I Love You Physical Media ❤️ I Love You Cds ❤️ I Love You Vinyl ❤️ I Love You Cassettes ❤️

antique perfume bottles. some are transparent

To be clear, if Trump has won this election it is because of misinformation, electoral interference, corruption and mostly bigotry.

However, if you knew what was at stake and decided that you were willing to accept the possibility of a Trump victory rather than vote for Harris, you do not get to walk back an inch of that choice. You accepted responsibility at the ballot box, and now you get to own it.

Linguistics and Language Podcasts

Looking for podcasts about language and linguistics? Here’s a comprehensive list with descriptions! I’ve also mentioned if shows have transcripts. If there are any I missed, let me know!

Linguistics

Lingthusiasm A podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne (that’s me!). Main episodes every third Thursday of every month, with a second bonus episode on Patreon. (Transcripts for all episodes)

Because Language Every week Daniel, Ben, and Hedvig cover the news in linguistics and tackle a particular topic. (previously Talk the Talk) (Transcripts for all episodes after release)

The Vocal Fries Every episode Carrie Gillon & Megan Figueroa tackle linguistic discrimination in relation to a particular group. (Transcripts for some episodes)

En Clair A podcast about forensic linguistics from Dr Claire Hardaker at Lancaster University. Episodes released monthly, with a range of topics from criminal cases to literary fraud. (Transcripts for all episodes)

Accentricity From Sadie Durkacz Ryan, a lecturer in sociolinguistics at Glasgow University. Season one has six episodes.

Field Notes Martha Tsutsui Billins interviews linguists about their linguistic fieldwork. (Transcripts for all episodes)

History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences sub-30 minute episodes about the history of linguistics from James McElvenny, with the occasional interviews.

The Language Revolution Changing UK attitudes to languages.

Lexis A conversation about linguistics with a topical UK focus, from Matthew Butler, Lisa Casey, Dan Clayton and Jacky Glancey.

Kletshead A podcast about bilingual children for parents, teachers and speech language therapists from Dr. Sharon Unsworth. Also in Dutch.

Linguistics Lounge A podcast about language and discourse with Tony Fisher and Julia de Bres. Transcripts for all episodes.

CorpusCast from Dr Robbie Love, available alongside other shows in the Aston University podcast feed or in video format.

Life and Language Michaela Mahlberg chats with her guests about life and why language matters.

Toksave – Culture Talks A podcast from the PARADISEC Archive, where the archived records of the past have life breathed back into them once again.

Theory Neutral Covering typology and descriptive grammars with Logan R Kearsley.

PhonPod Podcast Interview-based podcast about phonetics and phonology.

Linguistics Careercast A podcast devoted to exploring careers for linguists outside academia.

Language

The Allusionist Stories about language and the people who use it, from Helen Zaltzman (Transcripts for all episodes) (my review).

Grammar Girl Episodes are rarely longer than 15 minutes, but they’re full of tips about English grammar and style for professional writing, and more! (Transcripts for all episodes).

A Language I Love Is… A show about language, linguistics and people who love both. An interview-based podcast hosted by Danny Bate.

Word of Mouth BBC Radio 4 show exploring the world of words with Michael Rosen.

America the Bilingual Dedicated to the pursuit of bilingualism in the USA.

Words & Actions A podcast about how language matters in business, politics and beyond.

Subtitle A podcast about languages and the people who speak them, from Patrick Cox and Kavita Pillay. For those who miss Patrick’s old podcast, The World in Words.

The Parlé Podcast from Canadian Speech-Language Pathologist Chantal Mayer-Crittenden.

Slavstvuyte! A podcast for everyone who is fascinated by Slavic languages from Dina Stankovic.

Subtext A podcast about the linguistics of online dating.

Conlangs

Conlangery Particularly for those with an interest in constructed  languages, they also have episodes that focus on specific natural  languages, or linguistic phenomena. Newer episodes have transcripts.

