tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 09 14:49:23 1998

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RE: RE: jabbI'ID cha'

mujang charghwI':

>> ... Also, for
>> seven days from now, you want <SochleS> rather than <SochHu'>. I used
>> to make this mistake all the time. I believe charghwI' has a way to
>> remember this; perhaps he will share it...

>It has been a while, but I think the way I used to remember it 
>is that I work at the University of Virginia. We have football 
>fans who will dress up in a tuxedo, paint half their face red 
>and the other half orange and get drunk beyond the threshold of 
>medical danger. These individuals call themselves "Wahoos".

>So, when I see {wa'Hu'}, I think of "Wahoo", and I don't have 
>much trouble figuring out whether they should be associated with 
>tomorrow or yesterday. These guys are not the future.

>Is that the reference you were remembering, pagh?

HIja'. mIwna' vIqawbe'; "Wahoo" neH vIqaw. QInlIj vIleghDI' SIbI' mIw
vIghov. qep'a' loSDIchDaq mIwvam choDel. cha' jupwI' DaHaghmoH.

On a more serious note...

Qov reccommends against mnemonics like this to remember vocabulary
because they become forever associated with the word in the student's
memory, but I rather like them. For me they are a bit like "lost foam"
casting. In this process, an artist creates an object out of styrofoam
and puts it into a sand mold. Molten bronze is poured into the mold and
takes on the form of the styrofoam, which just disappears. For me the
mnemonic holds a place in my mind while the real meaning of the word
takes form. The mnemonic is forgotten, or nearly so, and the real word
is all I remember.

We all learn differently, which is worth keeping in mind.

pagh
BG ru'

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