Tae Kim's Grammar

I feel like an idiot. I have spent over a year learn Japanese and I know hardly anything about grammar. I took Spanish in high school and hated it. I hate conjugating verbs and all that jazz. So when I read an article that advocated avoided study grammar and simply learn it inn its context, I jumped for joy. This was the answer. Jump ahead about a year and my grammar still sucks. According to what I've learned recently, the most difficult parts about Japanese grammar come up early. Once those topics are learned and understood, it will become possible to concretely comprehend the language. With that in mind, I'm going to attempt studying the Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar.

The tentative plan is to study and review the next day with anki additions.

Access the guide here: http://www.guidetojapanese.org/grammar_guide.pdf

iKnow Saved My Ass!

When school kids learn the kanji in Japan, do they also learn all its given readings? I'm just curious. And I find it difficult to believe they do. Which is why I dropped attempting to assign arbitrary readings for words that I have yet learn and won't do so for months. I don't think it possible for me to try and learn multiple readings of a kanji without having the context of words the reading employes. This is troublesome also because kanji assignments don't bow to an order of convenience. So a kanji that may have three readings for a beginners level Japanese may also have three other reading that would first better under and advanced level.

For this reason, I have dropped learning the kanji readings from my to do list. Instead, I will learn words and the readings as they come. As I go along in the future, I will take the time to compare what I've learned to lists of readings to see where I am lacking, but that is in a future time and place far from now.

I like simplicity.

And I like iKnow!

Its saving my ass and keeping me from flailing around like a fish out of water with no place to go. It may suck to have to pay for it, but that monetary price is good motivation to keep myself on track and working at as fast a pace as I can muster. And its well worth it so far.

Vocabulary is the answer!

Believe it or not, I am still dancing around the subject of "Where do I go form here?". And I've wasted too much fucking time. Time I could have spent learn. And I've come to a decision very recently, as in the last five minutes. I'm threw learning the kanji as kanji. From now on, I will learn them as vocabulary or not at all. There point in me trying to memorize all 12 readings for 下 just because its a JLPT N5 kanji. I will learn to pronounce each reading as I learn the vocabulary. This will cut out that bullshit question of how to go about learning the metric ton of readings there are. Instead, I will start with 10 words tomorrow morning.

1. Browse the anki list for the ten.
2. Hand write one sentence pertaining to the image I add to the anki slide.
3. Hand write a second sentence, just using the vocabulary term.
4. Come back a few hours later to type the sentences into anki.
5. Late in the evening, run the the anki set.

I will of course increase the number of vocabulary words, but ten is a good place to start. Also, I will continue to expand my grammar knowledge that I will practice with my sentences.

Simplification is key. Along with continual progress. I cannot continue to remain stagnate the way I am.