Comments on: Kanji File

By: Frank V.

Frank V. — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:05:54 +0000

Well I’m about to finish I’ve got like about 12 left woot!! But uh, yeah this was supposed to be 2,046 right? I seem to have everything in but it says that I’m at 2,037.. So is the file incomplete? Or did I somehow mess up my copying and pasting?

By: jayTOH

jayTOH — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:25:42 +0000

@Juz098, Ima

I say use whatever method you feel most comfortable with. If writing down a kanji several times will help better embed your story into your head, then all will be well. Everyone will end up using the SRS’ repitions to remember them anyway, so as long as you get the story down, you’re on your way.

I used a similar method, only I really like being able to write the kanji down prettily(?). So, I wrote them down as many times as it took to get a nice looking character. Did the extra time help with memorizing? I’d like to say so. If a particular kanji took a while to write nicely, I remembered it a lot more easily when it came up in review.

And, of course, when reviewing, practice writing the kanji down at least once, making sure the number of strokes and their order are correct. Since you’re gonna be reviewing everyday, I suggest using your finger and palm instead of pen/paper.

Hope this helped!

By: Ima

Ima — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:11:31 +0000

Juz098, good question, I’m curious too…

By: Juz098

Juz098 — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:43:24 +0000

I’m using the Heisig method to learn Kanji. I’m 17 lessons in and the method I’ve been using so far is, read the kanji story, write the kanji 5 or 6 times and then input it into my SRS. With that method I get through about 24 kanji a day on average. The I realized, should I be writing it out or is that a big waste of time? Should I just write it out say once and then input it in to my SRS? Which method would you say is the better one?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:06:18 +0000

@Jim:
“In my opinion, Heisig’s big breakthrough was noticing that characters are always composed of other characters.”

You know, it may not be taught that way in schools, but I bet pretty much everyone noticed that… it’s kind of hard not to. >__>;;

By: Charles A.

Charles A. — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:54:56 +0000

Todd, my opinion is that you can still do Heisig, just do it faster. Utilize “Reviewing the Kanji” website to get quick stories for those you know or help you for those you don’t. You’ll find the keyword choice very “unique” and more likely a pain in the ass for kanji you’re familiar. Still, develop the process called ‘visual mnemonics’, by doing Heisig. This will help you learn not just jouyou kanji, but all those beyond that.

Again, you’re familiar with kanji, so those that you know that are in long term memory will be re-inforced along with all the ones you don’t. However, I get the feeling your knowledge of stroke order may be lacking, so that’ll definately be supercharged after Heisig.

By: Eric

Eric — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:28:48 +0000

I as well knew a good deal of kanji before starting Heisig. Going through his order wasn’t really silly or a waste of time, I thought. Same with my friend who has already passed 1級 of the JLPT, so I guess there is some merit to the order.

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:35:03 +0000

Yeah, I’ve definitely read all the RTK meathodology and have been applying that to new kanji I’ve been learning and it helps a lot. I don’t think it’s quite worth it for me to learn them in his order when I already know a lot of them, but breaking down new kanji into primatives is really helpful.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:18:41 +0000

@Todd:
I’d have to say that if you already have a lot of knowledge associated with the Kanji, it might feel silly to start over with Heisig. In my opinion, Heisig’s big breakthrough was noticing that characters are always composed of other characters. So learning a new character becomes easier, because it may be composed of two characters that you already know. I think you can assign any “keyword” or memory that you want to the character, you shouldn’t feel constrained by the keywords and stories that Heisig happened to use.

You’ve got a big advantage, because you’re not staring from scratch. You know a lot of basic Kanji. I would proceed to learn new Kanji in terms of things you already know, rather than forcing yourself to memorize keywords even for Kanji that you’re quite familiar with. Just my opinion

By: jpavlakovich

jpavlakovich — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:57:03 +0000

@Todd:
It depends on your pace, but if you end up being able to write, from memory, significantly more kanji than you could before, I’d say it’s worth it. I can’t exactly say “After being able to write more than X kanji, it just isn’t worth doing.” (unless of course, X > 2000 :D… at least for RTK1) I wouldn’t think of it as “starting over” per se, but rather that I was filling in whatever gaps existed in my kanji writing ability.

Suppose it does “void” all the work you did in school. This may sound harsh, but why should that matter? Does that make it any less useful?

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:21:22 +0000

I currently know a lot of kanji as result of six years of “school” i know, i know. Is it too late for me to use Heisig? Will learning kanji this way void all the work i’ve done in school? Should I care?

Heisig seems awesome, and I wish I’d discovered it earlier. But do you think it’s worth it to start over?

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:10:50 +0000

LOL

I love how you said “seem to need it”
hahaha…some people might think they do, and I’m sure Katz might agree with me on this one when I say it prolly works better if you come up with your own stories.

Anyways, that’s my 2 cents and talk is cheap, so just do what works best for you!

By: mjaynec

mjaynec — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:42:06 +0000

Thanks for the suggestions

By: mike

mike — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:20:05 +0000

@mjaynec
I would suggest that you keep going. I got burnt out at 1000, because I was going at a rate of 100 a day, so I halved my daily amount and finished up. You have to be consistent, even if you get burnt out. Trust me you will be done before you know it.

By: Lloyd

Lloyd — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:14:57 +0000

@mjaynec
if you know anybody else who’s doing heisig, you could also set a deadline. then, you can have a competition. a third friend will select 10 keywords and the two of you have to write them. you could put money on it for a greater insentive. that’s what me and a friend of mine did. it was a good time. then we celebrated!

By: uberstuber

uberstuber — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:16:30 +0000

@mjaynec
Take a few days off (no more than 3). Stay on top of your reviews, of course, but that little break should get you enough steam to finish them off.

By: mjaynec

mjaynec — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:32:18 +0000

I only have a couple hundred more kanji to go, but I feel completely burnt out. Anybody have any ideas?

By: mike

mike — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:24:55 +0000

@Tuan

Around 1-2 months. I went at a rate of 100 a day for the first 1000, and 50 a day for the last 1000. Good luck!

By: Tuan

Tuan — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:27:49 +0000

congrats mike! How long did it take you? I just started about 2 weeks ago.

By: doviende

doviende — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:17:32 +0000

This’d be nice to have in a chinese version. I’ve been creating my anki deck using a page of 3000 chars ordered by frequency of use…maybe not so great for people who are just starting, but it’s working well for me since i already knew quite a few.