Mindless Drills Are Fun

Today I had a Japanese-writing breakthrough.

There are 92 basic kana characters, and I have been writing them over and over, but I have still been having trouble remembering a number of them. Most days when I wake up I practice first thing, but some just refuse to stick in my head.

Memory Aid: Salt Is Bad for You

So today, instead of simply running through the entire set of kana repeatedly, I briefly worked on some memory aids for the more troublesome characters. A few minutes made all the difference.

Within just 45 minutes, I was able to write out all 92 characters, in order, without error, and without peeking.

Personal memory aids can range from silly to, well, obscene. For the syllable na, which looks like a cross, I thought: NaCl, so salt, overconsumption of which can put you in an early grave.

For the syllable mu, which looks like a nose, I thought “mucus,” then “drippy nose,” which then reminded me to draw a regular non-drippy nose.

For the syllable so, which looks like a deformed smiley face, I thought of the face saying, “Yeah, I have just one eye—so?!” In my head this was delivered by Amber, Amy Poehler’s promiscuous, farting one-legged character from Saturday Night Live.

Mucus Is Gross, But It Helps Me Remember

Yeah, So, I Have One Eye. What of It?