Linguitect Matt, Rowan and Liam explain linguistic topics and talk about how to build them into your conlang.

Dictionaries

Word For Word From Macquarie dictionary, with a focus on Australian English.

Fiat Lex A podcast about making dictionaries from Kory Stamper & Steve Kleinedler. One season.

Word Matters From the editors at Merriam-Webster, hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. 

English

Unstandardized English Interview-based podcast. Disrupting the language of racism and white supremacy in English Language Teaching.

History of English Meticulously researched, professionally produced and engaging content on the history of English. (My reviews: episodes 1-4, episodes 5-79, bonus episodes).

Lexicon Valley Hosted by John McWhorter.

That’s What They Say Every week linguist Anne Curzan joins Rebecca Kruth on Michigan public radio for a five minute piece on a quirk of English language.

A Way With Words A talk-back format show on the history of English words, cryptic crosswords and slang.

Words/etymology

Something Rhymes With Purple Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth uncover the hidden origins of language and share their love of words.

Telling our Twisted Histories Kaniehti:io Horn brings us together to decolonize our minds– one word, one concept, one story at a time.

Word Bomb Hosts Pippa Johnstone and Karina Palmitesta explore one word per week, using particular words for a deep dive into linguistic and social issues. (Transcripts for all episodes)

Words for Granted In each episode Ray Belli explores the history of a common English word in around fifteen minutes.

Lexitecture Ryan, a Canadian, and Amy, a Scot share their chosen word each episode.

Bunny Trails Shauna and Dan discuss idioms and other turns of phrase.

Translation

Troublesome Terps The podcast about the things that keep interpreters up at night. See also back episodes of Alexander Drechsel’s old podcast LangFM.

In Languages other than English

Parler Comme Jamais A French language podcast from Binge Audio.Monthly episodes from Laélia Véron.

Sozusagen A German language podcast of weekly 10 minute episodes.

Språket A Swedish language podcast from Sveriges Radio about language use and change.

Språktalk A Norwegian language podcast with Helene Uri and Kristin Storrusten from Aftenposten.

Klog på sprog A Danish language podcast that playfully explores the Danish language.

Kletshead A Dutch language podcast about bilingual children for parents, teachers and speech language therapists from Dr. Sharon Unsworth. Also in English.

BabelPodcast A Portuguese language podcast from Brazil, hosted by Cecilia Farias and Gruno.

War of Words A Spanish language podcast about linguistics from Juana de los Santos, Ángela Rodríguez, Néstor Bermúdez and Antonella Moschetti.

Con la lengua fuera A Spanish language podcast from Macarena Gil y Nerea Fernández de Gobeo.

Hablando mal y pronto A Spanish language conversational podcast from Santiago, Juan and Magui.

Back Catalogue

These are podcasts that had a good run of episodes and are no longer being produced.

Spectacular Vernacular A podcast that explores language … and plays with it Hosted by Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer for Slate. Transcripts available. 19 episodes from 2021 and 2022.

Science Diction a podcast about words—and the science stories behind them. Hosted by Johanna Mayer, this is a production from WNYC Science Friday. 42 episodes from 2020-2022.

The World in Words From PRI (2008-2019)

How Brands are Build (season 1 of this show focuses on brand naming)

Very Bad Words A  podcast about swearing and our cultural relationship to it. 42 episodes from 2017 and 2018.

The Endless Knot is not strictly a language podcast, but they often include word histories, linguistics podcast fans episode may find their colour series particularly interesting.

Given Names (four part radio series from 2015, all about names. My review)

Odds & Ends

There are also a number of podcasts that have only a few episodes, are no longer being made, or are very academic in their focus:

The Black Language Podcast Anansa Benbow brings you a podcast dedicated to talking about Black people and their languages. Five episodes from 2020.

Speculative Grammarian Podcast (from the magazine of the same name, about 50 episodes from Dec 2009-Jan 2017)

Linguistics Podcast (on YouTube, around 20 episodes in 2013 introducing basic linguistic concepts)

Evolving English: Linguistics at the Library (8 episodes 2018), from the British Library.

