Well, mostly me. Still, I've studied Japanese since September 2007. And there's even been improvement since then (OMG, really?!)! But to be honest, I've found that I don't have the confidence to speak to many of the Japanese exchange students at my college. I have at least a little. And I've picked up a few things. But my fundamental problem is rooted mainly in my methods.
For the past year, I though I could learn Japanese using a more traditional method; the textbook. And I found I improved, I could read, I felt great... until I realized mostly I could just read things in my textbook. And though I finished the first volume in (I was using Genki, by the way) some months, I still couldn't read some of the Japanese books I owned (and still own, and still can't read). And even though i was turned onto the AJATT method some months ago, I had yet to put it into effect. Until now. Err, a few days ago.
Essentially, the AJATT method is limited on grammar, and all about exposure. Exposure in the extreme. And even though I was impressed, nay, inspired by the author, Khatz, I had yet to try, to believe in AJATT. The method just seemed to fly against common sense. Kanji before anything? Study sentences? What?
But I've realized, through actually using and SRS, the primary tool for this method, how it really comes together.
You may ask, what is an SRS. Well, it's just flash cards, except better. And your hands don't cramp after making thousands. There's a better explanation at http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com. Using the Heisig cards preloaded with the program Anki, I've found out how effective an SRS program is, in just a few days. I'm seriously remembering things better. Not to say I'm doing perfectly (I decided to work on the first 150 Kanji in Heisig at once... yeah, may be a few days before I start adding more to that number). But by hand, repetition is less effective. And I'm good at remembering that way! So now that the SRS is working for me, and that Heisig's RTK is actually looking promising and doable within 3 months, I may go ahead with more of the AJATT method.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
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