How long did you study JP before you're good?

[Sparkker]

Meh, I'm lazily studying Japanese that's why the thing I should have learned 1-2 year/s ago is still ongoing. (And yes this is a fact)

My goal is to probably finish this thing by Mid 2015 if I don't get Lazy.
Doing Hell mode in Aniki Anki, Android app, 20 kanji per day started Dec. Not Really a good app for anyone unless you feel masochistic or has good dedication. Not recommended for anyone SERIOUSLY.

Learning Grammar slowly, it's a work in progress.

Writing, someday under a blue moon.

(I don't know where can I learn to compound Kanji or is it just memorizization thing as well.)

 

 

I just want to see/know what other people's progress are in this language.

Was JP a hard thing for you or what? Tell your experience below if you like to.

 

 

 

 

 

[Nosebleed]

Well, depends on what you define as "good" but I'm guessing you're definig good as being able to understand sentences on your own in a reasonable amount of time.

 

For me, after some weeks of learning grammar (covering most of the basics), i'm able to make out simple sentences (that use a more regular syntax structure) on my own as long as I have the vocabulary down.

I feel like the amount of contact I had with anime and manga really has improved a lot as far as understanding the concepts and gathering vocabulary, so i am sensing a faster level of progression. 

I feel like in a year I'll probably have nailed most if not all of the grammar, assuming I keep this pace up, which is nice.

 

Also you can learn how to compound kanji by using any other guide besides RTK  [(this is why I don't like RTK) though RTK does have compounds in volume 2, but only some]

 

Compounds are just words that use 2 or more kanji together, so basically vocabulary.

You pretty much just have to memorize them although some of them have a reason to be together like:

日本 (Japan) > 日 = sun / 本 = origin > sun origin > Japan (Land of the rising sun) 

 

There are guides out there that show you the kanji and corresponding compounds using said kanji.

Hell you can even find some online like Kanji Damage (not the most ethical but you get the point).

[Zalor]

Also you can learn how to compound kanji by using any other guide besides RTK  [(this is why I don't like RTK) though RTK does have compounds in volume 2, but only some]

 

 

That's misunderstanding the purpose of RTK. By being able to recognize individual kanji in a compound, it is much easier to learn and memorize them. While there are some Kanji in RTK where the kanji is almost always what the keyword says, like 雪 being snow, or 青 being blue, many Kanji in RTK can be used in multiple ways with multiple definitions. Being able to understand kanji through RTK is a bonus, the primary advantage of RTK is being able to easily remember Kanji, hence the title (Remembering the Kanji). Most people who don't use this method will either easily forget kanji, or confuse similar looking ones. Having studied Chinese for two years in school, I can say that RTK is the best method for memorizing the damn things. Once you have them memorized, it makes learning them in context a lot easier since you are already accustomed to the symbols.   

[Nosebleed]

Well yes, RTK is useful for visual memory.. except that's a virtually useless skill when it comes to learning reading, at least in my opinion.

That's why I stopped using it and just focused on actual practical skills like writing down kanji (there's no better way to memorize kanji than this) and reading words with furigana.

 

Also RTK's order of kanji is absurd at points.

 

I still think RTK has some merit to it.

It's the one of the few guides with quite useful stories for remembering the kanji's visual representation. And this is something I wish more guides had, or at the very least i find it useful.

But as far as usefullness in learning how to read, it's pretty useless.

 

RTK basically doubles your amount of work by making you go learn how to pronounce kanji after you're done with it which, in my opinion, is inefficient.

 

If RTK introduced onyomi/kunyomi and compounds, it'd be an incredible guide.

As it stands it's just more of a review guide for you to remember how kanji look like (which is not bad but there's other more useful methods in my opinion).

 

This is why I don't particularly recommend RTK for learning japanese unless all you're looking for is remembering how kanji look like.

So the best thing to do would probably be to use it as an auxiliar guide with another guide that teaches you onyomi/kunyomi and compounds.

[Zalor]

Well yes, RTK is useful for visual memory.. except that's a virtually useless skill when it comes to reading, at least in my opinion.

That's why I stopped using it and just focused on actual practical skills like writing down kanji (there's no better way to memorize kanji than this) and reading words with furigana.

 

Also RTK's order of kanji is absurd at points.

 

I still think RTK has some merit to it.

It's the one of the few guides with quite useful stories for remembering the kanji's visual representation. And this is something I wish more guides had, or at the very least i find it useful.

