Three Year Plan

Herein lies my First Three Year Plan. Some of you may recall the Ninth Three Year Plan in Orwell's 1984. This plan will detail issues only related to Japanese and will most likely need to be updated since I am sure it will change. A plan is good since it keeps me on my toes and I can't fake progress.

Year 1, 2009
- March: Study RtK1; started March 7 planning 500 characters per month with a final completion date of July 7 (tools: anki, kanji.koohii.com; cohort: Josh)
- Aug (while in Japan for 4 weeks): Start new anki deck containing sentences/ vocabulary/grammar that I want to learn. Basically pieces of AJATT that I am interested in: sentences will be sourced from manga, the patterns and examples from Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication (personalized for me) and also other sources like dramas, signs, etc. Basically, this phase is the contextualization of Kanji, wherein I will learn the readings as commonly used. Reading is the best language teacher.
- Sept: Start Kanji town method to learn the On-yomi readings of the 2042 characters I have mastered. Base this study off of RtK2. Cover in much the same time RtK1, thus four months (sept-dec) but at a lower intensity (0.25-0.5).
- Sept: Investigate wrightak's method of replacing the English keyword with a Japanese keyword.
- Oct: Start studying Tae Kim's guide for Japanese grammar.
- Kanji post RtK1: I am not planning to directly launch into RtK3, but rather keep a journal of Kanji that I wish to learn that are not part of the jōyō kanji and basically learn those characters on my own using the same methodology. Keep track of a rough count of times Kanji was encountered.
- Start: Supplementary studying on my Nintendo DS: Kanken DS 3, Kakitori-kun (the first one, which only covers ~1k kanji).
- Ongoing: Continue reviews of RtK1
- Tools: 漢字そのままDS楽引辞典, Kodansha kanji learner's dictionary, Anki, Kanji.Koohii.com
- Sentence source ideas: (1)Japanese Sentence Patterns for Effective Communication: A Self-Study Course and Reference by Taeko Kamiya, (2) JLPT Study site.
Also, a quick note on sentence review: study both (1) kana to kanji sentences and (2) kanji sentences to kana (basically, do both production and recognition in anki terms). When the kana sentence comes up, write it down in kanji. When the kanji sentence comes up, just read it out loud.

Year 2, 2010
- Overall goal: Proficient at basic casual conversation at home with my family.
- RtK3: Study new Kanji to expand my comprehension
- Japanese signs: Create anki deck containing Japanese signs and their readings.
- Further details lacking at this time.

Year 3, 2011
- Proficient at random conversation

After year three, I should draft a new Three Year Plan. The contents of that will most likely be "get better at Japanese"