Our imaginations are the ultimate escape! Whether it’s riding a mammoth through Ginza or having a spot of tea in Yoyogi Park with the Beatles, the possibilities of what we can imagine are endless.
But what if I told you that your imagination could be the key to mastering Japanese? Could you imagine that?
One of the most difficult aspects of learning Japanese is trying to remember the countless words and phrases without forgetting them the next day. At the beginning of my Japanese learning adventure, as soon as I would learn a word it seemed like I would forget it the very next day.
However, then I discovered my super power … my imagination! DA DA DA DAAAAAH!
I discovered that if I took a word in Japanese and created a crazy story around it, it became really easy to remember.
For example let’s take the word しゅくだい Shukudai – Homework:
Step 1: I break this down into the syllables, SHU KU DAI
Step 2: I think of what these sound like in English, Shoe Could Die
Step 3: I create a story and link it to the desired word: Your shoe could Die if you don’t do your homework.
For this to really work you need to make it as emotional, crazy and dramatic as possible. For this story I imagined a teacher holding my shoe hostage, telling me “my shoe could die” if I didn’t do my homework.
After running this story through my mind, it works like magic, I can always remember the word through the story. Just like a super power!
This is known as a Mnemonic: A mnemonic device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory. Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and imagery as specific tools to encode any given information in a way that allows for efficient storage and retrieval.
You can also use this to remember Hiragana, Katakana and even Kanji. Let’s take お {O} for example. The hiragana looks like a Bicycle with 2 wheels, handle bars and a bike seat. “Oh that looks like a bike” Once you have linked the O sounds to the picture it then becomes extremely hard to forget!
Check This article also…
How to Say “No” in Japanese Vol.1 | Learn Japanese online
Learn more Japanese “Katakana, Hiragana“ online ?
Now although this technique is extremely effective, you still have to put some effort in into using these words in conversation. That way you can cement them into your brain’s knowledge vault and keep it there for all eternity. Muhahaha!
Now get out there, unleash your super power and become the hero of your own imagination!
