Everyone has his own mnemonic processes to remember Chinese characters, one encountered over time can be of great help. A technique taught by ‘Remembering Simplified Hanzi: Book 1, How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Chinese Characters” from James W. Heisig and Timothy W. Richardson.
Let’s see from the character that means mouth 口, kǒu. Originally, the character had a less rectangular shape and was closer to a mouth.
Chinese character mouth 口
古, gǔ, former, consists of two parts. Below the mouth 口 and above the number 10 十, in the shape of a cross. As one of the meanings is old, old, we can remember that this character reminds us of a tomb with a cross above, hence the association of ideas that gives old, old.
舌, shé, language, has 千 thousand and 口 the mouth. We can see the mouth and a tongue that passes and passes back and forth in the mouth.
乱, luàn, disorder. A tongue with a hook, a hook. Forked tongues bring disorder.
兄, xiōng, older brother. The bottom part 儿 is childish and the top part the mouth 口. The older brother talks more and more to his younger brother to tell him to do or not to do this or that thing.
克, kè , convince. The elder brother 兄 topped by a cross 十 to be worn that puts pressure, like the older brother who wants to convince.
Every student can form his own mnemonic devices. There are all kinds of them. Chinese is easy! Convinced?
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12 June 2020