LloydGA
New member
From: Japan
Registered: 2007-10-15
Posts: 6
i'm not sure if anyone has experimented with this. i know it's similar to some other approaches, but i'm wondering if it might a radical new way to learn kanji. i'd like your opinion. i will spare you how i thought this up and get to the details.
#1) assign a meaning to every sound in the japanese syllabary plus long vowels and lengthened syllables (e.g. chou, hei, etc.) just like heisig does at the end of book II. (approx. 120 total)
#2) learn the readings of every kanji, in any order you like, by make mneumonic devices connecting the "sound-symbols" of #1 with the heisig keyword meaning.
example:
kanji: 後 (behind)
reading: あ?と
sound symbols employed: あ (someone opening their mouth wide and saying "ahhh"); と (a toe)
objective: connect the meaning of "behind" with "ahhh" and "toe"
story: a patient is in the dentist chair with his mouth open wide saying "ahh" waiting for a teeth cleaning. the dentist, a practical joker, sneaks up behind and sticks his toe in his mouth!
what this accomplishes:
if you can recall the heisig keyword "behind" when you see 後 you can then recall the story connected with that keyword which will contain the words "ahh" and "toe" which will conjure "あと".
potential objections:
#1)
objection: you have to know the heisig keyword when you see the kanji.
answer: that would be beneficial anyway for reading and trying to guess the meaning of the words. if you can't recall the keyword and thus the reading, you fail the card.
#2)
objection: some kanji have more than one reading so you have to have more than one story for each kanji.
answer: true. but you'll have to learn them anyway. if you're stories are concise and different enough to not overlap, you shouldn't confuse the different stories you have for a single kanji.
#3)
objection: this doesn't teach you which reading is used when you look at an unfamiliar word.
answer: true but instead of being completely in the dark at least you'll have a limited number of options to choose from. this isn't the end-all-be-all to learning kanji, but is rather just another tool in mastering them.
#4)
objection: what if i get my stories for readings confused with my stories for the writing.
answer: shouldn't be a problem if...
a) you're reviewing writing from keyword to kanji and reading from kanji to keyword.
b) your sound-symbols (which work like the "primitive elements" of readings) are different from the primitive elements you used in learning how to write kanji.
c) you've already finished RTK 1 and you're stories for the writing of the kanji are firmly enough placed in memory.
#5)
objection: many kanji have the same reading. won't i get confused?
answer: you'll be working with the same sound-symbols for those kanji, but the kanji keyword will be what distinguishes them. once you throw the kanji keyword into the story it should result in them being quite different.
i intend to start experimenting with this this week. i'm now on summer holiday and will be able to devote a large amount of time to this starting on monday.
what are you thoughts?
Interesting idea. I wouldn't use it myself, and here's why: you pretty much have to learn compounds anyway, and learning compounds automatically gives you kanji readings. I guess if you learned the readings first, it might make the compounds a little easier, but not that much. You still gotta learn the compound meanings, plus which kanji readings to use. From your original post it sounds like multi-reading kanji are few and far between. I could just be really unlucky so far, but almost all the kanji I've encountered have at least two readings and a lot have more.
If you do this method on your own, it would sure be very interesting to read about how it goes. Keep a journal and give us field reports 
Edit: By "compound" I don't mean just two-or-more-kanji compounds. I basically mean "non-kana word". So 猫 is a "compound", while 警 is not, since it's not a word by itself.
Last edited by snispilbor (2008 July 19, 1:20 pm)
alyks
Member
From: Arizona
Registered: 2008-05-31
Posts: 914
Website
Snispilbor, I wanna comment on this.
Knowing the on'yomi readings are awesome, because it makes it a ton easier to remember compounds. If you don't have to remember 警 is pronounced ケイ and that 察 is pronounced サツ, then all you have to do is put "Guard" and "inspect" together. The pronunciation can serve to help your memory, instead of the opposite.
If you know that 泳 also has the reading of エイ and 水 has the reading of スイ, then you can put them together and form 水泳 (すいえい) - swimming. I'm beginning to notice how all the onyomi and kanji are all interconnected, it's really cool.
With that said, I still would still follow what you say over what the main poster says. The only way learning readings separately would help, would be if it was fast and easy.
Last edited by alyks (2008 July 19, 2:05 pm)
QuackingShoe
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-04-19
Posts: 721
It'd be fair anyway. 後 means 'after' a time, but 'behind' an object, which is also why 後ろ means behind something, and 午後 means after noon, and etc. A more accurate keyword might be 'past' something, but that'd be a bit confusing as well - especially since it has FUTURE connotations, and 'past' is a word in English that...
You see how this goes. The ideas are just thought of slightly differently in Japanese, which is only natural, because ideas of before/after are really based on which direction you're looking at something from. 前 is different too, but it's more compatible with our native English ideas.
Raichu
Member
From: Australia
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 249
Website
I've been trying to use a Heisig-style method for remembering readings.
For example, I suppose many of us have noticed that the counter for footwear is 足（そく）, pretty apt for counting socks.
However, it's not just English-Japanese coincidences that you can take advantage of. How about Japanese-Japanese coincidences...
懐（なつ）かしい = missed, desired. I think of it as なつ+かし+い, and my story is that I miss that sweet summer that I remember.
愛（いと）しい = beloved, dear. Of course いと suggests the threads that tie you with your loved ones.
What about coincidences involving other languages...
重（かさ）ねる = pile up. In Greek, kasa means box, so I think of piling up boxes. Of course boxes are heavy, hence the use of that kanji for the purpose. (Not quite sure what to do with the ね bit. And don't confuse with Italian casa = house.)
