In 2019 my wife and I visited Japan for the first time. Before we went I spent a few weeks learning some basic phrases and words in Japanese using Duolingo. Simple phrases like "I'll have coffee please," and "Where's the restroom?"

One of the nights we were walking around a street festival in Tokyo and I had a bit too much sake. I suddenly had an intense need to find a public restroom and approached a security guard. Here was my chance to show off what I'd learned.

"Sumimasen! Toilet wa doko desu ka?" (Excuse me! Where is a toilet?)

He looked at me confused and a little surpised before responding.

What he said I'll never know because in my brief stint of studying I forgot to learn the words that someone might use to respond to my question.

Oops.

I gave up on learning Japanese and stuck to Google translate for the rest of the trip.

But a Mexico City trip earlier this year reignited my desire to travel back to Japan and I decided I wanted to resume my Japanese studies. But this time I'm applying what I've learned about memory, writing, and learning techniques to hopefully redeem myself on my return.

Language Learning Notebook

The first thing I did this time around is set up a dedicated notebook for all things related to my studies.

In this notebook I write down:

• New words & Phrases
• Kanji meaning and pronunciations
• Grammar & Vocabulary rules
• Notes from videos, podcasts, and lessons

I went with a B6 gridded notebook because the grids allow me to practice my stroke proportions and it's small enough to bring around if I want to study on the go, but still big enough to fit my notes.

Keeping this notebook dedicated to one purpose is important because it keeps all of my notes in one place preventing context switching while keeping it easy to reference phrases I've already learned.

Multi-sensory Learning

This time around I'm taking a multi-sensory approach.

• I'm slowly working through a couple of workbooks. Reading and producing thoughts with writing is essential for learning anything, languages even more so.
• I'm listening to learning podcasts on my way to and from work. Then I write down whatever new phrases I learn in my Language Notebook. This helps me get listening and speaking practice.
• I'm writing at least one sentence as a diary-entry in Japanese every night. Usually I have to keep the sentence incredibly simple and look up translations, but it's good practice.
• I've started dating my Bullet Journal in Japanese and replacing keywords I use to track information into Kanji. This helps me get familiar with common words and characters.
• I'm playing kid friendly games in Japanese where I'll try to guess what a sentence means before translating it. I'll write down most of these phrases in my notebook.

Memory Techniques

Over the years I've learned some amazing tricks for memorizing and learning new information which have been helpful for learning a new language.

The most helpful techniques are active recall and mnemonics.

Active recall is simple and extremely effective. All it entails is actively trying to recall something without looking up the answer first.

Only once you've made your best guess at the answer do you check for accuracy.

This works because it forces your brain to produce knowledge without any assistance. If it turns out you got the answer wrong then your brain gets a strong feedback signal to help cement the correct answer in your longterm memory. If you get it the answer right then congrats!

That's why I'm always trying to guess at what the meaning and structure of a sentence in Japanese is before I use a translator to get the correct answer. That one simple step helps me actually learn the material.

This technique works for learning just about anything and there are ways to optimize the testing schedule. Look into the Leitner Box system if you're interested.

Mnemonics are a variety of memory devices that help you remember information.

To learn the 46 Hiragana and 46 Katakana "alphabet" I relied heavily on writing down memorable stories and alliterations to help memorize the sounds and shapes of the characters.

For instance, the character "ミ" represents the "mi" sound.

I wrote down my mnemonic: "ミ looks like three missiles."

Now, whenever I come across that character I remember the three missiles and after making my guess I can check my answer in my journal. After a few reps the information commits to memory and I no longer have to look it up.

These two techniques are how I memorized the two scripts and how I'm learning kanji now.

Notebooks are the ultimate learning tool.

The biggest lesson I've taken away from this is that learning is an engaged process and one of the best ways to be engaged in that process is to write.

Writing alone will not enable me to speak, but it's the most accessible and easy way for me to practice constructing and decoding sentences.

If you're already journaling and want to brush up on your language skills, why not write a few sentences in that language?

Or, you can even use these same techniques to expand your English. There are thousands of words in the dictionary waiting to be discovered.

The notebook is a repository for your knowledge and an opportunity to strengthen your brain.

I'll leave you with a phrase I wrote in my journal the other day:

毎日が心の冒険です。 "Each day is an adventure of the mind."

Prompt:

What's a learning technique that's worked for you in the past? Could you apply it to something new that you're learning?