Japan Study Abroad Podcast

Study Diary, 08/21/08

I finally got back to adding new kanji this week, and so the numbers are a little ridiculous today. I ended up adding 200 kanji across 3 days according to the loose rules I follow. I had less than 50 failed kanji 3 days in a row, and so I just added a new lesson to the pile each of those days. Those lessons ended up being some of the longest lessons in the book, and so the kanji stacked up for today. That just means I work every day until the failed pile is manageable again. Then I toss more kanji on. Basically, I’m letting my failed pile dictate which kanji I study. This gives me exactly the kanji I need to see, as often as I need to see them.

If I spent more time on it, I could do a lot better with RTK. My stories are terrible, and are usually little more than hints to link the radicals together. I just can’t justify spending more time on RTK because, in my opinion, it’s not studying Japanese. So, I like to make it brief so I can continue on with real Japanese study. Plus, because I’ve studying Japanese for a long time, I already have a feeling about a lot of the kanji anyway. They’re rarely new.

According to my math/timelines/guesstimations/magic eight balls, I’ll finish RTK solidly enough before I take the JLPT, anyway. If I anticipated trouble or it was more important, I might devote more time to it. But, I don’t and it’s not. Therefore, I will not.

Days left until the JLPT: ~107

RTK:

• 209 kanji tested / 33% remembered
• 90 failed pile / 389 long term / 1026 cards total
• 51 re-circulated / 0 cards added

Sentences:

• Didn’t study today because I was wrapped up recording the podcast.

Vocab Power Prep Book:

• 0 cards tested
• 115 failed pile / 0 long term / 115 cards total
• 115 cards added (verbs from chapter 1)

Video:

• Penguin Girl, Episode 1 on Nico Nico Douga

Progress:

• Remembering the Kanji - 1026/2000 - 51.30%
• Unicom 2-kyuu Vocab - 26/112 - 23.21%
• Unicom 2-kyuu Grammar - 10/191 - 5.23%
• Unicom 2-kyuu Reading - 2/40 - 5%
• Unicom 2-kyuu Listening - 0/30 - 0%
• Genki - 18/23 - 78.26%
• Other Vocab Drill Book - barely begun