18 months or 8 months?
11 05 2008My enthusiasm for my goal of being able to speak in simple conversations and read a Japanese newspaper by the end of December was tempered a little when I read that Khatzumoto did it in 18 months. Maybe a little more time than I have between now and then (8 months) will be required, but still, I’m going to bust my a** and try my darnedest. Any time that’s not spent on work and family will be devoted to learning Japanese. I’m that serious.
I’m going to work this week to try to hit the 200-character limit (remember, unless someone helps get me the book before then, my kanji studies will be on hold until the first part of June, because I won’t have any disposable income until then). Finances are tight right now, and I don’t mean in a good way. I will use what I have, however, and I know that wherever God calls, God equips.
‘Wherever God calls…’ I’ve been really praying about this, and for some reason I have a burning urgency about this in my heart, a desire to learn Japanese that’s never been this strong before. I can’t explain it all yet, because I don’t have all the answers, but this is something different that passes normal ‘interests’, many of which I’ve discarded along the years. This is different. It’s not a hobby, it’s not my latest ‘thing’. It’s something of destiny, something that I know by the Spirit that I’m supposed to do, and something that’s getting stronger every day. I’m sure I’ll be able to explain more later. :)
I added a PayPal donation button to my sidebar and About Me page. I feel a little like a leech, but hey, at least I’m a nice leech. :D
Like I said before, if you can help a guy out, please do. Thanks.
Might I recommend “Kanji ABC” over RtK? It doesn’t have the detailed stories that Heisig has, but the keywords are more accurate. It’s cheaper too. And I think you’ll be disappointed to find that 90% of Heisig doesn’t have stories either… just a listing of kanji+keyword+primitive.
Hi jinsei,
Actually, I am about 886 kanji into RtK, so I’m going to stick with Heisig right now, recognizing that even the fifth edition isn’t perfect. There’s a forum with people who share stories with each other, so when I can’t think up a story that sticks, I am often inspired by fellow students at http://kanji.koohii.com. Some of the folks there have corrected keywords/primitives that I use instead. (Besides, I’ve already purchased the fifth edition, and someone sent me a digital copy of the 4th edition, so I’m already financially involved…) ;)
I haven’t heard of ‘Kanji ABC’, but I might look into that as a supplement. Better keywords are always appreciated!
Thanks for stopping by!
Heh.. right after I posted I say how old this post was. For some reason I thought it was only a few days old… Kanji ABC really doesn’t add anything over RtK other than better organization/more accurate keywords (and pronunciations, but you can find those anywhere). It’d be kinda silly to change books at this point. Congratulations on approaching the 1,000 mark.
http://kanji.koohii.com is an interesting site. I wish I could integrate it into my SRS somehow.. I prefer to come up with my own stories, but every now and then my imagination has trouble making a story that will stick, and a site like that would certainly help.
Hmm…you could look up the kanji on http://ziggr.com/heisig/ (or perhaps Rikaichan) to get the Heisig number, then punch that in to http://kanji.koohii.com/study/ and read some of the stories. Might be a lot of work, but it’s worth the effort when you’re just plain stuck! There’s some times I look at the primitives and the keyword and think ‘no freakin’ way!’ Other times, someone on http://kanji.koohii.com will suggest an alternate keyword that might be closer to the kanji, such as when Heisig calls 漫 ‘loose’, but someone else says that ‘comic’ or ‘cartoon’ might be better, because it’s the 漫 (man) in 漫画 (manga).
Thanks, I’ll do that. It’s not any less work than looking through paper dictionaries which is what I’m doing now.