My Review of Remembering the Kanji

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 19 жов 2024
  • I finally read Remember The Kanji!
    ▶ OUR JAPANESE BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE
    💛 fromzero.com/books
    💛 Kansai Dialect Course Available here - fromzero.com
    ▶ LEARN JAPANESE ONLINE:
    fromzero.com
    ▶ LEARN KOREAN ONLINE
    www.koreanfrom...
    ▶ FOLLOW US:
    Facebook: / japanesefromzero
    TikTok: / japanese.from.zero
    Twitter: / yesjapan
    Discord: learnfz.com/JFZ...
    ▶ OUR OTHER CHANNELS
    / adventuresinasia (Travel)
    / georgetrombley (Gaming)
    / polyglotgeorge (Language Learning)
    / koreanfromzero (Korean Lessons)
    / eigoegg (English Lessons in Japanese)
    ▶Also, don't forget to LIKE, SHARE, and COMMENT on our videos. It really helps a lot! Thanks!
    ▶ABOUT THIS VIDEO
    Author of Japanese From Zero! George Trombley read Heisig's Remembering the Kanji while in Los Angeles overnight. Here are his thoughts and how he thinks the book stands up to his own series, Kanji From Zero!

КОМЕНТАРІ • 177

  • @japanesefromzero
    @japanesefromzero  2 роки тому +2

    Power up your Japanese on FromZero.com (lessons, quizzes, games, ask-a-teacher)

  • @ShxFuji
    @ShxFuji 3 роки тому +90

    To answer the question of, why doesn't RTK have mnemonics all the way through?
    It is because RTK teaches you how to make them yourself. When you read the book, it is heavy on the explanations early on, then as you keep working on it, the explanations becomes more and more barebones, leaving you with less and less to work with. He forces you to use your own imagination to come up with stories for each and every kanji. There is one major reason for this; if someone provided me with mnemonics for every kanji, what happens when I meet a kanji in the wild? With RTK you get the tools needed to: Break it down, compartmentalize, sort, and finally, create a completely unique mnemonic from your own imagination and internal logic. You may not like the Biblical stuff, but Hesig is probably someone influenced by it; Hence his stories contain it, emphasis on HIS. If you don't like it, substitute it with something that makes sense to you. Learning kanji is not complicated, it's just.... for the lack of a better word, tedious/repetitive. The complexity comes from the sheer amount, and I think Hesig equips his students for that multi month/year journey with all the tools you'll need.

  • @Zoruachi
    @Zoruachi 2 роки тому +19

    3/4 of RTK is creating your own mnemonics after spending 550 kanji learning how to make your own by following Heisig’s examples-that’s the point of the book. he stops holding your hand after about 550 and by 1200 I was extremely proficient on my own and blasted through the last 1000 in the same time i spent on the first 500. RTK 2 is separate and does only readings. I spent 10 months on RTK 1 and have memorized all 2200 by both mnemonic and eventually by form because i’ve seen them and flashcarded them 100s to 1000s of time each.
    i’m not knocking this video hatefully, but you missed the point of Heisig’s mnemonic method. He holds your hand until 3/4 and then let’s you go on your way. Once you get far enough you begin to be thankful that you can create your own stories and even today i feel like my overall memory/visual memory has increased in outside studies too.
    I find it strange that you read the entire intro and enough of heisig’s mneumonics to know that he uses a lot of bible references but failed to understand the way he structures this book. he points out in the intro & the directions for part 3 that he will gradually give less and less help as the book goes on so that the reader can expand their own imagination while learning the kanji. That’s the entire point of the 3 part structure, and clearly it works if you take your time. He doesn’t “give up” on giving the student mnemonics, he does it intentionally and for an actual active user of the book it’s pretty obvious why after going through page by page, word by word until the final kanji.

  • @jbleez4771
    @jbleez4771 2 роки тому +28

    I'm doing RTK and I've found that: the sentence isn't always as important as the IMAGE you make in you mind of the story. Heisig emphasizes this often in the first quarter of the book. This way it is not necessarily important to write mnemonics in the order that the primitive elements are written because: the writing of the kanji and the image in you head begin to merge over time. Images are much more sticky then sentences, I've found.

    • @quasa0
      @quasa0 10 місяців тому +1

      Yeah probably because sentences are a chain of information references in our mind, while an image is mostly a blob of information. So for us to recall a complex picture is easier than to recall a complex sentence. After all, we get 80+% of information via our eyes, so it's visual.

  • @leonvnex
    @leonvnex 3 роки тому +29

    I finished Kanji from Zero today, waiting for the second one

    • @vincytvholic
      @vincytvholic 2 роки тому

      Have you ever done Kanji look and learn? I want to compare to see which to purchase

  • @ThatTrueCJ201
    @ThatTrueCJ201 3 роки тому +14

    To be honest. I loved learning Kanji using Kanji Koohi. Mnemonics are community created, so there are often very creative ones (solely out of variety).

    • @sjeangilles1
      @sjeangilles1 2 роки тому

      I’ve been on that site for over a decade. It’s a great compliment to RTK.

  • @thehealthpulsewithAngel
    @thehealthpulsewithAngel 3 роки тому +9

    I came back after a much needed hiatus! I am stronger in my resolve to learn Japanese ! Yea baby! Yeah

  • @jd.herotimemusic4028
    @jd.herotimemusic4028 3 роки тому +36

    that sound bite at the beginning is hilarious 🤣「心の準備をしないと」

    • @バカカバ-o4k
      @バカカバ-o4k 3 роки тому

      wow! you understood that!? it was way too fast for me. your listening skills are amazing!

