East meets west and left joins right

Here's a simple technique that combines the left side of the brain (the logical side) with the right side of the brain (the creative side) to help you remember things.

Let's use it to show you how to count in Japanese

One, Two and Three in Japanese are Ichi, Ni and San. To help remember this create a vivid picture of a Nissan car with Itchy seats – i.e an Itchy Nissan. There you have one, two three.

Four Five and Six are Shi, Go and Roku. For this paint a vivid picture of a girl in a nightclub dancing to rock music. As you look at the girl someone says to you “ she go rock you”. That's four, five and six.

Seven, Eight Nine and Ten are Shichi, Hatchi, Kuu and Ju. Now come up with your own picture or scenario that links to these words to help you remember.

There you have 1 – 10 in Japanese.

You can try this technique with other things you need to remember including names.