Language Creation Society Podcast (8 episodes, 2009-2011)

LingLab (very occasionally updated podcast from graduate students in the Sociolinguistics program at NC State University)

Hooked on Phonetics five episodes from Maxwell Hope from 2019 and 2020.

Glossonomia Each episode is about a different vowel or consonant sound in English. 44 episodes from 2010-2014.

Distributed Morphs An interview-based podcast about morphology, from Jeffrey Punske. Eight episodes in 2020.

Word to the Whys a podcast where linguists talk about why they do linguistics. Created by TILCoP Canada (Teaching Intro Linguistics Community of Practice). 10 episodes in 2020 and 2021.

The Weekly Linguist An  interview podcast about the languages of the world and the linguists who study them from Jarrette Allen and Lisa Sprowls. 21 episodes in 2021.

Silly Linguistics (ad hoc episode posting, but episode 7 is an interview with Kevin Stroud for History of English fans)

Linguistics After Dark Eli, Sarah and Jenny answer your linguistics questions in hour-ish long episodes.

WACC Podcast (guest lectures at Warwick Applied Linguistics)

Sage Language and Linguistics

Let’s Talk Talk

Queer Linguistics has a couple of episodes, with a bit of classroom vibe

GradLings An occasionally-updated podcast for linguistics students at any stage of study, to share their stories and experiences.

Canguro English A podcast about language for people learning languages. 103 episodes from 2018-2021.

Why is English? A podcast about how the English language got to be the way it is, from Laura Brandt. Seven episodes from 2020 and 2021. 

Animology Vegan blogger Colleen Patrick Goudreau uses her love of animals as a starting point for exploring animal-related etymologies. 27 episodes from 2017-2020.

Wordy Wordpecker Short weekly episodes from Rachel Lopez, charting the stories of English words. 14 episodes from 2018.

Speaking of Translation A monthly podcast from Eve Bodeux & Corinne McKay. 10 episodes from 2020-2021.

Se Ve Se Escucha (Seen and Heard) Language justice and what it means to be an interpreter, an organizer and bilingual in the US South, from the Center for Participatory Change. Episodes from 2020.

This is an updated listing from October 2023. I’m always excited to be able to add more podcasts to the list, so if you know of any linguistics/language podcasts not here, please let me know! I wait until a show has at least 3 episodes before I add it to the list, and I like to let people know when transcripts are available.

I want to rant for a moment. Which if you're following me, I hope you are used to this lol.

This is for the people using comprehensible input to learn Chinese:

Pinyin IS NOT ENGLISH. IT IS NOT ENGLISH TRANSCRIPTION. IT HAS IT'S OWN PRONUNCIATION AND DOES NOT MATCH ENGLISH LETTERS PRONUNCIATION. (Chinese is not pronounced like English, the sounds in pinyin do not match English sounds any more than French letters/pronounciation match the sounds of English - which if you don't know, NO French is not pronounced like English). This is a pronunciation guide for how pinyin sounds and is pronounced.

Pinyin is used in Chinese elementary schools. Pinyin is learned by native speakers, and used to type on phones and computers. Or Zhuyin is learned in elementary schools in Taiwan, and used to type on phones and computers. This is a zhuyin pronunciation guide for how zhuyin sounds and is pronounced.

If you are trying to do a pure Automatic Language Growth approach to studying, pinyin is just a transcription system used for Chinese! It is okay to start reading pinyin whenever you start reading hanzi. It is NOT English translation, or English 'estimation' of pronunciation. (Not any more than the French alphabet or German alphabet is 'English' - and be so for real, I know you know German alphabet isn't pronounced like English so stop pretending Chinese pinyin is pronounced like English). Native speakers see pinyin when they're in school. In some educational materials for native speakers, you'll run into pinyin! You don't need to avoid pinyin once you have gotten to the point in ALG where you're okay with yourself reading hanzi! Once you have acquired enough language to start reading, pinyin and zhuyin are just as 'normal' for native speakers learning to read as hanzi is. You will ultimately NEED to learn pinyin or zhuyin to type.

