Japanese Progress… Yes, Progress

This is quite embarrassing but after having got off to some great starts over the last month or two, I only just finished learning Katakana today. To say I’m finished is actually incorrect as without further practice over the coming months, it will eventually slip away. Something I’m quite proud of is that besides reading Katakana I’ve also learned how to write each of the characters from memory. With Hiragana, I only this ability with a select few of the characters, something I will need to work on in the near future.

Having finally completed Katakana, I am also required to begin Kanji, specifically the J?y? kanji – essentially learning kana 10 more times. It certainly is scary however I’m sure I can accomplish it. I’m planning to use the Remembering the Kanji method since I don’t have confidence that the more traditional method which I used to learn the kana will translate to 2000 more characters, many of which are increasingly detailed and similar.

The Remembering the Kanji method will teach a single English word for each Kanji. The actual Japanese readings can be taught later in context. At that stage, I’m planning to use the All Japanese All the Time method of 10,000 unique sentences which I will enter into Anki, which is spaced repetition software. My review method for these will be much like my Katakana, write the sentence, read the sentence, and then proceed to check my answer. In the case that I’m wrong, I will repeat the writing and reading a few more times before moving on to the next.

I’m planning to supplement the 10,000 sentences method with JapanesePod101 podcasts, Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese Grammar and Smart.fm‘s Vocabulary lists. The first and last of these will also serve as a great source of sentences for use in Anki with a reasonable likelihood that the translations provided will be correct. Eventually I’m also planning to use my anime and jdorama as a source of sentences.

I’ve gone over the planned method of action but I haven’t put forth my reasons for learning Japanese.

  • To prove to myself that I can
  • Watching Anime and Japanese Dramas without subtitles
  • Reading Manga and Light Novels
  • I’m interested in living in Japan in the future, thus its essential that I can communicate effectively
  • To better under the Japanese culture and traditions – fascinating!

Posted February 9th, 2010 in Japanese - 229 Comments »