Useful Tips and Tricks Compilation

[nekoninja]

As we all know, learning a new language can be a difficult and time-consuming task. That being the case, I think it's a safe bet that many of us are interested in special memory aids or tricks that aren't necessarily taught in the generic Japanese language class.
I created this thread with hopes that we could compile these various methods in one place.

My first contribution is a song to remember class 1 (basically, verbs that don't end in -eru or -iru) -te form conjugations:
(To the tune of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town")
うつる　って
むぶぬ　んで
す　　　して
く　　　いて
ぐ　　　いで
する　　して
くる　　きて
行く　　行って

The syllables on the left side of each line are the ending syllables of verbs that correspond to the -te ending on the right side of that line. For the last three lines, the left and right sides are whole verbs and their irregular -te conjugations, respectfully.
Examples:
うつる　って　（買うー＞買って、立つー＞立って、おどるー＞おどって）
むぶぬ　んで　（住むー＞住んで、あそぶー＞あそぶ、死ぬー＞死んで）
す　　　して　（話すー＞話して）
く　　　いて　（聞くー＞聞いて）
ぐ　　　いで　（泳ぐー＞泳いで）

I hope this makes remembering the -te forms a bit easier. 8D

[two_heads_talking]

that's how I remembered/learned them, but it was slight different ..

bu mu nu nde rather than mu bu nu nde

and su shite is at the end rather than before ku ite.. but it's a pretty neat way to remember the forms.

[phreadom]

I'm really stuck on this part in my Genki book, so I'm trying to pick a song like this to help me remember.

Becki_kanou gave me another version of the song done to "Silver Bells" too.

I want to get these remembered so that I can start moving forward again!

[Sairana]

I'm really stuck on this part in my Genki book, so I'm trying to pick a song like this to help me remember.

Becki_kanou gave me another version of the song done to "Silver Bells" too.

I want to get these remembered so that I can start moving forward again!

If the straight-up memorization isn't really working for you, try just learning one verb with each ending and conjugating that into te-form. Pick ones you think about a lot, ESPECIALLY if it applies to something you do, because you're unlikely to forget. Make up a brief sentence about it, like "I'm swimming" 泳いでいます. If you know the root is 泳ぐ, you have ぐ～いで

I really can't recite that list verbatim, but I can conjugate te-form correctly (most of the time). I'm more of a visual person, though. It's all in what makes it click.

[two_heads_talking]

I'm really stuck on this part in my Genki book, so I'm trying to pick a song like this to help me remember.

Becki_kanou gave me another version of the song done to "Silver Bells" too.

I want to get these remembered so that I can start moving forward again!

silver bells is a good song as well.