In the last couple of weeks I’ve been struggling a lot with 2 Chinese words: 健身房 and 身份证.
I don’t know why, but I ALWAYS say “gym” instead of “ID” (that could be problem at the airport😅).
Do you have a word (or words) in your target language that you cannot remember? If so, how did you cope with it?
it is again mixed up 
健身房，身份证
So, I guess, when you use these words you first think about the sounds and mix them up. I always think about how something is written when I speak, so I think of build, body, Haus and know then how to say gym. The ID is body, part/copy, the upright sign and sound with a language i in front.
oh wow that could be super useful! Many thanks Sonja 
Holy cow, so many I mix up / cant remember. I don’t want to type the mix ups I’ve solved, because I don’t want to reawaken them.
For the life of me I cant remember 戒指 
证 also means “proof” so like proof you are that body.
It might also help you to remember that 健身 by itself means to exercise. 我每天去健身房健身
That’s a good tip, thanks!
For 戒指 I don’t have a specific “trick” to remember it… maybe someone here can help with that!
戒指
“never remember”， the sounds/pronunciation, or the characters/how to read it?
I start with the sounds:
jiè reminds me of 介绍， the two under the umbrella, maybe already an occasion for a ring, turns later into a jié, 结婚， maybe. But stop, zhǐ, 止，the zhi has the 5th tone, (at least in Pleco) not such an important thing, wedding papers 纸，not yet needed, it’s only a ring.
The characters:
As I am a pianist it’s time for me to learn 指。Okay, it’s a hand on the left, if you don’t know how to use your fingers, it’s better to use a spoon, in daylight.
So, what to do with the finger, 戒，there is the spear, your finger gets a weapon, but there is this combining sign under the spear, the beginning of 共 ,something in common is possible, share rings, at least this positive thing needs to be guarded. A ring used to be also a weapon, it could contain poison, nowadays big special rings also can be used as a weapon in a fight.
So, in the end, when I see the spear and the hand, I will know. Listen and sort out, which jie plus something is meant, that is another matter entirely. 
Haha interesting way to remember a word!
The whole word. Just every time I think of “ring” in chinese my mind goes blank.
Was at a Chinese wedding last weekend and heard 戒指💍 very clearly in one of the speeches, I think it will stick from now.
Nothing beats immersion! Nice one
When I hear something in real life and understand it is when I finally know I have it down. I’ve found I can use words in conversation but unfortunately I still may not understand them when other people say them (I’m looking at you Japanese…). This is less of an issue for European languages though.
Same. Hearing it in a real life contextual situation makes all the difference.
Shows the importance of speaking with natives as much as possible.