That's fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Competition in itself is not good or ill; it becomes whatever you make of it. If there were no competition in the world where do you think we would be? We would all probably be jellyfish floating wherever the next current takes us. That might be a delightful existence. Think about it--no deadlines, no nagging partners, not even one kanji to master. On the other hand, the absence of stimulation can be a retardant. There probably is a happy medium somewhere.

Neither have I suggested that competition become the medium through which people study or use this website. My suggestion would not at all affect how you or others study here. The suggestion was confined to the making of stories. And certainly there would be no rule that you would have to participate. I cannot possibly imagine how such an activity could not be enjoyed or  conducted in a civil manner; otherwise I would not have mentioned it.

You are very correct in saying that stories may not work for all people. That's right but should we just fold up our RTK books because some of those stories are personal to the orginator's, which no doubt some are? Most personal stories will have universalistic elements, which is what makes if possible to communicate and be shared. And even if the story doesn't work for study purposes, isn't it possible that it still can be appreciated?

Probably many members of this website are busy and might not wish to participate in a contest. Making stories is not easy and so take time. Some members enjoy doing it however. With other a thousand members there might be enough who would enjoy such a contest. But again, no member would be forced to participate. And those who would, I am sure, would do so in a friendly and cordial way.

True, but the website probably has many members that don't follow the program exactly so it is hard to compare.

For example some have reviewed much more times than they should meaning they are probably learning Kanji by repetitive drilling instead of by imagination.  Others have much more cards in their deck than they have reviews meaning they are not on the normal learning curve.

Ofcourse I'm not criticizing anyone's method, it is great that everyone can use the website however suits them.  I am interested in hearing more about other members genuine progress.  That is encouraging to me.

What if people that are keen on sharing their most interesting stories post them in the forum?  There are times when I think I've come up with a real gem of a story and I'd like to talk about it.  There are also times when I'd like to request help making a better story.  I think that deep thinking and discussion about stories is a pretty good way to get them branded in your mind.

Drilling is naughty. Have you tried going back and visualizing the story in your head? Spend at least 5 minutes on each missed kanji and be sure to follow Heisig's steps. Get a nice clear story with the primatives in detail.

Hi Kanji,

My motivation for posting stories is to force myself to be as precise and memorable as possible within the constraints of the primitives. Making the stories public forces me to be careful in the selection of the words, in the arrangement of the sentences, etc. This is great fun in itself. Actually this is "the" fun. I would not be more motivated if there was a contest because I use the site as a medium and not as an end. Most people that post stories probably share a similar perspective. I therefore do not think that a contest would encourage more participation nor would make anthing more fun.

Peace,
Pepe

Hi Kanji,

Now it is you who has departed from the original topic. I am aware of the purpose of the site as well as of the restrictions. I was just arguing against a contest.

Peace,
Pepe

KANJI wrote:

Why don't we have a contest for best contributed stories posted on the site? It might encourage more participation, as well as making more fun.

Great idea KANJI-man. After all, life is competition. How about choosing one, or a handful, of kanji so we can all give it a shot (I've only entered a couple stories)?

leosmith and scottamus, you are both ahead of me on this, ha, ha. Good suggestions you make. I hadn't thought about it, but it's an excellent idea to make demon kanji as a category for a contest. Afterall, those probably have few perhaps no stories contributed. It could be a fun way to generate useful stuff.

As you go through RTK, you are sometimes instructed that you must think "Freudian." That's polite for being x-rated! (I know you know that but some people might not.) Say, how about making an x-rated version of RTK! Some members have already offered x-rated stories to this site, so this project has already been underway, ha, ha.  Anyway, that could be another contest category. (For this we ask for x-rated, not xxx-rated, stories ha, ha. It would be ideal if the x-rated version of RTK could be separated from the standard version; I mean in a separte place on this website.

I wonder how many active members we have here. The membership list is in the thousands? But only a small portion might be presently active. That certainly factors in our effort here.

In the meantime, please participate here as you normally do. We need to decide how to do a contest. It could go without anything special; but sometime later a committee could go through the contributed stories an pick winners. Or, if we had wide interest, we could set up an actual contest. It would be nice if we could award a free Hawaii vacation. Bill Gates, are you listening? This could be a nice way for your foundation to contribute to international understanding.

Matthew,

Sorry I don't get your point. The same can be said for art, but does that mean we shouldn't have museums or art contests? Furthermore, how can you cite DeRoo when you probably have never seen his work? Finally, if you don't like the idea of a contest, then don't participate. It's very simple. Why did you waste time in making a pointless message? DeRoo makes a similar point.

Matthew:

You should not criticize books without ever having seen or read them.

The name is not DeRoo, but De Roo. I already posted complete bibliographical info for his book on this website; please look for it. As far as I know, De Roo has written 'a' book not bookS.

It seems then that you do not have the De Roo book.  And since you don't have a copy, I don't believe you have ever seen it. So please admit it. (It is a very rare book.) Please don't act as though you can look it up when you don't have a copy. (I hardly think it"s at your local library.)

I am very surprised that you missed the analogy about museums. How do you think works of art make it into museums? By lottery? Wishful thinking? No, they are judged in some way. So according to your thinking, museums should be closed. Should they?

You should enter communications here with honesty and not with some hidden agenda.

this looks like a fun thread