IMO, the best part of language learning is creating mnemonics and memory palaces.

But, they only make sense for you, the creator, because you assign them to a very specific context and personal experience.

Pictured my mnemonics for #Spanish:
- dejando una estela
- dar as largas

#Languages #Mnemonic #Memory #LanguageLearning

my friend uses "worm blood" as a #mnemonic for верблюд (verblyud), the Russian word for camel

Cyanotype can reveal beautiful detail. The 'grain' is, with the right subject, very fine indeed.

This is a rose leaf. It has been 'scarred' by the visit of a leaf miner.

Physical scars act as mnemonics etched on our bodies, which remind us of certain events.

A scar means we survived and, physically, healed.

What happens to the memory? Does it fade with the scar?

#cyanotype #blueprint #Rose #RoseLeaf #LeafMiner #details #porto #Scar #Mnemonic #Memory #PhilosophyOfMemory

Went through a unit on animals a while back. For some reason, павук /pavuk/ "spider" was no problem. But the word for "dog", собака /sobaka/ gave me grief.

Nothing like #English
Nothing like #French

Until I realized that it sounds remarkably close to "Chewbacca". Now I'm good. 🐕

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

Word: далеко
Pronunciation: /daleko/
Meaning: far away

Because that's where you want the Daleks to be: very far away!

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic
#DoctorWho

The word "небо" /nebo/ means "sky".

I'm going with "nebula", one of the more magical-looking types of celestial phenomenon, as my reminder.

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

Here's a new type of memory trick. For the word площа /ploʃt͡ʃa/ "square", I first noticed the letter shapes.

The п and щ are all right angles and straight lines, and even л is squarish.

The dictionary tells me this word covers the geometrical sense too, but Duolingo has so far only introduced the "town square" sense, so I'm also drawing on the /pl/ onset, like in "plaza", to help.

Glyph shape as well as phonotactic mnemonics. Fun! 🤓

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

Here's a trifecta that Duolingo just pointed out to me:

друзі, дружба, дружина
/druzi druʒba druʒɪna/
friends, friendship, wife

This by way of teaching me the word for "friendship" - I already had the other two.

😍 It's just so sweet! So perfect!

(If only the word for "husband", чоловік /t͡ʃolovik/, followed a similarly romantic line. It's just the word for "man".)

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

easy #mnemonic to remember #semanticversioning #development

~ = water/river = patch

^ = mountain = minor

* = stars/sky = major

@celrydoor It feels like Ukrainian is giving my English brain better mnemonics for those. I get грім = /grim/, and then кіт = /kit/ for kitty (cat). I think it'd be more work with гром and кот.

But then, Ukrainian has кішка /kiʃka/ for a specifically female cat, and I think коти /kotɪ/ for cats, and I don't have an easy memory trick for either of those. 🤷‍♂️

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

I thought this would take forever, but it just hit me. The word is народне /narodne/ (adjective, so that last vowel changes to match the noun). It means "folk", as in народне пісня "folk song".

And it just hit me: it sounds something like part of the folksy song lyric "o{n the road} again". Yes, I know it's a stretch, but it hit me so strongly that I think it might stick.

I'll take my mnemonics where I can get them!

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

I think that грім /grim/ is a good word for "thunder", based on our dog's reaction to the recent thunderstorms we've had.

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

@celrydoor Although, since you mentioned apples, I have to point out the names of the two most common fruit in my household.

I have no problem with апельсин /apelʲsɪn/ 🍊 - it's memorably contrary for my English ears.

But I keep forgetting the word яблуко /jabluko/ 🍎. Any suggestions for a memory trick there are welcome!

(Third most common fruit in our house is банан /banan/ - no problem at all!)

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

Working in the months of the year now. Here goes ...

Червень /t͡ʃervenʲ/ "June".

Sounds a bit like "cherry" at the start. We get cherries in June. 🍒 (Please don't @ me about the actual season - I'm doing language learning, not horticulture.)

I use the same mnemonic for червоне /t͡ʃervone/ "red".

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

@Neverfadingwood Cool! I didn't know that about Polish. Thanks for the tip!

I believe the letter "г" represents /g/ in Russian too. So for a Ukrainian verb like фотографувати /fotohrafuvati/ "to take pictures", the stem is easier to remember as /fotograf/. I then think of a Ukrainian "accent" turning /g/ to /h/.

There are other examples of this that I've come across, so this is a useful strategy more generally.

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

Here's the first Ukrainian word that I have (sort of) also encountered in Russian: машина /maʃɪna/ "car".

The mnemonic I use is "machine".

The kind-of-Russian connection is that in one of the John Wick movies, Keanu Reeves says something in Russian that sounds like машина and gets subtitled as "car". Very exciting to notice that!

#LearningUkrainian
#mnemonic

I've enjoyed finding mnemonics for remembering words in Ukrainian. One of the earliest ones was шапка /ʃapka/ "hat".

What helps me there is French chapeau /ʃapo/.

#mnemonic
#LearningUkrainian

#Mnemonic for WEIRD and WIELD

WE are WEIRD

WIELD it WILDLY

I learned those from a former editor of DRAGON Magazine during my years at TSR, Inc. Never forgot them. Use them often.

#GUMmyStuff

My wife was reading a book on #Thor to my son and waiting for me to ask,
"Is his father pronounced '#Odin or 'Odeen'?"

I answered and offered a helpful #mnemonic
"Odin. Just like in Wednesday." And now I'm in trouble.

My wife was reading a book on #Thor to my son and waiting for me to ask,
"Is his father pronounced '#Odin or 'Odeen'?"

I answered and offered a helpful #mnemonic
"Odin. Just like in Wednesday." And now I'm in trouble.