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Alternatives to remember the Kanji. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| luhmann Senior Member Brazil Joined 5325 days ago 156 posts - 271 votes  Speaks: Portuguese* Studies: Mandarin, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Persian, Arabic (classical) | Message 9 of 20 08 December 2010 at 11:55am | IP Logged | |||||
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I have used Zhongwen.com for that purpose.
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| Yukamina Senior Member Canada Joined 6256 days ago 281 posts - 332 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean, French | Message 10 of 20 12 December 2010 at 6:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
I find this book is more of a reference resource than something to actively study out of (since it'd just a list of kanji and vocab). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| aerozeplyn Senior Member United States Joined 5140 days ago 141 posts - 202 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 11 of 20 16 December 2010 at 11:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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I call this the "8-4-2-1" method. You can probably already guess why, but I would like to point out that this
method is commonly used with drumming exercises. Here I will explain a method that helped me remember how to write many kanji characters. However, I have to admit that I STRONGLY believe that this method won't be the only method I'll use to help the kanji characters really stick. This is more like a method to help plant the seeds....and later I will copy (onto paper) children stories written in Chinese. At first I used Rosetta Stone sentences...but either way I think it'd be a good habit to write SOMETHING down at least once a day using kanji :) Here's the procedure... 1) I would pick a certain number of characters that related with my Rosetta Stone study at the time... maybe 15- 20 characters. I would type these characters in a font that looked more like how someone might write it on paper. These typed characters would become my "models" to copy. 2) Then I would write the first character 8 times--each time i would write the character from MEMORY!! This was not always possible at first, so it was OK for me to look back at the kanji model. However, the goal was to do as much writing from memory as possible. After writing the first character 8 times, then I wrote the next character 8 times, and then the following character 8 times, etc. I always tried to work from memory by building whatever i could build for the memory. 3) After I completed writing each character 8 times, then I would start back at the first character and write each and every character 4 times each. Again from memory. By the time I get here, about 1/3 to 1/2 of the characters I find myself needing to glance at the model character real quick...just to help :) Once I completed that... 4) Write each character twice. All from memory :) 5) FINALLY... without looking at the model characters on screen (only looking at the written romanization of the kanji), I write each character once. This is the one-time-each stage. At this point I do not peak at the model for a visual clue. 6) Even though the process is finished, at this point I will circle or highlight any of the characters that were difficult for me to write at the one-time-each (final) stage. Usually the number of kanji that were deemed still difficult is 1-4 characters. When I create my next list of 15-20 new characters, I will also add these difficult characters to the list of study. Afterwards, you will need to find a method to keep revisiting these characters...or else you will eventually forget them. The good news is: if you forget a character, you will QUICKLY remember how to write it after a short review. This is a slight drawback with the 8-4-2-1 method. Right now I am experimenting with Uncle Davey's "Gold List" method...and hoping that the method will help with kanji characters instead of just vocabulary :) However, I have a feeling that a harmony of 8-4-2-1, the Gold List method, and SRS software will be a much better curriculum than ONLY practicing 1 of the methods. Hope this helps :D Edited by aerozeplyn on 16 December 2010 at 1:19pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| ManicGenius Senior Member United States Joined 5473 days ago 288 posts - 420 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Esperanto, French, Japanese | Message 12 of 20 16 December 2010 at 9:25pm | IP Logged | |||||
That's way too exhaustive for me, and far too much like rote learning. I find it easier to get one of those mnemonic hooks into it, write it a couple times then just know. AKA RTK. Granted, there is residual learning that needs to take place but really, as long as it comes up in reading I'm fine. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hashimi Senior Member Oman Joined 6251 days ago 362 posts - 529 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)* Studies: English, Japanese | Message 13 of 20 17 December 2010 at 8:31am | IP Logged | |||||
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One of the best books on kani besides RTK is: Kanji mnemonics. There is a pdf version floating around the internet. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ichiro Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6201 days ago 111 posts - 152 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, French Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, Malay | Message 14 of 20 17 December 2010 at 5:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
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My method was to write them out over and over again while saying the On-yomi and Kun-yomi out loud.
It was a completely rubbish way of doing it. Anything has to be better than that. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| aerozeplyn Senior Member United States Joined 5140 days ago 141 posts - 202 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 15 of 20 17 December 2010 at 8:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
I would definitely agree that this method can be exhaustive. The more characters you do at once...the more tiresome it is! Here's something to definitely note about this exercise, so that anyone reading these posts can still grab whatever is adaptable: I've realized that exercise is best to INITIALIZE the basic characters (the radicals that make up the kanji) into your hand's muscle memory. With this method, later when you write the kanji's first radical (keeping your "writing intentions" in mind), your muscle memory will kick in and usually you will automatically write the rest of the character without thinking. Although if you are thinking too much, this doesn't seem to help....probably because if you're thinking too much, your brain is probably pushing around more in the high beta stages. With that in mind, it is definitely best to do this approach in a relaxed state :) I rarely use this method now; however, whenever I come across a kanji character that contains a radical (or 2) that I am unfamiliar with, then i DO apply this method. I do so because I've realized that it really helps one to assimilate the muscle movements associated with the "new radical" of the new character. In conclusion, I am confident that this method is most helpful to complete beginners of learning the kanji. (After experience...it becomes a bit of drudge work.) I also speculate that it would be useful to people who are learning the basics of any new writing system. For example, use the 8-4-2-1 method when first learning the Russian alphabet, and DON'T use this 8-4-2-1 method for writing Russian words :) ManicGenius: do you have any methods that help you with residual learning/practice? The only thing I have used so far is ANKI to remind me of phrases to write...and writing journal entries or copying short stories :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5974 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 16 of 20 17 December 2010 at 11:43pm | IP Logged | |||||
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When I decide to "learn" a kanji I write it out a few times just to get the hang of the
stroke order and make sure I can make it look reasonably balanced, then I make flashcards with some words using that kanji in Anki and use this to review both recognition and production. I keep some squared paper by my computer just for this. Actually, most success stories with RTK I have read involve the use of Anki or another SRS system and I often wonder whether this is the real secret to their success, rather than the careful order in which they are presented and mnemonic system - in fact I would be interested to find out some success stories that don't involve regular flashcard-style reviews. I have used a couple of textbooks which set out the more common kanji and vocabulary first. Sometimes an unfamiliar kanji will pop up a lot anyway and then I'll decide to learn it because it looks like it will be useful. You could say I am trying to apply the Pareto principle to kanji learning. It is important to understand how kanji can be broken down into radicals and other components and it is also important to understand the basic principles of the types of strokes and the order in which you usually write them, but you do not need to go through a book of 2000 carefully ordered kanji to pick this up. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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