Pinyin "sai4"
In MandarinBanana's mnemonic system, the Pinyin syllable "sai4" is split up into two parts: "s" and "ai4". You can visit the Pinyin index to see how other Pinyin syllables are split up into initials and finals.
Mnemonics for Pinyin initial "s"
Socrates.
Mnemonics for Pinyin final "ai4"
In the airplane's bathroom.
Characters pronounced sai4
to compete / competition / match / to surpass / better than / superior to / to excel
赛
=
宀
+
井
+
丌
+
贝
:
Socrates (s) and the crab (贝) are competing in a competition (赛) in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). The competition is about stacking wells (井) as high as possible. After time's up, Socrates is the clear winner. He climbs the winner's pedestal (丌) and receives a honorary PhD and thus a graduation cap (宀).