have power to enforce, just please): no debates on Heisig's Remembering the Kanji v1 (RTK1). There is already lots of it on the forum here, or on Amazon if you look at the book reviews. Just please post your plan, and maybe who (type of learner or level) it works best for; reasons why it's a good method. No bashing others techniques! I hope lots of people will post a variety of plans to the benefit of people like me, who are starting out, and trying to figure out the most logical way to start learning Kanj; or, for people who are at more advanced stages of kanji learning and need some help or new study techniques.

My Kanji Plan:

1. I will study Heisig's RTK1 book, learning 25-30 kanji a day, 20 days a month to learn to recognize and write kanji and know one general meaning of the kanji (in english).

2. I will practice writing these kanji often to perfect my skill and b/c writing helps cement memory.

3. When I learn new kanji from the book I will search for it in JP101's kanji dictionary and add the kanji to "My Kanji Bank."

4. I will use "My Kanji Bank Flash Cards" in JP101 often, to test myself on the kanji. This way I can also see other meanings besides the Heisig meaning, and if I think his is a poor choice, I can modify it. I can also look at the On and Kuni readings if I choose, but I won't try to memorize them b/c that might get confusing at this stage.

5. When I have completed RTK1 (hopefully in 6 months, but no pressure if it takes longer), I will start focusing on the readings and combination kanji

Resources:
1. Heisig, James W. "Remembering the Kanji" v.1
-first I'm reading his free online PDF that has the first 250 Kanji
(http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/miscPublications/pdf/RK4/RK4-00.pdf).
-then I'll borrow it from my local library.
-finally, if it's still going well, I'll buy it.
2. JP101 Kanji Dictionary and Flash Cards

Reasons for this method:
I want to learn all 2000 standard kanji, so I don't mind learning less common kanji before some really basic ones.
I want to learn kanji that are drawn similarily together. I like the way the kanji are grouped in Heisig's book.
I usually come up with games to remember numbers, so I think this method should work for my learning style.
I feel overwhelmed trying to learn readings, meanings, recognition and writing of kanji all at once, and want to break it down into stages.

Thanks!

[Javizy]

Until you finish the book, Heisig is really a plan in itself, and you should stick to it as best you can if you want to gain the maximum benefit from it. Something I really recommend is reviewing with Anki. I didn't find out about it until about 1200 characters in, and I really missed out.

It comes with a premade Heisig deck, which has the characters in the order of the book. You can start reviewing only the characters that you've already learnt, and then they will be displayed again after a certain time interval that depends on how well you remembered them. The interval gets longer and longer if you keep remembering correctly, until eventually you can remember it practically permanently.

Since the intervals are initially very short (1-3 days), this gives you a good chance to see if your story/image is actually effective. If you've completely forgotten it in a mess of confusion by the next day, you can rethink a more effective story/image. In addition, since everything is automated, you can rely completely on Anki for organising your reviews. Trying to do this with 2000 paper flashcards would be far from easy.

After you finish the book, you can continue using Anki to learn readings by reviewing sentences in the same spaced interval review style, which is what I'm personally doing now and finding very effective.

[Taurus]

I found it a bit difficult to use the Heisig Anki deck. If you have the same trouble that I did, you could try thissite, which has a similar flashcard system - but it also allows users to share stories, so if you're having trouble coming up with a striking image for one of the kanji you might be able to find one there.

(I feel like a spambot, so just for the record I have no commercial interest in that site! I just found it really useful!)

[Serena27]

Thanks for the tips Taurus and Javizy!