Several parts combine into one character.

TWO scripts again: — Traditional 繁體 學: top is two hands holding instruction-knots (爻 — divination/teaching marks), then a roof (冖), then a child (子) underneath. The encoded scene: a teacher demonstrating with hands above, a child learning below the roof of a school. Both teaching and learning are present in the single character. — Japanese shinjitai 学 / Simplified 简体 学: the busy top has been compressed into three short marks resembling a simple cap. The 子 (child) at the bottom remains intact — because no matter how the script reforms, the learner is still a child.

学 / 學 anchors education vocabulary in every CJK language. If you only learn ten characters in your first month, this should be one of them.

Mandarin: xué, rising 2nd tone. 学习 (xuéxí, to study), 学校 (xuéxiào, school), 大学 (dàxué, university), 学生 (xuésheng, student — note neutral final tone), 小学 (xiǎoxué, elementary school), 中学 (zhōngxué, middle/high school), 学院 (xuéyuàn, college / institute), 数学 (shùxué, mathematics), 文学 (wénxué, literature). The Mandarin verbal usage 学 (xué, "to study") works as both verb and noun-prefix.

Japanese: on-reading ガク (gaku) is dominant — 学校 (gakkō, school), 学生 (gakusei, student), 大学 (daigaku, university), 小学校 (shōgakkō, elementary school), 中学校 (chūgakkō, junior high), 高校 (kōkō, high school — abbreviation of 高等学校), 数学 (sūgaku, mathematics), 語学 (gogaku, language study), 学問 (gakumon, scholarship). Kun-reading まな.ぶ (mana.bu, to learn) is a slightly more literary verb than the everyday 勉強する (benkyō suru) — but 学ぶ is the word teachers use when they want students to "really learn", not just memorize.

Every East Asian student spends years filling in 学 in school IDs and registration forms. The character carries the weight of an entire civilization's educational tradition.

Memory aid: a roof, a kindergarten cap (modern simplification), a child underneath — school in three pieces.