Hello!

I am getting depressed:
I overcam my deadlock at 650 and since adding new cards, the last pile started to melt down - from 545 to 500.

I can't imagine the kanjis reaching the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th pile without proper stories ...
why is the success-rate so low?
what am I doing wrong?

That happened to me too. I started reviewing in Anki instead because of a road trip and found out it has a "memory" of which cards were in the 4th box. So after you miss them and get a refresher on their story, they go back to the 4th box again rather quickly. That may be an option for you, but it also works to just send em back through the site.

I think the best thing you can do, is to just keep going. Honestly, no one completes RTK without thinking the same thoughts as you do, going through the same processes of forgetting. Just keep adding, and keep Box 1 empty. The more times you fail something, the more often you will see it.

Of course, you could be doing something 'wrong', but by the sounds of it, what you're experiencing is perfectly normal. Just stick at it!

frlmarty Wrote:Hello!

I am getting depressed:
I overcam my deadlock at 650 and since adding new cards, the last pile started to melt down - from 545 to 500.

I can't imagine the kanjis reaching the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th pile without proper stories ...
why is the success-rate so low?
what am I doing wrong?

Are you just copying stories, or are you taking a minute or two to sit back relax and picture what's going on in your head. If you're are just copying do the latter.

When you sit back and relax and imagine the image/scene, is it far, monochrome (black and white), and/or small, or do you picture the images up-close, bright and colorful, and as detailed as possible. Do the latter.

Spiderman kicks Doc Oc in the face is imaginative. But it doesn't help very much if it's all black and white and dull in your memory. Picturing larger and more colorful images, excites emotions and aids in memory.

Instead of spider man kicking doc oc. See clearly spiderman's patented blue and red costume with the spider on his chest. Focus whole heartedly on doc Oc's dusty and slightly worn out trench coat (or his abnormally green jumpsuit if you're an old comic fan).

Are there sounds? What texture does spiderman's custom have when you touch? This is going a bit deep but if you what you're doing now isn't working, it's a clear sign you have to make things more catchy, or go deeper.

From 545 to 500 is quite a meltdown.

I've been tracking my last pile numbers since April 23 (at which time the count was 494. It's now 925. It has never gone down, not even once, even by one. There are days when it only goes up 5 (like yesterday and at least a couple of other days), and days when it "zooms" up 20 or so, but it has never gone down. (I am adding 11 a day at present, every day without fail.)

Try to make sure that the keyword triggers *SOMETHING*. The key for me (and I think most others) is to get the keyword to trigger something, which leads either directly to your story, or to something that is going to lead you directly to your story. Some stories you see on the site are wonderful, except that the keyword may not trigger the story for *YOU*.

I know people are saying take it easy and don't worry about it, and at least half of me agrees with them. SRS should, in time, fix all your problems. But if the right-hand box is depleting, rather than slowly filling, I think you need to consider your methodology carefully.

Generally, I think people make good stories. But the weakest link is from the keyword to the story. Make sure you don't have a "missing link" there.

EDIT: I can't stress how much I agree with people who say DO NOT LET THE FAILED STACK EXIST. Nuke it. Even if you are not positive you have "learned" it. Get it back into the rotation NOW. Do not, under any circumstances, let it accumulate.

Wally, kazelee,
thank you very much for your input!

Yesterday I spent some hours on a train and there I took my time to make colorful, close up stories. My own stories, since there was no website available. :-)

Jen-ai-Chan,
I use only this SRS.

anyhow I keep going and nuke the failed pile.

I will see, how it goes on ...

All the above posts about making the stories effective are good advice. I think it never hurts to improve/replace stories. And some of it I'm guessing just happens as part of the process. I'm finding some of my super old kanji are failing, but it's only one layer of an ongoing learning process. Someone posted in a thread somewhere that learning is a process of remembering and forgetting, remembering and forgetting. I think that rings true. You KNOW them....but it's hard to find in your mind....so you can't recall it in a given review. Keep at it, and you'll get 'em back stronger than ever!.......Then you might fail it again way down the road.....but it will make it stronger again....and on and on. After going through this eventually you will have it totally grafted DEEP, with well traveled neural pathways to make recall happen effortlessly. Take the long view on it all, and you won't feel so down about the fails. Just my take on things.

TaylorSan Wrote:All the above posts about making the stories effective are good advice. I think it never hurts to improve/replace stories. And some of it I'm guessing just happens as part of the process. I'm finding some of my super old kanji are failing, but it's only one layer of an ongoing learning process. Someone posted in a thread somewhere that learning is a process of remembering and forgetting, remembering and forgetting. I think that rings true. You KNOW them....but it's hard to find in your mind....so you can't recall it in a given review. Keep at it, and you'll get 'em back stronger than ever!.......Then you might fail it again way down the road.....but it will make it stronger again....and on and on. After going through this eventually you will have it totally grafted DEEP, with well traveled neural pathways to make recall happen effortlessly. Take the long view on it all, and you won't feel so down about the fails. Just my take on things.

Largely agree.

You don't forget it. You just forget where, or how, you "filed" it.

This is the "link" between the keyword and your story, most of the time. If you could somehow get to the story, you could write the kanji. But you can't remember the link.

Over time, you will, I reckon.