    • @mixufixu3211
      @mixufixu3211 3 роки тому +2

      @@バカカバ-o4k You will get there. Just keep listening and reading.

    • @バカカバ-o4k
      @バカカバ-o4k 3 роки тому

      Mixufixu ahhhh, I see. ohhh ok cool!

    • @ramiellogarius4936
      @ramiellogarius4936 3 роки тому +1

      I cracked a laugh listening to this

    • @enzolumare5680
      @enzolumare5680 3 роки тому

      Right? Lmao

  • @tonyluvbalony6837
    @tonyluvbalony6837 3 роки тому +2

    Wow i haven’t been here in so long. Hey George👋🏻 I was an avid watcher of your channel about a year and a half ago and your content really was what started off my journey of learning Japanese. Now we’re a year and half later and I’m still studying by myself and preparing to study Japanese language and culture once I leave for university in half a year. Thanks for being awesome!

  • @awesomesepp3670
    @awesomesepp3670 3 роки тому +3

    The idea behind the method is that you make your own mnemonics, and the first thought is always the best, like Spiderman collected in his cave a bunch of computers on the ground, 纏める. A good mnemonic is not only for remembering the meaning, but also provides the guidance for writing the kanji, like a pirates treasure map. It shouldn't be a remember the mnemonic someone else came up with, that's not intuitive, that would be even more information than only tryhard remember the stroke order. That's why the second half is "empty", you should have learned the method by then and make your own out of your own experiences, thoughts, movies, etc.

  • @2BeLikeChrist
    @2BeLikeChrist 3 роки тому +4

    I'm just about to finish up my second refresher through RTK and I've gotta say, the last 500 kanji are tough to recall using Heisig's method. I wish your Kanji from Zero book had been out when I started. I have your Japanese from Zero and love it. Keep up the good work.

  • @uzhukova
    @uzhukova 3 роки тому +2

    We love your enthusiasm, George !

  • @scotmcpherson
    @scotmcpherson 3 роки тому +12

    I think you are missing the point of the RTK which is a singular purpose. It's to get you to remember the Kanji. It's not to teach you how to read japanese, it's not about learning context and readings. It's simply a way to insert the Kanji into your brain and have a single YOUR native language meaning associated with that kanji. That's it, and for that purpose it is the gold standard. Adding more data points for you to remember with each kanji reduces your ability to absorb them and imprint them in your memory. That's intended to come later, and as you learn those extra data points, and as you interact with the language and therefore the kanji in more natural settings, then the extra data points will get retained and make more sense. Right now, using RTK, the point is to get beyond the Kanji being incomprensible squiggles for you....that's all there is to it.

    • @japanesefromzero
      @japanesefromzero  3 роки тому +7

      Well... I teach Japanese. And RTK doesn’t seem to do that in the first book. And this is why I don’t really find it as powerful as it is portrayed.

    • @bobfranklin2572
      @bobfranklin2572 3 роки тому +5

      @@japanesefromzero appeal to authority. How does RTK not do what this guy said? You didn't mention that in this video.

    • @Zoruachi
      @Zoruachi 2 роки тому +2

      @@japanesefromzero there is more than one RTK book…

  • @LeonSKennedy7777
    @LeonSKennedy7777 3 роки тому +13

    Good review, though there needs to be one correction. Around 11:00 you mentioned that Heisig apparently “gave up” on giving kanji descriptions, but there’s a reason for this. In the introductory materials and theory sections at the start of every chapter, he describes the reason for slowly phasing-out stories. It’s difficult to describe quickly, but if you follow his method and rigorously follow the instructions from page 1 onwards, your knowledge builds upon itself and RTK begins to reveal itself as a solid and efficient way to learn most kanji. It almost parallels Japanese From Zero! 😂

  • @pey5571
    @pey5571 3 роки тому +5

    4:16 LOOOOOOOOOOL that is so true actually, I'm working through the book right now and some of Heisig's stories are just so wildly specific that it's like?????????? Why does he expect people to know some of this stuff lol. And some of the keywords are words I've literally never heard of before, so I've had to replace those with words I actually know. Despite that though I still like the book and plan on finishing it.

  • @danicarodriguez8477
    @danicarodriguez8477 3 роки тому +3

    I'm SO glad you're making a book 2!!

  • @willrolleston2237
    @willrolleston2237 3 роки тому +4

    "If I was my own competition, I'd give up right now!" Haha I love that confidence in your own work. In fact, I love it so much I'm about to buy the first Kanji from Zero book online here in New Zealand.

  • @PuckishAngeI
    @PuckishAngeI 3 роки тому +14

    when they stop teaching you a meaning and you have to make your own is what makes this a good method. The fact that you have to do it yourself and be creative it will make you remember them more. But if you don't have too good of an imagination it is not the best method.

  • @stephaniewhite9526
    @stephaniewhite9526 3 роки тому

    I've just found this video - I love George's advice to create your own mnemonics. I'm starting this as a project now.

  • @srinaths.bhaumik5000
    @srinaths.bhaumik5000 3 роки тому +3

    This video was more like a mic drop to heisig's shortcomings but anyways, I've just finished RTK using memrise and and literally reviewing so much has become increasingly difficult to a point I quit the memrise module. If I continue forgetting then I'll give your book a try. I occasionally search up some kanji I come across and look it up on jisho when my memory is refreshed with the keyword heisig gave me earlier. As you just said, the lack of mnemonics in the later part of RTK is really frustrating. The author had only one job which he messed up with.

