How important is it to really be able to match the precise keyword to each kanji?
Sometimes I will guess the wrong kanji when I see a keyword, because I just got some similar keywords mixed up (such as transport/carry). I know how to write the kanji for both of them, and thats really the goal here, right? If you make a little mistake like that, do you just cheat and go on, or do you fail it and send it back to the first stack? Do you think its counter productive to cheat in this situation?

I tend to fail it and relearn it. The main reason for this is that I am very strict when it comes to kanji and just want to get it 100% correct, and not pass it by semi-cheating. Regardless from that though, I think it is best to fail it in any case, in the end you will have to be able to make the distinction between transport and carry in Japanese anyway.

Well.. If I have two candidates in mind for a keyword, I sometimes just write down them both. If I get the wrong character, I fail it regardless of the reason.

After all we still work with just English keywords at this stage so "transport" and "carry" aren't really what the characters mean. still I think that you can only really know the meaning of the character after you have the readings and a couple of example compound down so I don't really think that I should so strict with associating the right keywords to them.

Studying the kun-yomi for a character that you keep mixing up with other similar ones might help. I generally have very little difficulty keeping a character separate when I know its kun-yomi.. At least sometimes it really seems to enforce the memory.

alantin Wrote:Studying the kun-yomi for a character that you keep mixing up with other similar ones might help. I generally have very little difficulty keeping a character separate when I know its kun-yomi.. At least sometimes it really seems to enforce the memory.

That's a great idea. I'll learn the kun yomi for the few that I get mixed up.

I'd like to second the great idea part. Thanks a lot for the advice !

Nice to have helped! ^^