But as far as usefullness in learning how to read, it's pretty useless.

 

RTK isn't for everybody (It's taken almost finishing the book to realize that). And it should be viewed as nothing more than a head start, or prologue to learning Japanese. Will it help you with reading directly? No, you are correct about that. Will it make learning how to read faster and easier once you do get started? Yes. It will take years for anybody to learn to read kanji, but by getting most of the important symbols in your head early on, it makes the long term goal more attainable. You will not see immediate progress with RTK. It's kind of like when a teacher made you learn something you thought was stupid and pointless, and years later you appreciate it. There is a method to the madness, but it will take time to see it.   

[Nosebleed]

It depends on your goals I guess.

 

I agree with what you're saying about RTK, but if your goal is to learn how to read as quick as possible, RTK isn't the most efficient. On the contrary, it's the most time consuming (which for some people is fine, but i'm impatient )

However, it also builds a more solid foundation by familiarizing you with stuff so when you do get to reading, it might make the process easier on you.

 

So really it's all about what you prefer and makes you more comfortable.

 

As for me, I've been doing fine without it, though I do plan on going back to it to review kanji once in a while (as i said before, RTK's mnemonics are great)

[Deep Blue]

You need to put yourself a very attainable goal, like in 3 month reach the JLPT N5, if you set a goal too high like learning all the kanji in half of a year then are going to fail almost with certainty, how much time will it take?depends on yourself and the time you have.

I'm still very new on this but just give it time and dedication and you will make it.

 

btw learning to write the kanji is a waste of time, when are you going to write something on paper? If your method of study is writing down things then it's ok but if you are doing it just for learning how to write them then dont do it, even Japanese people dont know how to write most of the kanji...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_amnesia

[astro]

I was always good at Japanese (ﾄﾞﾔｧ)

[Nosebleed]

btw learning to write the kanji is a waste of time, when are you going to write something on paper? If your method of study is writing down things then it's ok but if you are doing it just for learning how to write them then dont do it, even Japanese people dont know how to write most of the kanji...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_amnesia

[Bolverk]

Nosebleed brings up some important things about RTK. It takes a lot of effort and times to complete. Also it has the flaw you don't remember any readings or multiple meanings. So the main reason to use the RTK is to being able to create a groundwork for each 2200 kanji. With that you can branch out afterwards and learn compounds, multiple meanings and readings more easily. It does create a groundwork, but I feel it somewhat fails on this because:

 

1. It takes a lot of effort and time to grind through the anki deck. You have to spend time afterwards as well to review the cards, instead of studying text or what you have planned. Most people failing here.

2. Lets say you complete the RTK and study through tae kim's guide. Afterwards you try to read stuff in jp. You will basically try to juggle everything. Grammar, vocab, kanji readings,  The RTK meanings will often come in the way

3.RTK doesn't teach you to read read. Practically this means you won't be able to read anything after doing rtk. You might read something like これはいい朝だな。 you'd read it as this: kore wa ii morning da na. So after spendings months reviewing the card, so you instantly recognize it as morning. You will have to force yourself to re-learn it as あさ.

 

So you will have to spend time to change what you've learned. Going from kanji->meaning. To Kanji->reading->meaning

 

I feel this is way too roundabout. Rather you should learn the kanji by it's shape then reading and at last it's meaning. Ideally with words within a context.

So considering you will learn RTK kanji's then re-learn what they mean and add readings. I people should rather go a more balanced way, vocab,grammar and kanji in parallel.

 

Now about RTK method itself. I think it's brilliant way to memorize each kanji. The way to break up each kanji into chunks of different primitives (rtk terminology) and have mnemonic for each primitive and kanji. It works very well. For me when I have to memorize things I prefer to connect it to feelings, memory or visualizations in my mind rather than story or learning rule. A simple example: 日 I Imagine standing on a massive Norwegian grass plain, staring at the sun. The sun is big and yellow, I feel sunshine hit my skin and I hear a sizzling (hizzzz) sound from the heat around me. Then it sinks down showing the end of a day.

 

That being said.. It might sound like am bashing RTK. Even if you can rationally think some methods are faster to learn with, learning is highly individualistic. One method might be "effective" but utterly boring and you might drop it or use too little time on it. So you need to have self-realization what works best for you and accept that.

 

I was always good at Japanese (ﾄﾞﾔｧ)

I was actually born with a Dakimakura. Nowadays it's so stiff it stands upright.