    • @charmolettafranquestafiestayam
      @charmolettafranquestafiestayam 3 роки тому

      Hey if you see this, how did this go? Did you have any other solution? I think the SRS system (spaced repition system) works super well but I haven't been able to learn enough yet to put it to the test. (using Kanji From Zero and etc) Hope it's going well brother.

    • @srinaths.bhaumik5000
      @srinaths.bhaumik5000 3 роки тому

      @@charmolettafranquestafiestayam in the end i had mastered around 1.7k kanji very well but rest i did it in a rush as i had other work. I didn't continue learning then as I am preparing for my airline tests i hope i can recover after i find time again. lot of the kanji i still forgot due to the lack of in context use but i may remember it every now and then when i come across the primitives

  • @jdskates.69
    @jdskates.69 3 місяці тому

    Im just going to follow you into the light until I go to Language school. lol Im beginning course 3 next week and started Kanji from Zero 1 today. after all five courses and Kanji from zero, I should be well prepared for language school in Osaka.

  • @ivanrubil4320
    @ivanrubil4320 3 роки тому +10

    For me that pro and con you said first is reversed: I don't like they've given only one meaning to a primitive; and I enjoyed Biblical and actually literature reference.
    I think you kinda reached with the Bible take, if you're not American/British, there's a whole lot you have to research to understands Heisig's meanings/keywords the primitives - folk sayings, literature, obscure English words for obscure Japanese meanings... I thought it was fun, even though exploring Anglo-Saxon culture wasn't really what I had in mind while trying to learn kanji.
    The main problem with the 'single meaning primitive' is that it acts kinda like an addictive substance, to get a hold of the 2000 kanji it gives, you have to go through practically the entire book to see which keyword was chosen by Heisig. You can in theory rename them, but you must see what was his original keyword, otherwise you get stuck with his logic later on.

  • @FunnyAnimatorJimTV
    @FunnyAnimatorJimTV 3 роки тому

    Nice review of this book and your new book sounds epic :D What's the music you used in this vid? It's pretty cool

  • @walter_white4953
    @walter_white4953 3 роки тому +1

    So I’m about halfway through RTK. It took me about 8 months or so to get the first 1,000. I tried really hard to grind out and remember as many stories/words/kanji as possible without burning out. Now I’m starting to go back and review to keep my mind fresh before I move onto the second half of RTK.
    I’ve noticed I “forget” about 20-50% of the kanji. Then once I set those forgotten kanji into a separate pile and start to review them again, I pretty much remember most of them. Is that okay? I’m just hoping im not too forgetful with these.

  • @gabriellbraga7732
    @gabriellbraga7732 8 місяців тому

    With Tofugu's mnemonics I learned hiragana in one sitting, I was like holy cow I can read the sounds of basic Japanese text. I don't know how good it could be for kanji but I imagine someone can learn about the same amount of kanji as the number of hiragana there are every day.

  • @sogeking935
    @sogeking935 3 роки тому +1

    The way you talk about your own book sounds like a hilarious Rick Flair pro-wrestling promo

  • @dnhg9730
    @dnhg9730 2 роки тому

    The book can't be used to look up kanji and at the end there are no kanji-stories anymore bcs you are supposed to remember the kanji as well as the story. The book is supposed to be started with at the beginning to remember 1. The kanji, 2. The meaning and 3. The story (which helps remembering the meaning). So if you look up a random kanji without knowing the stories of the kanji radicals, of course you don't get the kanji which mere keywords (the keywords are the kanji meanings of kanji explained earlier in the book). Hope it makes sense now.

  • @vikitty604
    @vikitty604 3 роки тому +5

    RTK doesn’t work for me because you have to learn the meaning and the reading separately. I’ve been using Wanikani for over a year now and have completely learned 900 kanji and probably another 3000 words using those kanji. The mnemonic device system doesn’t work for everyone but for me it does.

    • @anab0lic
      @anab0lic 3 роки тому

      is wanikani an ap?

    • @vikitty604
      @vikitty604 3 роки тому

      @@anab0lic it’s a website but there are unofficial apps as well. First three levels are free (you’ll learn around 100 kanji and 450 vocabulary words) and then after that it’s a monthly subscription.

    • @anab0lic
      @anab0lic 3 роки тому

      @@vikitty604 ok thanks. I'm doing book learning from home but want something to supplement that with when I'm at work and can't really carry a book around with me, ill check it out.

    • @vikitty604
      @vikitty604 3 роки тому

      @@anab0lic It’s worth a try for sure. They teach you the kanji according to difficulty in writing them, not according to the most used. So you’ll find that you’ll be able to recognize easier kanji but maybe not the most frequently used right away. But I’ve stuck with it and it’s amazing how much I’ve retained.

  • @pawandev1673
    @pawandev1673 3 роки тому +5

    When is your Chinese from zero and Spanish books coming out

  • @PazuChill
    @PazuChill 3 роки тому

    Damn, you're getting me excited. I'll probably give your Kanji volumes a try once you (re-)release them.

