| There are many ways to help your brain to | | | | learning sentences or phrases, you can |
| memorize things. Learning a language can be a | | | | produce a whole story in your head; you will |
| daunting task at first, but using some of | | | | be surprised just how much you remember with |
| these memory techniques, you will soon be | | | | this technique. |
| learning hundreds of Japanese words in a | | | | |
| matter of hours. | | | | Flashcards |
| | | | |
| Relating Japanese vocabulary to English | | | | Flashcards may remind you of school exams, |
| sounds | | | | but they are a proven memory technique that |
| | | | actually work very well. Buy or make yourself |
| When learning Japanese words, try and relate | | | | a number of small, colorful cards. On each |
| them to an English word. For instance, | | | | card, write a Japanese word or phrase, with a |
| 'ichi', meaning 1 in Japanese, could be | | | | small related picture/image (if you can). |
| 'itchy' in English. This simple relation with | | | | Spend around 15 seconds on a single flash |
| an English word will help you to visualize | | | | card, and then turn it over and create the |
| the Japanese in your head. | | | | image of the card in your head, with the |
| | | | associate vocabulary and picture. The colors |
| Imagery | | | | on the flashcards will also help you to |
| | | | remember. Once you have remembered a single |
| Using images in your head is an extremely | | | | flashcard, you can start to increase the |
| powerful tool for learning Japanese. It has | | | | amount you memorize at any one time. |
| been proven that you can remember and recall | | | | |
| vocabulary much easier when it is associated | | | | These three simple techniques will |
| with relevant images. Using the example in | | | | drastically improve your ability to remember |
| the above hint, when learning the Japanese | | | | Japanese. Dedicate an hour or two a day to |
| word 'ichi', think of a man itching his arm. | | | | using the methods mentioned above, and before |
| This way, not only do you have an English | | | | you know it you will have a vast knowledge of |
| word to help you remember the vocabulary, but | | | | the Japanese language. |
| you also have an image in your head. When | | | | |