categorised toki pona cheat sheet

i made a toki pona cheat sheet but with words all grouped!

this is a learning tool to help associating terms and concepts in categories for easier memorisation, and as a quick reference to find words fast!

disclaimer. some choices in the categorisation here are arbitrary and opinionated. it just makes sense to me this way. almost all Toki Pona words have uses which could place them in multiple categories.

why?

i think this is a pretty good way to help memorise your words when used alongside things such as (digital) flashcards.

not only do you get the visual help by use of the symbol script (sitelen pona, which means "good drawings"), but by putting the words in certain categories, you are making use of the associative capabilities of your brain!

think about it! pokémon's first generation has about as many pokémon as there are toki pona words. you don't just remember their names but also what they look like and what typings they are! you can use this as a learning technique!

this is not only a funny thought, but it is a common theme in psychology! chunking is basically the practice of grouping together smaller pieces of information or splitting up a big piece of information so you can remember it and form it into a bigger cohesive whole later. this is also related to "Miller's law" (not to be confused with other "Miller's laws") what states that the maximum amount of objects you can store in short-term memory is 7 plus-minus 2 (though, later research has really kinda proven the fact that there's no one magic number).

i hope, i truly hope, that this cheat sheet helps you on your beginning toki pona journey, if you're just starting out. get involved in the community by just casually chatting with us! find stuff to read or listen to toki pona music! you can do it! this language is so much fun to learn and puts your creative thinking to work, even if you think you're not good at learning or at languages. (i would know, i failed my french and german classes! i'm awful at learning languages, but i'm having fun with toki pona!)

previous versions

note. a version based on the 2023 linku survey results is coming soon™️.

contribute

feel free to reach out to me and discuss changes.

note. later i really should make the Figma file/link available.

credits

• original single-sheet dictionary cheat sheet by blinry (CC0 license)
• vocab definitions mostly from this cheet sheet by jan Sa and contributors jan Deni, jan Kekan San, jan Seli, and jan Ke Tami (CC0 license)
• the Linku project by kala Asi and all contributors for usage data
• font linja suwi by jan Ana (OFL license)
• font Atkinson Hyperlegible by Braille Institute of America, Inc. (license)
• anyone who gave me feedback on this
• you!