What does it mean? Is it supposed to be understood literally? Give me some explanations, please. (Frame 94)

It is the literal top of the head (頂門、ちょうもん), as well as the very top of something such as a mountain (山頂、さんちょう).

It's also the kanji for the verb いただく.

For 頂く（いただく）、

When receiving something from a superior, it is (traditionally expected and) polite to hold it up to your forehead for a second. You'll probably see it a lot if you watch some 時代劇 or any other movie with formalized ritual or offerings.

Another common word for it is 頂上 = (mountain) top/summit. Learned that one when I climbed Mt. Fuji the first time.

頂きます is also what you should say before eating, while bowing with your chopsticks between your thumbs and forefingers.

This was also used in old times for what an emperor would say when he received the crown for the first time.

I mean, what does it mean exactly as it is in Heisig's frame 94 (I'm a little bit confused now). I'm trying to translate this key word into Polish and I have to know, what does Heisig's key word mean as it's been written. Will it be right if I translate it literally "place on the head"? I once translated sth literally (bull's eye)... It was terrible. Now I'm trying to avoid this. If possible please give some synonims of this key word.

Ah, I see what you mean. In English, "place on the head" is not a word, so there aren't any synonyms. It's a phrase, meaning something like "raise up to your head" or something like that. Yeah, so this one is a phrase you could translate straight across, unlike bull's eye, which really means center of the target.

it's like in this article

oolong

itadakimasu said the bunny as he placed a waffle on his head

Piotoro Wrote:I mean, what does it mean exactly as it is in Heisig's frame 94 (I'm a little bit confused now). I'm trying to translate this key word into Polish and I have to know, what does Heisig's key word mean as it's been written. Will it be right if I translate it literally "place on the head"? I once translated sth literally (bull's eye)... It was terrible. Now I'm trying to avoid this. If possible please give some synonims of this key word.

That's kind of tricky, since "place" in this context has the dual meaning of a "spot" and "to put". I'd try to and come up with a Polish word/phrase that means "to put upon a spot on the head". Good luck!

Piotoro Wrote:I mean, what does it mean exactly as it is in Heisig's frame 94 (I'm a little bit confused now). I'm trying to translate this key word into Polish and I have to know, what does Heisig's key word mean as it's been written. Will it be right if I translate it literally "place on the head"? I once translated sth literally (bull's eye)... It was terrible. Now I'm trying to avoid this. If possible please give some synonims of this key word.

Why bother translating the keyword to Polish? Sounds like a lot of work for questionable benefit. Use the Japanese word instead:

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=929

http://wrightak.googlepages.com/

The fact is that "place on the head" is absolute nonsense. Its link to the kanji is weak at best, distracting and confusing at worst.

Of all the English words and phrases that I would pick for that kanji, "place on the head" is very, very far down the list.

The best word you could attribute to the kanji is いただく, that's what it means and that's how it's read.

wrightak Wrote:The fact is that "place on the head" is absolute nonsense. Its link to the kanji is weak at best, distracting and confusing at worst.

Of all the English words and phrases that I would pick for that kanji, "place on the head" is very, very far down the list.

The best word you could attribute to the kanji is いただく, that's what it means and that's how it's read.

I think this is pretty obvious, but if you're going to follow the RTK method, you need a keyword and it's not easy to give 頂 a keyword. Might as well do the best you can, learn all the kanji, and *really* worry about association once you're learning vocab that uses the kanji in question.

Btw, Wrightak, your blog is pretty awesome Really interesting stuff. Write more soon!

sethg Wrote:Btw, Wrightak, your blog is pretty awesome Really interesting stuff. Write more soon!

Thanks! Will do!

wrightak Wrote:Why bother translating the keyword to Polish? Sounds like a lot of work for questionable benefit.

Benefits from using native key words are huge. You simply use a language you know the most. When I write down a story I'm trying to write it shortly and with any nuances the language gives me. If I had a list of Polish key words, I would finish the course at least 10x faster. Besides I don't speak English well and I have to check every key word anyway. This is one thing.
The second is I want the method to become more accessible for other Polish people. I say it outspokenly - learning 2000 English words, which were chosen with some restrictions (key words could be even better in other languages, because of different synonims) is a pretty hard work for a non-native speaker, in my opinion of course. I've heard even natives have problems.

Why not to use japanese keywords from scratch? Couse you have to learn it by heart. When I see a Polish word I can imagine it in my mind immediately. When I see the Japanese one I don't. First I have to learn it. This is a lot of additional work. Besides the method was constructed in a different way and this is Dr Heisig who learnt 2000 kanji in a month and created the whole method in such a short time! So I'm rather going to belive him...

You're going to have to learn those words anyways, might as well do it when you learn the kanji, instead of spending a bunch of time messing around in Polish.

Piotoro Wrote:This is a lot of additional work. Besides the method was constructed in a different way and this is Dr Heisig who learnt 2000 kanji in a month and created the whole method in such a short time! So I'm rather going to belive him...

It's not additional work though. As Jarvik7 says, you're going to do it anyway. Plus, I've selected Japanese words for you.

Unless all you want to do is learn the shape of the characters and never actually use them, you will have to learn Japanese words eventually. It's fun.

Very few people finish the book in a month. Some people take a few months, some people take a year, some people take a lot longer.

Using imaginative memory to learn the kanji is wonderful and I'm very grateful for Heisig for introducing me to it. Assigning English words to kanji is of questionable benefit. In your case, translating to Polish, and in the process separating yourself even further from the meaning of the kanji, isn't the best idea I think.

wrightak Wrote:In your case, translating to Polish, and in the process separating yourself even further from the meaning of the kanji, isn't the best idea I think.

Actually I'm checking not only the English key word meaning, but also the kanji meaning. Actually I'm doing a lots of things (my 2nd post in this topic: Heisig's method in other languages?), and that's why it goes so slow as for me...
The meaning is only additional benefit that could be used in the future. Remember it is a mnemotechnic. It is to enable quick remembering. Having Heisig's key words memorized it will be a piece of cake to connect them with whatever later on.
RTK 1 is only to remember the shape and the meaning (we know the restrictions). In my opinion it would be the best to create the method from scratch in Polish (to exploit the native language), but I know of noone who could handle this.

I'll familiarize with your proposal of learning Japanese keywords. But when I started this method my intention was to learn only the shapes of the kanji. It's because I just want to learn new vocabulary and when I see the kanji I don't know it hurts me. If I learn the shapes, I'll probably learn the meanings using SRS. I just think it's impossible to learn kanji so effectively with the handwriting method.

Jarvik7 Wrote:You're going to have to learn those words anyways

Sure I will. But as for me it's just easier to work with the method in my native language.