Too bad you haven’t able to make it work for you, but at least you have found a method that does. I’d say that’s most important. A few comments on your points below:
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I’m the same way. In fact, I’ve been learning how to write using Heisig’s and I rely heavily on a site called kanji.koohii.com for inspiration on the stories.
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I agree with you, that you definitely want to progress to using only the L2 as soon as possible; however, I don’t feel using mnemonics is quite the same thing, since you definitely wouldn’t want to be using the mnemonics in the long run when, say, speaking. Again, they kinda are more to just bridge the gap between short and long-term memory. When I learned my first L2, tho, I never encountered the problem of translating in my head (I didn’t use mnemonics, btw, just paper flashcards). From the very start, I thought in the L2. I have a feeling this might be because I grew up bilingually, though, so thinking in two different languages was totally normal. I have a feeling that the majority of people who didn’t grow up with multiple languages have to get over the habit of thinking in their L1. They likely have to literally figure out how to do it. I have been thinking a lot about how to help someone do that most effectively though, since I’m interested in the mechanics of language learning in general. Hmmm…that might be an interesting thread!
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I think that’s an excellent strategy. I’ve seen threads where people talk about pre-studying and other methods so that they can ace the reviews, but I think they are missing the point of SRS. Getting 80-90% accuracy is actually right where you want to be for maximum efficiency, and I think doing the reviews fast is very important. WK actually says that somewhere.
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Is German your first language, by chance? I’ve been wondering based on your name. That’d be pretty cool because German is my other mother-tongue, though I’m not as good at it as English, since I grew up in the USA. I do speak it every day, though.
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I agree with you 100% on this. I get that they don’t want you to bite off more than you can chew, but it’s definitely frustrating when you have no new lessons to do because you missed guru-ing a few kanji. Then you end up with people abusing scripts to level up faster, but also shooting themselves in the foot in doing so. I think the WK SRS is designed for simplicity, but not necessarily efficiency. One thing I like about Anki flashcards is that you can really tailor them to your own pace.
Anyway, I enjoyed our discussion. We’ve each got our own methods, but I think we’ll both reach our goals with hard work!
Started two weeks ago. 日 人 definitely have their set of challenges. Although I fear it’s just the beginning when it comes to exceptions