  • @lainrivers901
    @lainrivers901 3 роки тому

    Do you allow us to download or receive new additions to your books? Even just a PDF for those who purchased an older physical copy would be nice if that's not already a thing. Love your grammar books, haven't tried the kanji ones yet until more are out!
    I really like RTK, as the book's cover implies it really helps me remember the kanji. I wanted to be able distinguish/identify them so when I'm then actually learning kanji words I don't have to constantly question if this is the kanji I think it is. That's all I really wanted to take from RTK and it delivers phenomenally on that premise as long as you learn to make your own stories to string them all together as the book encourages you to do. I memorized 2200 kanji in a little over a month using this method and flashcard programs, it really sped up my ability to learn kanji words.

  • @revesbrises4379
    @revesbrises4379 3 роки тому

    I’ve bought Japanese from zero books, but I’m yet to buy any of the kanji from zero books. I’m planning to buy them once the second book is released.

  • @HumbleBee123
    @HumbleBee123 3 місяці тому

    I'm going to be ordering the remembering the kanji based on peoples reviews. I have ADHD and dyslexia. I thought it may work for me hopefully.
    Thanks for the review.

  • @foulboi6662
    @foulboi6662 3 роки тому

    I made this mnemonic a while back for the kanji for “up” and “down”....
    下 (した) (shita) you take a shita *down* into your pants.
    上 (うえ) (ue) the smell then *rises* to your nose and makes you go “ue”.

  • @levant5378
    @levant5378 3 роки тому +1

    I actually prefer Henshall. mostly due to the fact that it provides actual etymological information and readings to associate the kanji with.

  • @angst_
    @angst_ 3 роки тому

    I learned my multiplication tables as a kid with mnemonic stories. Each number had a word, and each answer was a story using the two words.
    6 = chicks
    7 = surfin'
    42 = some story of how chicks went surfing on a door and found a shoe in the water or something.
    It helped me learn my multiplication, and I went on to enjoy math, but 20 years later I can't think of 42 without seeing that picture of surfing chickens and it's kinda annoying! Haha.
    I also think of knee when I think of the hiragana に and it also bugs me. I'm trying hard to graduate from romaji and make a mental connection from the sound straight to the character so I don't subconsciously translate it into English.

  • @israa9333
    @israa9333 3 роки тому

    Congratulations for the new kanji book teacher jeorge ! I would be happy if I got it but now it's hard because of corona 🥺🥺🥺

  • @shahmareo
    @shahmareo 3 роки тому

    RTK stops giving mnemonics after like a few hundred Kanji, after which it forces you to make your own for each one until 2200 are done.
    Also assigning a radical your own name works like a charm. I assigned the person 人 radical as you, George from JFZ xD, and that helped me remember hundreds of Kanji

  • @stevebills2427
    @stevebills2427 3 роки тому +3

    If you really want to learn Kanji, get a Kanji notebook with 100, 150 or 200 squares and practice writing ten characters everyday. Make it a habit. That will help with your memorization. I don't have any KFZ books, I've always used Kanji Kentei study books.

  • @dayman7136
    @dayman7136 3 роки тому

    i agree, all the mnemonics that have worked for me are the ones ive created myself

  • @haisuno
    @haisuno 3 роки тому +9

    When I tried RTK I noticed the biblical references too and I was really surprised that I've never seen anyone criticizing it

    • @but_iWantedTo_speakGerman
      @but_iWantedTo_speakGerman 2 роки тому +1

      How on earth is that a complaint? Good grief.

    • @scriptedtruth8193
      @scriptedtruth8193 Рік тому +2

      @@but_iWantedTo_speakGermanim assuming its because not everyone reads the bible. It may be confusing (speaking from experience :’))

  • @jholotanbest2688
    @jholotanbest2688 3 роки тому

    I think the reason why RTK is still so popular is that people are paying homage to the book that popularized the mnemonics way of learning kanji. Also the book is so old and influential that a huge amount of recourses and better ways to go about learning kanji have been developed but they all use the RTK way of numbering and breaking kanji down. As you said there is not standard way to break kanji down, well RTK is that standard way.

  • @jorricktv9550
    @jorricktv9550 2 роки тому

    Did you already re-do the Kaji 1 book ?

    • @Burnt_Rolls
      @Burnt_Rolls 2 роки тому

      No, Kanji From Zero! book 1 has not yet been restructured.

  • @fallow64
    @fallow64 2 роки тому

    If you don't like the RTK mnemonics, make them yourselves. As you said, the best way to go about mnemonics is to do it yourself. At a certain point you're expected to be able to produce them by yourself. Also, while I can't prove this, I bet that it sticks with you better if you make it yourself (especially if you make it pungent).

  • @TokyoACR
    @TokyoACR 3 роки тому

    Please give us a hardcover option! I would pay extra for sure!

  • @DerekReveres
    @DerekReveres 3 роки тому

    RTK was useful..... my biggest thing I hated about it is that you'll be half way through the book before you could even write "nan desu ka", the ordering of that book is terrible. Not that you'd know though, the book never really tells you whether each Kanji you learn is useful or not and expects you to burn through the whole thing. That is what I liked the most about KFZ, you find out just how useful each Kanji is.

