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I know the Kana, what next?

rykun97

後輩
23 Mar 2012
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Hey there. I signed up here because I learned the Kana, and now I need to make a structured lesson plan for myself to learn Japanese. I know some basic words, but that's it. My goal is to learn to become as fluent as I possibly can, but since that goal can't be met until my demise, I'm hoping to learn up to an N2 proficiency level while I still live with my parents, giving me 4 years. Now I don't want to teach myself to pass the test, I just want to attain "The ability to understand Japanese used in everyday situations, and in a variety of circumstances to a certain degree." in reading, writing, and speaking. Now that you know my goals, where do you think I should start off in my studies?
 
What should the textbook be teaching? Kanji? Grammar? That's where I'm really confused. Do I learn them both at the same time, or learn the Kanji, then start grammar?
 
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I suggest learn Kanji, especially the simple one first, and try to read Japanese sentence that contains Kanji. Also buy yourself a dictionary which has both Kana and Kanji. Well, at least that's what I did.
 
I suggest learn Kanji, especially the simple one first, and try to read Japanese sentence that contains Kanji. Also buy yourself a dictionary which has both Kana and Kanji. Well, at least that's what I did.

With what results to date?
 
Well I learned around 200 Kanji in one month with my dictionary and Minna no Nihongo Kanji workbook, but I'm not sure how long I can memorize it. I also ignore writing since I'm not aiming for it. I'm not struggle toward compound Kanji yet but I can read a lot of them. At least in my opinion it's fun to learn both Kanji and grammar at the same time. Cheers! XD
 
You seem to be one of the great many independent learners who are operating under the mistaken assumption that "learning kanji" equals "learning Japanese".
 
What should the textbook be teaching? Kanji? Grammar? That's where I'm really confused. Do I learn them both at the same time, or learn the Kanji, then start grammar?

After the kana you can learn all at the same time, grammar, vocab and kanji. I agree with mike, buy a textbook, which will go over all of them. I would suggest Genki, I think they were good.
 
Kanji is very important to be able to understand written Japanese, but I wouldn't start off by focusing on it. Kanji, at least for me, is much easier to learn once I know the vocabulary in which they are used. Trying to learn kanji with vocab (kanji being the focus) as opposed to vocab with kanji (vocab being the focus) can be much more difficult.

My biggest suggestion to you is to focus on understanding the sounds people make when they talk; at normal speed, as well as straight up vocabulary and grammar. The Genki series of text books is really good for the pacing of its grammar and vocabulary lessons, but I would suggest that you pick up some supplementary materials to practice listening. Do the grammar/vocab lessons in the first half of the book and immediately follow it up with the reading/writing lessons in the back half of the book (e.g. lesson 4 in the first half followed by reading/writing lesson 4 in the back half).

And if you can take any sort of lessons (especially with a native speaker) then I would HIGHLY recommend it.
 
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