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So I grew tired of being an English pleb and I decided to do something about it asap


Thyndd

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And I'm leaving this post behind for the record, so that if I were to shamefully give up in the future you can humiliate me and rub it in my face to your heart's content. Please do if I fail.

Starting from today, I'm gonna be putting a very considerable amount of time and effort into learning moonspeak to a level where I can stop learning it deliberately and just progress as I use the language. 

So, where's my current level at? Hard to say exactly, but let's see. I have a pretty comprehensive grammatical understanding of the language, but it's more on the linguistics side rather than the practical side. Not completely useless, since at least I won't have to beat my head against the wall trying to figure out how things work, but yeah. My active vocab is limited to the most basic day to day conversations. I know how to write the kanas and I should be able to at least recognize around 200 kanji with their meaning and hopefully some sample words.

To sum it up, whilst I'm not starting from absolute zero, it's definitely still an early beginner level. So, what's gonna be my approach? Something that hopefully won't drive me to commit suicide, and the closest thing I've found to that that sounds like it could actually work, is the AJATT method, which is supposed to be an immersion based approach. You can read more about it on its website if you google it, but very briefly this is what it says:

-First of all start off with Remembering the Kanji and learn all 2046 kanji and their meanings, without bothering with their readings. Use a SRS program like Anki to help you along the process.

-Do not learn vocab. Learn full sentences in context instead. And not any sentences, but only those that could be considered "comprehensible input". That is, sentences where all you're lacking is one piece of vocab or grammar. Avoid sentences where you'd have to look up everything. Create Anki cards for those sentences, and at the beginning attach an English translation on the back, but don't go out of your way to try to memorize the translation: just focus on getting the meaning right and use the translation to check your understanding. Oh yeah, and the sentences won't have furigana, so you only know the flashcard if you are able to read it out loud, write it, and understand it.

-As you get better you'll switch to 100% Japanese flashcards, describing every word in Japanese.

-All this should be accompanied by frequent exposure to the language. Active exposure when possible. That means for example trying to listen carefully to movies and anime without subtitles and picking up on as much info as you can.

And that's it. No magic involved, it just makes sense that it has to work if you are consistent. And with that said, I have some odd hundreds of kanji to learn, so I'll see you guys within 3 or 4 months, which is what I expect it to take me if I don't neglect my study. 

Oh yeah, and in case someone got motivated while reading this, feel free to join in. The more, the merrier. It'd be by no means to be taken as a competition, but it's true that turning it into a group activity would have its benefits. It's much less likely to give up on something when you're doing it together with other people, that's for sure.

 

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2 minutes ago, Zakamutt said:

Reading Japanese visual novels with a text hooker is p useful for learning if it clicks for you:

  Reveal hidden contents

J7kK4SX.jpg

 

Additionally, if RtK1 doesn't fit you then it's pretty skippable.

That said if the ajatt approach works for you then enjoy :P

Yeah, I'm planning on using VNs as a resource for getting my sentences :sachi: In fact I've been reading VNs in Japanese for a while now, the problem is, while I do try to memorize the vocab and stuff, my focus is more on understanding what it says and moving onto the next sentence. That's mainly because I chose VNs way beyond my level, so the sentences couldn't be considered comprehensible input at all. If anything, comprehensible for Saint Google and several dictionaries and grammar books :makina:

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6 hours ago, Kiriririri said:

Sounds exactly opposite to what I did and pretty bad but whatever works for you :pyaa:

Opposite, huh? So I guess that would be a more traditional approach with textbooks for learning grammar and memorizing kanji along with their readings in the order japanese natives do?

I admit that there are some points about AJATT and any non traditional method really that sound kinda dubious, but there are people who report plenty of progress following it. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean it's the most efficient, but it's not like I could find any research on the topic, so whatever. Plus, if you stop to think about why AJATT could work well (and read the motivations behind it in its official website) it actually starts to make a whole lot of hypothetical sense. 

Anyway, I'll be testing this in the future, and we'll see how it goes. The main reason I chose this method is actually the fact that I think I can stick with it and be consistent, which in the end is the only real key to learning a new language. As I said, I'd rather kill myself than read textbooks with a lot of overly simplistic grammar out of context, or learning kanji for words I don't even know yet along with 5+ readings that don't mean shit to me. I know I would give up, because I did in the past. So even if it technically wasn't the most time efficient method, it's probably still the better method for me.

Edited by Thyndd
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I like your enthusiasm but, don't just practice it alone.

Make sure to use the kanji's etc. in your daily life. I talk with my japanese friends to practice it with both texting and voice chatting and it's very helpful/useful than just reading stuff alone. Also my advice is don't try memorizing everything because it's impossible and you'll forget it, so focus on the meanings and visualize them on your mind. For example make up a story inside your head with the kanji's meanings and shapes. 

Lastly never skip anything, like the onyomi and kunyomi readings. 

何よりいい考えです、僕も応援してます!:sachi:

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On 8/12/2018 at 3:07 PM, cykaki said:

Lastly never skip anything, like the onyomi and kunyomi readings. 

I'm not planning on completely skipping the readings per se, but I'm following Heisig's book for the moment so it's not something I'll learn at the beginning. After all, what good will knowing the readings do me if I don't yet have the vocab? 

After I'm done with muh kanji I'll be learning a lot of new words through sentences in context, and it's through that process that I hope I'll adquire the (most common) readings. 

Speaking of which, it's been a week since I opened this thread. So far I'm being consistent listening to as much japanese as I possibly can and I've gone through the first 200 kanji of Heisig's RTK. Let's start the second week! 

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