I studied kanji for 2.5 hours every single day for one year

Since we’ve bumped this thread I’d just like to chime in and say I started doing the Aster Method™ and it’s working so well for me that now I’m on track to taking the kanken. Thanks for the motivational post my dude

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Supppper stoked to hear that :ok_hand:. I am really glad that the method is working well for you! It definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you have the time and aren’t in a rush, I am convinced it is the most effective way (for some people).

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@Asher what kind of robes and incense are required for the Asher method chanting?

I’m thinking an obi-wan look would be good.

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Sandalwood incense specifically, but any robe will do… Unless you live in Japan, then it needs to be an overpriced Northface robe.

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It’s been summer break so since I don’t have much else to do I’ve been doing it mostly at work. My coworkers think I’m bonkers lol.

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Just been scribbing 1-10 kanji on my tablet, very relaxing and theraputic I must say.

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No worries :slight_smile:

Kitsun is just looking for an input value for the card/answer match, how you get there is entirely up to the user on the input keyboard device being used. In other words, you could technically type the kanji as well to create the kanji input value (not recommending, would defeat the purpose but just to illustrate). Or as mentioned earlier, could also use pen to paper if preferred and keep as a flip deck.

For the kanji draw keyboard, if you drawn correctly and depending on the keyboard used, it’s usually the first entry suggestion and will auto-populate. Or if there are similar entries, it populate several suggestions if not sure on the kanji. The sensitivity varies, I can draw chicken scratch fast but as long as the radical is correct stroke order is reasonable then the kanji usually appears.

And if not obvious, you have to have the handwriting keyboard active for input value attempt.

Example Kanji draw input

I tried the mazec keyboard, it’s very good I have to say from short demo attempt and seems smarter. I have to see if I can expand the drawing area, a bit small on ios with finger draw though but probably no issue with ipad/apple pencil.

mazec keyboard

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thanks so much.
I’ve got that working with the standard samsung input!
Might give mazec a whirl too.

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I’ve started down this path tentatively. I had a question. When learning Kanji through drawing, is there not any emphasis on radicals like when memorizing?

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Knowing the radicals and where to put them is every thing. Radicals make it digestible, smaller bites and common radical pairing make it easier. The build of the muscle memory help and forces better visual distinction.

I like mnemonics, I’ve always used them and they help me. Though the way I use them has evolved, I’ve got my own warped imagination but still use many of the WK but just my own, the link helps me. It get over the hump towards muscle memory and they sort of work together.

BTW, there is a reading/meaning deck, the content and order is identical. Meaning and reading with the radicals are also a big help so you can run both side by side as another reinforcement to help if writing alone to big a leap.

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For me there was no emphasis at all on specifically memorizing the radicals, but I didn’t start the writing process with no idea of what radicals were. Due to that I made a conscious effort to at least be aware of what radicals I was writing, but muscle memory did most of the heavy lifting for me.

I did make a bit more of a conscious effort when the radicals/components were very similar, example:

夫、末、未、朱、失

I still didn’t go out of my way to make any mnemonics though, just moreso tell myself (without chanting) what kanji are within other kanji each time. For example 妹 (woman + hitherto = younger sister).

Edit - @s1212z makes a good point about the ‘where to put them’. Many radicals only ever appear on the left/right/top/bottom, so it is definitely good to remember the positions so that you can be more confident writing them from memory.

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On the topic of radicals, I took some time before this most recent dive into kanji to learn the bulk of them in isolation, and I’m finding that’s really killed off my problem with mixing up similar kanji. It only took a couple of weeks for me, and I think that exposure time to each one let me build kanji out in my head much more easily. I’m even starting to remember how to write kanji off the top of my head, which I’d considered mostly impossible before. That’s not important to most people I’m aware, and I certainly don’t reckon most people would want to spend time with something like this, but in case you do, here’s what I used:
https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1044119361

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What application is this? Its not anki is it?

Ah okay. I think it’s because the app and the book I was looking at (from my post and Megumins posts above), neither of them mention radicals.

@evelynriales that’s a good idea, I did ponder about going and just doing radicals on WK. I’ll see if there’s a kitsun equivalent though.

Is it possible for you to have a quick look on amazon.co.jp? I searched and could only find standard grid books rather the sort in your photo?
The tablet is good but it would be nice to see the improvement (assuming there is some) over time.

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This is basically the exact type of book I use, but I use the cheaper 100¥ store version :sweat_smile:.

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I used to buy these packs whenever I ordered something else from AmazonJP but they seem to have stopped sending those overseas sadly.

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dang… I’ve done about 650 days straight since 2020 Dec… I’ve not done 2.5 hours each day but there were days I did 900+ reviews on WK… brutal – even wrote a post about it, it was bad, it made me crazier than I already am, and I’m not sure if I ever got over it. I think my average is probably a bit under an hour.

Congrats on a successful grind!

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Yeah, can’t ship to the UK. Started down the rabbit-hole of proxy buying/shipping until hit the delivery price then backed uoff

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These ones ship overseas and seem to be identical, just another brand.

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