I am not saying to read Everything with pinyin above the hanzi, once you start reading. By all means skip the pinyin as soon as you are able when reading things. Hanzi is what books are written in, and websites, and you'll need to develop the skill to read hanzi ASAP. You'll want to LOOK at pinyin when learning new words/hanzi, as you'll need to learn how to type it and what sounds match up to the pinyin, or zhuyin, writing system. So learning material like Lazy Chinese's videos that include pinyin? Useful for teaching you how the pinyin matches to sounds, and how to type the new hanzi she teaches you in each lesson.

Pinyin is just an estimate of pronunciation, just like spelling in any language (English spelling is not a perfect guide for how to pronounce English words, French spelling is not a perfect guide for how to pronounce French words, and Chinese pinyin is not a perfect guide for how to pronounce Chinese, like Japanese hiragana is just an estimation - it doesn't capture some sounds in spoken Japanese). You should listen to how actual people are pronouncing words over what pinyin says (for example, some people will say pinyin 'ng' as 'n', or 'shi' as 'si', or 'r' as 'l'). You'll still need to learn pinyin/zhuyin to type and write things digitally.

This post is because I see so many people studying Chinese through comprehensible input, thinking they need to desperately avoid pinyin. I'm sick of it. Pinyin or zhuyin are going to be NECESSARY at some point if you want to know how to type anything!

And unlike English, and French, Chinese language IS very phonetically similar to pinyin's estimates of pronunciation. (For example in English letter 'a' is not ONLY pronounced like 'cat' sometimes it's like 'ate', versus Chinese initials and finals which are quite consistent 'shi' is generally always pronounced the same as any other 'shi' if we're talking Standard Mandarin and not regional accents). If you can learn pinyin or zhuyin, you can type so many words just by hearing them! It took some practice to hear Chinese sounds correctly (obviously) but I can type most every word I have learned in Chinese in pinyin and then select the hanzi I want, just because I've heard the words. I sure couldn't fucking say that about English or French, the way words sound in English or French might not match the spelling much at all.

I'm just... really sick of the misunderstanding that pinyin is a tool for language learners, and no native speakers use pinyin. Native speakers use pinyin or zhuyin, if they're young enough to be using phones and computers. Some native speaker children use pinyin for a little while.

Native speakers also use hanzi to read in all media, and to write on paper, so learn hanzi obviously. You'll need hanzi. Don't try to avoid hanzi.

Hanzi are often phonetic, so knowing pinyin 'qing' for some hanzi with 青 in it, will help you realize how to read, look up, and type: 情 晴 清 蜻 请 青 箐 請 鯖 . Now again, like English, don't assume pronunciation is exactly like the Chinese pinyin, listen to the actual words pronounced. But it sure is a nice regular spelling for typing to pick up and learn.

As someone who learned to read, I do think it's fine and good to move right to reading hanzi directly, or hanzi while listening to matching audio, as soon as possible. You'll need to develop the skill of reading hanzi. Pinyin spelling is fairly regular, and once you get the sense of pinyin's spelling/pronunciation, you'll be able to type most hanzi in pinyin just by hearing the word's pronunciation. You can skip textbooks made for foreigners that use only pinyin for tons of pages (or whole volumes - I hate these textbooks). You can get textbooks that include hanzi from day one (probably with pinyin or zhuyin provided for brand new hanzi so you can sound out the hanzi if you don't have provided audio).

My point is: Don't avoid pinyin just because you're trying to 'learn Chinese in only Chinese.'

