7

I recently noticed that some language versions of Wikipedia have a list of mnemonic devices that contains examples that can be used for learning languages. For example:

  • Mnemonic devices on the English Wikipedia lists that can be used for learning French grammar.
  • On the French Wikipedia Grammaire et orthographe is a list of mnemonic devices for French grammar and spelling, and Langues étrangères lists examples for learning German, English, Spanish, Dutch and Russian.
  • On the German Wikipedia, Liste von Merksprüchen lists examples for Ancient Greek, German, English, French, Italien, Latin and Spanish.
  • On the Dutch Wikipedia, Ezelsbruggetje lists examples for Dutch, French and German.

Is there any website that collects this type of mnemonics systematically?

Tsundoku
  • 19,740
  • 4
  • 43
  • 120
  • 1
    I had set a bounty of 50 reps on this question, which has now expired. Those 50 reps are now just lost. – Tsundoku Nov 29 '17 at 19:00

1 Answers1

3

After researching this for a while (including the Wikipedia articles in various languages that are listed in the question), it appears to me that such overviews are to some extent language dependent. For example, many of the mnemonic devices for French learners of German don't make sense to English learners of German because the mnemonics are often based on characteristics of the primary language.

Take for example the Mnemonic devices for different Languages on the website Mnemonic Devices Memory Tools. One of the devices on that website is O,FUDGE: accusative prepositions (for memorising accusative prepositions in German): the word "fudge" only makes sense to native speakers and advanced learners of English.

The list un mot, un jour lists mnemonic devices for Japanese and Spanish vocabulary; these devices are based on associations that use French words and expressions.

The longest list of mnemonic devices I have found so far is Métodos para Memorizar. Guía Definitiva (December 2010); this list is in Spanish and does not focus exclusively on language learning.

For a list in English, see for example Memory Techniques on the Mindtools website. However, there isn't much here that focuses on language learning.

The Langages category in the Memory Techniques Wiki looks promising at first sight, but many of the individual wiki pages are stubs.

So, after several hours of research, I have not yet found a site that gives a satisfactory overview.

Tsundoku
  • 19,740
  • 4
  • 43
  • 120