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My Own Primitives -- Is This Okay? - kazuki - 2008-06-02
Parts I and II, I followed Heisig very closely and even though some of the stories were hard to get set, I made them stick. Now, for me, is the good stuff. I'm cruising through Chapter 23, the dreaded 130-kanji marathon, and I am finding that the stories I create myself have much more power, and my retention is amazing. But the question is...
Is my method okay, or has it strayed from Heisig?
I am often changing the primitive meanings, for those that do not have kanji's on their own. I know that it's implied quite often, but I haven't really seen where anyone tells me that it's OKAY to actually do it... here's an example for R.A. Salvatore fans...
Drizzt Do'Urden and the Dark Elf race use their fingers to communicate in a sophisticated sort of sign language. I have molded my stories in that environment using many of the primitives as objects or concepts in the environment. Sometimes it actually changes the meaning of the primitive itself, however I am usually able to recall it okay. For instance, I have changed the primitive for finger to actually mean Dark Elf Race as a whole... or more specifically usually Drizzt Do'Urden himself.
I have a feeling that this should prove to be no issue, since all that matters is the end result of the MEANING and the WRITING of the kanji. But I am only 680 or some complete and have a haul to go. Before continuing, I would like to know if this is OKAY for those of you that may have chosen to go this route.
Thanks in advance, friends!
My Own Primitives -- Is This Okay? - Zarxrax - 2008-06-02
A lot of people do that. If it works for you, go for it. The only time you might have a problem is if you changed a primitive to another word that also happened to be a primitive.
My Own Primitives -- Is This Okay? - Shibo - 2008-06-02
You should be fine. I changed "flag" to "pee" and I never forget a story involving that primitive now, haha.
My Own Primitives -- Is This Okay? - kazuki - 2008-06-02
I figured as much, as Heisig appeared to be doing so when he said that RI could also be a COMPUTER, I am assuming just because it could pass for a pictograph. Thanks
My Own Primitives -- Is This Okay? - alyks - 2008-06-02
What you're doing is exactly what you're supposed to be doing. I actually changed over half the primitives so I could put together my own similar system.
"Flag" is "noise maker" for me. (Helps to use all your senses in remembering"
and "Computer" I changed to "ruler"
My Own Primitives -- Is This Okay? - pm215 - 2008-06-02
The only issue with this is that as soon as you use your own primitive you have to make up your own stories every time it appears; you can't borrow ones from other site users. I'm lazy, so I tried to avoid having to do that :-)
(It's also worth checking the index at the back of the book to make sure you haven't accidentally picked something that clashes. Not going to happen with particular fictional characters, obviously.)