When I was learning French a million years ago I used to say in my head the French word or phrase for something when I was using it or doing it, sort of a running commentary.

When I was taking French in college, I would cut pictures out of magazines and label them in French. Then I'd tape them up in the bathroom so I could memorize them when I was on the can.

Gross, but surprisingly effective.

essexjan, that's a good suggestion, and jrossi4r, that's a darn good idea. I don't have access to a bunch of magazines to cut up, though, but I could have fun illustrating the words.

Muji have little keyring pads that are really easy to carry around with about 60 leaves. On one side you can write a word/equation/concept/whatever, and on the other you write the meaning/spelling and so forth. So far not so cool. But they are great for pulling out at random on the bus or waiting in line etc. throughout the day. I found them very handy for fighting techniques in the barrio, I got out of some gnarly holds.

I drew little cartoony captioned pictures to help an ex-boyfriend learn French, and stuck them up in the bathroom jrossi-style. I specifically remember someone going towards a green glass of worms (vers un verre vert de vers, all four words pronounced the same way), a fish looking miserable after eating poison (un poisson qui a mangé du poison), &c. Not sure how much it helped him, but we had fun doing it.

For me, the best way to cement a new language is to learn poems and songs. Kids' song books are invaluable.