I mean, unless you want, in which case sure fuck yourself over and come back in 5 years and let us know how not being able to text or find anything online is going. I'm all for people doing whatever they want. It's your life. Maybe it will go so well, and you'll be able to come back and insist to learners everywhere and native speakers to stop learning pinyin as one learns to read hanzi. Maybe you'll have some awesome benefit to show us, that is acquired by avoiding pinyin. Maybe you come up with a new writing system that's more accurate and easier to write, like the Korean hangul writing system, and it replaces pinyin, zhuyin, and hanzi worldwide.

elderly women are so undervalued in society but they are some of the most amazing people in the world I think. we have a lot to learn from them

#LearningMandarinChinese #sstellestudiess 1

Like with any language, there are several resources and tools for those looking to learn Mandarin Chinese. I know because I’ve been there. And in this guide, I’ll set out some of the main things to know when starting your language learning journey and key resources to master Chinese grammar and vocabulary

The amazing Jaenelle, who did her thesis in Mandarin Chinese and studied in China, wrote up this post for beginners.

#LearningSwedish #sstellestudiess 1

Swedish Introductory courses

FSI Languages | basic swedish lessons with audio lessons and a textbook

Ikindalikelanguages.com | 45 short Swedish lessons

Ielanguages | basic phrases, vocabulary and grammar in 3 levels with 58 tutorials

Internetpolyglot | word vocabulary lists with audio pronunciations and English translations, with 44 categories

Swedish language course | 4 small lessons on the basics

OnlineSwedish | 7 lessons with a small exam at the end

Speaklanguages | basic vocab and phrases

Memrise | 1025 Basic swedish words to learn

Goethe-verlag | phrases, vocab and audio lessons

Learnalanguage | phrases, verbs, vocab, dictionary and culture

Loecsen | small lessons with quizzes

Mylanguages | literally so many different things

SayitinSwedish | 30 beginners lessons

SwedishPod101 | many, many different things

Wikiversity | 12 short lessons

Babbel | kinda like Duolingo I guess?

P.S. Many of these sites also offer beginners courses in other languages!

Peacocks are hilarious, really. They really are just like

My advice on Remembering the Kanji (RTK)

Before I share my learning routine and advice for RTK I would like to write about my personal experience first:

When I started to learn Japanese, kanji seemed incredibly difficult. They were just a complicated combination of strokes to me. Then I came across the book Remembering the Kanji (RTK) by James W. Heisig. Volume 1 presents a total of 2.200 kanji (including most of the Jōyō kanji).

I used the german version of Remembering the Kanji

The beginning was promising. I easily learned the first few hundred kanji. This experience was amazing. I never thought that this could be possible. But then I made the mistake of proceeding too fast. I saw forum posts of other RTK users who claimed that they “finished“ RTK in 3 months or even less. This motivated me and I tried to learn 25 kanji a day. Even though it was difficult to create memorable stories for this amount of kanji every day I moved on. After my first try to learn kanji with RTK, I forgot a great part of it after I “finished” the book.

I was not satisfied but I decided to move on and tried to read as much as possible instead. My idea was that I would make faster progress if I don’t learn kanji consciously. It’s not impossible to learn some kanji by seeing them repeatedly in context but it didn’t worked as well as I expected. 

Kanji seemed not as complicated like before but because of the great number of kanji and a lot of similar looking kanji they were still a great obstacle for me. Then I noticed that I still remembered the meaning of a number of kanji I learned with RTK. When I came across these kanji in context, I was able to understand new words without looking them up. Knowing their (rough) meaning really made a big difference. This made me think.

Around this time, I gave RTK a second chance and learned from my mistakes. I realized that if I really wanted to benefit from RTK I need to think long-term. It’s not that you do RTK for only 3 months and you are done. What I needed were sustainable strategies. 

I finished all 2.200 kanji (RTK volume 1) a while ago and I know most of them well now. By reviewing my RTK deck my recognition rate will further improve over time. My RTK knowledge helps me enormously with reading japanese books. I’m really happy that I gave it a second chance. That’s why I want to share my experiences and tips in this blog post. I hope that this post can be helpful for Japanese learners who struggled with RTK.

