I decided to try using Google’s chat bot (Gemini) to see what it could come up with for various kanji mnemonics. The results weren’t what I expected… here are the funniest examples.
家: “ie” House
A roof (宀) over a gate (門), symbolizing a house.
蛮: “ban” Barbarian
The kanji is composed of two parts: 亠 (tóu) and 虫 (chóng). [Uh, is Gemini getting confused with Chinese?]
The Bug King: Once upon a time, there was a tiny bug who thought he was a king. He wore a crown and acted very rudely, just like a barbarian.
劾: “gai” Censure
Once upon a time, a minister was corrupt and accepted bribes. The people were very unhappy with him. A righteous official discovered his crimes and reported him to the emperor, demanding that he be impeached. The emperor ordered an investigation, and the minister was eventually brought to justice. [Nice story, but I’m not sure that’ll help me remember anything…]
某: “bou” Certain
某 is composed of two parts: 人 and 木. Imagine a person standing by a certain tree. The sound “bō” can be associated with the image of a sturdy, imposing tree.
Also, Gemini decided to make some word mnemonics for some reason. These were even worse:
こんにちは: “konnichiwa” Hello
“Konichiwa” sounds like “Good day, how are ya?”
ありがとう: “arigatou” Thank you
A grateful person bowing deeply (あ) while holding gifts (りがとう)
さようなら: “sayounara” Good bye
“Say, you’re a Nara” (A playful way to say goodbye)
すみません: “sumimasen” Excuse me
“Summers are nice, but sometimes they’re not” (A playful way to remember “excuse me”) [Remembering that sentence is harder than just remembering “sumimasen”… ]
Last but not least: I wrote “Make a mnemonic for the 廉 kanji” and Gemini responded with a whole 8 paragraph answer in Chinese… I’m losing faith in AI at this point