It all started when I was trying to teach my kids some Chinese. As a family in the middle of an international adoption, I wanted to make sure that we all had some Chinese under our belts before our wonderful daughter came home.

We reviewed some things that we could drink: water (shǔi - 水), juice (gǔozhī - 果汁) and then, as a joke, I added in “I like to drink the blood of my enemies! Mua ha ha!" (Wǒ xǐhuān hē dírén de xuè! - 我喜欢喝敌人的血! Mua ha ha...)

And when I quizzed them the next day, what was the ONLY thing the kids remembered? Of course! "The blood of my enemies.”

Well, while "I like to drink the blood of my enemies" might not show up on a high school exam or even be something you'll say when you visit China, it's memorable and it's silly. Silly enough for my kids to remember it, at least! (And hey, at least they learned "I", "like" and "drink" too, right?) Like with almost any subject, in language learning humor boosts retention!