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SC2013 - CartmanJr's blog [Kana Stage] Time to get serious


CartmanJr

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I have delved into learning Japanese before but I started to skip days until finally, I stopped. After reading Tay's initial post I feel like getting serious about learning the language.

My 2013 Goal

By the end of 2013 I wish to be able to read a short VN or a small scenario in a larger one.

Study Time

I plan on knuckling down at 10pm every day until I am done or at 12am (Depending on what comes first)

Where I'm at right now

I started with the Kana first before and picked up a few bits of grammar but I haven't really studied for a while. 25 Kanji a day seems intimidating but hopefully I can go through with it starting today.

Although short, this concludes my introduction post for the Super Challenge 2013. I will update on day 3 how I am doing and hope to see more of these posts from others in the near future.

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Day 3 update

I am up to 75 Kanji so far and have ordered my 6th edition RTK book however, the estimate delivery time is quite a while off for some reason. A couple of Kanji didn't show up in the Anki deck so that threw me off a bit but it is going smoothly so far.

I found this website: Here

It feels pretty solid however there are some major flaws I found with it.

Disadvantages



  • Be careful what RTK course you pick as one of them is different.
  • It does not 100% follow the Meaning > Kanji.
  • Does not tell you extra things like Month meaning Flesh as a primitive

Advatages



  • Tests you multiple times during the first day.
  • Multiple stories for each Kanji so you can pick the one you will remember most.
  • Niice interface.

Hopefully my book gets here sooner than estimated.

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頑張って!

You can do it :D

I really like memrise as it reminds you to keep going over stuff, but like you say it does have its disadvantages. If you have time you can make your own study course including all the info you want to learn that might not be included in other people's courses.. it does take a while though to enter it all ^^;

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Way to go! 75/75, impressive! I've looked into that site, too. You'll have to keep us posted as to how you like it.

If it looks like you're going to start running out of the sample pdf kanji, let me know -- I can try and copy down content for you until your books come.

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If it looks like you're going to start running out of the sample pdf kanji, let me know -- I can try and copy down content for you until your books come.

Thank you but there is no need now, my book arrived.

Week 1 update



  • I am at 175 kanji at the moment and it is getting harder, but I'm still enjoying it.
  • I haven't skipped a day so far, Nearly did when I was really tired from coming home from work.
  • I found out that playing Dota 2 before studying makes it so much harder.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Week 2 + 1 day

I missed my update yesterday so I will do it today instead.

Kanji: 400

The difficulty does ramp up hard alongside reviews but I believe I can continue going 25 a day.

Motivation Level: A high medium

I have lost my initial super high motivation but when I find a Kanji I like I enjoy it even more. Wanting to re-watch Clannad without subs is keeping me going.

Days missed: 0

I have come close to missing a day when I have come home from work and was tired but so far I haven't missed any yet.

I have changed my time to study to around lunch time depending when I work, I feel it has helped me pay more attention to them.

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Week 3 + 1 day

I feel bad not updating on time.

Kanji: 600

With more similarities they are still getting harder.

Motivation Level: Medium

With the large amount of reviews it is hard to push through them.

Days missed: 0

The last 2 days before today have been awful, delaying the reviews and finishing late into the night feels horrible.

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Hey, thanks again for the support on my blog. I really appreciate it : )

You're doing freakin' awesome! Keep it up! Review grinding is really tough: you may want to consider taking a day or two of low-numbers new kanji to power through the reviews. I find that as long as I don't string low-new-kanji days together, I don't get tempted to scale back.

In any case, I'm super impressed. Keep up the great work.

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Thank you for the replies.

Week 4 + 1 day

Days missed: 0

I am surprised I have 0 missed days in a month.

Kanji: 760

I lowered the amount I will be doing for a couple of days to 10 because I am having trouble with some of the more recent Kanji, once I feel like I know them well enough I will raise it again.

Motivation Level: Medium

There are a couple of things keeping me motivated: Watching Clannad, reading Corpse Party BC and because the language is interesting.

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Thank you for the replies.

