I've cut my teeth on Mathews (Heisig to a lesser extent and coming next), and I work at breaking a new character down, forming mneumonics for the pieces, pushing the simpler pieces up in my queue, moving to the more complex.

The decompositions are great for this, allowing me to add the components separetely.

It would be really cool though, if it also went the other way, i.e., after I have a component, if I could easily find more characters that used that component.

If I get around to it, I'll start using the Fast Finder to find more words with components that I know, but it would be super if the database did this for my lazy @ss.

The professor seems to have no idea what I am asking about.

Cheers,
David

Hi David,
I'm not sure what you mean completely, but have you followed the trail that starts with the magnifying glass? You should be able to look up (in Yellow Bridge, at least) lists of words that have the same headword and tailword. Click magnifying glass, have the drop down menu in the upper right hand corner of the box that then pops us set to "YellowBridge", click the "lookup" link next to it, and you should see some samples that are what you are looking for.

So instead of seeing what components are in a character, seeing what characters use it as a component? I have this on my list to add, and have written some of the code for it. Just awaiting a sunny day for me to go and add the feature. I think it'll come in very handy!

+1

Yeah, Nick expressed it more clearly than I did. Shouldn't have posted drunk. Also seems to affect my rentention rate.

http://www.deltaself.com/2011/04/alcohol-and-its-effects-on-learning/

Scott,
Yes, I've noticed that it makes me brilliant, witty, and absolutely fluent. But the next day, I can't remember. And neither can anyone else.

("it" being alcohol, not Skritter)

Maybe I need those movie star pix in my mnemonics too.

Nick,
After writing my post above I suddenly noticed that I really wish that the words were right there on the same Skritter screen. I think once you get it set up it will become one of those "how did we live without it?" type of improvements. Maybe not so useful for beginners, but once one gets a critical mass of characters memorized I think it will accelerate learning appreciably (and with less controversy than "drinking to remember")

@podster I don't drink, so I do remember. ;) I can testify that non-native English speakers often speak English much better when they've had a few drinks. Presumably for those people the problem is self-censorship; they really do know many words and phrases (learned in classes, I imagine) but they aren't sure about them, so repress them when sober.

James

@James,
The breezy tone of the article brought out my sarcastic side, but I would admit that maybe one drink to lower the inhibitions may help in activating some deeply buried classroom learning. Two drinks and it may be more than others want to hear. Three drinks and it may be louder than anyone wants to hear. Four drinks and one may wish that no one remembered what was said the next day. All things in moderation. I actually have a hunch that a drink may improve listening as well. Ever see someone tense up when they suddenly encounter the stressful situation of having to listen and understand something? (Or am I the only one that does that?).

For what it may be worth, I gave up drinking for the season of Lent, and my Skritter stats are way up. (From a very low base).
Cheers!
Mark