“Mnemonic” simply means a device, formula or rhyme used to assist memorization. An example of a mnemonic embedded in my mind from childhood is “Never Eat Shredded Wheat”. As a rhyme it has nothing to do with navigation or geography, but it helped me learn the points of the compass.
So let’s have a look at the mnemonic approaches that can speed-up kanji learning.
James Heisig's Remembering the Kanji Series
Heisig's mnemonic-based approach is not only famous for the claims its practitioners have made of rapid kanji assimilation (1,000 kanji in 29 days, for example), but also for the critical flack it has attracted from traditionalists.
Undoubtedly, the method has flaws: The student being encouraged to associate a single, very narrow and sometimes non-standard meaning with a particular kanji being a major one. However, the fact that Heisig's approach is geared to Westerners also has advantages: Focusing on the meaning before the pronunciation is of more practical value to the adult Western student, since while meaning is the key to understanding, the pronunciation of the kanji is of little value unless reading aloud.
I came to this approach late, having used the good ol' rote memorization and drilling method of most traditional textbooks, so it has not been such a boon to me as it would be to someone starting from scratch. However, while using a computer to write Japanese at work has made my mind lazy when it comes to writing, Heisig's method keeps the shape of the kanji right in front of me when I do pick up pen and paper. And I am hoping to use book 3 to go well beyond the standard 1,945 character kanji set in the future - something I would not even consider attempting without using this technique.
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