So I am about 140 frames away from completing RTK. After which I'm planning on going through Core 2000. In my spoken understanding I probably know around 400 words at the moment, maybe a few more.

My question is: After using mnemonics for memorizing 2000+ kanji, how does one memorize these new words? Using mnemonics as well? And if so, is there a good place to get mnemonic ideas for the core 2000 words, or do most people create them on their own?

Use an SRS flashcard system like Anki for Core 2k.

You probably will need to learn at least 15,000 words to get really good at Japanese, don't bother making mnemonics to remember them. Just do flashcards and get as much passive input as possible to reinforce what you have learned. And be consistent and don't stop.

That'll do it.

danatoth Wrote:My question is: After using mnemonics for memorizing 2000+ kanji, how does one memorize these new words? Using mnemonics as well? And if so, is there a good place to get mnemonic ideas for the core 2000 words, or do most people create them on their own?

No tricks, just raw undistilled memorization.

Only for the first 1000-2000 words though, then you'll start to notice patterns in the way certain kanji are pronounced and in what kind of words they are used. Kana only-words still need to be simply memorized though. Maybe you can make mnemonics for them (if needed!).

I try to learn each new vocabulary word by simply remembering it first. This becomes easier as you get familiar with the way kanji are read. Maybe 80%-90% of the time new words just stick without more than 1 or 2 fails.

If I fail a card a few times, then it's just a matter of normal vocabulary mnemonics, except you have two languages to work with. You can make up a sentence using the sound of each kana as the initial sound of each word in the sentence, make up a sentence with an English word that sounds something like that Japanese word (you may have to force some awkward pronunciation shift here). If you have problems with just one mora then you can focus on just that sound, of course, you don't have to make a mnemonic that spells the whole world. A short alliterative sentence that uses the word and another word or words that use the first mora of the vocab word is often plenty for me - if I'm prompted on the first mora the rest of the word follows (especially true for words that I've heard many times before I tried to learn them.) You can use imagery mnemonics. I still can't forget my image of a Arthurian knight sneezing fiercely for 甲冑 however I may try... but most of the wordplay mnemonics I forget very quickly.

After a few reviews the word is learned and the mnemonic is unnecessary. Because it becomes obsolete so quickly, it's okay to use incredibly stupid mnemonics ... whatever you can think up on the spur of the moment. If a word can be remembered across a 1-week or 10-day interval the mnemonic will likely never be needed again.

NightSky Wrote:Use an SRS flashcard system like Anki for Core 2k.

You probably will need to learn at least 15,000 words to get really good at Japanese, don't bother making mnemonics to remember them. Just do flashcards and get as much passive input as possible to reinforce what you have learned. And be consistent and don't stop.

That'll do it.

This is a bit misleading. A lot of those 15,000 words would be obvious compound words and derivatives anyone could infer and etc cetera. It also kind of implies he's strictly going to need to make 15,000 cards when in reality when you get to the point that you can read normal things (a lot earlier than a vocab of 15,000) it comes a lot more naturally than that.

My point really was just that there are a lot of words you have to learn and that would be a shit ton of mnemonics.