What to do after RTK?

[miho-sempai]

I managed to end up with both a copy of Genki I and a copy of RTK I and was wondering which one to work on. Kanji has always been an issue for me and I was hoping with RTK by Heisig I'd be able to get through it fairly okay...but my big concern is what would I do after RTK? Do I then start with a textbook like Genki I with a better knowledge of Kanji, or what you would recommend?

It's been years since I last tried to study Japanese (I created my username in middle school because it sounded cute) and I want to approach it and stick with it. My goal is to be able to read manga and the sort, also...definitely novels, too. Mostly modern - nothing "too" oldschool, I guess.

Thank you for your advice!

[Yudan Taiteki]

Doing Genki I after RTK 1 should be fine.

[miho-sempai]

Doing Genki I after RTK 1 should be fine.

Would doing them semi-concurrently be too painful? I was thinking that way I could get some grammar down while studying the kanji (I am thinking about modifying the RTK process, but I'm not certain yet) and add some readings in maybe? I have no idea where to start, pretty much. If I do RTK, should I do it unmodified or add readings? Practice some grammar, too?

Man, I need to change my signature, too...weird and outdated.

[Yudan Taiteki]

If you're looking to do RTK you might try forum.koohii.com; a lot of people there have used RTK, I haven't.

You should be able to use them at the same time, though.

[Dustin]

Doing Genki I after RTK 1 should be fine.

Would doing them semi-concurrently be too painful? I was thinking that way I could get some grammar down while studying the kanji (I am thinking about modifying the RTK process, but I'm not certain yet) and add some readings in maybe? I have no idea where to start, pretty much. If I do RTK, should I do it unmodified or add readings? Practice some grammar, too?

Man, I need to change my signature, too...weird and outdated.

There are many ways you can go through RTK

Personally I think if you're going to go through it, do it in the least painful way possible so that you can get to learning "Real" Japanese sooner.

Learning words and grammar at the same time will help distract you from doing NOTHING but kanji, and will aid in the actual learning of the language rather than just "indexing" the characters in your head, which is basically what RTK does.

kanji.koohii.com as yudan pointed out, has a lot of advice, and a lot of methods. Try not to get too swallowed up in all the information that is there, and all the different methods. Do what is most comfortable to you, and what you enjoy the most.

The reviews to remember what you've "learned" are the most important, and the most difficult part of the process.

[furrykef]

What I did, and am doing, was the first book of JFBP and then the Core 2000 on smart.fm, making flash cards out of all the sentences using Anki. (JFBP1 doesn't use kanji, but I wrote all the words in my flash cards in kanji. Why didn't I move on to JFBP2? Because JFBP1 didn't impress me enough to make me want to buy the next installment.) Unfortunately, this is going very slowly -- partly because I'm also studying Latin at the moment, partly because I'm distracted by other things, partly 'cause Japanese vocabulary is just so hard -- so I'm only in the middle of part 4 of 10 of the Core 2000. I also have a copy of Japanese for Everyone that I may or may not use.

I would think maybe my method is flawed and I should switch to something else, but I have no idea what that "something else" might be.

[nukemarine]

I concur,

The Koohii forums has a lot of advice, so it's easy to get lost. Personally, there's nothing wrong with doing Genki along with RTK. Just don't stress the kanji portion of Genki in the back as RTK is handling that. However, once you learn that kanji start using it in Genki.

There's the other option of going the audio learning route via Pimsleur or Jpod 101 while you complete RTK at the same time. I did do part 1 of Pimsleur while doing RTK, but Jpod would probably be better (aside from one annoying announcer).

Here's a rough roadmap I sort of followed or adapted based on my own experience. Beginner Guide to Japanese.

[Dustin]

I did do part 1 of Pimsleur while doing RTK, but Jpod would probably be better (aside from one annoying announcer).

I disagree

I think Peter-san is "The Bomb"

[miho-sempai]

My issue is that I'm a full-time student, I soon will be working full-time on top of that and I don't have much spare time. So I was planning to work maybe 15kanji a day through RTK including at least one compound (I can write all hiragana and most katakana) and the "primary" reading. And slowly working through Genki 1...I've tried it before so the first two or three lessons are pretty simple to me.

One question...do you do the exercises at all? I hear of people putting sentences in their Anki decks and I don't quite get how they do that - it doesn't cover all the forms/exceptions and stuff, right? How do you do that?

I'm trying to make it fun so I stick with it this time. Oh, if it matters, I'll probably be working noc shifts (10-6AM or 11PM-7AM) as a CNA and going to class in the mornings or at night. So I may have some time to do stuff right before I sleep or right after I get up when I work.

Wow, I ramble.

[Dustin]

I do all exercises I come across. In fact I rarely find enough.

I input sentences into SRS too but I pick and choose. The exercises are a great tool, you should definitely use them.

Putting in sentences is just a tool that once you've learned a particular point, you find a few applicable sentences to keep it in your memory.

[miho-sempai]

I do all exercises I come across. In fact I rarely find enough.

I input sentences into SRS too but I pick and choose. The exercises are a great tool, you should definitely use them.

Putting in sentences is just a tool that once you've learned a particular point, you find a few applicable sentences to keep it in your memory.

For Kanji would it be okay once I'm advanced enough (several months from now, hah) to use an example sentence, too? Once I can translate it?

For sentences in there...what do you have to recognize out of it? The grammar point? Certain vocabulary? Can you edit the cards in Anki? I think I saw somewhere that it resets them...though since you'd be editing the content that can't be too bad.

I'm going to start tonight, I think. Course, I've been saying that for three days now...back to cranial nerves. Blergh. At least the first 15 kanji should be easy...I've also got a dictionary on my iTouch where it gives me some jDICT translations/readings and stuff.

[Dustin]

Once you're good enough with kanji you can deal with them however you like. Most people have compound to reading cards, and reading to compound cards. Being able to read them is more popular, sadly writing kanji is becoming a dead art. ( Computers etc )

The rule of thumb with sentences is i+1 This means that there is only one new piece of information in the sentence, that can be a grammar point, a word, compound, whatever. You won't get far by confusing yourself on what you are even testing.

Eventually all the old sentences will be very easy, while the new ones become more and more complicated as your knowledge grows