Hello to everyone!
I’m new to Wanikani and I’m currently at lv 4. I know my question might sound stupid but: should I always try to remember the mnemonic/meaning story? There are times when I don’t have to think about the story in order to remember the meaning or the reading so I guess I don’t have to remember every time the story if I feel confident about that kanji, right?
best regards
Cava27
The mnemonics are there to assist you in remembering a meaning/reading, so if you don’t need it, you don’t have to use it – and sometimes the mnemonics may not stick for you and you can come up with your own
The mnemonics tend to eventually melt away anyway and just your memory of the meaning/reading remains, so whatever works for you to burn those turtles 
Thank you very much!
Aye. Mnemonics are intended to be forgotten. They’re a memory aid to help you learn - once you can recall the thing without relying on the mnemonic, you can just lose the mnemonic.
Over time, if you’re consuming native material, you’ll replace whatever English mnemonics you have with context-based ones from stuff you’ve read. For example, I always remember 嵐 from the Japanese translation of the Stormlight Archives.
The short answer: no.
Long one:
You have to treat mnemonics like a story or a legend of ancient times - you don’t even want to remember the whole story, but you want to catch the main plot essence. As others pointed out, it’s even better if you create your own story.
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