I made a thread about this recently.  My solution has been to go in the opposite direction.  Make cards in which the answer is the adjective (or other かな word), not cards where you go from the adjective to meaning.  That way in order to pass the cards you need to remember the pronunciation.

For example, you could have cards where the front of the card is the definition of the adjective in Japanese, and perhaps an example sentense with the word missing.  The only problem with this is that you might confuse words with similar meanings.  Though, hopefully by associating them with the example sentences you will remember which word you are looking for.

I haven't been doing this for so long, so I'm not sure yet how well it'll work or possible problems.

I often make mnemonics to remember words. They don't usually fit perfectly, but there just needs to be enough to point you in the right direction. Basic method is to take a distinctive part of the word you wish to learn, think of something else you associate with that sound (or spelling) and then link the two together. E.g.

Hogaraka: Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee) being especially cheerful & merry.
Darashinai: The Dalai Lama is usually neat and tidy, but today he is slovenly (hence the ~nai) (r = l, so dara = dala).
Sosokkashii: Someone is a scatterbrain and scatters their socks (so-sok) everwhere.

Thanks for all the responses.

Any tips on the grammar aspect? Starting to get really frustrating with all the small connotations and mostly the constructs that have a differen't form depending on whether you use it with a verb/na-i adjv/noun.

Can't remember shit captain.

*edit*

I've started adding entire sentences using the grammar (all from my N1 books) and it already seems to be a more effective way of doing things. Still interested in everyone's thoughts though.

Last edited by bbvoncrumb (2013 February 19, 9:26 pm)