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Hello, everyone! I started teaching myself Japanese this summer because 1) I practice Okinawan Shorin-ru karate and 2) I really really really like Haruki Murakami, and I know that translations are never perfect. I used some pretty great internet resources to learn hiragana and katakana pretty quickly. Then I got to kanji, and it completely stumped me. The kanji were so complicated, and I couldn’t wrap my head around one symbol having different meanings and pronunciations. How was I supposed to know which one to use?
Then, a few days ago, I was on tumblr and a great post turned up on my dash. It was a masterpost for Japanese language resources, including this site. I have decided to give each resource a try. As soon as I started this, and it promised me that it would make kanji easier to learn, I went “why not?” And explaining grammar with Yoda? Brilliant. One of my problems with other languages (I’m also an intermediate German speaker) is that I understand the grammar, but it gets jumbled when I hear it. So using Yoda, I went, “oh…that makes so much sense!” I actually felt a click. So thanks!
I’m really excited about doing this. I tend to be a quick learner, but sometimes I can get too excited and do sporadic bursts instead of regular studies. Hopefully this will help.
-jess
Welcome to TextFugu!
I too studied Shorin-Ryu, but for only about a year. I originally studied Shotokan, but I moved to a place that had no Shotokan dojo, so I took Shorin-Ryu until I could find another Shotokan dojo. If I hadn’t already graded so high in Shotokan I likely would have kept with Shorin-Ryu until I at least got my shodan. But that was a long time ago now. ^_^
If you really want to study Kanji in a more complete, easier, more enjoyable fashion, I highly recommend WaniKani. It is designed by the same person who created TextFugu, Koichi. It is a system specifically designed for Kanji and in a manner that resembles a game, with levels of progression.
This system was designed after he made the Kanji material here, and was meant as a successor to it. The total Kanji contained in it is 1,678, based on Koichi’s determinations of the most commonly encountered Kanji in the native wild.
You can find the link to it with a 50% discount for the subscription fee here:
http://www.textfugu.com/dashboard/
The site’s kind of weird at the moment, you have to sign up with your e-mail address and then wait for a link invite. The first two levels are free, so you can try before you buy. ^_^
You may also find the following links useful:
Guide for using Anki 2 with TextFugu:
http://www.textfugu.com/bb/topic/guide-to-using-anki-2-with-textfugu/
Track your progress and share your ideas/concerns when you finish a season (gain a level ^_^):
http://www.textfugu.com/bb/topic/textfugu-season-completions-for-great-motivation-of-heart
My list of additional Japanese resources you may find helpful:
http://www.textfugu.com/bb/topic/japanese-learning-resources/
がんばって！
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