Jordan West

I’m almost one (academic) year into learning Japanese. My final Japanese exam is in two days, and I’ve been cramming kanji like you wouldn’t believe. Thanks to an excellent piece of software (keep reading), I’ve memorised about 250 kanji (and about 500 words using those kanji) in 3 weeks. I’m hardly a good speaker of Japanese, but for those starting out, I thought I’d share some of the tools that I use and my experiences so far.

A lot of people on the internet badmouth learning Japanese academically. However, for me personally, I probably wouldn’t have kept at it if I didn’t take classes in Japanese. Now that I have a grounding in it, I will continue my self-study for sure. I disagree with those that say Japanese classes don’t teach you anything. However, I agree that Japanese classes alone don’t teach you anything. Here’s my point: Japanese classes teach you how to structure grammar, and a bunch of (hopefully, but not always useful) vocabulary. They teach you how to read and write. However, they don’t teach you how to speak, which is the most important aspect for fluency. This is something you have to really make an effort in outside of classes. In class, you don’t learn how to put sentences together quickly in your head, as you already do with your first language. Of course, classes can also make something boring out of something interesting. It doesn’t have to be that way though. Have fun learning Japanese outside of classes, and it will become more interesting in class.

I’ve been lucky in that my university follows the excellent Gakken’s Japanese for Everyone (JFE) textbook, which is great for self-study. The JFE kanji book is also useful, however I’d avoid the workbook. The three books are all quite old (1990), but still very relevant, and the structure of the textbook is excellent. As for kanji, if you’re starting out in self-study, I’d recommend checking out the Heisig method of learning the kanji, rather than the standard method of the JFE kanji book. I think you’ll be amazed by how quickly and easily you can remember just a few characters when using the Heisig method. By learning 25 characters per day (which is easier than you may think) it is possible to learn the entire official set of the 2000 most commonly used characters in Japan in 3 months. That may sound scary, but you don’t have to do it alone. In this world, thanks to the internet and Reviewing the Kanji, you can share with others on the same path as you.

Anki is the greatest piece of study software I have ever come across. I’ve never had more success with my study than in the past month since I discovered Anki. I previously used flashcard software called ProVoc (Mac only), but eventually got tired of reviewing the couple of hundred or so words over and over again. As soon as I stopped using ProVoc after my mid-year exam – everything I learned from it left my brain [an afterthought]. Now that I’m using Anki, I have 1200 cards, yet I only need to review around 100 per day – and this number is decreasing. Anki is smart. Anki knows when you know each word. For example, some words/kanji I know very well, Anki isn’t going to show me for 2 more months. After those 2 months are up, if I can still remember those words, Anki won’t show them to me for maybe 3 or 4 months. Now almost half of my words will be shown again sometime in the next week, since Anki knows I’m not confident with remembering those.

Anki is also great to use with Heisig’s remembering the kanji. Although Reviewing the Kanji has an online review function, I much prefer Anki’s spaced repetition. Anki comes with a complete Heisig pack, and links to Reviewing the Kanji from each card. Anki also allows you to synchonise to an online database, so you can use Anki from a web browser anywhere.

So to sum up:

• Classes aren’t that bad, but if you’re taking them, supplement with an ample dose of fun
• Buy Gakken’s Japanese for Everyone text. Seriously, its great for learning the basics in grammar.
• Check out Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji.
• Get Anki. Start a new deck of cards and enter every word you come across into it. Carry a notepad or iPhone or something so you can write words out when you hear them.
• Read AllJapaneseAllTheTime. A lot of useful information on there.