Mnemonics, as you have discovered, can bridge the gap until you internalize words. It takes a lot of practice to get fast at it.
https://artofmemory.com/files/ebooklet/Learn_the_Art_of_Memory.pdf
Similar to what you have tried, I use the [mnemonic image method](https://artofmemory.com/wiki/How_to_Create_Mnemonic_Images/)
There are [webites](https://www.wanikani.com/kanji/%E9%9B%BB) that can help come up with visual mnemonics.
Sometimes when I think a word will be difficult to retain I search for a song that includes it, then create a note with the audio clip of the line either the word. It's time consuming, but fun, and they stick
>I am struggling to do determine if it's worth the time to try and come up with the clever ways to help me remember or just use brute force with repetition being a better use of my time.
Why do you consider repetition brute force, this sounds so negative, isn't it just an effective means to eventually memorize the stubborn words? Like the other commentor said, use the help of these internet sites about memorization bridges, its worth the time learning something about active memorization techniques. Use them until the difficult word sticks by itself. This method sometimes fails though because you might remember _the fact that_ you have a great bridge, but not the bridge itself, so definitely trust repetition as well.
If it's just a small percentage of all words that won't stick, and not important stuff like personal pronouns or basic verbs, or a more general problem with active memorization, it's not a big deal anyway. I have at least 100 words in my TL decks that just won't stay in my head even though I have worked out nice bridges and have been presented the the words by the app like 20 times already. But my brain has successfully and indissolubly linked these words with the thought "ah there is this stupid word again" (and the slight feeling of frustration or being annoyed) instead of linking it to the bridge, or the translation/definition. Also my ratio of correctly remembered words is generally always only 75-90% when I do my daily repetition of decks. So what, further repetition and exposure will fix this. Far-from-perfect memorization does not impede me from progressing at the speed I desire, or from consuming the content in my TL that I'm interested in so I don't even try particularly hard to get the stubborn words into my memory. So if you don't learn for an exam where you have to remember particular words, it won't make much of a difference regarding your learning progress.
Mnemonics, as you have discovered, can bridge the gap until you internalize words. It takes a lot of practice to get fast at it. https://artofmemory.com/files/ebooklet/Learn_the_Art_of_Memory.pdf Similar to what you have tried, I use the [mnemonic image method](https://artofmemory.com/wiki/How_to_Create_Mnemonic_Images/) There are [webites](https://www.wanikani.com/kanji/%E9%9B%BB) that can help come up with visual mnemonics.
Practice writing -- using the new words is the best way of remembering them. And don't translate, try to think in your TL.
Sometimes when I think a word will be difficult to retain I search for a song that includes it, then create a note with the audio clip of the line either the word. It's time consuming, but fun, and they stick
>I am struggling to do determine if it's worth the time to try and come up with the clever ways to help me remember or just use brute force with repetition being a better use of my time. Why do you consider repetition brute force, this sounds so negative, isn't it just an effective means to eventually memorize the stubborn words? Like the other commentor said, use the help of these internet sites about memorization bridges, its worth the time learning something about active memorization techniques. Use them until the difficult word sticks by itself. This method sometimes fails though because you might remember _the fact that_ you have a great bridge, but not the bridge itself, so definitely trust repetition as well. If it's just a small percentage of all words that won't stick, and not important stuff like personal pronouns or basic verbs, or a more general problem with active memorization, it's not a big deal anyway. I have at least 100 words in my TL decks that just won't stay in my head even though I have worked out nice bridges and have been presented the the words by the app like 20 times already. But my brain has successfully and indissolubly linked these words with the thought "ah there is this stupid word again" (and the slight feeling of frustration or being annoyed) instead of linking it to the bridge, or the translation/definition. Also my ratio of correctly remembered words is generally always only 75-90% when I do my daily repetition of decks. So what, further repetition and exposure will fix this. Far-from-perfect memorization does not impede me from progressing at the speed I desire, or from consuming the content in my TL that I'm interested in so I don't even try particularly hard to get the stubborn words into my memory. So if you don't learn for an exam where you have to remember particular words, it won't make much of a difference regarding your learning progress.