My learning routine

My usual learning routine looked like this (more detailed tips below):

1. Review

Every day, I used Anki to review my own RTK deck. 

Read the keyword and (if in doubt) the hint

Try to remember the elements of the kanji and their positions and write the kanji in the air

Turn the card and check the kanji

If it was wrong, change the hint and/or improve the story

2. Adding new kanji

After reviewing I usually added around 10 to 15 new kanji a day. My cards contain not only keyword and kanji but also fields for hints, elements of the kanji and the story. Here’s an example (my original cards are in German so this is just a rough translation):

Hints: If the keyword was very similar to another kanji I added a hint to reduce the risk of mixing them up.

Elements: I also added the elements of the kanji. This is useful for two reasons: By writing them out I become more aware of the elements which helps to remember new or complex elements correctly. Plus, by putting them on the back side of the card I can refresh my memory during reviews without using the book.

Story: Instead of creating a story only in my head I added the story to my cards. The reasons are the same like for the elements (see above).

…

After adding 5 new kanji I made a small break, came back and reviewed the new kanji. Then I repeated this process for another 5 kanji.

I usually added around 10 to 15 kanji a day. This was my sweet spot. Since I work full time and because my main focus was on reading japanese books I hadn’t a lot of time for RTK. By not adding more kanji that I can handle I made sure that I remember them well. 

Then I continued reading a book in Japanese and/or listened to something in Japanese. RTK was just a small part of my learning routine. My goal was not to finish it as fast as possible but to make sure that I remember these kanji as well as possible. Slowly but steady I learned more and more kanji. This gave me a noticeable advantage while reading.

RTK is not a race

As I wrote above, I made several mistakes myself but instead of blaming RTK I realized that I need to take the explanations in the book more seriously. It’s really important to make sure that the stories are memorable and that you pay attention to the details. 

The most important lesson I learned was that RTK is not a race. During my second attempt, it was not my goal to “finish” RTK as fast as possible but to remember these kanji LONG-TERM because this makes reading and learning new words much easier.

By proceeding too fast, the risk of forgetting a lot of kanji is very high. When it comes to RTK, a high recognition rate is more important than speed, in my opinion. That’s why I created sustainable strategies that helped me to remember most of the 2.200 kanji long-term.

5 Tips on Remembering the Kanji

Tip #1: Don’t underestimate the power of writing

In the beginning, I used to write every kanji on paper. Now, I only write them with my finger (either in the air or on the table). This is much faster and easier.

Why writing them at all? Some people say, being able to recognize them is enough. Personally, I remember them much better through writing (even if I just write them in the air; the movement of the hand makes a great difference for me). In my experience, writing works much better than just looking at a kanji because through writing I become aware of every detail. Many kanji look pretty similar. Sometimes only one little detail is different. The risk of mixing them up is much higher. 

I tried the “recognition-only approach” in the past and it didn’t work well for me. The ability to recognize and distinguish kanji just by looking at them has its limits. It’s not very accurate, that’s why I still mixed up similar kanji. 宇 and 字 or 烏 and 鳥 for example look very similar at the first glance. The original RTK method on the other hand helps to avoid that because you pay much more attention to the details.

Plus, writing in Japanese by hand is important to me. I love writing and kanji are very beautiful! That’s the reason why I want to be able to write in Japanese. But even if you don’t want to be able to write kanji, I recommend to write them in the air during reviews to reduce the risk of mixing them up. It may not seem like this could make a big difference but in my experience it’s really helpful. The power of writing should not be underestimated.

Tip #2: Add hints

When I repeatedly mix up kanji or when I can’t remember how to write them correctly, it’s a sign that the story is weak. I pay attention to the story and try to make it more memorable. Plus, when I confuse a kanji with another I add a hint to the card like “Don’t confuse with [similar keyword]”.

It’s also helpful to copy the definition of the keyword from a dictionary and/or a japanese word written in hiragana that contains this kanji and add it to the card. This way I have more context and this prevents me from confusing a keyword with a similar one (because the definitions are different). 

