I just started Anzan with one-digit, I can do it fast enough visualizing soroban... The problem is that with more digits I lose some parts of my mental image, I mean that I can visualize movements but cannot keep track of how many beads on the column.
What can I do to improve my training?
How much practice does it take to go for more digits?
How long does it takes to visualize perfectly the abacus in the head?
I realize you are describing the same problem I had , that prevented me to improve myself.
May be try at the same time to do it on the real soroban, to keep track of the beads ? But that defeat the purpose of anzan.
May be try without complicated report of beads on next column ?
like 21+32 ?
I've been practicing anzan for a while now, but still struggle with it. I usually use an Android app called "Japanese Abacus Exams" by GOMI Hiroshi for anzan and abacus practice but find this program great for listening calculation. Yeah, anzan is hard for me too. I think it helps to try to pay attention to trying to sharpen the image instead of just trying to get the answer. I think you also have to also visualize some of the other elements of the soroban, so that the beads are grounded somewhere instead of just floating in space. I've been practicing anzan with 5 2-digit numbers for a while now. Though I'm still faster with the physical abacus than with without one, I have gotten faster as my images became a little more clear. However, they're still quite unclear and I mostly just have a "feel" of what it looks like without having a very strong picture. It takes me a lot longer if I try to form clear images of each step, but I think it's good practice. So I would recommend that you do some easy practice where you ignore speed and accuracy and focus on just trying to see the beads on the rods very clearly. To me this is a lot harder and I make more mistakes this way, but at least I'm focussing on the real limiting factor for me, which is image clarity. Even just trying to imagine a single rod and move its beads without any intent or rules would probably help you with anzan. This is what I'm probably going to focus on for a while.
This kind of practice is super frustrating to me, but I know that it's the kind I need the most. I can get away with not having clear imagery for the easier stuff, but the harder stuff will be impossible until I can actually "see" the beads. Like I said, it's really frustrating to me, so sometimes I switch to trying to visualize other random things. I figure the imagery is the key. Anyways, hopefully this was helpful in some way.