  • @stevebrooks1331
    @stevebrooks1331 2 роки тому

    I started RTK but I found whenever I try to read Japanese now all I think of when seeing kanji is the imaginative story in English, it may help to remember the actual pictures but it's not really doing anything for the pronunciation or reading of Japanese, maybe I haven't read through it enough

    • @joaquindiaz15
      @joaquindiaz15 Рік тому

      You are not going to learn how to read or how to say words with RTK, it's not how it work. You are memorizing how to recognize the kanjis, after that, you have to mix it with inmersion or it don't gonna work for anything, while you has not ending the book, you can watching tv shows, readings or whatever what you want and if you detect all the kanji of one of the sentence, then you can go and anote it in anki or wathever. The final point is that you should not need the story for remember the kanji, but just use it like a tool when you don't remember what kanji it is, and for that purpuse you have to immersion.

  • @daniellelawson1279
    @daniellelawson1279 3 роки тому

    I agree that wanikani mnemonics are a mess but I still use it at least the free fist three lessons and just ignore the mnemonic section and just try to remember the kanji meaning for me the best mnemonic lessons I have used not for kanji but hiragana and katakana is the app dr moku it turns the characters in to pictures and gave an example of that sound like for the katakana for Ki the actual character is in bold letters but a faded circle is on the end to make it look like a key I can see kanji being difficult so I appreciate your and anyone’s effort to help people remember

  • @andikhairulanam
    @andikhairulanam 3 роки тому

    The kindle version of all your books are not available on my region. Btw I am from Indonesia...

  • @dr.merlot1532
    @dr.merlot1532 3 роки тому

    I'm pretty sure they are going to carve George Trombley's face in mount rushmore once he finishes the book.

  • @pabloyagani
    @pabloyagani 3 роки тому +9

    I think it's a great book

  • @ridewyoming
    @ridewyoming 3 роки тому

    Sensei I tried sending you an email with the email on the website but it comes back with a server misconfigured error. Btw, your background images are beautiful.

  • @DelBoy573
    @DelBoy573 8 місяців тому

    I wish your books were compatible on my kindle 😭

    • @japanesefromzero
      @japanesefromzero  8 місяців тому

      Me too!!!! Kindle creator is unfortunately not a good creation tool. I can load PDFs on my kindle white but not a kindle formatted book that is made by importing the book PDF into Kindle. It hurts my soul how a company with so many resources can build a better creator tool.

    • @DelBoy573
      @DelBoy573 8 місяців тому

      @@japanesefromzero So in theory I could convert the file to a pdf and then upload that to my kindle and it’ll work! I’ll give it a shot. If it fails then it looks like I’m buying an iPad! I’ll send you the bill 😉

  • @zarajday
    @zarajday 7 місяців тому

    I feel like I do a lot better with kanji just learning meanings and readings as I associate them with words. 学 I learned fairly quickly would have to do with school or learning because it was in 学生, 大学, and 学校 and was mostly pronounced GAKU because that is how it sounds in those words. If I was trying to learn Kanji by going one by one through a textbook, memorizing their onyomi and kunyomi, some of these Kanji having dozens of sounds, I would probably give up on it all together because that turns japanese into a brute force method rather than a natural method. Plus, I'm just not sure why I should guess the pronunciation of a word via readings rather than looking it up and getting a definitive answer.

    • @japanesefromzero
      @japanesefromzero  7 місяців тому

      This is how we teach it.

    • @zarajday
      @zarajday 7 місяців тому

      @@japanesefromzero That's good

  • @underflo43tky
    @underflo43tky 2 роки тому

    i like kanji master the best. make copies of the pages and write and write.

  • @darren5597
    @darren5597 2 місяці тому

    The language learning community is rather fascinating. People confidently confuse their personal likes with the most effective and efficient method for learning. Moreover, they get distracted by rather minor and irrelevant things.
    I mean George, you must know that a man of Heisig's era would appeal to the stories that were most vivid to him. You are expected to have the requisite maturity to recognise this and create your own stories. I say this because in the reviews of RTK similar opinions are abound on Amazon.

    • @japanesefromzero
      @japanesefromzero  2 місяці тому

      I don’t think RTK is effective with its often longer than required and often too religious mnemonic stories. However, the concept is good. The thing is language learning IS personal. If I was the best teacher on earth, but always said something off putting at the beginning of every lesson, certainly some students wouldn’t learn as well. My distaste for religion really ruins the RTK book for me personally. However I’m sure others would love that aspect. An even bigger issue for me is that it doesn’t teach how to pronounce the characters until the third book.

