I've started doing RTK a couple of weeks ago and I'm right know on frame 766 but I've been thinking if I've been doing this right by being okay with using the stories a lot of the times when reviewing. My question is that if when you review, you can use the story and still give the card a Yes and not fail it because you had to resort to read the story to remember the kanji.

I've been doing this for most of the time but I can just remember it when reading the story and not just by the keyword. Should I fail it if I have to read the story to recall it when reviewing or is it okay if its still one of the first time reviewing it?

I've been doing it that the first times reviewing it is okay and then later on after reviewing various times I can do it without the story but should I just do it without the story from the beginning and fail all I can't remember in the beginning?

If I have to refer to anything but the keyword, it's a fail.

The benefit of having the story on the front isn't to get a pass even though it's not quite there yet. The idea is that you're still building the kanji, but you still need to get there from the keyword itself.

If you see it 3 days after learning and need to read the story to get the kanji, then what is the likelihood that you'll remember it straight from the kanji next time AND at a longer interval.

I recommend only increasing the time when you can go keyword -> kanji, no help. It will only bog you down more the further you get through the book otherwise.

After reading this, I've decided to grade myself harder. I feel I've been lenient on myself and decided to look at it from someone else's perspective. Thanks again Dustin.

Ok, thanks, I'll grade harder from now on but there are still some kanji that are hard to recall without the story. What have you done so you can remember it easily without the story and just by the keyword?

@Andres: I'm not sure which of these situations you're asking about.

Are you saying that you have to remember the story in order to remember the kanji? If so, don't worry; the stories will just drop away eventually, some sooner and others much later.

On the other hand, if you've been reading the story in order to remember the kanji and "Yes" the card, then you'll be better off if you "No" the card. The reason for failing cards is to tell you that you need to study them again, in order to get the failed kanji and their stories back into your short term memory. If you fail a card several times, you might try a different story. If you're consistently failing a lot of cards, you might consider changing your study method.

Speaking, of course, from my own experience. YMMV.

Andres Wrote:What have you done so you can remember it easily without the story and just by the keyword?

By writing stories that work for me. I always try putting the kanji and their elements into scenes that are easy for me to remember. Something i had experienced, something i have seen on TV, or in a game, or something that i have read in a book.

For instance for the kanji for skeleton 骨 i have been placing the elements into a scene from Monkey Island II. I haven't been playing that for years but i can still remember most of everything in that game! In one scene Guybrush meets two skeletons singing a funny tune that goes like this: The skullbone is connected to the neckbone, the neckbone is connected to the breast bone ... So i had a strong connection between keyword -> story -> mental image to write a story that made it easy to remember this character. I don't think that i will ever forget any kanji that contains that character. Here is a video of the scene. *click me*

For most of the person kanji i have been using メイベル ウエスト from the Anime アガサ・クリスティーの名探偵ポワロとマープル. So those were easy for me to remember and easy to go keyword to kanji. The stories stick because i liked to read Agatha Christie novels, i love to watch those old movies with Margaret Rutherford, and also watching the Anime.

For other kanji its sometimes really hard to find any connection at all. For kanji with weak or no obvious connection i write a generic story. Than i take some time off, doing other stuff instead, and than come back to think of a possible connection. I also have a separate word file with just the stories and the keywords. So whenever i feel like doing it, or having to do it because the stories were to weak to form a clear image, i go over the stories again. Sometimes i also rewrite stories that work, in favor of better stories.

And if all else fails and i can't come up with anything this website is here for me. The great stories of other members here help me in that case. For instance i could never have come up with even a weak story for the character 匁. It was Nukemarines story that was helping me there. *ありがとうごあいます*

Try to think of something related to your personal background, your friends, family, kids if you have any, your experiences and anything that is funny, that would most likely stick. Than write a story and learn them if you have to. It will help you to go keyword -> kanji without having to scratch your head and think "... keyword ... oh how was this story again ... what were the elements ..." With some experience you will be able to decide is a story - weak, good for some days, or a really strong one that will last for months to come. Just toy around with the stories, look at them as part of the game, something to work out on. In the end the stories will fall away anyhow, and all that's left is keyword -> kanji. Or in the near future かな -> 漢字.

You can do it.

OK, I too am getting a little frustrated with my Kanji SRS. Bottom line, I think my intervals are too long.

My cards have the keyword and the story on the front and the kanji on the back. I have made the font color on the story white so I have to highlight it to see it.

I'm using Anki, and my grading criteria is as follows:
1–got it wrong
2–got it right, but had to look at the story
3–got it right without looking at the story
4–never any doubt

If I know the story, I can almost always produce the Kanji. Occasionally there are placement errors in locating the primitives within the Kanji, but that is rare.

My more frequent problem is remembering the story. My sense is that Anki is increasing my interval on '2', but this may not be helpful. Indeed, my stats show that I have a higher rate of hitting '2' on 'young' cards than even 'new' cards.

I have about 1100 Kanji in the deck right now.

Here's what I've been considering:
A — start grading a '1' if I don't know story
B — move the story to the back of the card
B would grade the same as 'A' but I wouldn't be writing out the kanji if I don't know the story, leading to a two-step learning process.

It certainly sounds as though the previous posters are advocating "A". Any other thoughts? Has anyone put the story on the back?

Thanks.

I never look at a story until I have either passed or failed a card, ever. Story on the back always.

Grading yourself even a slight pass after looking at the story is not doing you any favors at all! If I don't get it without help, it's failed, period.

If it takes me a while, hard, if it's pretty quick ok.

I never mark a card easy unless I previously knew the kanji or know I'll likely never forget it anyways.


I ALWAYS write a kanji even if I fail it, from the answer card, but not until I restudy it.

I will look, fail, then once I am going through my failed cards, read my stories, do any reinforcement and tweaking, write them out once, then again to get them out of the failed pile during quizzing, they get double the writing practice.

That's probably about the best I can offer

I have been marking my cards as "yes" if I need to read the story and "easy" if I don't need the story. Think I might be a bit harder on myself and fail the card if I need to read the story.
Thanks for the info. (I realise this thread is a bit old but it's still useful nontheless)