Using little hints is a great way to make the learning process less frustrating. Over time, I need these hints less and less. Eventually, I remember difficult kanji correctly. 

Tip #3: Take the time you need

It’s also very important not to rush. I barely added more than 15 new kanji a day. Most of the time, I only added about 5 or 10 a day. Since I work full time and because my main focus was on reading japanese books I hadn’t a lot of time for RTK.

During reviews I pay attention to the things I described above. Do I mix them up? Can I remember them correctly? Whenever I have trouble to remember certain kanji, I improve the story and/or add some hints. Some kanji may be more difficult than others, but over time you can learn every kanji by paying more attention to them. Paying attention to why you didn’t remember some kanji correctly and eliminating sources of error is really important. If a story doesn’t work don’t hesitate to improve it.

However, there’s no need to be too strict. You don’t need to nail them down to 100% before you move on. But I think it’s a good idea to give new kanji time to sink in a bit before continuing. That’s why I recommend to slow down the pace instead of rushing through the book.

Tip #4: Be creative

The meaning of some primitives chosen by Heisig are not optimal for everyone. It works much better if you choose something that has a strong meaning to you (like, characters from your favorite series). Just make sure that your personal meaning doesn’t conflict with later keywords or elements. Ideally, it’s as close to Heisig’s word as possible or it’s so unique that it’s impossible to mix it up with other words.

If a kanji is used as part of another kanji (like 青 in 請 for example) you don’t necessarily need to use it in it’s combined form if it’s difficult to create a good story. You can split or combine the elements of a kanji the way you like if it helps you to remember the kanji.

Tip #5: Combine RTK with reading

Some people recommend beginners to do RTK at the very beginning of their Japanese learning journey. The idea is, to complete RTK as fast as possible so that you can focus 100% on the language itself afterwards. However, I think depending on the person this can be counterproductive. RTK is probably more difficult for people who just started with Japanese because they can’t see the benefits of RTK yet. When you have no use for what you are learning it’s hard to stay motivated over an extended period of time. I think this is one reason, why people who tried RTK gave up.

When I started RTK I wasn’t a complete beginner of Japanese. I did RTK in addition to my other Japanese activities like reading books. This way, I often came across kanji I just learned. I saw them in context and they helped me to understand new words without looking them up. Experiences like these were a strong proof for me that RTK really pays off and this gave me a motivation boost.

So instead of doing RTK at the beginning and doing nothing else, I recommend to wait until you can read at least graded readers or easier novels, for example. Otherwise it’s probably too hard to stay motivated for so long. 

…

I hope these tips can be helpful for someone. It’s sad when I read that some people gave up because they constantly mix up or forget a lot of kanji. There are also people who rush through RTK without creating memorable stories for each kanji and stop doing their reviews after “finishing” RTK. And then they claim that RTK is a waste of time and doesn’t work because they can’t remember most of the kanji — which is no surprise in this case. 

While I absolutely understand that RTK may not work for everyone it’s not fair that people who didn’t take the explanations in the book seriously claim that it doesn’t work in general. 

Learning kanji takes time. This is absolutely normal. It’s not a shame if you need more than 3 months or a year to complete RTK. In my opinion, if the goal is to remember these kanji long-term 3 months are very unrealistic for most people. Seeing people who “finished” RTK in a short amount of time creates false expectations. RTK is not about breaking records. To me, it’s much more important to make sure that you remember these kanji long-term. Every learned kanji is already a little advantage, that’s why speed is not so important anyway.

Without RTK learning kanji would have been much more time consuming and frustrating for me and the risk of forgetting and mixing them up would be much much higher. To me, there’s no real alternative to RTK and now that I finished it I’m very happy that I put in the work and time.

Maybe I will also learn the additional 800 kanji from volume 3 in the future. But for now I’ll focus on consolidating the 2.200 kanji from volume 1 and on other learning activities.