I’m going to also agree that the reoccurring characters in the reading mnemonics help me immensely. For the first levels, the amount of information and new characters can be a lot and descriptions can get wordy while trying to introduce the learner to the characters. Later on, just reading the character name cements the reading into my mind, because I have all of these bizarre associations and stories behind it. I’ve had better luck remembering readings over meanings lately.
Also, learning that there are (sometimes) phonetic components to kanji helped me a lot.
I was pretty into the Hard Gay videos on YouTube when I was in high school so it helped me too! Just don’t bother mentioning Hard Gay to Japanese people unless you want to look really silly and out-of-the-loop.
I don’t always use the same mnemonic for そ. Sometimes I just say “so” or sometimes I turn it into “sew”. For example, 走行 is そうこう because if you spend too much time traveling, you become “so cold” as a person.
I think what Koichi’s going for here isn’t a short, simple description of a scene, he’s going for a memorable scene packed with detail that you can recall in a flash. Once it’s recalled in total, you can start picking details as one reminds you of the others. Sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words, so describing it takes longer. Whether you like it or not doesn’t really matter for memory purposes.
I have to admit, I didn’t think “a tree with a helicopter and jackhammer tied to it” was a very good one. Kind of phoning it in there, eh? But I haven’t missed that one a single time yet.
You can, of course, add completely new original mnemonics in the meaning note and reading note sections.
I’m starting to think people are posting that workload chart on purpose now to drive me nuts.
Just a little note for you: If you want to submit feedback without the forum community commenting on it, send them an email to hello@wanikani.com. They are usually very responsive there and I believe is their preferred way of contact rather than the forums anyways.
I think the forums are a great way to discuss something about the system with no expectation that anything will change. It’s a good way to gauge other people’s opinions.
If there is a mistake within WK that isn’t just a matter of opinion, then using email is the best way. I’ve used both methods to air my issues depending upon what they were. One forum discussion even led to an email which led to the issue being resolved to (I think) everyone’s satisfaction.
In this case, I’d agree that it’s more the case where it’s a matter of opinion whether Mr Sei Sei Sei makes for an effective mnemonic.
My feeling exactly. I did google Hard Gay and watched for a few minutes without ever hearing sei sei sei. Unless that is what his crotch was “saying”! Could not watch more than that.
P.S. I now have made myself a better mnemonic. I will think of those thrusts doing the talking.
pop culture mnemonics kinda blow because you end up dating yourself. hard gay sucks especially because he’s a homophobic caricature played by a straight dude.
not related to せい, but to using the same word for different pronunciations:
I recently learned 境(きょう）and I thought it really weird that WaniKani’s mnemonic used 京都 for the reading, even though in the past they have used it for きょ.
Obviously I haven’t been here for very long yet, but I like to use the silly stories mnemonic method, but swap out characters if I don’t like what’s given. Often these end up being anime or game characters. XD
So for example, if I need to remember “ゆう”, I think of Yuu Narukami (Persona 4).
And I feel guilty admitting this on the forum, but Kouichi doesn’t conjure up much of a mental image for me, so I’ve been thinking about Ko(u)kichi Ouma (Danganronpa). It works brilliantly when “Kouichi” is being a total jerk to people (stealing all the 公’s fins!)
Sometimes that happens for me, but it tends to be more like…an automatic thing on my part than like a I Am Purposefully Changing It thing. That happens with lots of little things really. Like part of how I remember the things that wago counting gets used on is…Marisa Stole the Precious Thing. So I’ll be sitting there and then 六日 or something will pop up in the review and assuming I didn’t immediately misread sun as moon (I am a very quickdraw sort with typing so I’ll occasionally just assume it was a month like an idiot) I will probably just go HIFUMIHIFUMIHIHIHIFU mentally.