High meaning accuracy, low reading accuracy

[Kgw]

So I’ve noticed that my accuracy for reading is taking hits slowly over time compared to my meaning accuracy. It used to be a lot higher and as I’ve learned more and more each day, my reading is falling behind. Based on what the data says and my own experience and interpretation it’s clear that it’s easy for me to identify meaning because the meaning often is formed around an English sentence - I think and hear in English.

I mean, well duh… that’s not ground breaking, and is actually obvious. I’m only level 2, which I understand, early days, but I like to at least be prepared and have some foundation so that when I need to have this skill, it’s already been brewing in the background and I can start building on it.

When I’m practising my physical writing of hiragana, for example I write, あいうえお, but I think of the hiragana characters and say the sound instead of thinking about the romaji characters. I’ve found that when I say あ, I don’t think /a/ anymore, I think and hear あ in my mind.

I also find the on’yomi vs kun’yomi readings are a blind spot current that gets me tripped up. For example, じょう and うえ. I think to myself Joe’s toe is above ground, but I forget that じょう Joe’s toe is above ground is the Kanji but うえ is the vocab for weights above you - and they both mean Above. I realise this is just growing pains, I just wondering if there are ways to think about the kanji and vocab, on’yomi and kun’yomi, and just the basics of verb, adjective and noun identifications with more clarity? I must be honest, I never learned English that well in school so I’m already struggling when it comes to identify and understanding the explanations of grammar rules.

So I was wondering how people tap into the Japanese side of their comprehension, to think more in Japanese instead of purely English, for applying the reading of new kanji and vocabulary?

If it helps. Currently I’m only using WaniKani while I dip my toes into the water. I would like to start using Genki and pronunciation practise in the future. Would either of these support some of my growing pains on WaniKani?

Thank you and sorry for the long read!

[polv]

I believe reading is a good place to use mnemonics, and it can be both L1-based or L2-based. Well, just as mnemonics can accelerate learning all Kana’s, applying to the beginning stage of learning to use Kana, in fact.

Perhaps also to bare in mind that there are still things like conjunction, pitch, intonation, and phrasing. But also not to worry too much. Sometimes repetition just works without any tricks.

[Kgw]

I see, I see. It’s defiantly a shock to the system. Like us all, I have to find meaning and reason to any or everything, and I like to leverage hacks to allow for development of the learning process. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it right now?

I know a few days ago I noticed that I just had to keep at the system and just let it flow. The amount of times I’ve learned that and then repeat the same fear response is becoming clear. I guess being a anxious person doesn’t help, huh?!

@polv would you recommend adding Genki or pronunciation practise like Dogen into the mix, or maybe just get a bit more comfortable with learning Japanese before I commit more?

[dunlewy]

You are only on Level 1. A lot of your questions will clear up as you continue. Sometimes it’s just a matter of repetition. Do you write down the kanji, meanings and readings in a notebook or somewhere? That helps me tremendously. Good luck on your Japanese journey!

[Kgw]

I’m level 2 as I said in the comment, I’ve been on WaniKani for 12 days and learning from Tofugu’s guides for the past 3 weeks. The avatar just isn’t updated and I don’t really care that much right now about rank and having it updated. Maybe one day.

I think I will probably start hand writing. I know there is a lot of research that shows writing is superior to typing when learning. It’s just unfortunate that writing isn’t a valuable form of communication in the information age, so it’ll be more of a party trick! The value from learning though is more than enough. I think I’ve got a script for the writing already installed.

Thank you!

[polv]

I would put Genki or any beginner textbooks first, as they have the most well-defined towards the lower intermediate end.

But there is no guarantee that when you do WaniKani for some time, and Genki would be without trouble, or even just reasonably finishing it.

About not knowing enough vocabularies yet, I think it’s eventually a skill to either knowing essential vocabularies (for a situation) in advance, or using a dictionary sufficiently along the way. I just hope you don’t eventually stuck worrying about that.

Just do Genki now. And if it’s too much trouble, put Genki aside and revisit it like 3 months later, regardless of WaniKani level.

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I would put Dogen as a supplemental study, and it can start now. But it also can start later. Don’t worry about whatever choice you take.

Handwriting could be helpful for studying, but it can also get overdone and take time from many other important things. In the end, not absolute, but reduce-defer-tidy up for other more useful things.

Not giving hope, but it can eventually be more than a party trick. Having the skill, liking the skill, and you will use it.

[Angelodmage]

Level 2 is way too low to worry about these things. Just keep going. Besides, 84% accuracy is still fine.

[Kgw]

Thank you a lot. I’ll start adding those to my day. I’m in the fortunate position to have a lot of time on my hands right now so increasing time on learning Japanese isn’t going to take me away from other aspects of my responsibilities.

Again, thank you for framing this information for me. I’m aware of being at such an early stage, but I’m wise enough to know that there is always benefits to building a strong foundation of knowledge and comprehension - which can include understanding linguistics or even the history of Japan and it’s culture around language. It’s not much now, but in time, it’ll pay some really amazing dividends. Just being exposed to it means that in the future I wont be blindsided.

Thank you for your time, @polv

[Kgw]

I thought I would just leave an update on this post seeing that it has been 7 days since I changed my study approach. I don’t know if anyone would be interested but, if anyone find’s it helpful, awesome!

Taking @polv recommendations and customizing it to my own requirements. I have started when learning each new Kanji and Vocabulary word by writing it in a note book. I use, Stroke order for the Kanji/Vocabulary, followed by it’s Hiragana pronunciation, and the English word to define it. I also more often than not took inspiration from WaniKani’s mnemonics and tailed the image to my own life. Additionally I use my non-dominate hand to write. Using my Left hand requires me to slow down and really think about the entire context and stroke order while learning. It does mean I take longer to learn but that is a trade off for the results I’m getting. I also found the more times I use the Kanji/Vocabulary and Hiragana pronunciation during my mnemonic, the better results I have had.

While my Kanji accuracy has gone slightly down, -0.80% relative decrease for reading, a -0.22% relative decrease for meaning, and a total of -0.52%. My vocabulary which I was most concerned with has shown a +4.87 relative improvement in reading, a +0.41% relative improvement in meaning, with a total improvement of +2.86%.

These maybe small percentages, but as an overview, in 7 days these have been great improvements. I finally feel a bit more relaxed, less stressed, and more confident which has made study more enjoyable.

I have also started Genki 1, and will be combining that with Dogen’s content for my accent, hearing and pronunciation practise.