meeatcookies wrote:

im not going to write them more than once- that would make me trying to remember them by writing them xx times down, and that shouldn't be the way to learn while using stories.

You are correct. Some people either didn't read the book or were careless about the Heisig's advice. In Lesson 11 he has:

Here are the steps you should be following each time you come to a new frame:

1. Read the key word and take note of the particular connotation that has been given it. There is only one such meaning, sometimes associated with a colloquial phrase, sometimes with one of the several meanings of the word, sometimes with a a well-known cultural phenomenon. Think of that connotation and repeat it to yourself. When you’re sure you’ve got the right one, carry on.

2. Read through the particular little story that goes with the key word and let the whole picture establish itself clearly.

3. Now close your eyes, focus on those images in the story that belong to the key word and primitive elements, and let go of the controls. It may take a few seconds, sometimes as long as a minute, but the picture will start to change on its own. The exaggerated focal points will start to take on a life of their own and enhance the image with your own particular experiences and memories. You will know your work is done when you have succeeded in creating a memorable image that is both succinct and complete, both faithful to the original story and yet your very own.

4. Open your eyes and repeat the key word and primitive elements, keeping that image in mind. This will clear away any of the fog, and at the same time make sure that when you let go you didn’t let go of the original story, too.

5. In your mind, juxtapose the elements relative to one another in line with your image or the way they normally appear in the characters.

6. Take pencil and paper and write the character once, retelling the story as you go.

Thiel wrote:

Heisig was talking about learning a character for the very first time in that section. In the beginning of the book he says this about reviewing previously added kanji:

Second, the repeated advice given to study the characters with pad and pencil should be taken seriously. While simply remembering the characters does not, one will discover, demand that they be written, there is really no better way to improve the aesthetic appearance of one’s writing and acquire a “natural feel” for the flow of the kanji than by writing them…

… Third, the kanji are best reviewed by beginning with the key word, progressing to the respective story, and then writing the character itself.

Although I think this is a good point, I think Heisig probably had in mind a more paper-based environment in general (unless that passage has changed dramatically from the first edition) given the original book's age. I'm inclined to think he didn't expect the kind of high-frequency reviews people can do with Anki and likely wouldn't do if they stuck with just paper (including the keywords being written on paper flashcards). Then again, I think if you can picture the kanji pretty accurately in your head, then you can probably not bother with more than palm-tracing. But if you get it wrong, you should definitely write it again and review the story if you need to.

That's all I can really say with my limited knowledge of RTK so far, but there's my $0.0002.

Edit: Cleaned up the word order a bit

Last edited by khalhern (2012 February 20, 11:19 am)