[Deep Blue]

Learning to write kanji, or even whole sentences, is a huge boost to your visual memory though. It's most certainly not a waste of time.

Admittedly you will hardly ever need to write physical kanji on paper unless you actually go to Japan or something.

But as a learning tool, it's one of the most efficient.

 

When you're writing down something, and this is not just for kanji, you're physically thinking about how to write it and that image sticks to your brain much better than if you're just looking/reading something, and that's why it's such a helpful way to learn how to memorize anything.

 

Why do you think japanese guides have exercises that ask you to write down stuff?

They could just ask you to recite it outloud or in your head.

But they don't, because writing stuff down is in and of itself a way to learn and memorize.

Why do kanji guides teach you stroke order if it's just a waste of time?

Because it helps you visualize how to write it in your head so you can remember it later, and if you write it yourself you can get an even better grip on it.

 

Of course everyone should follow the method they find most useful, but please don't say writing stuff down is a useless learning method.

 

The reason for Japanese/Chinese people forgetting some kanji is because of romanization and the changes of input method (keyboards and stuff) which obviously deteriorates your memory. (You can apply the same thing to the West though with text editors correcting your mistakes for you and your spelling deteriorating)

Just because some of them forget doesn't mean you have to follow their footsteps. That's just a silly argument.

 

 

アストロ先輩, 私を教えてください<3

I don't know about that, for me it doesn't work that way, I can write the same kanji over 20 times but at the end of the day I can't remember it, I can't study like that, but if I learn it with some story or trying to see something else, like this one 日 it's a sun with smile in the middle I can remember them very easily(thanks to RTK for that), that's why i said, if your method of study is by writing them then go ahead and do it but if you are not doing it for that then you are wasting time but then again that's just my opinion.

[rainsismyfav]

After basic kanji and grammar I just kept on reading VNs with dictionary assist (AGTH + JWPce). That and simultaneously studying grammar on the side, I got jlpt level 2 within one and a half years.

For grammar, you just need to understand the pattern and it should stick well, seeing a lot of example sentences will help a ton. For vocabs, VNs is pretty much a built-in Anki, so words keep repeating themselves. This method is hella slow in the beginning though.. like dictionary-every-word-in-the-sentence slow. After maybe 6+ months, I progressed to 40 lines without a need for dictionary look-up.

[zoom909]

For vocabs, VNs is pretty much a built-in Anki, so words keep repeating themselves. This method is hella slow in the beginning though.. like dictionary-every-word-in-the-sentence slow. After maybe 6+ months, I progressed to 40 lines without a need for dictionary look-up.

 

It works that way for kanji too if you pay attention to them, which is why I never bothered with RTK.

 

Although with vocabulary I grew a little impatient so I front-loaded some vocab by using the JLPT sample lists (again paying attention to the kanji)

[LinovaA]

After basic kanji and grammar I just kept on reading VNs with dictionary assist (AGTH + JWPce). That and simultaneously studying grammar on the side, I got jlpt level 2 within one and a half years.

For grammar, you just need to understand the pattern and it should stick well, seeing a lot of example sentences will help a ton. For vocabs, VNs is pretty much a built-in Anki, so words keep repeating themselves. This method is hella slow in the beginning though.. like dictionary-every-word-in-the-sentence slow. After maybe 6+ months, I progressed to 40 lines without a need for dictionary look-up.

[Zalor]

1. It takes a lot of effort and time to grind through the anki deck. You have to spend time afterwards as well to review the cards, instead of studying text or what you have planned. Most people failing here.

 

3.RTK doesn't teach you to read read. Practically this means you won't be able to read anything after doing rtk. You might read something like これはいい朝だな。 you'd read it as this: kore wa ii morning da na. So after spendings months reviewing the card, so you instantly recognize it as morning. You will have to force yourself to re-learn it as あさ.

 

Not sure if you did RTK or not, but judging from the above statement I would assume not. As mentioned earlier, I am in the process of finishing up RTK and when I read what you wrote I did and didn't do what you said I would do. First I read the hiragana, then when I got to the kanji, I froze, recognized it (in English), then looked it up, ascribed the pronunciation, and then read the whole sentence properly. People who haven't done Heisig seem to assume you will waste a lot of time unlearning the English keywords, when in fact adopting the Japanese readings comes quite naturally. One of the first Japanese readings I learned was for the word 雪. The first time I ran into this word, I thought "snow". It only took seeing this word 2 or 3 times in context to ascribe it the pronunciation "yuki". Now whenever I see 雪, I think "yuki". What you said is hardly a problem and fixes itself quite naturally. 

