I'm really having trouble with this

KaninBunny New member

Registered: 2012-08-18 Posts: 2

I have 100 cards in my deck, but I was finding it really difficult getting them to stick. I stopped adding cards and decided to spend a few days just trying to remember these 100, but I'm having no luck at all.

I check the keyword, and if in the rare instance I can remember the character, I write it down. If not, I read the story to myself 5 or so times, fail the card and then move on. It seems that less than 2 minutes later, I've completely forgotten the story, and this just repeats time and time again. When it comes time for the card to be reviewed again 10 minutes later, I'm still just as puzzled the first time

Today I had a 41% success rate on my reviews and this is on keywords/stories I've seen over and over.

Is there anything special I'm missing here? I look at posts with people who are speeding through this course and here I am completely stuck on the 100 most simple Kanji

RawrPk Member

From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: 2011-12-17 Posts: 148

Maybe changing up the stories is your best bet. You said that you read the story to yourself 5 times, only to completely forget again once it was time to review those difficult kanji.

No shame in trashing those stories if they're hurting your progress. Just 1) make new ones or 2) use the stories members have contributed to the site.

ryuudou Member

Registered: 2009-03-05 Posts: 406

Try to base your stories on what you immediately think of when you initially read the keyword. That way when you review and see the keyword it will immediately remind of you a particular association, and if that association is related to the story you should be able to remember it much easier. Once you recall the story then it's simply piecing the primitives together in your mind.

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comeauch Member

From: Canada Registered: 2011-11-04 Posts: 175

The best thing about Anki - and doing it for a long time - is that it teaches you it's totally okay and normal to forget. I've got to admit 41% is quite a low success rate, how many cards are you adding every day?

I've managed to stick with 20/day, but I have had a lot of free time. I guess the main thing is to accept failure and think long term. Keep adding a small number every day and do all your reviews! Whatever your rate is, as long as you keep doing all your reviews, there'll be no problem in the long term. You just get more reviews to do Also, I'm not really sure about writing your stories down... sounds strenuous If you really want to jot something on paper, maybe a drawing of the story would be more effective? Idk, just an idea XD

I've just finished RTK3 today and even though I felt bad seeing how some people were learning 100/day or more (wtf XD), I couldn't care less right now. Go at your own rhythm. When you achieve your goal, it feels great anyway. Keep it up!

EratiK Member

From: Paris Registered: 2010-07-15 Posts: 874

First, are they your own stories? If not, try something more personal.

Then, as Heisig recommends himself, try to memorize the story not as words (then it's classical mnemonics), but as a snapshot of a scene (which you can deconstruct in words if necessary). Maybe it's because it activates some sort of imagination's visual center that you reuse when writing kanji.

Finally, don't worry too much about your retention rate yet. You've just started a new brain training (learning kanji that is), so you'll need time to adjust. I remember the process started feeling comfortable after a thousand or so. Keep adding calmly until maybe 250-300 and see if you notice any difference.

Last edited by EratiK (2012 August 25, 9:04 pm)

Aspiring Member

From: San Diego Registered: 2012-08-13 Posts: 307

Make a list of the failed/new kanji and review them throughout the day. Write them out a couple of times.

dtcamero Member

From: new york Registered: 2010-05-15 Posts: 653

There are various strategies to creating stories... what strategies worked for the ones that stuck for you? For me it was always dirty jokes. If I could wrap those primitives and meaning together into a dirty joke it never went away...

Adent Member

From: California Registered: 2012-07-10 Posts: 12

Don't just try to remember the stories try to imagine them. The whole point of the book is to use your imaginative memory. So make sure you have imaginative stories. When you don't remember take a moment imagine the story to the fullest in your head. Fill in all the details with your imagination and let the story run in your mind from start to finish.

KaninBunny New member

Registered: 2012-08-18 Posts: 2

Thank you so much!

My problem was exactly as mentioned here. I was trying to memorize the sentences themselves, rather than imagining and remembering the stories in my head. It really is easier to remember pictures and scenes.

undead_saif Member

From: Mother Earth Registered: 2009-01-28 Posts: 635

If you're using the book, after a few lessons Heisig explains how to memorize the stories. And don't worry if it takes time at first to "hook" the mnemonic, you'll get better and faster down the road.

Last edited by undead_saif (2012 August 26, 9:00 am)

Mayhem Member

From: Tokyo Japan Registered: 2008-03-18 Posts: 14

As a side note about making/collecting stories, I read Heisig, look through the list of popular ones on the site and choose one to my liking and usually alter it slightly to match my own impressions.

What I occasionally find is that later when I review, a story I read on thesite but didn't choose (usually because I thought it was too dumb or offensive) comes to mind. At which point that becomes my new story.

I think finding stories is a process like any other, so changing them if they are not working makes good sense.

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