    • @darren5597
      @darren5597 2 місяці тому

      @@japanesefromzero Hello George 先生
      I think people should be robust enough and be willing to engage in abstract thinking to see if there is anything of value underlying a method, theory or technique.
      For context, I'm currently learning Mandarin Chinese and went through Remembering the Simplified Hanzi. In this version, the readings are provided at the end of the book. However, as has been expounded on by other language learners, trying to learn readings (essentially, pronunciations) out of context (that is, not hearing it spoken by native speakers) is fraught with risks because one is likely going to learn incorrect pitch or accents (in the case of 中文) and one will internalize those incorrect pronunciations and try to fit those pronunciations onto what native speakers actually say. Despite learning Mandarin, I've actually listened to more Japanese than Mandarin because I enjoyed watching Japanese anime. The fact that in Japanese especially, 汉字 can have multiple readings (sounds) makes learning them out of context (that is, in isolation from any real speech by a native speaker in a TV show or anime) a rather inefficient method of learning. The same can be said for Mandarin where pronunciation is absolutely a hit or miss. Therefore, seeing how the characters are pronounced in their various combinations is especially efficient and avoids very bad habits. For example, the tones may change depending on the character combinations for some characters. For example, in the case of Mandarin, 不 (bu ) is pronounced with a fourth tone (falling tone) but this changes in 不是 (bu shi) where 不 is pronounced with a second tone (rising). Before formally learning this language rule, I had heard this distinction and I would mimick this speech when I was listening to something especially funny (for example, "不会吧" is especially humorous and makes 不 2nd tone). Now, it's helpful to learn such rules and other grammar to help build one's intuition about the structure of the language to hasten the learning process but it must always be auxiliary and not the primary learning itself. Language learning is about soaking up information into the unconscious mind and not a mathematical exercise.
      However, as I alluded earlier, RTH, RTK, and JFZ should really be reference books after learning the basic meaning and writing. That is, they must be a reference for pronounciation. Hear first and go to the reference book second.
      Beyong this, I actually agree with you on a number of things over such characters as Matt vs Japan and Khatzumoto. A prime example is that for most people language learning can never be the primary objective for a few years of a one's life. Therefore, I think OTLE (only target language entertainment) is the most realistic for most people who see language learning as a passion or a hobby but have commercial pursuits.
      For context, since mandarin is entirely written in 汉字, only knowing 2 000 characters is enough to understand the basic gist of what is being said in non-technical dramas or donghua (动画) by reading the subtitles and soaking up the pronunciation.

  • @gigglehertz
    @gigglehertz 3 роки тому

    I glanced through RTK and wasn't impressed but also it's kind of a "wall of text" that George hates. I got the Tuttle kanji book and it's pretty good although there are some mnemonics where you just wonder what the hell they were thinking. Occasionally there is one that I think is dumb that I later have to admit served it's purpose although I would have gone a different route. In almost every case the drawings are completely worthless. I agree the best are the ones you make up yourself. I do think that reading and speaking are 2 completely different skills using different parts of the brain, so remember kanji without readings is useful if you are also doing a conversational course at the same time. Eventually you make connections between the visual elements and the spoken words.

    • @bobfranklin2572
      @bobfranklin2572 3 роки тому

      Rtk is the complete opposite of a wall of text. It's not impressive if you just glance through it, and it isn't supposed to be. You skim-read the introduction, if that.

  • @StefanIglesias-pq4rt
    @StefanIglesias-pq4rt 3 роки тому

    Exited for the Kanji from Zero 2

  • @thomaschi
    @thomaschi 3 роки тому +1

    You forgot to mention that the reason why authors of Remembering the Kanji gave for lack of stories in the second part of the book is for each individual having have to come up with their own stories corresponding with each kanji. This way if forces everyone to actually create stories to their own liking. Apart from that there’s literally hundreds of stories for each kanji in this book in the kanji koohi (kanji Ryokucha app on iPhone) where one can select story for each kanji as well and practice them if you really lazy to do it on your own.

  • @gabrielar9611
    @gabrielar9611 3 роки тому +1

    They might use the Bible references due to it being the one of the most read books of all time. But it is also the most controversial book of all time 😅

  • @LastGhost12
    @LastGhost12 3 роки тому +2

    Am I the only one that learnd radicals as they learnd Kanji. I didn't do it on purpose

    • @kezzako2
      @kezzako2 3 роки тому

      Same, what's the point. I barely know a few radicals yet got to the point where I read novels everyday without much trouble

    • @LastGhost12
      @LastGhost12 3 роки тому

      @@kezzako2 I wish I was at best I can read about 40 ish Kanji

    • @kezzako2
      @kezzako2 3 роки тому

      @@LastGhost12 just takes time and effort! keep studying everyday and you'll get there

    • @LastGhost12
      @LastGhost12 3 роки тому

      @@kezzako2 yeah I'll continue learning

    • @YoIntangible
      @YoIntangible 3 роки тому

      Hey I found you again

  • @RyuatNight
    @RyuatNight 3 роки тому +1

    RTK trains you on how to create your own mnemonics and really stresses building your own the beginning is just a how to

    • @GeorgeTrombley
      @GeorgeTrombley 3 роки тому +1

      I also train you how but not giving you any in book one. It forces you do be awesome. :-) Just kidding!

  • @gambarusso
    @gambarusso 10 місяців тому

    I grew up very much Christian and I have to agree that the mnemonics take those biblical stories a little too far sometimes.

  • @cooliipie
    @cooliipie 3 роки тому

    Can't hear language from a book, not sure how much can be learned

  • @meropale
    @meropale 2 роки тому

    That's how I remember it ..... only got one eye... SO!?!

  • @hkr1700
    @hkr1700 3 роки тому

    Go live more George!

  • @yasseralg3928
    @yasseralg3928 3 місяці тому

    Sounds like a marketing scheme or a compariaon with your book rather than a review.
    For an honest review, I'd focus on reviewing the book as a whole, then by the end of the video introduce alternatives.

    • @japanesefromzero
      @japanesefromzero  3 місяці тому +1

      Well I always let people know you can’t trust my review or ask me questions about any Japanese learning material since even if I say I’m not biased, I probably am. But… in this case I really think RTK gets too much credit.

  • @ponytheprostituteonvinyl7591
    @ponytheprostituteonvinyl7591 3 роки тому

    Please make more book four videos

  • @sikamaru666
    @sikamaru666 3 роки тому

    Thing is most advanced kanji have the mnemonics built into them. You usually break the kanji into 2, the part on the left is the meaning, the part on the right has the ON reading of a simpler kanji that hopefully you already know. 銅 this the best example, left 金(the metal related radical) right 同 has the on reading dou, so is a metal named dou=copper or bronze.
    Everything thats not divided like this or like this 券 拳, is almost always illogical and too much work.

