Try to keep it practical (like something that would be fairly doable, you just havent gotten around to it…yet)

There are apps that you can input text into and they can replace the characters in each word incrementally to help learn them. Wanna get into that

  • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
    30·
    11 days ago

    If you’re involved in any kind of protest, the phone number of a lawyer. Hell, generalize this. Make sure you memorize numbers of at least the first few of your emergency contacts. You never know when you will be separated from your phone.

    • chaosCruiser@futurology.todayEnglish
      9·
      10 days ago

      You know, you are allowed to cheat in this test. Just write those numbers on your arm with a permanent marker or whatever. Get a fake tattoo, if you want.

      • pleasestopasking@reddthat.com
        2·
        9 days ago

        Good to know a few phone numbers even if you aren’t at a protest, though. Everyone should memorize the phone number of at least one partner/family member/friend who lives local to them in case of an emergency. Lawyer is a bonus.

  • Mighty@lemmy.world
    12·
    11 days ago

    Basically any song on guitar that I like. I can sing the entire song back to front, but I can’t for the life of me remember the chord sequences. And I’ve been playing for many years.

  • TootSweet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    10 days ago

    How to convert various units of measurement. (Including between imperial and metric.)

    2.54 centimeters in an inch. Degrees Fahrenheit is nine fifths of degrees Celsius plus 32. Stuff like that.

  • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
    10·
    9 days ago

    The standardized NATO phonetic alphabet

    …for when you need to read alpha numeric codes or clarify spellings.

    Especially with, how, inexplicably, phone connections seem to have gotten more garbly in recent years.

    This code was invented to be reasonably understood as much as possible in less-than-ideal communication conditions.

    As time goes on, civilian life is full of situations where you’ll need to read off serial numbers, codes, or even spelling your own name, to somebody seemingly connected to you from a million miles away via coconuts and twine.

    So, learn it, and you never need to go “M as in…uh…‘Mancy’?” ever again! Your IT department might thank you.

    …and let’s be honest, it sounds kinda cool. :)

    • golden_zealot@lemmy.mlEnglish
      3·
      9 days ago

      I agree that this has been very useful for me. Initially taught it to myself when I was working in IT, and it has come in handy a lot.

    • Obi@sopuli.xyz
      2·
      9 days ago

      First names still haven’t let me down to this date, and I’ve done phone work in the past.

    • yeehaw@lemmy.ca
      2·
      9 days ago

      More garbly? That’s those hosers using built in laptop microphones or speakerphones. Terrible.

      • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
        2·
        9 days ago

        Oh definitely! If there’s one thing I’m done with, it’s people calling on speakerphone while their phone is like, seemingly, in their gym bag in the trunk LOL.

        Like bro, you’re not Jack Bauer and I’m not your handler, it can wait until you’re done going 75 on the freeway.

        Maybe my work’s phone network service is just awful, even landline to landline, but yeah, for how much faster data connections have gotten, I feel like I got clearer voice quality on my cordless Vtech in 2004 LOL.

        Maybe it’s me and I should get my hearing checked. 😅

  • vaionko@sopuli.xyz
    8·
    10 days ago

    Converting between hexadecimal and binary. It’s not that hard and it would’ve been useful many times, but I still haven’t memorised it

    • TootSweet@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      9 days ago

      If you’re a software engineer, memorizing an ASCII table (particularly the hex numbers of each character code) is definitely helpful. If for no other reason than so that you can read things that are randomly written in binary without having to consult a table.

      Something not really otherwise terribly useful that nonetheless helped me keep my sanity: learn how to convert to base64 in your head. At work, we had really boring 8-hours-a-day training for a couple of weeks. To pass the time, I came up with random strings to base64 encode in my head. “Hat is 48 61 7a. The first six bits are 010010 which in base64 is an S. The next six bits would be 000110 which in base64 is G.” Etc. I’d write down the base64 strings character by character as I derived them and then check my results for errors when I got back to my desk.

      • CarrotsHaveEars@lemmy.ml
        2·
        10 days ago

        It’s not something you try to recite. You just do it so many times you became too good at it to look at the table.

        Four bits can represent up to 15, from 0000 to 1111. Correspondingly, 0 to F in hex.

        Binary from right to left is 1, 2, 4, 8.

        One byte is eight bits. It takes eight digit places.
        XXXX XXXX

        0000 0000 to 1111 1111
        00 to FF
        0 to 255

  • Lyra_Lycan@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    7·
    10 days ago

    The general knowledge of prefixes, suffixes and sentence structure of the language families/subgroups, in order to better grasp a basic understanding of a common language when I encounter it, and be more respective - for example knowing when to use -kun, Fraulein, señora, and courteous actions native to the locale

    • bob_lemon@feddit.org
      10·
      10 days ago

      knowing when to use […] Fräulein

      That’s an easy one: never.

      It’s outdated and no longer used as a title. And mildly derogatory as a standalone word.

      At least in Germany. Not sure about Austria or Switzerland, tbh, they might well be more traditional about it.

    • sopularity_fax@sopuli.xyzOP
      43·
      10 days ago

      Do Germans care a ton if you get the wrong article? That must be a common thjng for even native speakers to get the article wrong on millions of individual words

      • Knossos@lemmy.world
        4·
        10 days ago

        They learn the article with the word. So they never really have a problem. The biggest problem is that the article is necessary to know how other words need to be written.

        Also, in English you can have one word that is written the same but can be the name of two entirely different things. We use the context of the sentence to determine which word is actually intended. Germans know through different articles, which word is intended.

        • Knossos@lemmy.world
          5·
          10 days ago

          Also no German really gets upset by it if you get it wrong. They know that German is complicated in that regard. They are usually just happy that you are trying.

          The only person that has ever said anything at all about it, is a colleague that I asked to correct me. It helps with the learning process.

      • Ephera@lemmy.mlEnglish
        3·
        10 days ago

        I find that it’s mainly frustrating to those learning German at an advanced level, since using a wrong article immediately exposes you as a non-native speaker. Because yeah, as the others said, it hardly ever happens that native speakers use a wrong article…