Is this an alright plan?

[Nokutetsu]

Okay. So I knew tiny tidbits of Japanese (words and phrases and such) but ever actually had a good idea of where to start and what road to take to learn. So I got a basic idea together, and started on the new year.

I've learned all the Kana, and started learning volcabulary (20 words a day). Once I've gotten a good bit of it under my belt, I'll finish the list while learning grammer, and Kanji last. I'm learning nouns at the moment, but as I get started on grammer I'll learn my verbs and Adjectives. (After all, no point in learning the verb 'to open' if I don't know 'window' or 'door'.)

I'm making my own flashcards and such (with NO Romaji. I'm staying away from it as much as I can) and testing myself.

Is this a good route to go to learning? (Aiming for JLPT4 (N5) at the moment, hoping to reach JLPT2/N2 someday before visiting the country and perhaps getting a working holiday visa).

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nokutetsu

Okay. So I knew tiny tidbits of Japanese (words and phrases and such) but ever actually had a good idea of where to start and what road to take to learn. So I got a basic idea together, and started on the new year.

I've learned all the Kana, and started learning volcabulary (20 words a day). Once I've gotten a good bit of it under my belt, I'll finish the list while learning grammer, and Kanji last. I'm learning nouns at the moment, but as I get started on grammer I'll learn my verbs and Adjectives. (After all, no point in learning the verb 'to open' if I don't know 'window' or 'door'.)

I'm making my own flashcards and such (with NO Romaji. I'm staying away from it as much as I can) and testing myself.

Is this a good route to go to learning? (Aiming for JLPT4 (N5) at the moment, hoping to reach JLPT2/N2 someday before visiting the country and perhaps getting a working holiday visa).

I think it is more beneficial to learn sentences (inc. grammar) that way if you can remember "Open the door" then it is easy to shift other words in an out for more holistic understanding ("close the door", "open the window", etc.) Generally people studying learn sentences, then the parts of the sentences and how to switch out other vocab.

[jesselt]

I agree with MMM. Also, maybe it is just me, but 20 words a day seems a little high. That is not very practical if you want to remember the words in the long run because you are looking at 140 words a week and over 500 words a month.

[yuriyuri]

Originally Posted by jesselt

Also, maybe it is just me, but 20 words a day seems a little high. That is not very practical if you want to remember the words in the long run because you are looking at 140 words a week and over 500 words a month.

I think 20 words a day is fine if you are using flash cards.
It sounds a lot, but if you review everyday it's no problem.
At one point I did more than 20 a day, they aren't all in my active vocab yet but then again, passive vocab always outweighs active.
Anyway, to me ~500 a month sounds a fairly nice number.

[Nokutetsu]

Well....20 a day is 100 in 5 days. So on the 6th day, instead of learning more, I spend all my study time reviewing what I have previously learned. I also make sure that in general 10% of my study time is revising things I learned past.

If I find it to be too much though, I'll make sure to put the number down to 10 - 15

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nokutetsu

Well....20 a day is 100 in 5 days. So on the 6th day, instead of learning more, I spend all my study time reviewing what I have previously learned. I also make sure that in general 10% of my study time is revising things I learned past.

If I find it to be too much though, I'll make sure to put the number down to 10 - 15

Language study is different from math. People like to equate language learning to how many words they know (and in Japanese, how many kanji they know) but it is more of an art than a mathematical science, and applied use will reveal the best path(s) to fluency.

[Nokutetsu]

Originally Posted by MMM

Language study is different from math. People like to equate language learning to how many words they know (and in Japanese, how many kanji they know) but it is more of an art than a mathematical science, and applied use will reveal the best path(s) to fluency.

Mm, that's true. But I also think it's good to have a goal to keep myself motivated. I'm talking about rough and general numbers- whatever suits me in that paticular day, so it may be more or less than 20.

[Columbine]

I'd try and learn the words with the kanji as well. Even if you can't write them it helps if you can at least recognise some of them. There's nothing like that the slap-upside-the-head that is knowing endless vocab in hiragana and then getting the same stuff in kanji and being utterly clueless.