学
xué
Learning is copying someone's movement into your own body
The picture Copying a movement someone else makes and stacking it up inside you, one layer at a time. 学 stacks it up inside you; 教 hands what's stacked out to someone else.
Where the picture shows up in 学
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stacking up a layer at a time
我在学中文。
wǒ zài xué Zhōngwén
I'm learning Chinese.
A vocabulary notebook gaining one more line every evening
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years of it stacked up
他学了三年医。
tā xué le sān nián yī
He studied medicine for three years.
Three years' worth of medical books piled beside a hanging white coat
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stacked until the body moves
我终于学会开车了。
wǒ zhōngyú xuéhuì kāichē le
I can finally drive.
Hands finding the wheel and the gearstick without the eyes following them
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one layer, right in front of you
你跟着我学一遍。
nǐ gēn zhe wǒ xué yí biàn
Do it once after me.
A senior worker shows the hand motion and the new hire copies it exactly
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the layers won't stand
这个我怎么也学不会。
zhège wǒ zěnme yě xué bu huì
I just can't get this one.
The same motion tried ten times, the hands tangling like the first time every time
All of it in one picture
学 is one picture: copying what's outside and stacking it inside. Chinese going up a layer a night is learning it; three years of medicine stacked up is how long he studied. Stack it high enough that the body moves on its own and it becomes being able to drive; have someone stack one layer in front of you and it becomes "do it after me". When the layers refuse to stand no matter how many you add, it becomes not being able to get it.