So I have been working with RTK on and off for almost 4 months now. And every time I have hit a brick wall. The issue is I simply cannot seem to remember the stories. I have tried writing the stories down, putting them on my anki cards, using visual associations, using memory hooks, using memory palaces, using the link system, using songs, and even flirting with the movie method. But no matter what I cannot seem to remember the stories.

I actually quit doing RTK about 2 months ago, in favor of my own variant of RTK. In which I would learn whatever radicals I wanted and whatever kanji I wanted but using the heisig methodology. I would also do reps on the same day. But even with that I can't remember the stories.

Now I am looking back at the way I learned the kana about a year ago, I learned them in a very visual way. Using pictograms and the Dr. Mobi app I believe it was called. And I was able to learn katakana and hiragana in 2 days. So I am thinking about trying a pictograph method of learning the kanji. But I am not sure about that yet because I haven't heard a lot of good about it.

I am also about to give the Chain method a shot, but that still uses stories so I am a little worried about that.

Anyway what I'd like are some suggestions of alternative kanji learning methods, or some ways I can improve my recall using the heisig method. Thank you.

Also I am not sure if I am in the right section or not, if I am not I apologize.

- you will remember _your_ story better than other people story.
- emotional story are easier to remember: sex, violence (and rock n roll) usually make a good background atmosphere for a vividly emotional story.
- graphical stuff. Try to visualise your story, as if you were a movie director, imagining the cut, the scene, the colors, the little effect of post production.
- funny stuff.
- avoid abstract thing. If a keyword is too abstract, i like to use associate a character to it (so the "person" is actually "mr T").

That may still not be enough cause i m trying to follow all of this and still struggle a lot with remembering all of those stories...

First of all, Heisig’s method isn’t the only way of learning kanji. Many people learn by rote memorization or immersion. If you feel you’ve tried everything, and RTK doesn’t work for you, give something else a shot.

I attempted RTK for the first time last year, and I made it to part two before giving up. Looking back, I can see what my problem was. Rather than remembering or creating stories, I was only recalling the names and positions of the radicals.

A year later, I’ve made it to frame 1,875 with better than 90% recall on all days. I’ve done this in less than two months, and I can go from kanji to keyword with almost 100% recall. How did it work so much better for me the second time around? I’ll try to explain.

In the preface of RTK, I believe Heisig talks about our memories with regards to books. When you recall a scene from your favorite novel, you don’t see words on a page. You see what those words conjured up in your imagination. In the past year, I became an avid reader of speculative fiction. I read books that challenged me. I even wrote a book. All these things expanded my imagination.

In short, reading and writing will help you craft more vivid stories. That’s the best advice I can give, but I’ll throw in some extra for good measure.

If a radical is unclear in your mind, change it something else. Heisig himself has you do this with the radical for “person”. I changed “person” to “Kvothe” from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Because I’ve read his books so many times, he’s a character that conjures up vivid images and emotions for me.

Do this with other radicals, too. Many people changed “thread” to “Spiderman”. Growing up, I loved Spiderman cartoons, so this worked well for me. Spiderman doesn’t work well for you? Try something else. But always use something/someone that is significant to you in some way.

But here’s how I do it. After creating a story, I lean back, close my eyes, and repeat it to myself twice. My imagination automatically kicks in (this may take some practice), and I form an image. Now I’ve learned the kanji it two ways. First, the image; second, the string of radicals and the keyword. If I recall the image first, I can usually remember the radicals. Now it’s not hard to write it.

On that note, please, PLEASE write down the kanji when you’re reviewing flash cards. It’s common sense. People who write things down are more likely to remember them. Yes, it takes more time, but it’s better than forgetting the character entirely. Despite this, I’ve found writing the kanji once while moving along through frames to be enough. Since Heisig lumps together similar kanji, you get plenty of experience drawing them. You’ll soon get a feel for how the radicals should be placed as well.

TurtleBear Wrote:If a radical is unclear in your mind, change it something else. Heisig himself has you do this with the radical for “person”. I changed “person” to “Kvothe” from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Because I’ve read his books so many times, he’s a character that conjures up vivid images and emotions for me.

Do this with other radicals, too. Many people changed “thread” to “Spiderman”. Growing up, I loved Spiderman cartoons, so this worked well for me. Spiderman doesn’t work well for you? Try something else. But always use something/someone that is significant to you in some way.

This is +100. For every kanji/primitive that is used as a component in later kanji beyond the first ones, I associate a concrete person or character (and then do the whole visualization/writing thing). Then I put that person/character's name next to the keyword. This makes learning and reviewing *fun*: it's hilarious, the stories involving Fujiko Mine and Tintin or Rincewind or Issun Boushi. Make it easy and make it fun.

I don't know if this is the case with you, but I found that an over-reliance on the stories provided by Heisig in the early chapters of RTK I hindered my ability to create truly imaginative stories. I hasten to add that there's nothing wrong with the stories per se, merely that Heisig's imagination and mine would seem to be triggered by a slightly different set of impetuses.

It wasn't until both after I had discovered this site and had reached the stage in the book where I couldn't use Heisig's own associations as a crutch that I made the breakthrough by studying other people's stories. Once I'd found certain stories that had an unforgettable ring to them it became much easier to start creating my own stories in a similar mould.

I agree with the emphasis given in the responses above to turning elements into people (real or fictional) who mean something to you. By the time you reach frames such as "person" and "thread" you'll probably have got the hang of it, but don't make the mistake I did of neglecting the earlier frames. For example, "woman" is too generic and, to my mind at least, really needs to be someone specific. For "fire" you can have Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle, or the Human Torch or whatever. It doesn't have to be a reference from popular culture!

I would recommend reading through some of the stories others have written and seeing if anything jumps out at you. This was a much easier prospect when I joined this site as the number of stories was relatively few, which meant that the one story that might jump out at me was less likely to be buried on page eight or nine. However, the fact that there are so many more stories now must surely mean that there's more likely to be one that click with you--or at least sets your imagination going.

Anyway, best of luck!

Django Wrote:For "fire" you can have Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle

Made my day with this. Calcifer is my character for 宀 ("house"). <3 Ghibli!

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have done a lot of thinking about this lately and I have came up with a new technique I am going to try. If it works out, I will be sure to share with you all.