reading a dictionary cover to cover...

[LunaSlave]

Hi there! I'm trying to learn Japanese using something similar to the AJATT method - except not nearly as hardcore - there's still lots of English-only time in my life.

I'm currently on the "Remembering the Kanji" phase, and even before I'm finished with learning kanji, I've decided upon a little experiment.

I'm going to read an entire Japanese-English dictionary (the Basic Japanese-English Dictionary from the Japan Foundation) cover to cover, all 923 pages of entries.

Interestingly, I was inspired to try this after watching the movie Malcolm X and seeing the scene with him in jail, copying the dictionary out an entry at a time.

Unlike Malcolm, I'm not writing anything down along the way other than on a twitter feed to keep track of my progress. I'll also make brief observations there as well. I'm not going to make any concerted effort to memorize specific entries, either. If I was trying to memorize them, I'd make cards in Anki or something for each entry, but I'm far too lazy for that!

I'm just going to read the word, the English definition, and all of the example sentences in each entry, maybe a couple times over as I go in order to allow the words and sentences to sink in a bit before I move on. That's it. ^___^

My current understanding of Japanese is quite limited - I know little bits here and there but not very much. I am actually really wondering if this process will change that at all. If so, awesome - if not, no harm done as it's an interesting experiment and hopefully others can gain some insight from it. Honestly, I think the sheer volume of input will help a lot.

The dictionary in question has lots of furigana to help me understand in places where I can't understand the kanji, and it also has English translations on the other side of the page. I'm going to try to avoid the romaji wherever I can.

The more followers I have on here and the more interest this can generate, the more inspired I'll be to carry it through to the end ^__^ so if you're interested to see how this turns out, please follow me on twitter @ my new account:

jpncover2cover

Thanks!

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by LunaSlave

Hi there! I'm trying to learn Japanese using something similar to the AJATT method - except not nearly as hardcore - there's still lots of English-only time in my life.

I'm currently on the "Remembering the Kanji" phase, and even before I'm finished with learning kanji, I've decided upon a little experiment.

I'm going to read an entire Japanese-English dictionary (the Basic Japanese-English Dictionary from the Japan Foundation) cover to cover, all 923 pages of entries.

Interestingly, I was inspired to try this after watching the movie Malcolm X and seeing the scene with him in jail, copying the dictionary out an entry at a time.

Unlike Malcolm, I'm not writing anything down along the way other than on a twitter feed to keep track of my progress. I'll also make brief observations there as well. I'm not going to make any concerted effort to memorize specific entries, either. If I was trying to memorize them, I'd make cards in Anki or something for each entry, but I'm far too lazy for that!

I'm just going to read the word, the English definition, and all of the example sentences in each entry, maybe a couple times over as I go in order to allow the words and sentences to sink in a bit before I move on. That's it. ^___^

My current understanding of Japanese is quite limited - I know little bits here and there but not very much. I am actually really wondering if this process will change that at all. If so, awesome - if not, no harm done as it's an interesting experiment and hopefully others can gain some insight from it. Honestly, I think the sheer volume of input will help a lot.

The dictionary in question has lots of furigana to help me understand in places where I can't understand the kanji, and it also has English translations on the other side of the page. I'm going to try to avoid the romaji wherever I can.

The more followers I have on here and the more interest this can generate, the more inspired I'll be to carry it through to the end ^__^ so if you're interested to see how this turns out, please follow me on twitter @ my new account:

jpncover2cover

Thanks!

If this is just for fun, I wish you luck, but if this is to actually help learn Japanese, it's a colossal waste of time.

[ryuurui]

I actually have to agree with Kyle (even if I find his self inflated sig. amusing), though I fail to see any fun in reading the dictionary from A to Z just for fun. I live in calligraphy dictionaries every day, as well as Japanese/Chinese kanji dictionaries and I love studying them for hours, but the way you are trying to do it is just what Kyle said: a shameful waste of time. I however respect your drive to learn the language.

[jesselt]

"Remembering the Kanji" is a colossal waste of time as well.

[Realism]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

If this is just for fun, I wish you luck, but if this is to actually help learn Japanese, it's a colossal waste of time.

What do you think of AJATT?? May I ask?



As for the OP...why don't you read a novel or manga instead??

[ryuurui]

Originally Posted by Realism

What do you think of AJATT?? May I ask?



As for the OP...why don't you read a novel or manga instead??

AJATT: All Japanese All The Time

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by Realism

What do you think of AJATT?? May I ask?



As for the OP...why don't you read a novel or manga instead??

I've never had the need to learn about AJATT. If it tells you to read a dictionary, it's a stupid thing. I've never even done that for my native language because it doesn't work.

Edit Just checked out the site. For a site geared toward learning Japanese and espousing "do everything in Japanese," there are surely ZERO articles in Japanese or containing Japanese on the front page. I am suspicious.

Edit 2 The first thing he suggests you use as a tool for kanji is Remembering the Kanji, which I have heard nothing but negatives about from actually skilled readers/writers. The author is a tenured philosopher, not a language teacher or linguist, and it shows in his approach.

[ryuurui]

Precisely. Surround yourself with the language, watch TV (though cautiously with that, it's really dumb) or movies and read, read, read. I am not sure where you are located, but if you have a chance to speak with natives, do so.
If you have a subject that interest you, dig it in Japanese.

[jesselt]

And the knowledge will magically absorb into your head.


oh wait.


AJATT (at least the last time I checked it out) give zero ideas for how to actually learn Japanese and endless articles about how ~You can do it!!!~ and ~Nevar read English again!!! (Except on this site)~ Using RTK doesn't count as a resource to actually learn Japanese because it doesn't teach you how to read Kanji, which is basically the whole point of Kanji.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by jesselt

And the knowledge will magically absorb into your head.


oh wait.


AJATT (at least the last time I checked it out) give zero ideas for how to actually learn Japanese and endless articles about how ~You can do it!!!~ and ~Nevar read English again!!! (Except on this site)~ Using RTK doesn't count as a resource to actually learn Japanese because it doesn't teach you how to read Kanji, which is basically the whole point of Kanji.

Tell me about it! I couldn't find ANYTHING in Japanese on the whole site!