I’ve recently been struggling to remember the meanings of some kanji and my apprentice numbers have been continually increasing.
I seem to have better connections in my mind when I make a mnemonic based on the phonetic sound of the reading rather than the kanji/radicals used to create a story.
I am using a plugin that puts the readings first, then the meanings - which is something of note.
I recall the reading without thinking, but when it comes to the meaning I can struggle.
While I have been using the explanation mnemonic they provide using “House” and “Occurrence”, it doesn’t seem to sick.
But as soon as I made a mnemonic using “かじ” as the keyword, then it translates in my head.
Example: Mother won’t let me use my car/jeep (かじ) until I do the housework.
Now, this isn’t foolproof but I remember a lot more consistently. Am I making a mistake here in anyway? Am I creating neural pathways that can have long-term detriment? Let me know what you think.
imo, you shouldn’t fear of doing the wrong thing first time round. Remember first, fix later, is valid too.
About recognizing readings before meanings, actually, the sound. For listening in context, there are not only accents and intonations, but also particles and other vocabularies in proximity. So, another approach is indeed listening, and recalling the context you have listening from. Otherwise, recalling the context from reading aloud.
The being said, it may better to concern about remembering even a hint for now, and perfect it later.
I’ve heard from fluent speakers who have used mnemonics to help them remember meanings that the mnemonic eventually fades away and they are able to instinctively know the word because they made it easier to remember. I don’t think its a mistake or dumb idea to give yourself the boost you need to remember!
Side note: I like to thing of 家事 as “house things” if that helps lol.
