Upper Intermediate Help Needed!!!
 

Hey I'm new here, but anyway, I have a question pertaining to people who are learning Japanese and are in the upper intermediate/advanced level. Okay so I have taught myself Japanese for the past three years and I recently did a homestay in Kanagawa this past summer (which was wonderful :D). I had no problem speaking, but my biggest problem was reading. I know about 500 characters but I just find it so hard how to divide up my studies. Currently, I focus a lot on grammar and exercises (about 1 hr to 1 1/2 hrs a day) with another 30 min for kanji plus whatever listening activity I feel like doing (usually watch a drama- anime is alright i guess, but im not otaku). Should I focus more on kanji rather than the grammar/speaking exercises? Is there some "key" to learning kanji? I usually just write it over and over until I got it down. If it helps I'm using "An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese" by The Japan Times and I am about to start "Authentic Japanese: Progressing from Intermediate to Advanced Japanse" (its by the Japan Times) But it looks like it has a lot of kanji also. I also am using the kanji series by Bojinsha. I just want to know some of your study habits! Thanks for helping!

Memorization. It's the only way.

For some of them, there might be a visual link you can make, but other than that, it's pure memorization. All the Japanese had to do it when they were kids, and unfortunately as adults (or teenagers as the case is with most JF residents), we tend to have a diminished capacity for such a thing.

It just depends on how badly you want it.

Good luck!

Living in japan I am sure you noticed how speaking and listening came in a lot more useful than reading and writing in terms of functioning in day-to-day life.

If I had to choose between grammar and kanji studying, I would choose grammar. It is easier to quantify what you know by kanji study, but I don't think it is as rewarding in the long run.

It depends on your goals I guess. I'm back in an area without much interaction with Japanese people, so for me the biggest barrier to full enjoyment of the language is my middling kanji expertise. I want to read more Murakami and others in the original Japanese, but kanji hold me back way more than grammar.

Of course, if reading is your goal (as mine is too) then kanji is key...but grammar is also vital there. The written and spoken word is completely different in Japan.