Week 4 + 1 day

Days missed: 0

I am surprised I have 0 missed days in a month.

Kanji: 760

I lowered the amount I will be doing for a couple of days to 10 because I am having trouble with some of the more recent Kanji, once I feel like I know them well enough I will raise it again.

Motivation Level: Medium

There are a couple of things keeping me motivated: Watching Clannad, reading Corpse Party BC and because the language is interesting.

I can definitely understand slowing down the amount of Kanji per day. Your at 760 and thats awesome. Its taking me a bit longer because of the amount of review required for my old brain to remember anything. You can do it man, keep it up!!

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I can definitely understand slowing down the amount of Kanji per day. Your at 760 and thats awesome.

Much agreed, slowing down can help you understand things better. A key factor is that you've missed 0 days. That's dedication, and you'll go much farther with studies everyday. Good job, onward to 1000!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Day 56

It has been a while since I last updated, seeing how other people are going is great as well.

Days Missed: 1

Halfway through my last update and this one I got into a really bad few days, I ended up going from 25 > 10 and then to 5. I went to 0 new Kanji learn't for 1 day but I still did my reviews, since then though I went back to 25/day.

Kanji: 1250

Reaching the halfway point felt amazing, watching the number grow is invigorating.

Motivation Level: Fluctuates

It changes from day to day from low to high, really depends on what has happened that day.

Overall, I feel like I can finish RTK1 and continue to go even further. Doing this has also helped keep my life in check: Sleep routine, keeping my brain active ect.

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Great Job CartmanJr!!

Kanji: 1250 Reaching the halfway point felt amazing, watching the number grow is invigorating.

Thats really cool, im still a ways away from Halfway. Im at 830 right now. Your way in ahead of me, but thats cool. Im happy with my pace. 25 a day is great I wish I could do that but the review times for me @ 10 per day is crazy.

Anyway, Great Job man!!

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So your last entry was, essentially, the greatest thing I've read all day. I get motivation from just reading it. Thank you so much!

It's especially impressive how you only missed one day so far. You really are an inspiration to me and to the rest of us. Thank you!

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  • 1 month later...

Day 95

Complete

Today I have finished going through RTK1. The last week was one of the hardest I have had with learning the new Kanji, with them getting harder in the last lesson I ended up drinking and then took a trip to London to see my sister for a couple of days.

Review Days Missed: 0

New Kanji Days Missed: 2

I still have a long way to go but tomorrow I will start on the Kana while continuing my reviews, the Kana shouldn't be too much of an issue for me as I have gone through them before. I usually spent around 40 - 1 hour minutes writing the 25 Kanji down depending on primitives, then doing my reviews which have come to about 200+ a day. I have to thank Tay though for his post, was really motivating and finally got me to go through with it, I really think I can see myself actually doing something I enjoy late in life. To everyone else working their way through as well, fight through the bad days and make sure you get to the end!

Good luck!

If anyone has any questions then I will be happy to reply.

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If anyone has any questions then I will be happy to reply.

I have!

Do you, at some point, 'get used' to learning the kanjis?

What I mean by that is, did you feel at some point that your memory was now used to memorizing kanjis, thus making the process much easier?

Because I noticed that for other kind of memorization processes and was wondering if it would be the same for kanjis. For example, when I learned to recognize the karuta cards of the Hyakunin Isshu, it was hard for the first 10-20 poems but from then recognizing patterns became much easier for the following 80.

That would be a huge boost to my motivation if that was the case actually =p

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Do you, at some point, 'get used' to learning the kanjis?

Yes, you pick up on the way they are written and then they become much easier. Until you hit an exception to the rule and you pull your hair out trying to remember it, but Anki really is an exceptional tool. I hit one of the harder chapters and they were difficult to remember, after a few times in Anki though it really does start to stick.

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I just want to say that you've been a huge motivation to me, right from the get-go. I'm staggered by your discipline. This is a huge accomplishment, and we all support and admire your dedication. Thank you for leading the charge, and I hope to join the "Finisher" club by the end of May!

CONGRATULATIONS!

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