#Learning Theory

[kyoshalearns]

Some quick thoughts on Kanji mnemonics

This is just an opinion.

When your native language is English and you are learning Japanese, there are some conceptual hurdles to overcome. One big one is Kanji, how to approach it, when the right time is, the best review methods etc etc. For this reason it took me some time to figure out how to process Kanji from learning a new character to effectively reviewing it.

RTK or "Remembering The Kanji" is an influential work that has clearly affected the kanji learning praxis in large parts of the Japanese language learning community. I have not read this book but I know that it ask the reader to come up with long mnemonics to help remember kanji.

Firstly, I agree that mnemonics are probably the best way to remember all the details you need to know. What I don't agree with however is having really long mnemonics, because the longer the mnemonics the harder it is to remember. I have seen people suggest writing paragraphs for one kanji.

Personally I think a mnemonic should be as short as possible and include the 3 main pillars of a kanji character

The meaning in English

Kunyomi pronunciation/s

Onyomi pronunciation/s

Stroke order is a whole other beast but at its core these are the aspects of a kanji character that you need to know before you can say you "know it".

So to me the ideal mnemonic is taking these 3 aspects and fitting them into one short sentence if possible. Lets take the kanji for 1, "一"

The meaning in English: One

Kunyomi pronunciation/s: ひと (hi to)

Onyomi pronunciation/s: : イチ( i chi)

So for this example the mnemonic I use is :

"One day HE TOld me to EAt CHEEse"

It takes some creativity sometimes to fit it into something coherent but the effort is worth it because this one mnemonic builds on your understanding of multiple aspects and is easy to remember/access in your mind.

The mnemonic allows me to reason through the kanji so I make those repetitive associations that eventually make the mnemonic unnecessary.

My whole point is just that I think mnemonics should be short sweet and to the point, highlighting the 3 main pillars of a kanji character, and not a multi-sentence story paragraph that takes too long to write or remember.

[obsmontessori]

Understanding social norms, or mores, is crucial for children’s development. It goes beyond simply fitting in; it helps identify potential developmental exceptions. This piece does not seek to evaluate each culture’s individual cues, expectations, and mores, or place value on them.  The goal of this piece is to explore the space that exists between a child’s exposure to these expectations and…

[hashtagkhabri]

Traditional Math Teaching Fails Students: How Science Can Help Students Thrive

Traditional mathematics teaching methods are failing students, remaining largely unchanged for decades despite significant advancements in our understanding of how people learn. While classrooms may feature modern technology like tablets and interactive whiteboards, fundamental teaching practices and materials haven’t kept pace with discoveries in cognitive science. Research indicates that…

[dannysciencefix]

Cognitive Theory and Primary Science Teaching

Cognitive science is gaining increasing influence in education and many existing and developing educational approaches are described as ‘inspired by cognitive science’. Many of these approaches have been long practiced or described as effective pedagogy without any reference to cognitive science – for example, quizzing pupils on topics has been common even without this being thought of as a form…

[lilacthebooklover]

my ten-year-old sister has been infected with toxic old man yaoi disease specifically of the billford variety. unfortunately, she considers it strange that bill is a triangle & ford is a human. her solution? make ford into a shape too. squares, ovals, oddly shaped blobs. forget humanizing bill– 2D ford is the way of the future <3

[creature-wizard]

Check your conspiracy theory. Does it sound anything like this?

There is an ancient global conspiracy plotting to create a one world government.

The one world government will be headed by a single leader.

The conspiracy intends to make everyone follow a religion it created.

The conspiracy is trying to destroy all true religion/spirituality.

The conspiracy deliberately stirs up conflict and starts wars.

The conspiracy deliberately does whatever it can to confuse, exhaust, and demoralize the people.

The conspiracy creates and/or manipulates art and entertainment to control and brainwash the masses.

The conspiracy uses mind-altering substances to manipulate and control people.

Liberal politics (EG, religious tolerance, equality) are part of the conspiracy.

Communism and collectivism are part of the conspiracy.

The conspiracy manipulates the economy to our detriment.

The conspiracy wants to do away with the gold standard.

The conspiracy wants to do away with the free market.

The conspiracy intends to tax the rich, which is bad because taxes are just legal theft.

Teaching people about the mistakes and atrocities committed by governments is part of the conspiracy.

The conspiracy creates new religions and spiritual movements to further their agendas.

All secret societies (EG, Freemasonry) are part of the conspiracy.

Presidents are manipulated puppets of the conspiracy.

The conspiracy manipulates anyone with a high political position.

The conspiracy grooms world leaders.

Agents of the conspiracy are planted everywhere, in all levels of society.

The conspiracy kills anyone who might expose their plans in ways that no one would suspect are actually murder.

The conspiracy follows/uses the Kabbalah.

Literally all of these were claimed in The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, an antisemitic hoax used by the Okhrana to justify violence against Russian Jews. It was used by Nazi Germany to justify the Holocaust, and today it still serves as the blueprint for most conspiracy theories - even if modern conspiracy theorists try to hide it, downplay it, or rationalize it with another, equally absurd conspiracy theory.

