Memorization Techniques

If you are seeking to improve your memory you have come to the right place. This article will provide you memorization techniques that are effective to use in quick retention, recall and in retrieving or remembering the information. After reading this article and following the techniques, your memory will be a lot better and memorization will be a lot easier for you!

The brain can store information on events easily if the information is transformed into images. Greek and Roman orators used this kind of memory system in delivering their speeches. They associated an idea in each part of the speech with a part of their houses. The opening part of a speech might be linked to a porch, the second idea to the front of the room and so on. There are other memory system and techniques that can be used aside from transformation imaging.

The Letter Code

First provide initials or letters of the alphabet; some form words themselves, others have no meaning in themselves. The letters or initials can stand for an organization or something else, as in these examples:

IRS: Internal Revenue Service

ASAP: as soon as possible

PMA: positive mental attitude

EENT: ears, eyes, nose, throat

SASE: self-addressed, stamped envelope

Rhyming

You can memorize by putting the information you wish to remember into rhyme, as in this well known example:

Thirty days hath September,

April, June, July and November,

All the rest have thirty-one

Sound-Alike Words

To remember new vocabulary or a word in a foreign language, connect it to a word that you already know and which sounds like the new word. Whether you’re an American or Canadian or any other citizenship, you must associate the foreign word with a word in your own language, such as an English word that has a similar sound.

Example:

Spanish Word English Word Meaning Word Code Sentence

Casa Cash House I need cash to buy a house.

Mesa Mess Table This table is a mess.

Ventana Bent Window I bent one of our windows

Here are examples of sound-alike words which don’t need word code sentences:

Spanish Word English Meaning

Fonografico Phonographic

Fosforico Phosphoric

Sexo Sex

Remembering Names

To remember names of people or things, you must associate them through comparison or contrast with familiar names and things. If you wan to remember a certain person and you can not form an image of him or her, substitute a word or phrase (or in your own language, if English is not your first language) to remember the name. You may remember Johnson by thinking of a street in your own or city. You may remember the name Bautista by substituting the name Baustista (if you ever heard of him) , who was once a dictator of CUBA.

You need to know these techniques in order to remember characters in literature and well-known men and women in history and world affairs.

Remembering Historical Dates and Events

Here are two examples:

Event and Date	Retrieval Word Codes
1864: Abraham Lincoln reelected President of the United Stated	I dreamed of Lincoln in (1964) when my oldest son was two years old.
1870: Italians entered Rome and named it their capital city	I was in 70 (1970) when I visited Rome

In these examples, I used the so-called link system. In this way I have to remember only the last two digits because it is understood that these events could not have happened in the 1800s. In other words, I coded 1870 as 1970 because I wasn’t alive in 1870, so I could not have visited Rome in that year. Memorize only the last two numbers of a particular date

(36, instead of 1836 or 1936), unless of course, you’re talking about the medieval ages.

I created the codes and linked the dates with actual or imaginary events in my life. I can not forget them because I related them to things involving myself. Of course, your codes or key words will be different from mine.

In remembering events, picture the actual scenes in your mind, together with the characters from the time in history, and let them play their own parts skillfully. Visualize the dramatic actions step by step. Anything visualized is not easily forgotten. If you’re learning about Napoleon Bonaparte engage in a fierce battle with his enemies, you may see the dashing actor who has played the part of the general in the movies.

BE RIDICULOUS and FAMILIAR!

To memorize thins you can associate them with events, persons, numbers or things familiar to you. Some memory experts suggest the use of exaggerated or ridiculous images or pictures. The rule of thumb is to be creative! Weird things are very easy to remember so create a funny or weird stories or statements so you can instantly retrieve them from your mind.

Codes and keywords are important in storing or retrieving information in your mind. You don’t have to burden yourself with a lot of things to memorize. By using keywords and codes, memorization will be simplified. Associate things to memorize with well known personalities or your idol or crush. Human memory is far better than the latest computer! Make the most out of it.

The Link System

When you’re memorizing information, take a word or two from each sentence or paragraph and form another sentence or story to link the main and secondary ideas.

• Understand concepts and formulas. Let your mind make connections between concepts.

• Be creative and imaginative. Visualize the words, equations, etc. As you try to memorize them.