Your first criticism however, is quite valid though. RTK requires patience, and rewards patience. I never really thought of my self as a particularly studious person, but I don't have a problem doing Anki everyday. It's no different from using the bathroom or brushing my teeth. It's just a part of everyday life at this point. And in the long term, that is also a benefit. By getting you accustomed to studying Japanese every day, you develop good habits.

From the many different thoughts and opinions I have read about RTK, I have noticed that only people who haven't done the method view it negatively, everyone who has completed it has been grateful that they did it. What's more, most of them have gone on to learn the language decently well. I don't have statistics, but from what I have seen and heard, people who complete RTK are more likely not to give up learning Japanese. So if discipline is an issue for you, Anki and RTK will force you to discipline yourself. 

 

Edit: To explain why I think you are less likely to give up learning Japanese if you do RTK. It is because you become invested. After spending all that time learning new kanji, memorizing them, and reviewing them, the thought of throwing all that time away by giving up is simply horrifying. Last semester was utter hell for me in school, and there were a few times I considered dropping RTK and Japanese, but I didn't because the thought of all that wasted time pissed me off. So I continued. Had I been learning Japanese in a more casual way, I likely would have given up. 

[zoom909]

From the many different thoughts and opinions I have read about RTK, I have noticed that only people who haven't done the method view it negatively, everyone who has completed it has been grateful that they did it. What's more, most of them have gone on to learn the language decently well. I don't have statistics, but from what I have seen and heard, people who complete RTK are more likely not to give up learning Japanese.

There are also people who tried the method and decided it wasn't all that great after all.  Saying that everyone who has completed it has been grateful means nothing--since, naturally, no one who felt like they didn't get anything out of RTK would bother to complete it.

I don't have statistics either, but from what I have seen and heard, people who bypassed RTK or tried it and hated it, went on to start reading and translating VNs quickly--whereas many of those who got bogged down in RTK never made it to the phase of actually, you know, learning the Japanese language...

[Nosebleed]

Well, i haven't completed RTK because it wasn't a satisfying experience for me so i dropped it after the first 100 or so kanji. Is that invalid because i didn't sit through the whole thing?

It hasn't haunted me at all and i've been fine without it. That's mostly the point.

Of course finishing RTK won't hurt you, i think you can transition from it to actually learning pronounciation just fine, but the double/triple amount of effort and time it takes to get there is what really made it not worth it for me and others, it just falls short on this front and i quickly realized that as i was reading it early on, hence why i dropped it, because it just didn't help me with what i wanted to achieve which was reading comprehension.

Is RTK the offspring of Satan? Of course not

Is RTK entirely useless? Of course not

But is RTK an efficient method to learning Japanese?

Time wise, from my experience, no, takes a lot more time than most methods.

Quality wise (as in, how much you learn from it), mostly good for visual memory, the rest has to be worked on post RTK (or at the same time in which case RTK becomes the auxiliar guide which imo is where it should be)

And it's because of that that i don't see RTK as a major learning method, but more as a review guide and i'd only recommend it as such.

But to each their own, i commend you for finishing the whole thing, i have no doubts you won't have much trouble learning vocabulary, but the point is that you could also get there through other methods that would have likely not required you to burn through anki decks day after day over such a long period of time. But hey if that's effective for you (or anyone else), keep doing it, seriously, nothing's better than a method you actually enjoy using.

But RTK's just not for me.

[melo4496]

btw learning to write the kanji is a waste of time

[Zalor]

There are also people who tried the method and decided it wasn't all that great after all.  Saying that everyone who has completed it has been grateful means nothing--since, naturally, no one who felt like they didn't get anything out of RTK would bother to complete it.

I don't have statistics either, but from what I have seen and heard, people who bypassed RTK or tried it and hated it, went on to start reading and translating VNs quickly--whereas many of those who got bogged down in RTK never made it to the phase of actually, you know, learning the Japanese language...

 

I'm a bit old fashioned, but I'm more a believer in the adage "slow and steady wins the race". RTK is a slow start, but it seems to make the long term goal of learning the language more efficient. To be honest, while I am defending RTK, I do have insecurities about it. Two different communities I get my Japanese learning advice hold completely different views on RTK. People who have focused on learning Japanese as a whole (to read, write, and speak) recommend RTK without second thought, whereas most Japanese learners here dislike it. My main outside of VN inspirations have been the Abroad in Japan YouTube channel, and TykoSam's Youtbe videos. (TykoSam is really obnoxious, but he knows his shit even though he acts like a fool). In fact TykoSam explains everything best in this video. 

