H

cool vid

If efficiency is the main goal, why do we use methods like Wanikani and RTK at all? If you want to learn kanji in context and as fast as possible wouldn't learning vocabulary decks with no furigana on the front like the core 2k/6k deck be the better option? Personally I think this all comes down to preference. Many people have learned the Kanji with RTK, many people have learned them with Wanikani or through Anki cards and some people have even learned them through physical flashcards with not fancy SRS software. Technically, one method might be more efficient than the other but at the end of the day the most efficient method is the one you can do daily for the years that it takes to learn all of these words. Additionally, stuff like RTK, Wanikani and Anki decks is ultimately just tools to help you past the beginner stages of language learning. After having learned a big chunk of the vocab that they provide you should start to immerse in native material that you enjoy and start sentence mining.

Sushi rice is not “just white rice”. It has additions.

I think Matt Vs. Japan fell into a trope that many fluent or nearly fluent learners fall into when they teach someone the way they learned Japanese. They get too far ahead and they expect people to know where they are coming from. This is why it's hard for me to trust just any KZbinr that says, "This is the way to learn Japanese" many people like that skip lots of steps. I've been through some of RTK and I'm only level 15 in WK but I have tried both. RTK will teach you the Kanji faster but WK teaches you the Kanji, then vocab all with SRS. Both are good. RTK didn't work for me but I know many others like it. RTK just has too many things that it expects you to do imo where WK does it all on it's own. I think the best piece of advice to anyone getting started in learning Japanese after learning Hiragana and Katakana is to stick with a good system. whether that be WK, RTK, JPDB/Anki, or something like LingoDeer or Memrise. You just have to be consistent in everything you do. I took a break from WK and it's been the worst learning decision I've made in Japanese thus far. I thought I'd try other approaches to learn the kanji and Vocab but I ended up learning less because I was trying too many things. If I stuck with WK I would be several levels ahead now. I know this is a ramble but in the end what I'm trying to say is be careful with the learning strategies people push, everyone has their own way. The most important point is to stick with whatever that is and don't switch unless it just isn't working. It's normal to have times where you are learning slower or don't feel like you're progressing you just have to push through that wall. Sorry for my rant. I just had to get that off my chest lol.

I learned to speak Japanese by memorizing 20 words a day, a lot of listening input and conversation class. As such, I amassed a pretty high level of listening and speaking while only knowing a pathetic 300 or so Kanji as I focused 2 years of hard focused effort into conversation and interpreter work. Now, my situation is unique because as I had a pretty decent Japanese base before I began learning Kanji so I tried a variety of sources, Wanikani, Remembering the Kanji, and Kodansha learners course. Wanikani is hands down the best thing for me. It works and works well. I made it half way through and combining Wanikani with satori reader and reading NHK Japanese news has vastly increased my reading ability. Wanikani is absolutely fantastic.

Ok just watched Matt’s video and I came back to give a response. You claim that Matt says RTK is in context approach and Wanikani is out of context approach. Matt says that RTK is a hybrid approach of having both and specifically just to help create a mental dictionary entry (in linguistics this is called a idiolect lexeme (making up the full idiolect lexicon)) this goes back to Stephen Krashen, Noam Chomsky, as well as other applied linguists thoughts, not Matt vs Japan’s thoughts. Matt is just parroting them. Once the mental dictionary entry is created then you will be paying attention in real world situations (a text book sentence or a single or even 10 example sentences still lacks the context of a sentence from a tv show or real world experience) for when this mental dictionary entry is used then your brain will start adding more information to your mental dictionary entry. Matt also argues that Wanikani and the other learning course that starts with a K, that these are similar to RTK meaning they are both hybrid systems as well. He also explains in the video that all of these methods have flaws and the main benefit of RTK is how quickly you can do it so you can get on to actually acquiring the language (as compared to actively studying and he brings up Stephen krashens distribution between language acquisition and language learning as well) I think the issue you are having with his video is 3 fold: 1. You were irritated that he is talking by negatively about something you like. I can see that you are trying to not be emotionally biased on this but the video comes across in the same way as “butt hurt”. 2. Matt seems to assume all viewing this video will have back ground knowledge of Stephen krashen’s methods of language acquisition. I have found most language learners have never heard of Stephen krashen and typically only people who study in language teaching like a TESOL program will have heard of him. Without having this background knowledge some of the sentences Matt says are lacking context (see this is an example where I can give you example sentences but they are out of context still because there is greater background knowledge that is lacking. ) 3. Matt vs Japan seems to assume that everyone watching his videos are very familiar with the AJATT method. If you have knowledge on the AJATT method then you should know what is an actual in context sentence versus a textbook style example sentence because AJATT method mentioned this in almost every article he wrote about example sentences.

In-context doesn't mean to have sentences in the system, it means that you just get the sentences from a real TV show in Japanese. A single sentence CAN NOT be in context, it must come from a real life situation.

Love your explanation.. I’ve been to an Onsen

Really looking forward to reading this, currently working on chapter 9 in genki but I’ve been learning on and off for almost a decade now

I am using Wani Kani for a while now, currently at level 09. I saw Matt's video yesterday, getting worried that I should have used the Heisig method instead. I am very glad you made this video and address these points and removed my concerns. Thank you!

