Favourite mnemonics
bababardwan
March 02, 2011, 08:21 AM posted in General DiscussionThis may have been discussed before, but I couldn't find a thread on it, so it may at least be worth revisiting if it has been discussed. What are your favourite mnemonics for Chinese vocab?
bababardwan
"am I weird?"。。当然咯, but that's why we love you. NO, but seriously, I love these mnemonics. I reckon it's a great method...and you've created vivid memorable and apt pictures there. I think the thing about mnemonics is they're there to get you started till the vocab sticks and you no longer need them, but you can always fall back on them if you go rusty or what not. Thanks heaps for sharing them mate, and if you have any others, keep 'em coming. :)
bababardwan
March 08, 2011, 01:49 AMjiǎn..to subtract....just take jiā [to add] and add an n for negative on the end of that
[the tones are kinda opposite too ]
joschka
March 09, 2011, 03:16 AMWhat you are doing is precisely what memory experts have been recommending for many years. In fact, the more outrageous the image, the better it works.
So enjoy your method and congratulate yourself on having discovered it for yourself.
bweedin
March 09, 2011, 06:00 AM關於 mnemonics. . . To remember how to say a word, sometimes. To remember how to write a character, always!
xiao_liang
March 22, 2011, 12:00 PMI'm always mixing up the meaning of 一定 (yi1 ding4 - must) and 已经 (yi3 jing1 - already) because they sound kind of similar. Can anyone think of a mnemonic to help me separate them?
bababardwan
Despite my post, I guess with the vast majority of vocab I don't bother with mnemonics as they just sink in so I don't have one for this, but since you've asked, perhaps you could think about the "ding" being emphasized as you hit a bell or something. yi DING ..surely
xiao_liang
Yea, I was thinking something similar. You MUST strike the bell! Otherwise the Jingoists have ALREADY won!
bababardwan
touche
xiao_liang
March 07, 2011, 09:40 AMI was thinking about this recently - the way I remember chinese words is a bit odd, and I wondered if anyone else did it the same way. Basically, I think of an english word that it sounds a little bit like, then form a mental picture of those words and try to tie them to the chinese.
For example - 办公室 - office. bàngōngshì. So I picture "banging a gong" in my office.
Or 电梯 - elevator, diàntī, which to me sounds a little like "TNT", so I imagine getting in an elevator, and then it explodes.
... am I weird? Whenever Ken used to talk about mnemonics, it was all about the tones, and I always thought "man, I can't even remember the sounds, never mind the tones..."