 

So on the one hand. I have people who moved to Japan knowing nothing, who are now fluent in the language recommending RTK. Then there are a bunch of other self taught people here who despise the method. You can see why it was so frustrating for me (and likely for other beginners) to pick up any method, because opinions are so divided. Ultimately I chose RTK because the nay-sayers didn't provide any other clear method, (although honestly I am still not completely sure which side to trust).

 

 

Is RTK the offspring of Satan? Of course not

Is RTK entirely useless? Of course not

But is RTK an efficient method to learning Japanese?

Time wise, from my experience, no, takes a lot more time than most methods.

But to each their own, i commend you for finishing the whole thing, i have no doubts you won't have much trouble learning vocabulary

 

Didn't quite finish yet, but thanks. You seem to be the only person in this thread who isn't trying to convince me that I wasted my time. 

[Sparkker]

Also you can learn how to compound kanji by using any other guide besides RTK  [(this is why I don't like RTK) though RTK does have compounds in volume 2, but only some]

 

Compounds are just words that use 2 or more kanji together, so basically vocabulary.

You pretty much just have to memorize them although some of them have a reason to be together like:

日本 (Japan) > 日 = sun / 本 = origin > sun origin > Japan (Land of the rising sun) 

 

There are guides out there that show you the kanji and corresponding compounds using said kanji.

Hell you can even find some online like Kanji Damage (not the most ethical but you get the point).

Well, I really didn't mean in a way like that. Add Kanji 1 then Add Kanji 2, then you have your compound.

It's more of actually reading the whole thing in JP, like knowing the fact that the Example kanji is read as Nippon/Nihon.

I just don't know the mechanics of combining this things. Is there preset way to do so using the Onyomi and Kunyomi or just plain memorization?

Since, I can't be satisfied with just knowing the Kanji, its meaning, and Kanji A + B's meaning but really be able to add up the 2 to say it as a whole word.

 

Nosebleed brings up some important things about RTK. It takes a lot of effort and times to complete. Also it has the flaw you don't remember any readings or multiple meanings. So the main reason to use the RTK is to being able to create a groundwork for each 2200 kanji. With that you can branch out afterwards and learn compounds, multiple meanings and readings more easily. It does create a groundwork, but I feel it somewhat fails on this because:

 

1. It takes a lot of effort and time to grind through the anki deck. You have to spend time afterwards as well to review the cards, instead of studying text or what you have planned. Most people failing here.

2. Lets say you complete the RTK and study through tae kim's guide. Afterwards you try to read stuff in jp. You will basically try to juggle everything. Grammar, vocab, kanji readings,  The RTK meanings will often come in the way

3.RTK doesn't teach you to read read. Practically this means you won't be able to read anything after doing rtk. You might read something like これはいい朝だな。 you'd read it as this: kore wa ii morning da na. So after spendings months reviewing the card, so you instantly recognize it as morning. You will have to force yourself to re-learn it as あさ.

 

So you will have to spend time to change what you've learned. Going from kanji->meaning. To Kanji->reading->meaning

 

I feel this is way too roundabout. Rather you should learn the kanji by it's shape then reading and at last it's meaning. Ideally with words within a context.

So considering you will learn RTK kanji's then re-learn what they mean and add readings. I people should rather go a more balanced way, vocab,grammar and kanji in parallel.

 

Now about RTK method itself. I think it's brilliant way to memorize each kanji. The way to break up each kanji into chunks of different primitives (rtk terminology) and have mnemonic for each primitive and kanji. It works very well. For me when I have to memorize things I prefer to connect it to feelings, memory or visualizations in my mind rather than story or learning rule. A simple example: 日 I Imagine standing on a massive Norwegian grass plain, staring at the sun. The sun is big and yellow, I feel sunshine hit my skin and I hear a sizzling (hizzzz) sound from the heat around me. Then it sinks down showing the end of a day.

 

That being said.. It might sound like am bashing RTK. Even if you can rationally think some methods are faster to learn with, learning is highly individualistic. One method might be "effective" but utterly boring and you might drop it or use too little time on it. So you need to have self-realization what works best for you and accept that.

BUT I'm SO LAZY TO LEARN IT PROPERLY... BEGGARS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS!

