Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer Learning Japanese Kanji

Hi, I have not yet ordered the course. I am debating wether or not I should save my money for the seminar or just order the tapes.

I was curious as to anyone's experiences learning Japanese Kanji (Or Chinese, Korean, etc).

I have read the past threads on the topic now and am encouraged by what I read. I was wondering if there was any advice for someone who will be starting from the beginning.

I have 1500 Kanji cards in addition to a set of hiragana and katakana cards. The kanji cards show the stroke order as well. Will PR really help me remember all 1500 kanji, the stroke order, plus all of the hiragana and katakana so that I can read and write Japanese well? (knowing that 1500 kanji only scratches the surface)

I don't expect PR to make me fluent in Japanese. I do expect it to make a dramatic impact though if I am to invest in it.

I am more interested in long term memory retention than being able to learn fast. The speed factor is what brought me here, but it is useless if I forget what I learn.

Thanks,
Chip

Photoreading will help make the learning process easier. For being able to memorise 1500 graphics you'll want to us memory techniques as well. Photoreading isn't about instant recall of picture perfect images or sentences from a book. It is about learning/understanding with more of your mind.

To what extent photoreading can help you is up to you. When you use more of your mind for learning you have better retention and recall on the material that you have applied it on.

If you are considering purchasing the photoreading course consider also the other areas of your life where you might apply it.

If you want to develop a better memory I recommend the Memory Optimizer course. It is more than just about memorising stuff that you are learning. It's about developing a better memory as a whole. If I were to learn kanji I would personally be using more of the techniques from that course than the photoreading one.

Alex

Hi Chip,

Tackling the Kanji is a monumental task - one that frequently causes me despair... I recently (about 3 weeks ago) got serious about becoming fluent and literate in Japanese. Also, I should note that I'm not starting from scratch - I took a year and a half of Japanese at University about 10 years ago and am married to a Japanese woman.

Here's what I'm doing:

1. I photoread 3 Kanji dictionaries (did it while I was in the library). I did this mostly just to "seat" the info in my inner mind through direct learning. I don't really expect recall, just a sense of familiarity.

2. I'm using a program called KanjiCan which breaks the Kanji into "logical pieces" and then builds them from those pieces. Easier for adult gaijin to learn than rote memory.

3. Every night I photoread 2 Japanese to English and one E to J dictionary as well as my two college textbooks. I alternate my purpose between increasing my Japanese vocabulary and comprehending Japanese grammar.

4. Before I do #3, I listen to Personal Genius. Then each night I listen to Memory Supercharger.

5. I use the E to J translating tool at www.rikai.com to help me read several newspaper articles each day from Mainichi Shinbun.

6. I'm regular-reading and working my way thru the old textbooks.

When I started this, I could barely form a complete sentence, could recognize maybe 50 Kanji and reading the newspaper articles made no sense at all.

Tonight I read a couple of sentences to my wife for clarification and her remark was "Wow, your reading has really gotten smooth."

In addition, I've found that I have an intuitive sense of what the articles are saying - if I don't think about them too much or too literally I can pretty easily understand them, although I still need help with the Kanji and a dictionary.

Now I can recognize around 150 - 200 Kanji, although I don't know all of their on and kun readings yet.

I can say a couple of sentences in Japanese pretty much correctly although I am far from being able to carry on a conversation.

So, to summarize, my progress has been pretty fast. Not as fast as I want (let's face it, I want instant fluency ) but I think much faster than the "traditional" way.

Let me know if you need any help finding any online or computer resources.

Mike

To MikeB and Chip, if you want to learn Kanji, check out "Remembering the Kanji I" by James W. Heisig. This a phenominally easy way to remember Kanji characters and their english meanings. (Remembering the Kanji II teaches you easy ways to remember their readings) Photoreading this book a few times coupled with using the way Heisig recommends, You could seriously recognize about 2000 kanji, with their english meanings, in a couple months time. I spent a couple hours a day and got to 1000 in two weeks time.

George

Here the Link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/4889960759/qid=1033234294/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-2929799-1435918

Hi Huttog,

I've heard of those two books, and actually KanjiCan is based on the Heisig method and the author of KanjiCan gives credit to Heisig for use of materials.

Thanks all,

This sounds good. I do want PR for a lot more than language study.

MikeB, I would love any info on computer and online resources. I own a computer store. So, I spend a large amount of time on one.

I am looking into Kanjican and the Remembering the Kanji I as well.

Thanks,
Chip