View Single Post
(#8 (permalink))
Old
KyleGoetz's Avatar
KyleGoetz (Offline)
Attorney at Flaw
 
Posts: 2,965
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Texas
09-27-2010, 11:41 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by jesselt View Post
I'm highly skeptical about the claim that someone could know 2000 Kanji after two years of study. Unless this person is a hermit, people probably don't have enough time to learn 10 new Kanji per week while also reviewing all the old ones they've learned.

Maybe our definitions of "know" are just different. I don't know a Kanji unless I can write it from memory and read it in any (or at least most) compounds.
The reason you think it's hard is because you've never encountered anyone disciplined enough to do 10 kanji week in and week out. It's not really that hard. I was doing 20 per week with about an hour of weekly study when in college.

I just didn't have the discipline to stick with it. I still don't, which is why I'm sitting at about 1600 right now instead of 2000. While I can pick up practically anything written for an average person and read it for meaning and pronunciation with about 80%ish understanding (save for some grammar structures I don't understand), I'd still like to hit that 100% joyo kanji mark.

In about a month or so, I'm going to start up again, and just try to do 100 a month or so. I sadly don't have the discipline to keep up with more than that.

To take another tactic, are you seriously suggesting it is impossible for someone to learn approximately one kanji per day? Because 10/week is approximately 1/day. Technically more like 1.4, but still, if you put it that way, it sounds ridiculously easy. Even two per day sounds really easy.

And the more you review a kanji, the less frequently you have to review them. Check up on "spaced learning repetition." After getting a flashcard with a kanji correct about four or so times, you don't have to look at it again for about 6 months or so.

Last edited by KyleGoetz : 09-27-2010 at 11:45 PM.
Reply With Quote