I have a lot of free time, so i end up doing extra study a lot to kill time. I know SRS is supposed to use gaps in review to strengthen memory, so I’m curious about opinions on just how much extra study is “too much” and could hurt my learning in the long run. I’ve only been doing this for a week and a half, so it could also be the slow period blues ive read about, haha.
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No. SRS is meant for optimizing the time you need to spend on studying. It spaces out your repetitions juuuust enough that you (most likely) almost forget the item by the time it comes up again. Obviously if you were to spend every single waking hour of your life just looking at one specific thing, then you will remember that, but it’s very inefficient.
That being said, you can probably spend your time more wisely than killing time with extra study. Like for example learning grammar.
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Thanks for your help! I read that grammar would be best learned after i have a base of vocabulary and kanji to build on, but since i’ve got the free time anyway, might as well start learning some principles at least.
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or reading! or listening.
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Honestly, really doesn’t matter. Having base vocabulary helps, but only because you don’t need to keep looking up the words as you learn. Virtually all grammar resources will either explain the words as they go or they’ll have vocab sheets before every section. And if you have the time, learning grammar as early as possible will help you tons.
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Thanks again! do you have any preferred grammar resources that have worked the best for you?
I personally just got my grammar stuff from a lot of different sources, but of course Tae Kim’s Guide, Cure Dolly, even Genki is great.
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I think studying too much from a single resource is going to hurt you. But that being said, studying more as a whole will not hurt you - it just depends what the extra time is spent on.
By that I mean it’s ok to have time to do WK, and time to do grammar. But let’s say you’ve already done all your SRS for the day and your grammar lesson, doing an extra one is probably ok, but doing 3 extra ones will likely yield less reward than using that time to try to read something (fun). The act of trying to see if you can encounter what you’ve learned recently will do a lot more to help.
So for example, in the morning I usually try to do my 1 Jpod101 lesson a day or watch a vlog. Then I do WK throughout the day during work breaks, so that my study time at night before bed looks like this:
- 10-15 mins of WK to finish up
- 15-20 mins of NativShark (1-2 new grammar lessons.)
- 10 mins miscellaneous stuff (JPDB, Umi)
- then the rest of my time is spent reading book clubs, it’s usually about 30-60 minutes.
If work is slow and I got even more done before my study time, then I allocate the leftover time to reading, not more time to my studying. (Or to sleep, because sleep is more important)
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Thanks a bunch! that sounds like a good strategy to me. I’ve decided to add some more basic vocab that WK hasnt gotten to or is taking longer to get to, so i can recognize it in reading/ listening quicker. I figure some extra study of the basic communication from the start cant hurt.
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I guess I have a similar question and saw this topic already open so I don’t want to make a new one.
Where do people sit with after lesson extra study? I find that once my lesson is done, I’ve learned a lot and feel a bit unsure. Yesterday I had my first lessons with Kanji and it really threw my pace out. I noticed there were things that really stuck with me, while some things seemed always illusive. I stuck with the reviews and finally got it but I felt confused during my reviews every time I saw a new review on a kanji that I was continually failing, and I was still failing it.
I understand it’s going to take me time to adjust to the work flow and so I’m going to keep sticking with it. I’m thinking maybe after a lesson, do the extra study to make sure I understood what I just learned. Similar to how a teacher would tell you something, then you would apply it after. I’m also thinking about adding a writing section to my study where as I do lessons, I physically write or type the Kanji or Radical, to prove comprehension.
I want the power that comes with SRS, but I also lack the confidence that I actually learned the lesson correctly. Thoughts?
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I think if you’re just putting some extra effort into the lessons that’s fine. There’s plenty of people who find it helpful to handwrite the kanji they’re learning. It’s still part of the lesson.
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I know I made this tread to ask a question on this, so my new idea might not be the best, but what ive decided to do is limit my extra study to right after new lessons. I do extra study until i dont need to look up answers, or until I feel i can retain the new info for at least a little while. Then, I’ll wait for the SRS to do its thing. In the meantime ill do what the replies to my question above said, haha.
The magic of SRS is that it self adjusts. If you didn’t learn the subject, you will have more reviews with it. If you did learn the subject, you’ll have fewer* reviews with it.
I wouldn’t yet worry about it on level 1. Later levels with more abstract meanings can be tougher, then you might want to use other methods, but currently you are just experiencing the fact that learning kanji is simply a new thing for you. Eventually you’ll get used to it.
You’ve only just started. Give yourself time. You’ll get it.
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