I’m either doing zoology, wildlife health sciences or Japanese lmao I don’t even wanna go to uni but with a degree I am more likely to get a job also teaching abroad programs all require a bachelors degree (to my knowledge). I might as well have fun and learn Japanese with a year abroad in Japan. Gonna apply to university either tomorrow or Monday. And then leave it to God to decide my fate. I will enjoy either of these options.

This brings me back. I used to go to Shimane University from 2008-2009.

Hi. Which university did you attend?

I bought RTK in 2021 and I've barely used it since then... I found it really hard to motivate myself to sit down and read through the book. Then I shipped out to boot camp in 2022. Now it's 2023, I have time to study Japanese again and I still have the RTK but wanikani just looks more appealing to me lol.. I'll probably just use RTK as a supplemental resource when I don't have my computer and just have time to waste.

Masa seems so happy! I hope you both find your dream jobs and live a life full of wealth, and happiness!

You sound like a maniac. Waste my time watching a crazy head

Bro why this was in my recommended XD, anyway that bird gonna kill you

I went to college for a double major, astronomy and physics. Also ended up with a minor in Japanese. Had I went to school after highschool, instead at the age of 25, I would have been able to get a temp position at Tokyo university. Probably my biggest regret but still hope to get the position in the coming years

Good review, but I'm still at back at starting line. I thought the book would be good to pair with this website, since it gives explanations about the individual kanjis. The amazon review tells another story where author is just confused and changes the meaning of the Kanji, or mistakes similar kanjis Like "Death" and "Heaven". i.e. have no clue what he is talking about.

Just wondering: how did you learn the language and able to speak fluently? Did you learn it solely at your country or did you start speaking fluently when you went to Japan (i.e., you got immersed)?

Thank you for the video, it was very helpful! In JPN-101 right now and was able to understand the first minute or so before realizing there were no subtitles.

surprised there’s like no youtube videos on what a japanese degree can do! love that you did it all in japanese too 😄

You are back and It's already been 6 months. Congratulations on your marriage!

Wani mani is better for people who need a little structure help with studying. You may learn a little slower but you still learn to read the kanji. Working for me and I will probably change my kanji review method after I finish Wani kani.

Why is it that when I'm listening to a foreigner speak Japanese, I can understand it no problem. Like this video for example I understood literally everything he said without needing the English captions. But when native speakers talk it's owowwowoqoqowd8w9iwi2i2ow9wowoekw

Thank you always for telling me (us) so many things!

3:08

Bruh, I don't get this now and I probably wouldn't have gotten it in 2018 either...Just use Kanji Koohii...Like I did: Free RTK + SRS = I did all the 2200 Kanji in 2.5 months...It's not superpowers

Is 4 years degree necessary in japan?

So many governments and politicians have just lost their ever loving minds and have enacted "safety" measures that do and have done absolutely NOTHING to help with covid. It's a virus, it's not going away, and we just gotta live with it.

Too many people make the mistake of investing in a programme, course etc. and expecting it to do the work for them. They'll help you mount the bike, but you have to do the pedalling. As Michael Erard says in his book "Babel No More", the golden rule of language learning is: whatever the method is, stick to the method.

Matt specifically used to recommend skipping RTK 2 and moving from the first onto the third

Thank you!

元気そうでよかったです！

Of course, we're otakus are you kidding?

Hey man glad to see u back!! hope everything is going great for you 😄 it was an interesting topic and from my point of view also I'm planning move to japan when college is over so this year finally get my degree and moving alone to another country. Unfortunately things here in the U.K is really bad , borders and vaccinated issues is a big problem all oround the world. years pass you said that you are living a normal life even though you are living in a different culture with a different language which is brilliant dude! so you right it depends expectations for short and long term living in another country.

wow, you made a super detailed video! thank you!

ありがとう！！私は今年の１０月で日本学を一年生として始めます、しかしどんな仕事ができるっと悩んでいました！

but only 240 kanji that is only elementary school

It's time to duel

you tried Klingon, wow 😄

congrats on getting married! ☺️

if majoring in japanese and getting a BA doesn’t give you many job options afterwards then is it possible to have a double major in something else? and what would make that degree useful? studying japanese is the only thing i’m actually interested in. so having a major like business that i completely dislike just so i can put my japanese skills to use seems like a horrible time. i don’t know what to do

I have a question, I have the 5 books and it looks like the last 3 books teach Kanji, do I still need to buy this book or is it just those 3 books compiled in one book? Thanks

Ultimately, it's probably a good thing - imagine how bad homonyms would be if Japanese didn't have the extra sounds this exception allows to exist.

looking forward to more of your contents, David!

Thank you David for this video! I’ve monthly Japanese test at my local learning centre yesterday, and I did poorly. It really brings me down a bit. Watching this video helps me a lot! I’ll work harder, since next month is the final exams 💪🏽

Hey david! I came from your old videos such as learning with ds games and books recommended for pass N5 . So i decided to subscribe to your yt channel , fellow you have a brilliant content . From my point of view focus on studying hard , stay motivated to achieve your goals. Cheers from the UK.

Japanese immersion requires active studying, a lot of effort. Passively watching videos or passively living in Japan is staggeringly inefficient, approaching zero value IMHO. For westerners learning a similar language, the immersion may be more helpful (less useless).