Anki Remembering The Kanji: 7 Powerful Tricks To Learn Japanese Characters Faster (Without Burning Out) – Stop brute-forcing kanji and use smarter tools and habits that actually stick.

Forget Painful Kanji Drills – Let’s Make This Easier

If you’re trying to use Anki with Remembering the Kanji (RTK) and still feel like kanji just slip out of your brain… yeah, you’re not alone.

The method is solid. The problem is usually the workflow:

• Making cards takes forever
• Reviews pile up
• You forget to open Anki
• You burn out halfway through the book

This is where using a more modern flashcard app like Flashrecall honestly makes a huge difference. It still uses spaced repetition and active recall like Anki, but it’s faster, easier, and way less painful to maintain.

You can grab it here (free to start):

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Let’s go through how to make Remembering the Kanji actually work, and how to set it up in Flashrecall (or improve your Anki setup if you really want to stick with it).

1. Remembering The Kanji + SRS: Why This Combo Works So Well

Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji focuses on:

• Meaning first
• Mnemonic stories
• Breaking kanji into components (radicals)

Then an SRS app (Anki or Flashrecall) handles:

• When you review
• How often you see each card
• What you’ve forgotten vs what you know well

That combo is powerful. But only if:

• Your cards are simple
• You actually review daily
• Making cards doesn’t eat your entire life

Flashrecall helps a lot on that last part: you can create cards instantly from images, text, PDFs, YouTube, or just by typing a quick prompt. No fiddling with clunky templates.

2. What’s Wrong With Most Anki + RTK Decks

If you’ve tried premade Anki RTK decks, you’ve probably seen stuff like:

• 10+ fields per card
• Overloaded with readings, examples, audio, everything
• Confusing layouts
• 300+ reviews a day after a few weeks

That’s how people burn out.

With RTK, especially in the beginning, you want super simple cards:

> Front: the English keyword

> Back: the kanji + your short story / mnemonic

That’s it.

In Flashrecall, this is easy:

• Make a deck called “RTK – Meaning Only”
• For each new kanji, add:
• Front: “busy”
• Back: “忙 – heart + slave – ‘busy’ (story: heart enslaved by tasks)”

Or even faster: paste a list of kanji/keywords, and let Flashrecall help turn them into cards.

3. Why Flashrecall Beats Anki For RTK (Especially On iPhone)

Since you’re likely on iOS if you’re searching this, let’s be honest: Anki on mobile is… not fun.

Here’s where Flashrecall is nicer for Remembering the Kanji:

✅ 1. Instant Card Creation From Anything

You can create RTK-style cards from:

• Photos of the RTK book pages
• Screenshots from online kanji lists
• PDFs of kanji tables
• Text you paste in
• YouTube videos about kanji
• Or just type “Make a flashcard for the kanji 忙 with keyword ‘busy’ and a simple story”

Flashrecall will help you turn that into clean, usable flashcards in seconds.

✅ 2. Built-In Spaced Repetition (No Math, No Settings Hell)

You don’t have to:

• Tweak intervals
• Worry about ease factors
• Fight with settings

Flashrecall has spaced repetition + active recall built in, with auto reminders so you don’t have to remember to open the app. It just nudges you like: “Hey, 5 mins of kanji?”

✅ 3. Chat With Your Flashcards When You’re Stuck

This is huge for kanji.

If you forget:

• A component
• A story
• How to make a better mnemonic

You can literally chat with the flashcard in Flashrecall:

> “I keep forgetting the kanji 忙. Can you give me a better story using heart + slave?”

And it will generate a new, memorable story for you on the spot.

✅ 4. Works Offline, Perfect For Short Sessions

On the train, in line, between classes – Flashrecall works offline on iPhone and iPad.

So you can knock out a few kanji reviews whenever, without needing Wi‑Fi.

👉 Try it here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

4. How To Structure Your “Remembering The Kanji” Deck (The Smart Way)

Whether you use Anki or Flashrecall, the structure matters more than people think.

Step 1: Start With Meaning-Only Cards

For RTK, don’t worry about readings at first. Just:

• Keyword → Kanji

Example card:

• Front: “busy”
• Back: “忙 – heart + slave – story: your heart is enslaved by tasks, so you’re busy”

In Flashrecall, you can:

1. Create a deck: “RTK – Stage 1 (Meaning)”

2. Add 10–20 new kanji per day (or less if you’re busy)

3. Let spaced repetition handle the rest

Step 2: Add Stories Only When Needed

You don’t need a full novel for every kanji.

• If you remember it easily → skip a long story
• If you keep forgetting → open the card, and in Flashrecall just type:

> “Give me a simple RTK-style mnemonic for the kanji 忙 (busy) using heart + slave.”

