I’d like to have some tips on learning new vocabulary.
I practice writing and reading and do grammar exercises.
My study time/homework time is about 1-2h per day since I work full time.
The problem is sometimes I do reading practice or just grammar practice sheet.
Most of the time I have no problem with grammar but the main problem is I don’t know a lot of the kanji and when I keep reading and I don’t understand I end up looking up each kanji meaning, my brain “disconnect” and I can’t focus anymore.
The other problem is, it takes quite some time to learn one Kanji (well for me anyway) especially if I have no knowledge of the Kanji . New word with kanji I already know is not a problem because my brain makes the connection.
So my question is, should I stick to easier texts and exercises until I get more vocabulary or is there a good way to practice all the new stuff I see?
I started using an Android app with vocabulary from JLPT5-1 other than Wanikani .
So, I’d like some advice from other fellow Japanese language learners because maybe the way I’m doing things is not good .
I’m sure others will mention this, but the Graded Reader series is a great way to get comfortable both reading and listening to Japanese. They are available in book (with CD) form, and now apparently in iPad form
I’m not sure how far along you are in your studies, or even if this is what you’re asking, but I’ve been using iKnow to increase my vocabulary. I still consider myself a beginner, though, so depending on how much you already know, this might not be helpful to you. You can do a free trial if you want to check it out.
I’d say just keep at it, keep on using WaniKani, and textbooks - as they build the base knowledge to get further on your own.
When you find a new word when reading/listening to something, and you see/hear it multiple times - then look it up. If you think it’s something common/important/usable in daily life, either use the sentence you found it in, or look up example sentences (jisho.org or tangorin.com are good for finding these) put them in an anki deck for revision.
There’s no quick way, but just keep chipping away every day.
If there was a quick way, I would have just done that! Instead, I am using Anki like many of the rest of you. I really, really like when I learn a somewhat obscure word for which the definition is clear (落書き for graffiti, for example). I used to think “now, what are the chances I’ll ever have to say graffiti in Japanese?” but after dazzling people a couple of times with obscure words like that, I just add them to my Anki deck now and carry on…