That strategy has it's place in the beginning stage, but to really get going with recognizing intervals, sight-singing, dictation, transcription and a simple interval drill applet are all great.
I have found that no single approach works best for everyone. The problem is that for many musicians, they have to try several remedies if they are stuck.
Probably the cheapest and most effective way to get a quick boost in skill is brute force drill with a computer.
There are a number of free applets and programs that can do what is needed. The problem is that most of them have a zillion bells and whistles.
To drill intervals, find a program (browser hosted or native) that will allow the following options to begin:
1. restrict range to a single octave
2. present intervals as a sequence of two pitches, not as a two-note "chord," with unrestricted repetition before an answer is given.
3. restrict intervals to diatonic intervals from major and minor scales.
4. allow difficulty to be increased
5. allows for some degree of intelligent tracking of right and wrong answers. The
more the software will focus on weaknesses rather than present random items, the better.
6. allows for eventual (controllably gradual) inclusion of all chromatic
intervals within a span of several octaves.
!5-20 minutes a day for a few weeks generally transformed my ear training students at Columbia, Stanford, San Francisco State, and the University of Kentucky. It did not turn them in to good readers, good transcribers, or better musicians. It did allow them to make much more and much faster progress in transcription, sight singing, error detection, and dictation. Ah, Wilderness!
