Still Remembering the Kanji

I finished Remembering the Kanji I in early may. And I just passed my examination in Japanese with a good mark. From now on I have to do Japanese on my own time 100%, since advanced classes are impossible to get near in Copenhagen. That is, unless you enroll for uni. But I ain't doing that again!

It was a long ride. But I learned a lot. I learned mostly that having good stories that uses all the elements is very important. You must write them down. Just thinking them up is half as good. It took me several tries on many difficult kanjis to realize when I failed. Here are my tips on a list

1) Use a computer program with a Leitner system or similiar algorithm for your reviewing. I started with paper flashcards, but it became messy too fast. So I used Fabrice's Reviewing the Kanji website for a long time. http://kanji.koohii.com/

But even that wasn't enough, so I ended up buying SuperMemo 2004. Not perfect, but rather good for what it cost me.

2) Write down your stories. Just making them up in your mind isn't enough. You must formulate your story on paper or screen. You can review it, read it aloud and alter it if you are not happy with it. I used Reviewing the Kanji for this, the best part of the site.

3) Force yourself to do 10 kanji per day, 5 days a week. When you near the end of a chapter, don't be afraid to do a hard core session. The number of kanji you learn per day is not limited, as long as you sit down and write carefully a story that explains your kanji. If you cannot come up with a good story, chances are you will have forgotten the kanji a few days later.

4) Don't neglect "easy" kanjis. I didn't make one for いち　一. Bad mistake. It is an element in so many other kanjis that not having a story and a vivid image for it hampered my story making.

5) Quit Reality. The sooner you do, the easier your story making will be. I use video games, erotic images, comic characters, presidents, dictators, animals, movies, cartoons, you name it. And I mix it.

One good one is for 人. A man? No, not just any generic man, but the renowned Mr. T of A-Team fame. I pity da fool... suddenly you have this sulky big man with heavy gold chains and a mohawk appearing in all your stories. Helps loads, I tell you.

6) Don't burn out. My impression is that people tend to get impatient around halfway, then they overexert themselves, and suddenly they start forgetting it all, and feel discouraged. I found much help from kanji.koohii.com, because the story sharing there helped me get past some really tricky kanjis.



Ill return in a few days with reporst on my progress with RTK2 and a new system I found out about called KanjiTown.