Paste that story into the back of the card. Done.

Step 3: Later, Add Reading + Vocab Decks

Once you’re comfortable with a few hundred kanji meanings:

• Create a separate deck for readings / vocab
• Don’t overload your original RTK deck

In Flashrecall, you might have:

• “RTK – Meaning Only”
• “Kanji Readings & Vocab”

This keeps your reviews clean and focused.

5. Daily Routine: How To Not Burn Out With RTK

The biggest mistake? Going too hard for 2 weeks and then quitting.

Here’s a simple, realistic RTK + SRS routine:

1. 10–20 New Kanji Per Day (Max)

• If you’re busy: 5–10
• If you’re on a break: maybe 20

In Flashrecall, just add that many new cards per day and let the app handle when you see them again.

2. Always Do Reviews First, New Kanji Second

Every day:

1. Open Flashrecall (you’ll get a reminder anyway)

2. Do all due reviews first

3. Then learn your new kanji for the day

This keeps your review pile under control.

3. Use Micro-Sessions

You don’t need a 1-hour block.

• 5 minutes on the bus
• 5 minutes before bed
• 5 minutes while waiting for food

Because Flashrecall works offline and is super fast to open, it’s perfect for this. Just knock out a handful of cards whenever you have a moment.

6. Example: Turning One RTK Page Into Flashcards (Step-By-Step)

Let’s say your RTK page has:

• 忙 – busy
• 忘 – forget
• 忙しい – (later, vocab)

In Flashrecall, you could:

1. Take a photo of the RTK page inside the app

2. Let Flashrecall extract the text

3. Highlight each kanji + keyword and auto-generate cards

4. For tricky ones, ask Flashrecall:

> “Create a memorable RTK-style story for 忘 (forget), using heart + deceased.”

Now your cards might look like:

• Front: “busy”
• Back: “忙 – heart + slave – your heart is enslaved by tasks → busy”
• Front: “forget”
• Back: “忘 – heart + deceased – your heart treats something as dead → you forget it”

And you’re done. No manual typing, no cluttered templates.

7. Flashrecall vs Anki For Remembering The Kanji (Quick Comparison)

• ✅ Very powerful, very customizable
• ✅ Tons of shared decks (including RTK)
• ❌ Clunky interface, especially for beginners
• ❌ Card creation is slow on mobile
• ❌ You have to manage sync, settings, add-ons, etc.
• ❌ No built-in “chat with card” help

• ✅ Fast, modern, super simple to use
• ✅ Creates flashcards instantly from images, PDFs, text, YouTube links, or typed prompts
• ✅ Built-in spaced repetition + active recall, no config needed
• ✅ Study reminders so you don’t forget to review
• ✅ Works offline
• ✅ You can chat with your flashcards when you’re stuck on a kanji or story
• ✅ Great for languages, exams, school, university, medicine, business – anything
• ✅ Free to start

If you like tinkering and customizing everything, Anki is fine.

If you just want to learn kanji as painlessly as possible, Flashrecall is honestly the better daily companion.

👉 Download it here and set up your first RTK deck in minutes:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

8. Final Tips So Your Kanji Actually Stick

A few last things that help a lot with Remembering the Kanji:

• Say the keyword out loud when you see the kanji
• Visualize your story for 1–2 seconds before flipping the card
• If a story stops working, change it – don’t suffer through a bad mnemonic
• Use short, silly, or emotional stories – boring = forgettable
• Don’t chase perfection; focus on steady daily progress

With the right setup and a tool that doesn’t fight you, RTK goes from “this is impossible” to “oh wow, I actually remember these.”

If you want a smoother, faster way to do it on iPhone or iPad, give Flashrecall a try:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Set up your first 20 kanji, run through a day or two of reviews, and you’ll feel the difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Anki good for studying?

Anki is powerful but requires manual card creation and has a steep learning curve. Flashrecall offers AI-powered card generation from your notes, images, PDFs, and videos, making it faster and easier to create effective flashcards.

What's the fastest way to create flashcards?

Manually typing cards works but takes time. Many students now use AI generators that turn notes into flashcards instantly. Flashrecall does this automatically from text, images, or PDFs.

How do I start spaced repetition?

You can manually schedule your reviews, but most people use apps that automate this. Flashrecall uses built-in spaced repetition so you review cards at the perfect time.

What is active recall and how does it work?

Active recall is the process of actively retrieving information from memory rather than passively reviewing it. Flashrecall forces proper active recall by making you think before revealing answers, then uses spaced repetition to optimize your review schedule.

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