I tried doing it before learning Grade 1 Kanji to last but I died at 80+ since I got lazy. RTK forces me to hell since The Aniki deck is something I can manipulate and troll with tons of my self done mistakes just to resee the Kanji and possible readings.

 

After basic kanji and grammar I just kept on reading VNs with dictionary assist (AGTH + JWPce). That and simultaneously studying grammar on the side, I got jlpt level 2 within one and a half years.

For grammar, you just need to understand the pattern and it should stick well, seeing a lot of example sentences will help a ton. For vocabs, VNs is pretty much a built-in Anki, so words keep repeating themselves. This method is hella slow in the beginning though.. like dictionary-every-word-in-the-sentence slow. After maybe 6+ months, I progressed to 40 lines without a need for dictionary look-up.

For VN, I really never liked using any assistance so I read it as it is and if don't understand the sentence then I don't. That's my lazy life.

 

Well, Slow start is technically Impossible if you have set your Aniki to 20 Kanji a day.. If the whole Kit of it is 2200 then 2200/20 is around 110 days which equals to 4 months or so, Tip the 2 months for probably mastering them Kanji.

[Bolverk]

Not sure if you did RTK or not, but judging from the above statement I would assume not. As mentioned earlier, I am in the process of finishing up RTK and when I read what you wrote I did and didn't do what you said I would do. First I read the hiragana, then when I got to the kanji, I froze, recognized it (in English), then looked it up, ascribed the pronunciation, and then read the whole sentence properly. People who haven't done Heisig seem to assume you will waste a lot of time unlearning the English keywords, when in fact adopting the Japanese readings comes quite naturally. One of the first Japanese readings I learned was for the word 雪. The first time I ran into this word, I thought "snow". It only took seeing this word 2 or 3 times in context to ascribe it the pronunciation "yuki". Now whenever I see 雪, I think "yuki". What you said is hardly a problem and fixes itself quite naturally.

[Nosebleed]

Well, I really didn't mean in a way like that. Add Kanji 1 then Add Kanji 2, then you have your compound.

It's more of actually reading the whole thing in JP, like knowing the fact that the Example kanji is read as Nippon/Nihon.

I just don't know the mechanics of combining this things. Is there preset way to do so using the Onyomi and Kunyomi or just plain memorization?

Since, I can't be satisfied with just knowing the Kanji, its meaning, and Kanji A + B's meaning but really be able to add up the 2 to say it as a whole word.

[OriginalRen]

Just a heads up (and I only say this because I am starting my teaching job tomorrow), but "you're" is a contractual form for the present form of "to be" (i.e. = you are -> you're), but it can't be used for past aspects (i.e. = you were -> you're). The latter form doesn't work, and therefore the title of your thread should be written as "you were."

 

Still, it makes more sense to use "became" in this case, given the fact it reflects on something you have worked for and have achieved as a result of that hard work.

 

Sorry...

[Sparkker]

Unfortunately it'll have to be mostly from memorization. You just have to know the context it's being used in so you know the correct pronounciation.

There's not a great way around it as far as I know.

That's why people recommend you just read sentences to understand when a kanji has a certain pronounciation and when it doesn't. Context matters.

 

Example:

次の日 (tsugi no hi) - the next/following day

水曜日 (suiyoubi) - wednesday

日曜日 (nichiyoubi) - sunday

日常 (nichijou) - everyday

 

Both hi and bi are kunyomi pronounciations of 日 and nichi is an onyomi pronounciation.

 

But after seeing those first two words in appropriate contexts, you'll start quickly interorizing that 日 is pronounced as "bi" when attached to days of the week but is "hi" when it's meant to be just the noun "day". 

And after seeing the bottom two words, you'll realize that the pronounciation nichi is also used when you're making compounds that are related to time periods.

And in all those words, the kanji 日 always stood for "day".

 

Over the course of time you'll start realizing that words repeat themselves very often and that the pronouncitions are always the same in those contexts (excluding kanji pronounciation puns and stuff) and eventually you'll just start interiorizing the pronounciations as you see the words in different contexts.

 

And even if you can't make certain types of associations, just seeing the word multiple times in different contexts will build up your vocabulary up to the point where the word's correct pronounciation just comes naturally to you.

 

It's hard work, but it pays off.

 

At least from my experiencie

[Yeah Way]

No it's not a waste of time. Please don't say that.

Writing Kanji is awesome and is very fulfilling.