There's been a lot of discussion on how to stop keywords with similar meanings from getting mixed up with one another. Well I just happened to think of a different way, and its so obvious, I'm surprised it took me this long to think of it.

As a simple example, lets say I always mix up tax 税 and tariff 租.
Well the solution is simple! I just install the Substitute Keywords script, and then I change my keywords like so:
"tax" becomes "tax (NOT 租)" and "tariff" becomes "tariff (NOT 税)"
Essentially, I just add the kanji that the keyword does not refer to as part of the keyword, so I will know that the answer is something else.

What I do is elaborate on the meanings.
"Pay your taxes"
"You have to pay a tariff to buy imports"
Works fine for me.

On an interesting note, 租 is more of 'land or crop' taxes, while 税 is normal taxes. These are the definitions I use myself.

Changing my stories doesn't really help me out, because of the nature of the keywords, I can swap either of them into either story and it still sounds alright. I've also found that once I have a story in my head, its pretty much impossible for me to really change it.

I don't change the story. My examples above are for the keyword. I usually link them with my mnemonic in that the keyword will use the word in an example that's similar to the established mnemonic.

Adding what kanji it isn't to the keyword spoils the srs interval for those kanji. It's especially bad if they come out in the same review.

yeah im similar to alyks, i just use the word in the context i hear it in most often, and 'pay your taxes' is like almost a cliche now

I think this is a good idea...I do something similar with vocab in my anki deck.

I think incidentally seeing a Kanji will not screw up your SRS intervals too badly. (especially since you aren't writing out the Nor ~ kanji).

If you do any other Japanese reading or studying, you will also encounter kanji separately from your SRS intervals.

Sure, it would suck if you had the cards "tax (NOT 租)" and "tariff (NOT 税)" show up back to back or very, very close together, but I would say, just roll with it. (And it's probably somewhat unlikely that this would happen 2 or 3 times in a row, so any problem would fix itself)

I think it's worse for your reviews to have to fail a card because you wrote the incorrect kanji for an ambiguous keyword.

It's better to understand the kanji more in depth to avoid confusion, rather than to be thinking of a different kanji every time it comes up.

If you can clear up the ambiguous keywords by adding a hint about the kanji that is good...

for example:

you could use the substitute keyword script to change

listen --> 聴　　to "listen to music" --> 聴

but I think the (Not ~) idea is good for other cases too, where an easy distinction can't be made. Or you just want something quick and easy.

Ultimately, the keywords can offer only limited insight into the kanji. It is important to remember what they are within the context of RTK...which is a prompt to get you to write the kanji.

Deeper understanding of the kanji will be better achieved via learning vocabulary in the context of actual Japanese, than by even the best keywords.

Assuming you are somewhat strictly following the RTK method (i.e. not learning readings/vocab simultaneously) the distinction between 雲　and 曇　will be tough to draw via keywords alone...but when you learn the vocab 雲　曇り　曇る, it is a simple distinction to make.

So depending on how much Japanese you know, and how closely you follow Heisig's advice, I think both are good ways to clarify similar keywords.

johnzep Wrote:If you can clear up the ambiguous keywords by adding a hint about the kanji that is good...

Thats what I did. For example I kept mixing up present and presents, so I changed present to "present (time)".

Adding a note to remove ambiguity is good. We're learning kanji, not the thesaurus. That said, I'm not too sure about the "not 'kanji'", but I can see how it will work. Imagine the confusion over evening, night, nightfall, overnight, etc. I think if there's a specific meaning for that kanji over all the others, then adding that additional info to the keyword in great.

Maybe the best thing is to suck it up and fight it within the sentences domain.

I'm in the "elaborate the story" camp. For example, I was mixing up "discriminating" and "distinction" for awhile there, until I added a bit to the story of "distinction" of some one saying "dis stincs!" which enabled me to be discriminating and, ah, make a distinction between the two

What I've been doing is learning without Heisig's book. So I have to look up the meaning with the kanji when I learn it. So whenever I have a kanji that is not clear, I elaborate on the definition and include as much of the "feeling" of the kanji as possible. Not only that, but I don't directly put the keywords in my mnemonic images.

Example:
Fix
"I'm gonna fix things between us"
Determine (Establish)
"I've determined that I'm not safe here"
定

What I've found is I'll sometimes forget the keywords, but often remember the true feeling of the kanji.

alyks Wrote:What I've been doing is learning without Heisig's book. So I have to look up the meaning with the kanji when I learn it. So whenever I have a kanji that is not clear, I elaborate on the definition and include as much of the "feeling" of the kanji as possible. Not only that, but I don't directly put the keywords in my mnemonic images.

Example:
Fix
"I'm gonna fix things between us"
Determine (Establish)
"I've determined that I'm not safe here"
定

What I've found is I'll sometimes forget the keywords, but often remember the true feeling of the kanji.

I don't see the benefit of excluding keywords from your stories. What is your mnemonic for 定?

Also, I think the sense of the word "fixed" for 定 seems a little off, it's not "repair" or "mend" (仲直り）, but more like a "fixed-term"　like in 定期券

Yeah, that's true, it is a little off. But I do understand the real meaning.

I saw a benefit as ease of making stories. It's something I decided to test, and it's worked out so far. Mostly because I remember the keywords anyway.

To clarify, I don't directly incorporate the meaning. I think of the first place the meaning reminds me of and put the kanji there. So for that one above, I imagine a scene in For a Fistful of Dollars with a sewing machine on a roof.