You might remember the meaning of the character 堂 with this easy mnemonic:
If you don't want to be tickled (⺍), then put down that box (冂), shut your mouth (口), and march yourself to that large room over there so you can help us plant seeds into the earth (土).
Using mnemonics to remember the meaning of Chinese characters like has a huge impact on how long to learn Mandarin it takes.