    • @vikitty604
      @vikitty604 3 роки тому

      I love the phonetic and semantic aspect of kanji and have been delving more into it lately as I get close to the 1000 kanji mark.

    • @NukeMarine
      @NukeMarine 3 роки тому

      @@vikitty604 Most used the semantic aspect in their stories not realizing the kanji was designed in part around that idea, but don't learn till much later there's likely an onyomi phonetic aspect. Heisig shows this in Book 2 in a poor fashion, but that book is so bad no one in the community really recommends it.

    • @vikitty604
      @vikitty604 3 роки тому

      @@NukeMarine I picked up the book The Kanji Code which is a great reference. I’ve also installed a user script for when I’m using Wanikani that teaches the breakdown when learning new kanji. It’s a great feature that I was was built in to Wanikani already given how they lean on the idea of radicals.

  • @ajax7590
    @ajax7590 3 роки тому +1

    I’m honestly down to read Kanji from zero 1 and Kanji from zero 2
    What method does it use ?

    • @gogomaximoff4554
      @gogomaximoff4554 3 роки тому

      There are 5-6 new kanji in every lesson. For each kanji there is 音読み and 訓読み and also example words (4 mostly). Then in each lesson you practice different words writings and some games to make sure you learned it correctly. Have to say they are amazing and they do help memorizing better. And also after a few lessons there is whats called super review. thats a fun part. :) overall im super satisfied with the KFZ book. Cant wait for KFZ2. :)

  • @enbytiousmusic
    @enbytiousmusic 3 роки тому +1

    i started Reading Remembering the kanji and i rly can relate to 4:36 ! i am not into Bible stuff so i dont have any clue about it~ thats why i mostly made up my own stories

  • @japaneserequired6314
    @japaneserequired6314 Рік тому

    I have always felt that mnemonics should be 1 sentence or less.

  • @alanguages
    @alanguages Рік тому

    I did contact JWH and asked if there was a chance of Remembering the Hanja ever being made. Unfortunately, he did not think it would be warrant to make such a book, due to the likely low interest in it.
    I understood, as language learning is a niche market. Considering Korean is the lowest in demand out of the three main East Asian languages, much less the older style of writing for Korean.
    Even many Koreans are not interested in Hanja, unless it was a specific field of interest. Effectively Hanja is too specialized.

  • @sesudesu
    @sesudesu 2 роки тому +1

    I can’t believe anyone uses RTK. It doesn’t teach you any Japanese you will come out the other end of the book not being able to read one word of Japanese.

  • @gamerpotatoman3840
    @gamerpotatoman3840 3 роки тому

    7:00 That's literally what I came up with XD

  • @brownbricks6017
    @brownbricks6017 3 роки тому +1

    What do pneumonics have to do with anything?

  • @henrik3141
    @henrik3141 3 роки тому

    In addition to the heisig book I can recommend kanji.koohii.com/. There you can find the sentences of other user (which are often much butter than the bible bullshit stuff).

  • @bjornsan
    @bjornsan 3 роки тому

    The worst mnemonic I've seen was in Genki's kanji book. 文 "A pattern on the old vase became a character". Really? It doesn't give any clue to what the kanji looks like.

  • @dattebenforcer
    @dattebenforcer 3 роки тому

    dat ending

  • @stefansandbergsweden
    @stefansandbergsweden Рік тому +2

    If you really hade read the book thoroughly you would have known that the purpose of them leaving out the mnemonics was so you would have to start making your own. 😉 Just like you sad that you like to do it. 🤔

  • @Gyokan7
    @Gyokan7 3 роки тому +3

    There's basically a superior version of RTK out there called The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course, should check it out.

  • @f0url1ghts
    @f0url1ghts 3 роки тому +3

    Hit or miss? I guess they never miss, huh?

  • @AkaiNiwatori1
    @AkaiNiwatori1 3 роки тому +1

    George先生, do you know about Kanji Koohii? Heisig is super into religion..... cool. I’m not into that aspect either. The method gives you freedom to ignore his stories all together. Heisig prefers that you don’t use his stories.
    Like, I’m not sure if you’re actively trying not to understand why the book works allows people to be able to write 2200 or if you’re stubborn or something. It’s super odd.
    I think it’s safe to say that if you’re gonna be going on about how your book has grammar, readings, etc etc then yours wins lol. Your book is better in that sense. In every way. I’ve used Heisig and I will confidently state this to anyone: George has a better comprehension Kanji book and one of the best comprehensive books.
    That isn’t the point though. Matt didn’t say you learn the meanings first. You learn to recognize kanji using the keywords but recognition and writing is key. The English is meaningless in
    The end.
    Like I can even tell if this is a troll
    Video. Heisig didn’t give up lol. Look, if you’re not trying to understand the other side and are just trying to sell books, state it in a video or PM me, and I’ll try to sell your book to every person you encounter. At least I’ll know what it is you’re trying to do then and I’ll have no problem disregarding Heisig and recommending your book to everyone who asks me how I learned Japanese

  • @Kurthlin
    @Kurthlin Рік тому

    Bruh the anime girl voice caught me off guard, I thought he had no interest in anime, lmao.

  • @ytbryan8091
    @ytbryan8091 3 роки тому +4

    こんにちはー!

