KanjiJLPT N4
Take Along

take along, lead, join, connect, party, gang, clique

Mnemonic

You're cruising your car down a long path when you spot a friend walking alone. You pull over and take along your buddy! Soon you pick up another, then another—your car rolling down the path becomes a whole convoy of companions linked together in a chain.
Additional thoughts
Picture the car on a path growing into a caravan as each new person is taken along, forming an ever-lengthening chain of travelers.
Quick recall
A car on a path keeps stopping to take along friends, forming a linked convoy.

Details

The keyword for 連 is take along. This kanji conveys the idea of bringing someone or something along with you, implying accompaniment or connection as part of a group moving together. It carries the sense of linking, joining in succession, or forming a continuous chain, as when people travel in a party or events follow one after another. By extension, it also suggests a series, a sequence, or being in company with others.
On'yomi
れん
Kun'yomi
つら.なる、つら.ねる、つ.れる、-づ.れ