status: what i know

Posted by Lan'dorien on

Just as a brief record that as of this date I knew this much:

Kanji: 594 in RTK site, few more that I know that I haven’t put in there yet.  Those are kanji I know the keyword and writing of.  There’s a few that I know one or more readings for but hardly worth mention.

Vocabulary: around a thousand I guess.  This is a little hard to say.  But I did finish the “JLPT 3” level on my flashcard app which has about a thousand words, and while I’ve forgotten plenty of those I’m sure, there’s also probably an equal number that weren’t in that list.  So, put it at a thousand.

Grammar: kinda hard to quantify isn’t it … I think that after I finish RTK which is my first priority, I should work on this the most.  Often enough I find words passing by that I would have known if I’d caught the inflection or surrounding helper words.  I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say I’m 20% complete on grammar.  This is where SRS with sentences especially made to illustrate grammar points will be of great benefit.

Next, status on my current study methods, tools, habits.

2 responses to “status: what i know”

  1. I’m curious, is there a reason you didn’t just do Heisig’s book all at once? ^^

    • Not precisely sure what you’re asking … once I started RTK I kept going with it without breaks. I did study kanji using a couple of other methods before, but wasn’t successful. The best result I had before was using Henshall’s Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, which has a similar concept to RTK. However Henshall lists the characters by grade level if I recall correctly – anyway not listed by primitives – so it’s a lot more random-feeling and difficult. He also tries to stick to the actual etymology of the character. So his book ends up being much better as an etymology reference than as a self-study guide.

      I think at my current rate I should be finished RTK in June sometime.