I find all too frequently RTK keywords that don't fit the meaning of their kanji all that well[1]. If I'm going to put the effort to learn these 漢字, I'd like to get it right the first time around, and not have to unlearn something that was off from the get-go.

But the task of double-checking every keyword is a pain. It would be nice to have a place where we can all flag these questionable keyword choices, and in this way spread this workload. (One already finds this sort of info scattered through stories, but this is not very useful.)

Just a thought I'm throwing out there. I'm not sure how best to implement it. Something wiki-like, I suppose...

[1] Very often I see this impression confirmed in the stories written by others RevTK'ers. Recently I've been checking some of the keywords against Halpern's Kanji Learner's Dictionary, which I regard as more authoritative, and I've found a quite a few doozies. (The latest: is 効, which RTK1 calls merit, whereas KLD calls effect. Before that it was 執, which RTK1 calls tenacious, whereas KLD defines as either execute or seize. And before it was 紀, which RTK1 calls chronicle, but KLD calls era.) BTW, whenever I choose to "break the tie" between Heisig and Halpern by consulting further sources, Halpern invariably wins, that's why I regard his KLD as more authoritative than RTK's keywords.

[Katsuo]

gfb345 Wrote:Recently I've been checking some of the keywords against Halpern's Kanji Learner's Dictionary, which I regard as more authoritative.

I made this spreadsheet to enable easy comparisons.

Heisig was a beginner in Japanese when he wrote RTK1 and came up with the keywords. Overall, he did a great job, I think, but some of the keywords could have been better. He changed some of them in later editions, but there are still a few more which could be improved.

Katsuo Wrote:

gfb345 Wrote:Recently I've been checking some of the keywords against Halpern's Kanji Learner's Dictionary, which I regard as more authoritative.

I made this spreadsheet to enable easy comparisons.

Wow, that's amazing. That sure takes care of it. Thanks!!!

Gee, I wouldn't worry about it so much. Sure, there are a few oddball choices ("twig" is currently my favorite candidate), but on the whole I have found the keywords very helpful in my admittedly short post-RTK career. In fact, I find it unusual when a Heisig keyword leads me astray. "Twig" may be the only one I've tried to discard, but even now I just find myself grafting better meanings onto it rather than ditching it altogether. If you're really concerned about it, just glance through the "stories" at RevTK as you study each kanji; someone usually flags a misleading keyword.

In fact, one risk of making up your own is that you may later find that Heisig has already used your new keyword, though I suppose you can check for that by searching for your keyword in the RevTK "study" box.