Hi there,
I'm using the French version of RTK togeter with Anki (and nothing more): French keywords are not always direct translations from the English ones, and the order of presentation of kanji also differ.

Sometime, I find the story offered is not working for me , or I find myself having a hard time creating mine. Is this "RtK Volume 1" forum the best place to find and ask for tips, or is there a dedicated place on this site where people log their stories and make them public to the community?
Thanks and sorry if I miss the place...

User's stories are in the "Reviewing the Kanji" section of the site http://kanji.koohii.com/

Click on the "study" section and you can search for a particular kanji. It may be easier for you to cut and paste the actual character as obviously the keywords will be different and also if the number order is different to the french version.

If you you are still having trouble with a particular kanji after seeing everyone elses stories this would be the place to ask about it.

[Katsuo]

OP's question has been answered in reply #2. But in case it's useful, this spreadsheet includes a cross-reference of the numbers in the English and French versions of RTK (data from KANJIDIC).

Note that the French version has 2,064 kanji of which:
2,042 are in RTK1,
20 are in RTK3,
2 (沓, 其) are not included in the English versions of RTK.

:O

We're missing out on some kanji!

Thx a lot. Clear, concise and useful answers. What can I say? :-)
And yes, you working on the English version are missing some kanji :-) As such, as the first step to RTK, I would advise you to learn French. LOL :-)

Maybe I will...

Learn another language just for two more kanji! I suppose if I worked out what a good English keyword was I could make a story for them anyway.

[Katsuo]

Keyword suggestion: call 其 "that", and learn it together with 斯 "this" (no. 2890). Stories: This bushel basket comes with an axe to open it, but that one doesn't.

沓 is less common and doesn't have a clear best choice for keyword. It's often related to footwear, but keyword "shoes" has already been used, so maybe call it "boots" or something like that. I wonder what French keyword was chosen (it's no. 1295)?

The French keyword for no. 1296 is "soulier", which is kind of a synonym for "shoes". A "soulier" is supposed to be an elegant shoe, covering the foot entirely. In some extent, it can be considered an old-fashioned word...

Now I now where to find them, I can have MANY stories for each kanji. I'm now hesitating on remembering one story against another, and I'm also also a bit scared about reading several stories that will mix and pollute my memory. What do you think? Is is better to bombard your brain with several stories for the same kanji, or to keep sticking to ONLY one?

Just an example:
For 誕 (nativity, frame 393), I used the story saying that "words stretching themselves through nativity since the newly born baby will perpetuate the language at the time he/she will learn to speak".
Then I read the following on koohii:
"When you are being born ( nativity ), your mother's WORDS are PROLONGED. (Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis huuuuuuuuuuuuuurtss a lottttttttt~!! Owwwwwww!!!)."
Now, my brain cannot forget any of those stories but I'm afraid it may creat confusion in the mid/long-term.

Your thought? Experience?

[Katsuo]

YogaSpirit Wrote:Is is better to bombard your brain with several stories for the same kanji, or to keep sticking to ONLY one?

I don't think knowing more than one story at first will be a problem – soon you'll probably just remember the one that works best.

Quote:Your thought? Experience?

I prefer images to word-play. Images are usually more memorable, and are not rooted in one language. In the second story you mentioned (which is image-based) you could make it more memorable by also imagining the baby speaking as soon as its head pops out: Surprising things are easier to remember.

Perhaps the baby says, "Yeeeeah! Natiiiiiiiiivity!"

Word-play or puns are completely and utterly useless for me.

Maybe it's just me being stupid, but ridiculous stories or images work far better for helping me cement things into my memory. So for example, your second story would work a lot better for me than the first, which my reaction was sort of a wide-eyed stare at

I think Katsuo's right about there not being a problem thinking of more than one story. If you slightly prefer one then just fix that in your mind the vividest (most vivid? urgh, grammar...)

I was thinking on buying the Spanish version of RTK -because I have the English version-, but when I saw the price I decided to continue in English hahahahah!!