  • @underflo43tky
    @underflo43tky 2 роки тому

    i hate rtk with a passion. i can only see it useful for absolute beginners. basically i do not want to think in english about kanji just adding another english layer to things n

  • @力くん-c3k
    @力くん-c3k 3 роки тому

    Thanks for your books sir and videos

  • @Callme_Xcess
    @Callme_Xcess Рік тому

    Your really emotional 😅😅

  • @gilgamesh3111
    @gilgamesh3111 8 місяців тому

    Just because the author uses Bible references to remember Kanji should not be taken as a "negative". Give me a break.

    • @japanesefromzero
      @japanesefromzero  8 місяців тому

      Not for you maybe. But what if I made a book where all the references were about Satan and you were Christian? Would you be okay with that?
      I’m not a huge fan of the origin stories humans believe involving a God. So learning Kanji and having a lot of bible references sucked for me. To each his own I guess.

    • @gilgamesh3111
      @gilgamesh3111 8 місяців тому

      I don't have to be religious to call you out for unfairly maligning a book you're claiming to review objectively. I don't wear my religion (or lack thereof) on my sleeve like you do. I'm simply stating you misrepresented the book to sell your own.
      What is bothersome is you didn't take a real quote. You literally make one up and pass it off as a generalization of the book. I think that was unfair, and you should be called out on it. @@japanesefromzero

  • @blueguern
    @blueguern 3 роки тому +9

    That background music is very annoying.

  • @1Patrick
    @1Patrick 3 роки тому +3

    I seriously feel bad for people who try learn Japanese with Remembering the Kanji. It's just so slow and inefficient.

    • @Petelecaster
      @Petelecaster 3 роки тому +2

      So do I, and I was one of those. But I am glad I went through it because it literally the one method that gave me the opportunity to "learn how to learn" after countless failed attempts. It offered measurable progress that made me stick to a schedule and didn't bum me out when I hit a wall. Now, I am glad that I can read through a sentence and pick up Kanji because I had already built up that knowledge base. It really shows it's effectiveness years into the future rather than immediately. Of course that was before KFZ was a thing.

    • @Jamesatighe
      @Jamesatighe 3 роки тому +1

      I bought it and then promptly sold it and bought the Kanji from Zero book.
      I imagine it would be good for some people. But for me I didn’t like not learning the Kun and On readings. And not being a massively imaginative person I found it hard to visualise as a large amount of Kanji really do not like anything too me lol.

    • @bobfranklin2572
      @bobfranklin2572 3 роки тому

      Yeah, i feel so bad for those people who more or less never have to worry about kanji again. Read Nukemarine's comment, he explains it well. You can do RTK In a month, learn the most usefull thousand or so. The community has "fixed" any real issues with rtk.
      I did it the old school way with the full 2200 and anki while ago. It was difficult, but not as slow as gradually forcing them into my brain in a painful struggle across many years. It was a great time investment, even though it took 3 months. Kanji are my biggest strength and have never once gave me any real issues or problems since.
      Imo doing the more modern RTK adaptations will let you invest only 1 month, its easy, and gets you an amazing bang for your time-buck. I feel sorry for people who try to learn kanji any other way.

  • @stevenrivas5299
    @stevenrivas5299 3 роки тому +10

  • @meropale
    @meropale 2 роки тому

    I'm really surprised at how well rated RTK is. I looked through it a bit and did not care for the format. Then I learned the author doesn't know Japanese.

  • @Jan-su5vm
    @Jan-su5vm 11 місяців тому

    This review felt very disingenuous.
    Firstly it is bad practice to review something and use that as a platform to promote your competing product.
    But more importantly you contradict yourself in talking about it. You said you yourself used to not be a big fan of mnemonics because you should make your own (not explaining what changed your mind or confirming if it did) but then you go on to criticise RTK for not teaching you mnemonics after a certain point. At the very least you should adress how you used to completely support that approach and why that changed, rather than criticising that part as inherently negative.

    • @japanesefromzero
      @japanesefromzero  11 місяців тому

      Thanks for the comment. I made a video to respond here: ua-cam.com/video/2TvLwz8UPxQ/v-deo.html

  • @TheMexicantaco31
    @TheMexicantaco31 3 роки тому

    “good artists copy, great artists steal”

  • @autentyk5735
    @autentyk5735 3 роки тому

    So... it's only half a book, and there are those weird ass religious references? Why I wonder. Does the author assume we all were pushed the same magic man in the clouds stories?
    I was about to buy this book.

  • @Tien1610
    @Tien1610 3 роки тому

    Chinese from Zero when? :D

  • @vinhill1456
    @vinhill1456 3 роки тому +1

    Slightly bias.

    • @japanesefromzero
      @japanesefromzero  3 роки тому

      You heard me say I was biased in the video right? I still don’t think I would like it if I hadn’t wrote my own books.

  • @バカカバ-o4k
    @バカカバ-o4k 3 роки тому

    Kanjis are easy-peasy-japanesey. I spend 29 hours a day immersing in Nihongo, and now I know 18,000 kanjis. Now i’m gonna start reading “Remembering my family and friends.”

  • @DeHaos
    @DeHaos 3 роки тому

    RTK本の感想の批判編にはよーしよしよし、準備万端整っている。なんてさ、始まりの動画でワロタ(笑)。ゼロから漢字3版リリースするのはいつか、間違いなくRTKよりも売れるので。