The Science Of Learning Japanese
“Science is organized knowledge. ” – Herbert Spencer
Although we aren’t learning a science right now, being a bit scientific about things isn’t a bad idea (don’t worry, you won’t have to get too crazy).
As said in the talk, being scientific, making tables, charting graphs, etc., can be really valuable. On the other hand (this is me talking, now) you don’t want to get too obsessed about it. There’s a fine line between just right and way too much. You don’t want to waste your time on this.
Here are some things you could do, though, with your Japanese.
- Create a sortable spreadsheet for words you’ve learned. Rate them by how well you know them. As you’re practicing on Lang-8 (or wherever) try to make sure you use words you know, rather than the words that you know the best.
- Evernote is also a great way to keep track of words (and other things too). It’s searchable, so you can put raw Japanese text in here and you’ll be able to find it later as needed. If you put enough stuff into Evernote, you’ll be able to find examples of almost anything, which is pretty awesome.
- Use numbers to your advantage. Learn X number of kanji per day. Learn X number of vocab per day. Spend X amount of time per day. Figure out what works for you, and chart it as you do it. That way you can see how well you’re doing in a visual fashion (rather than in your head, which can be tricky sometimes).
There are plenty of ways to be more “scientific” about Japanese learning. In fact, Anki does a lot of this for you (telling you what to study and when). Imagine the days when you didn’t have spaced repetition learning. Those were dark learning days indeed…
So, what data can you keep track of? What kind of data will help you learn more effectively? What will make sure you study the right things, and the right amounts of those things? Figure it out, then move on.
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