How to Memorize
Listen to this., Take a deep breath., Repetition is key., Take a short break., Check your memorization., Listen to yourself., Listen to others., Move around.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Listen to this.
If you do best by hearing things, and can retain information that comes to you orally, you're probably an auditory learner.
Here are some characteristics to help you determine if you are:
You remember, with great detail, information that you hear in conversations or lectures.
You have a well-developed vocabulary, an appreciation for words, and strong language skills, picking up new languages relatively easily.
You're a good speaker, and can carry on interesting conversations, articulating your ideas clearly.
You have musical talents, and the ability to hear tones, rhythms, and individual notes in a chord or an ensemble setting. , Scan over your entire course/paper, so you know what you're going to be reading.
If it's very long, break it into sections.
Investigate and note intuitive relationships between the elements and your own experience.
This is called memorizing by association.
The relationships don't need to be rational, only memorable (interesting, funny, enjoyable) and inspirational.
If you're memorizing Article 1 of the US Constitution, for example, it begins, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress...," you might imagine a congressman in a vest, with a power cord dangling out of his pocket.
Take the first letters of something you're trying to remember and create another acronym for it.
For example, the anterior pituitary gland secretes six major hormones:
TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), LH (luteinizing hormone), PCR (prolactin), and GH (growth hormone).
They're tough to remember, but if you create an acronym out of the first letters of each hormone (for example, The Actor Fails Like Purple Gnomes), they all become much easier to remember.
Create a vivid story with the entities involved in what you're trying to remember.
Making a story up with Belligerent Bob, Laconic Linda or Intrepid Ingrid can help you remember those tricky vocabulary words.
It doesn't even have to make sense: again, as long as it tickles you somehow, you're liable to remember it.
Create a little or medium drawing that explains what you're trying to memorize! For example, if you want to memorize the definition of scientific inquiry, (which by the way is:
The many ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather) you would draw a little drawing of a scientist, someone proposing to someone, and a little folder that says evidence.
The other little words like adverbs and verbs you write, next the drawing! Don't get messy, always draw and write in order. , Use verbal and listening repetition to help you remember the order of things:
Read the first object.
Say it without the paper.
Read the first and second object.
Repeat them both aloud until you're able to say them without the paper.
Read the first, second, and third objects.
Say them aloud until you're able to remember them.
Repeat this process until you can say all the objects without the paper.
Once you're at the end of the list, repeat the list without reading it.
Say it aloud three times.
If you cannot do it all three times, start over. , It's important to keep your mind fresh, so once you think you have something roughly memorized, take a 20- to 30-minute break.
Do something you enjoy that's easy to accomplish (i.e., something that doesn't involve a lot of learning) during that time, such as talking on the phone or taking a walk in the park.
You're relaxing your brain and giving it time to encode what you just learned into your long-term memory.
Excessive stimulation of new concepts and learning different things can interfere with that encoding process. , After your break, test yourself again to see if you've still memorized everything.
If you get it all right, you probably have it.
If not, work on the sections you're having trouble with.
Then take another short break and come back again. , Record yourself saying what needs to be memorized once, then play it back to yourself while you sleep.
Though this doesn't work well for teaching you new, unfamiliar information, the repetition in your sleep can help prime you to reinforce concepts you have already consciously acquired.
You can purchase or make a special headband that holds headphones from your MP3 or other audio player to your head as you sleep––this is commonly used by people who use relaxation music to help them sleep. , If you can, and if it's permitted, try taping lectures to help you both fill in the gaps in your notes, and to hear the information presented again.
Listening to it a second or third time can often be enough to cause the information to stick without much more effort. , Pace around the room while studying and repeating the information to yourself.
By walking around, you will use both your right and left brain and will memorize the material much easier. -
Step 2: Take a deep breath.
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Step 3: Repetition is key.
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Step 4: Take a short break.
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Step 5: Check your memorization.
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Step 6: Listen to yourself.
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Step 7: Listen to others.
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Step 8: Move around.
Detailed Guide
If you do best by hearing things, and can retain information that comes to you orally, you're probably an auditory learner.
Here are some characteristics to help you determine if you are:
You remember, with great detail, information that you hear in conversations or lectures.
You have a well-developed vocabulary, an appreciation for words, and strong language skills, picking up new languages relatively easily.
You're a good speaker, and can carry on interesting conversations, articulating your ideas clearly.
You have musical talents, and the ability to hear tones, rhythms, and individual notes in a chord or an ensemble setting. , Scan over your entire course/paper, so you know what you're going to be reading.
If it's very long, break it into sections.
Investigate and note intuitive relationships between the elements and your own experience.
This is called memorizing by association.
The relationships don't need to be rational, only memorable (interesting, funny, enjoyable) and inspirational.
If you're memorizing Article 1 of the US Constitution, for example, it begins, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a congress...," you might imagine a congressman in a vest, with a power cord dangling out of his pocket.
Take the first letters of something you're trying to remember and create another acronym for it.
For example, the anterior pituitary gland secretes six major hormones:
TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone), ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), LH (luteinizing hormone), PCR (prolactin), and GH (growth hormone).
They're tough to remember, but if you create an acronym out of the first letters of each hormone (for example, The Actor Fails Like Purple Gnomes), they all become much easier to remember.
Create a vivid story with the entities involved in what you're trying to remember.
Making a story up with Belligerent Bob, Laconic Linda or Intrepid Ingrid can help you remember those tricky vocabulary words.
It doesn't even have to make sense: again, as long as it tickles you somehow, you're liable to remember it.
Create a little or medium drawing that explains what you're trying to memorize! For example, if you want to memorize the definition of scientific inquiry, (which by the way is:
The many ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather) you would draw a little drawing of a scientist, someone proposing to someone, and a little folder that says evidence.
The other little words like adverbs and verbs you write, next the drawing! Don't get messy, always draw and write in order. , Use verbal and listening repetition to help you remember the order of things:
Read the first object.
Say it without the paper.
Read the first and second object.
Repeat them both aloud until you're able to say them without the paper.
Read the first, second, and third objects.
Say them aloud until you're able to remember them.
Repeat this process until you can say all the objects without the paper.
Once you're at the end of the list, repeat the list without reading it.
Say it aloud three times.
If you cannot do it all three times, start over. , It's important to keep your mind fresh, so once you think you have something roughly memorized, take a 20- to 30-minute break.
Do something you enjoy that's easy to accomplish (i.e., something that doesn't involve a lot of learning) during that time, such as talking on the phone or taking a walk in the park.
You're relaxing your brain and giving it time to encode what you just learned into your long-term memory.
Excessive stimulation of new concepts and learning different things can interfere with that encoding process. , After your break, test yourself again to see if you've still memorized everything.
If you get it all right, you probably have it.
If not, work on the sections you're having trouble with.
Then take another short break and come back again. , Record yourself saying what needs to be memorized once, then play it back to yourself while you sleep.
Though this doesn't work well for teaching you new, unfamiliar information, the repetition in your sleep can help prime you to reinforce concepts you have already consciously acquired.
You can purchase or make a special headband that holds headphones from your MP3 or other audio player to your head as you sleep––this is commonly used by people who use relaxation music to help them sleep. , If you can, and if it's permitted, try taping lectures to help you both fill in the gaps in your notes, and to hear the information presented again.
Listening to it a second or third time can often be enough to cause the information to stick without much more effort. , Pace around the room while studying and repeating the information to yourself.
By walking around, you will use both your right and left brain and will memorize the material much easier.
About the Author
Lisa Richardson
Specializes in breaking down complex organization topics into simple steps.
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