Looking for some of YOUR opinions.

[ShallowOne]

Hello. I'm new here and have been seriously studying Japanese for the past few months. Got my hiragana and katakana down, somewhat of a vocabulary base, oh.. and a Japanese wife. Lol.. Anyways. I'm trying out the Heisig method of RTK with a SRS application and giving a good attempt at keeping TOTALLY immersed in Japanese input. I'm trying to find a way to stay motivated through the RTK/SRS method.
As far as the RTK/SRS, I was wondering if any of you have done this, and if it was easier than it actually seems. Lol... I think I need to focus on maybe finding a better connection between the kanji/keyword/story. I tend to use other people's story's, being that most of them are pretty similiar with the seemingly small primitive selection.. from a beginners point of view anyways. Like I said, I'm new to this method, but can definalely see the benefit of knowing how to recognize and be able to write all 2000 and whatnot general use kanji.
The part about being totally immersed in japanese input is another thing I'm having difficulty with. I understand the concept and agree with it 150%. The whole idea of how important input(listening) is rather that output(speaking). Problem though.. is that I find myself searching for interesting input. Like Japanese anime without english or english subtitles. Trouble finding clear simple interesting audio in 100% Japanese. I'm sure there is a vast amount of knowledge in this forum and with its users that I was hoping that someone could point me to a good few locations to find this kind of input I seek. I tried everywhere other than just buying a bunch of videos/audio. Money is a factor right now, so it's kinda out of the question. Anyways, I'm sick of wasting my time trying to find things such as these and neglecting my study in the process.... lol...
Just a though, I have flash cards.. which I see the importance of using an SRS instead. However, when I drive I was wondering if any of you have ever MADE audio files to go over your vocabulary and if so.. how effective it was. Like, just a simple audio sayng the word in english to japanese. Like.. Bridge.. haSHI... dog... iNU.. Plus this would be something I could listen to while I am sleeping.. even though it deviates away from the 100% Japanese factor. Just wondering of your guys' thoughts.
Anyways, enough mumbo-jumbo from me. And thanks to anyone in advance who responds.

 

[Glenn]

I did RTK with flashcards, and I wouldn't say it was easy. I found myself running out of imagination as well, and just saying "oh well" and moving on to the next frame when I was having a hard time coming up with something better than what I already had.

Do you have an iPod, or something you can put podcasts on? Since I got my iPod Touch I've been listening to podcasts pretty much all day long, since my work situation allows me to (and I got them all for free too!). When I get home I'll switch to iTunes, since I'm usually surfing the web anyway. I'm listening to a video podcast right now, in fact. The point here is to not get too caught up trying to really listen, as in focused listening. I'm usually just content with being able to hear the language. It's always there for me to pay attention to when I want to this way, too, besides just flowing into my ears and keeping me from forgetting the flow, intonation, sounds, accents, cadences, inflections, and anything else that goes on with the sounds of language.

I'll send you a PM about how to get anime and other TV shows.

 

[nekojita]

Well, what are you interested in? If you're interested in things to do with cooking I can probably suggest some things, if you're into baseball I probably can't.

I agree with the suggestion of podcasts, though. Similarly, if you want to find something to read on a topic of interest you can find blogs through sites like 人気ブログランキングとブログ検索 - にほんブログ村

www.nicovideo.jp is fun but not really something to have on in the background as most of the fun is watching the comments scroll across the screen; that and it won't exactly teach you very refined language.

I never did RTK but there is a guy who replaced the English keywords with Japanese ones, which you might find worth a look:
wrightak2

 

[ShallowOne]

Thank you both Glenn and nekojita. I appreciate your responses. Oh, and I can honestly say that only being a fraction of the way through RTK, I can already see how the process of doing this is GREATLY going to help my advancement. For me just not knowing the exact way to perfectly do RTK was the problem. And if there is anyone out there considering RTK, just do it. You will make mistakes through the process but sure enough, you will see how it works for YOU and that there is no PERFECT way. It just comes together from the process of trying it. The RevTK forums help as well, and there is a lot of support there. My memory is the size of an ants, and I'm remebering the kanji and stroke orders of them. It's like magic. Glenn said many encouraging things in a msg to me, on of which was, "The point is to make the language a part of your life, not to have to set aside time to devote to the language." This helped me look at RTK a lot differently, or even my Japanese studies. And the link that nekojita mentioned, about the RTK meanings from english to japanese really offers even more inspiration for me. Guess, just gotta find a way to keep it fun and at no time look at it like it's a chore. Thanks again guys for the response, info, and encouragement. Shawn