Remembering readings but not mnemoics

I have forgotton most mnemoics for kanji that are below my level, but subconciously I somehow pull out the correct readings. Is it normal to start diassociating kanjis with there mnemoics the higher up you get or is this a bad habit? My main fear is that this is temporary and in a year or so I’ll start running into problems.

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No, this is perfectly normal. The mnemonics are just a stepping stone to get you to remember the correct readings. When you associate the right one with the kanji, you no longer need the mnemonic. So, this means you’re on the right path! :slight_smile:

(of course, some mnemonics will remain with you, but I’ve forgotten most of them by the time I have an item in Master)

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thats a relief to hear, thanks!

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The same thing happened to me and I was actually relieved to find that I didn’t need the mnemonics. What if whenever I encountered a vocabulary I would need to remember a whole story. :anguished:
I am noticing that after sometime a vocab or kanji’s meaning or/and reading just pops in my mind whenever I see it. :blush:

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I’d actually see it as a good thing. Especially with readings it means that it’s becoming automatic, and you’re associating the appearance of the kanji with certain sounds. That’ll come in handy later when learning new kanji, since often times kanji that look similar or contain some of the same radicals will have the same reading. Very useful.

Also I wouldn’t worry too much about forgetting kanji from earlier levels. Especially the early level kanji are pretty common, so you’ll use them enough to not forget.

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well mnemonics are there to only to help you remember the reading so i don’t think this will be problem. sometimes i read the mnemonic but i forget to read the reading, and i’m like: yhea for this kanji 売 the samurai sold his body and then he said “bye”… what was the reading ? (it’s ばい but you know that)

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