Hi everyone.

I recently started using RTK and I'm approaching the end of Part 2 at around 500 kanji. From the introduction and from looking ahead a little, I learned that in Part 3, for the most part, only the primitive meanings and the keyword are given. This made me wonder: would it be better for me to come up with my own stories, or just use the ones posted on the site.

I figured that if I made them up myself, they would stick better in my head since, in a way, I would be making the kanji my own. I think Heisig talked a little about this in the intro. He also stated that RTK was not only a guide to remembering the kanji but HOW to remember the kanji as well. And maybe that imaginative memory stuff works better when the material is original rather than copied.

However, making up my own story for each of 1500 more kanji seems like a daunting task, especially when I have access to such a great resource where I use get other people's stories for memorization. Given that I've already gone through 500 characters using stories that were not my own (either Heisig's or the community's), it appears that I could finish the book sooner and more easily if I just referred to the online study pages to learn the remaining characters.

Alas, I am the beginner and you are the masters. So if you have any experience with this issue I would gladly appreciate your input.

Thanks!

Do yourself a favor, steal stories from this site.

The important thing is that it's memorable, and usually there will be a memorable story in the top few. If you keep failing a kanji, then it's time to re-visit it, and tweak the story, or do a new one that fits it to your needs better.

The process of creating a story isn't nearly as strong as having a better story provided in my opinion.

It's up to you, really. Different people prefer different approaches. Some people like to write their own stories since they feel it gives them a stronger foundation; I am lazy, however, and stole every single one I needed.

Seriously though, I think writing good mnemonics is a bit of a skill itself, and I just didn't feel like grappling with it at the time. Agreed on the tweaking part, though.

In either case, completing RTK with other people's stories is better than not doing so while using your own. If you feel it is too daunting, there is nothing wrong with using this site as a resource - it's what it's here for.

I used almost all site stories + Heisig original stories and finished RevTK a month ago. I found that my own were not nearly as memorable as the ones on here - guess I need to flex the creativity muscles more often...

If you want to make up your own stories, do so, but it's not essential. I didn't bother and they stick just fine. Just make sure you pick a story that actually makes sense to you. I remember that some of Heisig's didn't really work for me.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I think I will continue with the book using the stories from this site. It just seems so much easier than coming up with them myself.

What I generally did was:

1) Tried to make my own

2) If that didn't work I read stories for inspiration to create my own

3) If that didn't work I just took the best story from the site

I found, for me at least, that making my own stories helped me remember them better.

BooBooQ88 Wrote:What I generally did was:

1) Tried to make my own

2) If that didn't work I read stories for inspiration to create my own

3) If that didn't work I just took the best story from the site

I found, for me at least, that making my own stories helped me remember them better.

This.
For some kanji, I immediately think of some scene or event that fit with the keyword. Naturally, I stick with that since chances are very high I'll have exactly the same experience the next time I see the keyword. But then there are many kanji for which I cannot easily make up a good mnemonic. Then I use the site and tweak to my liking.

Heisig has a tendency to use many abstract keywords/primitives. Whatever way you choose, I found the site to be invaluable as a source of better/new primtives. E.g. seeing the primtive/kanji "Say" as Socrates helped me a lot.

I'm with BooBooQ88 on this one as well. My routine for each kanji went like this:

1. Look up the kanji in the book, identify the primitive elements.
2. Close my eyes, focus on the primitive meanings and the keyword, wait for an image forming in my mind.
3a. If one appears, write up a story describing that image. These were the kanji I had the least problems with.
3b. If after 20 seconds or so nothing has happened, use the posted stories on the site as a source for inspiration. In any case, don't use the 'Copy this story' button, write up a story in my own words. Kanji I used the 'Copy' button for I had to relearn again and again.
4. At times, it can be tedious. When you feel exhausted/demotivated, browse the forums for a while. Lots of motivating stuff in there!

Also I second KanjiDevourer on first checking the top rated stories whenever a new primitive element is first used. The alternate primitive meanings used by many members in this community are in general way more vivid and make up much better stories than Heisig's original ones (e.g. Spiderman, Mr. T, etc.)