I plan to start learning vocab soon and I found Torii SRS. Is it fine to only use that for vocab?
And is there any good SRS based grammar programs. I plan to start one once I reach level 10.
Thanks!
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Torii is really good! I generally use it to add words I come across in grammar studies but you can also just have it set up to give you core 10k words, or words for any of the N levels (N5, N4 etc etc) - the fact that there is audio and a lot of helpful context sentences is a real positive.
For grammar, bunpro is an SRS system -https://www.bunpro.jp/ - Iāve used it a little bit and it seems decent so far. Iām not sure you could/would want to use it as your main learning tool though, youād probably want a textbook or course and then use bunpro to cement it with SRS exercises. Iāve been using Lingodeer mainly just because of availability and ease (as itās a mobile app) and while it has some drawbacks Iāve found it pretty decent - a lot of people use the Genki textbooks though (and if you are using those you can set up bunpro to follow the order of Genki). I think with grammar there are a bunch of decent tools out there so itās really just about picking one and sticking with it! I would advise against Doulingo though - tried that and found that it didnāt really teach anything.
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You might want to check out The Ultimate Additional Japanese Resources List!
Otherwise I can only agree with @sycamore.
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I personally went for Tae Kim, mostly because of the well-structured supply of information, but also because it was free and easily accessible through the Internet.
I combined that with Bunpro, which is kind of a wanikani-esque srs system for grammar, and allows you to structure lessons according to certain teaching methods like Tae Kim, Genki, etc
Torii is absolutely great and amazing, Iāve learned so much good and useful vocab from it. Canāt recommend enough.
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I tried to use Torii once but for some reason I couldnāt find how to make it show me the answer when I got it wrong, leaving me unable to finish my reviews. That was a long time ago, perhaps Iād figure it out if I started again.
For Grammar: I second the suggestion for Tae Kimās grammar guide. Itās absolutely incredible, once you read a chapter you will not forget that grammar point ever again.
If you do want a more flash cardy SRS based grammar app though, I would check out kawaii nihongo. Itās really great if youāre first starting, however I would still cross reference it with Tae Kim from time to time as itās quite easy to be mislead on a point or two
No idea about torii, may check it out myself though! My vocabulary and kanji have always been much weaker than my grammar.
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Torii is a great tool. I just canāt find the time to keep up with Wanikani, Torii, grammar and a bit of immersion.
The day only has so many hours and too much Japanese really causes my é to ććć.
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Just wondering, isnt WaniKani also vocab?
Or is Torii + WaniKani the best way to learn vocab?
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Wanikani does also teach vocabulary, but only vocabulary related to the kanji it teaches. So a significant margin of words (such as those only written hirigana) can be missed out. Nevertheless I would not worry about these words too much, a lot of them will be learnt through reading practice and you can always look up ones you do not know really easily seeing as they are written in hirigana (or katakana).
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Thanks everyone! I will probably use Tae Kimās guide and Torii, Iāalso check out bunpro.
As i was reading this I had an interesting though, I remember hearing a lot of games in japanese are hiragana only because they are focused on children, is it worth going through these games to learn what words would be hiragana only?
I donāt think it would be, primarily because a lot of words that use kanji would also be written in hirigana, so there would be a significant amount of overlap.
I would say it is. Identifying words without Kanji would be a very valuable skill in my opinion.
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Iām like a broken record regarding my recommendations on grammar. Please watch Cure Dollyās youtube channel in order to understand grammar. Hereās a link to Cure Dollyās channel
At first you will be weirded out because of the presentation (the mismatch between the young appearance of CGI face, and the old ladyās voice), but if you keep watching you will realize this is the best channel possible to understanding japanese grammar. You can then use an app like bunpro (as others have pointed), but I believe watching Cure Dollyās videos is a must if you want to get a firm understanding about japanese grammar.
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While I agree that Cure Dolly is a great resource, I think she only works as a secondary resource to a more traditional approach. Her videos donāt really work when they are the first exposure you have to a concept, but they are great once you have learned the textbook approach she so hates, so you can learn the true grammatical rules that dictate the knowledge you learn in a textbook/other guide. I Absolutely do still recommend watching her videos though.
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You can check the box: āauto expand vocab details after wrong answerā in the review settings. Just in case you ever try again.
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