[downess]

Wittgenstein and Vygotsky are worth examining in relation to Generative AI, as their views on language are, I think, very relevant to the use of language to teach and learn. Another theorist who comes to mind is the South African, Seymour Papert. via Pocket

[thebaldursmouthgazette]

I’m sure Dumat being defeated the same year andraste was born means nothing

I’m sure this has nothing to do with the fact that andrastes mother was part of a tribe who helped the grey wardens fight and defeat dumat the same year she was born, meaning that she could have been a fetus affected by the taint in the proximity of a dying arch demon

And the fact that nobody knows which grey warden killed dumat, as seven wardens died from injuries from his death throes, and therefore we cannot actually identify a warden who absorbed his soul, means nothing

And I’m sure it is a complete coincidence that andraste had dreams and visions of the being later referred to as the maker her whole life, and behaved strangely, talking about hearing lost voices and seeing strange auras. That absolutely doesn’t sound like anyone else we know

[criminaljusticemark]

Integrating Constructivist Teaching Strategies for First-Year Criminal Justice Students

Constructivist learning theory is a learning concept that students build knowledge based upon their prior knowledge and learning from the world around them (Hrynchak & Batty, 2012; Yoders, 2014). Lev Vygotsky, John Dewey, and Jean Piaget are the main theorists in the development of constructivist learning (Hrynchak & Batty, 2012; Yoders, 2014). Constructivist learning is a good match for…

[kyoshalearns]

Remixing My Language Learning Journey: Crafting a Unique Path Through Japanese Rap

Turning Language Learning into a Personalized Musical Experience

I have so much to write about and I'm really behind but I'm getting back on track. I want to write about my first trip to Japan, some new studying techniques, learning breakthroughs, linguistics research, tasty new Japanese food including more RAMEN…all in due time. First though I want to talk about music.

Music is an excellent tool for language learners to take advantage of because it can provide you with entertaining and compelling input at a high volume. You may have a tv show or movie you like, or even a book or comic, but chances are you won't read that over and over to the same degree that you would listen to one of your favorite songs. So it may be the case that finding music you like in your target language is a big breakthrough, unfortunately however I personally couldn't find anything I liked for a while .

I'm a long time hip-hop fan that was born and raised in the tri-state area on the east coast, near NY. Late 90s and early 00s hip-hop forms the foundation of my music taste, so automatically, even in America I have to do a lot of digging to find the things that I like a lot. I just wasn't very successful in finding Japanese rap that really resonated with my taste. Now obviously there is the vocabulary issue so lyrics mostly won't be able to resonate with me yet, which puts a greater emphasis on beat, melody, and lyrical structuring (vocab will come later with study).

I found some OK songs here and there but for the purpose of language learning you need to like the song a lot, maybe love the song, which will motivate you to listen over and over. A regular level of "just ok" is not enough.

Then one day I got a crazy idea and I started googling. I thought "what if I could just make my own remixes?", what if I could take Japanese vocals and mix them with the kind of production that I prefer? If I could do this I would be able to make all kinds of music custom tailored to my taste that would make me want to listen over and over. Personally I have a mildly musical background and have produced music before but there were some technical hurdles I needed to cross. Thanks to recent advances in audio production tech I was able to find practical methods that allowed even an amateur like myself to operate at SOME level of functional problem solving. I'm not saying I'm churning out the most professionally scrutinized hit records, but I have some, if not rudimentary, ability to realize my ideas.

Since I had that idea, at the time of writing this, I have made close to 50 remixes and am slowly building my catalog. This has been an exciting experience for a few reasons. First I'm getting a chance to engage and learn more about music production (I can speak a lot on this, maybe another post). To add to that, I have learned a lot more about the Japanese rap scene and a lot of the rappers that populate different areas of the country. I started to develop a taste for certain styles and find myself building a much stronger relationship with the artist and music, where before there was nothing. Lastly, and most importantly, the catalog that I am building is highly entertaining to me, I want to listen to it all the time and I am able to get the kind of reps on these songs that are necessary for a language learning scenario. I use YouTube music for music streaming and have a special playlist now just for Japanese rap.

I started putting some of my remixes on YouTube. The song included in this post is featuring a rapper that I really like named Jumadiba, who has a very interesting style that I like to work with.

I think I will do some lyric breakdowns in the future because it is a process to convert these songs into comprehensive input. I basically look up the lyrics and break apart the lines into vocab, that I add to anki and review while listening and practicing. It takes time but so far its the most fun I've had learning new words and I am excited to see where this rabbit hole takes me.

[silverlombaxwitch]

Redraw from a piece last yr once again folks and this time with the noceda siblings!

[hinamie]

i loved the colours in this scene too much not to do a redraw

[splankie]

is blowing up a volcano after ur first kiss couple goals

[nicholasandriani]

How I’m adapting Jacques Ranciere’s “The Ignorant Schoolmaster“ into the Curriculum.

Ranciere’s “The Ignorant Schoolmaster” (1987) is a seminal work in the field of education and has been widely discussed and debated within the realm of game studies. The book presents a unique approach to teaching and learning, in which the teacher is seen as an “ignorant schoolmaster” who is able to lead their students to knowledge through their own ignorance. One of the key arguments in…

[uncommonlearningstandard]

ROBERT GAGNE’S THEORY OF LEARNING HIERARCHY

Learning is the development of new knowledge, skill or attitude as the individual interacts with information and environment (Smaldino 2005). Learning can also be defined as a relative change in behaviour over time. Learning can take place anywhere. Learning can be formal and non-formal. We are interested in learning taking place in an environment controlled by a professional i.e. the one that…

[blorbosinmyheadcentral]

take this silly thing while I struggle with animation