Not learning grammar but memorising sentences

Bunpro
#1

Hey all,

I’m a fairly new BP user, so I’m not entirely sure if I’m using the system right.

I’ve been reviewing all of the material I learned in Genki, chapter by chapter. What I’ve been finding with some of the reviews, is that once I’ve read the first couple of words of the sentence, I don’t actually bother reading the rest since I know the answer. For example し or 見たい。

People have been raving that Bunpro is an optimum way to learn grammar, but by just memorising the sample sentence answers, I don’t feel like I am actually “learning”.

I missing something here?

6 Likes
#2

Do more lessons. Its seems there’s a lot of very similar example sentences that require different grammar. At some point you will need to start reading more carefully to figure out what idea needs to be conveyed.

5 Likes
#3

I had the same issue, but stick with it. Force yourself to read the whole sentence, because you are learning the sentence structure that grammar points are used in, and that will help you produce that grammar later.

2 Likes
#4

That is unfortunately bound to happen at some points since it’s impossible to make so many example sentences for each grammar point. I’m sure it happens with all of us.
What I will say is that when you start to get to the higher SRS levels (10+) you will find that you don’r remember the sentences in the way you have described, because the time between reviews is so long. So by the time you burn a grammar point (level 12) this shouldn’t be an issue for you.
Persevere and you’ll get there.

1 Like
#5

The goal of SRS is to maximize your long-term retention, while also minimizing your time spent reviewing. The earliest reviews will almost always feel easy because they’re still fresh in mind, but as you add more and more grammar points, and older ones finally sneak back into your review queue after weeks or months, you’ll find that not everything stuck as well as you’d hoped it might. That’s usually when you’ll start getting reviews wrong. But that’s okay, because that’s just how the system works.

By the time you remember the grammar well enough to pass it even after weeks/months of not seeing it, that’s when you’ll know it was definitely worth it :slight_smile:

 

Edit:
Also, each time a grammar point resurfaces at a new SRS level, you get tested on it with a new/different sentence. If you never want to see old sentences, you can disable Ghost Reviews in the settings (these reviews have no bearing on the progress of your grammar points, they’re just extra practice on the specific sentences you’ve answered incorrectly).

6 Likes
#6

Memorizing sample sentences is also part of learning :slight_smile: As you get more familiar with the grammar points, you will begin to apply them naturally instead of just remembering the association.

In addition, I’ve been surprised by how many of the examples I’ve unconsciously used as set phrases with small modifications when speaking.

5 Likes
#7

@fjdksleiwoqp @Kai @matt_in_mito @Asher @SolarHusky @Iluminari

Learning the sentences themselves is beneficial too, in newer grammar points I made sure that various common patterns are used. For example, を皮切りに is often used with 次々、 相次いで, etc and so the same patterns are used on the bunpro. If you memorize the sentence and relation between 次々 then when you will see 次々 on JLPT in grammar questions sentence and 皮切り in the answers then you won’t need to think too much about the answer. Similar to のに and words like 必要だ, etc. Not to mention that by simply replacing single words you will be able to create grammatically correct sentences.

11 Likes
#8

I do the same thing, but I have ghosts on the highest setting so that for every new sentence that I don’t get right first time, at least I rote memorise the sentence and I can recall it more easily the next time I need to come up with something similar.
I think it does help to use both variety and repetition to learn things. And you can add your own example sentences, I believe. That could be a useful option when I’ve gotten through all in-built the sentences.

2 Likes
#9

The examples are probably my worst gripe about Bunpro. My Japanese coworkers have said that quite a few are unnatural. I understand they’re trying to teach grammar, but the fact is some are just low frequency and are only going to have a handful of common use situations. For example " 雨が降りそうだから、傘を持って行っ てもらって ね。" Tripped me up probably a dozen times until I just memorize the example because this is a bizarre thing to say.

Add that to the fact that a lack of context makes some examples more confusing than necessary, or what I tend to call bad examples.

2 Likes
#10

I personally think you are learning grammar. Your knowledge of grammar is what is allowing you to predict the rest of the sentence and drop it. This is something Japanese people do themselves: they omit parts of sentences which can naturally be inferred by the listener. Just my two cents.

1 Like