Explanations are too long

WaniKani Feedback
21

For the long explanations I usually make up my own.

22

I would agree on the fact that I tend to scan long explanations. But I learn more visually and don"t rely much on mnemonics.
One thing I would love is to dispense with the long repetitive sentence at the start about not knowing this pronunciation yet and getting a mnemonic for it. Or at leat add a return after the intro so that I can get to the explanation without scanning through the intro.

23

Yes! That explanatory sentence was cool until about level seven. Now I could do simply some icons that showed reading status like

  1. Kanji are using the on’yomi
  2. Kanji are using the kun’yomi
  3. Kanji are using the reading you learned when learning this kanji (in tandem with above)
  4. Straightforward Rendaku (lke voicing the second reading of a two kanji combo)
  5. Uncommon Rendaku
  6. Little Tsu shortening
  7. Exceptional Reading
  8. Exceptional Reading similar to readings you’ve seen (like it’s normally よう but here it’s よ）
  9. Combination of on’yomi and kun’yomi
  10. No mnemonic, you’re on your own

And then dive straight into the mnemonic when present.

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24

So this means that each kanji is getting it’s own independent memory palace story? I had to lookup the term Memory Palace and now I’m trying to discern strategies for applying it to WK.

25

You could do that if you want to. The idea behind Memory Palaces is that because you’re so familiar with these places you will have a much easier time trying to remember anything that you associate with them… that is the theory.

In practice I use them as third choice when Wanikani or Koohii explanations are too complex/difficult to remember. And so far they have worked well!

I also know of people that use only Memory Palaces for every single kanji and they swear by it. I guess it depends of what works best for you. It is worth a try I say!

Fun Fact: Sherlock Holmes uses Memory Palaces (he calls them Mind Palaces) in the series “Sherlock” as part of his deduction technique!

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26

So there’s this thread:
Formatting of Reading Explanations Carriage Return
I don’t understand why they can’t do that for everything at once, but you can send them an e-mail when you encounter this and they will add the carriage return.

27

Thanks! Yeah - in particular, I was curious about how actually begin the “palace journey” for a particular kanji for example. I can imagine taking all the kanji in one level and placing them along a journey through a palace, but if we are only using this method as needed (a choice I agree with) then how is the sequence managed? Is the same palace used for several kanji and additional memory loci added as needed until the palace is deemed full?

28

That is a good question and in fact strategies vary.

In my case I fill up one Palace at a time (I have only needed one palace so far as other mnemonics have proven successful for now). There’s no specific number of kanji per palace, you use a Palace until it becomes obvious it won’t accommodate any additional kanji (which can be as little as 10-20 kanji and as many as hundreds).

However you can also organize your kanjis per palace around a theme (objects / emotions / urban life, etc) and use an appropriate palace for each (a Beach house for nature-related kanjis for example). One of my friends who recently got his N1 has 31 Palaces and he organizes his kanji this way. It’s time consuming because you have to create longer, intricate narratives but he says that after the initial undertaking it becomes really easy and fast remembering it all.

As far as beginning goes, usually people begins with their most memorable Palace (the house you grew up in or an place you visited everyday for years such as an office or school). Choose a place that you know intimately, one in which you can visualize tiny defects on the plaster on the wall without straining your memory. The more familiar the better.

There’s no specific sequence that you need to adhere to add kanji, for in theory the story helps you to remember, not the connections between the kanji. But people recommend you to associate kanji to actions you repeat often (such as having breakfast or watching TV) and go from there. And the more bizarre the story the better, as bizarre events tend to stick in your mind for longer.

Take a look at this TED talk (if you have not already) on how the process work, it might be helpful:

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29

Thanks for the detailed insight. That’s very helpful!

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30

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