This is a problem I started noticing only after finishing the book. While my anki review success rate is somewhere around 97% for mature cards (so keyword->kanji is easy enough) more often than I'd like to admit I can't recall keywords when looking at a kanji. I can remember the story surrounding it but the word itself just doesn't click. At best I can generally remember what the keyword was trying to imply.

I'm not sure what problems this might cause in the long run? So far so good though.

From what I've gathered, keywords should fade over time. You should probably check if japanese keywords ( http://sites.google.com/site/wrightak2/afterrtk1 ) would be of any help. I've been gradually switching over to japanese ones if I am familiar with the words used, and it seems to be working well.

Betelgeuzah Wrote:more often than I'd like to admit I can't recall keywords when looking at a kanji. I can remember the story surrounding it but the word itself just doesn't click.

I wouldn't worry about this. You are at the stage now where you can start reading real Japanese, going from the kanji to actual Japanese words that you know or are in the process of Learning. As you probably realize by now, keywords are not vocabulary; they are merely mnemonic devices to help you write / distinguish kanji.

EDIT: There is more discussion of the pros and cons of reviewing from kanji to keyword on this thread.

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?p...#pid149031

I often found myself getting keywords mixed up. But yeah, similar to what Clasu said, adding a Japanese word that uses the kanji next to the actual keyword can go a long way. I wish it was something I did when I started RTK. http://japaneselevelup.com/2011/01/29/ho...t-1-kanji/

I think I'd be hard-pressed to remember any keywords at this point. As far as writing practice goes, though, I found that the more I learnt, using Japanese keywords was simply easier: less confusing, less frustrating. But I haven't written for quite some time.

I think wrightak's deck isn't the only premade JRTK-ish deck around these parts, so if that's your thing, you might also want to try searching the forum. If you're like me, you might want to choose your own Japanese keywords instead; I found it made it easier to recall what kanji was being referred to.

Indeed, I'm not really worried as long as I can distinguish them from each other (which still works fine with a bit of concentration).

Writing, however, requires me to use keywords still. Otherwise I get totally confused. On the other hand, lolhandwriting. Typing on a PC works fine since I know the spelling and the kanji input is automatic.

I will start slowly updating my deck with japanese keywords, that sounds like the best way to go at this point.

For me it's weird, I can recognize the characters but I do have trouble writing some of them but I'm forgetting the stories, like crazy. So not sure what to do but people say I should switch to japanese keywords. I do delete keywords that I don''t find useful as well, so the number of keywords does decrease.

Remembering the keyword when you see the kanji isn't all that useful, IMO. I'd just concentrate on reading and writing, personally.