Nowadays, the flow of information presses on a person from all sides. Our brain has to remember many things. But it’s unrealistic to remember everything if you’re not Benedict Cumberbatch. How to improve your memory? You can improve memory and concentration using a set of measures: special exercises, healthy eating, good rest. This tutorial contains 6 popular methods of memorizing information.
1 Cards
flashcards are a way to memorize information. A system familiar to many from school, which is most often used to memorize words in a foreign language or dates in history.
A card is an ordinary piece of paper, cardboard or an electronic picture with two working sides. On one – a word, definition, term or some kind of phenomenon. On the other – an explanation to it, a translation or a brief essence. Cards, especially when used on a regular basis, help to securely pack information into long-term memory.
Why does it work?
When we read a synopsis or listen to a lecture, we passively consume information: some part of the knowledge is stored in memory, and some of it flies out of the head. In order to better remember the information, and most importantly, to get it out of the «palaces of memory» in time, you need to connect active memorization, as when answering a question.
When we collect the answer ourselves and generate it, the brain works more actively. Therefore, everything that we said and presented is remembered better than what we just saw and heard.
This principle is at the heart of flashcard learning. We see a question – one side of the card with an unfamiliar word or definition. After that, we try to find the answer on our own and, if we didn’t cope, we open the other side and check ourselves. In fact, each viewing of a stack of cards is a small personal exam, a test of knowledge. During this test, information is assimilated better than with simple reading.
2 Association method.
Another good method of memorizing words and developing memory is the association method. … He and its variants are also found under other names: the method of the chain of associations, the method of associative links, the chain method of memorization. The method can be used to memorize a sequence of words, numbers, phone numbers, dates.
The essence of the method is that a connection is established between two words or objects, which creates a single whole from objects that have nothing in common.
What are associations?
An association is understood as such a connection between objects or phenomena in the human psyche, which, when one of the objects included in the association appears in the mind, entails the appearance of another object. Two or more objects can participate in an association.
How do you create associations?
If there is no connection between objects, then it must be invented. Any connection can be: fabulous, fantasy, absurd, funny. The more unusual connection you can think of, the better you will be able to remember these objects. Let’s look at some examples.
Attic – Cavalry– imagine the riders waiting in the attic for the signal to attack in the attic. There is a trumpet signal and riders on horseback, with difficulty climb through the attic window. Then the horses look out like cats for a place to descend and jump from the roof. With shouts of hurray, the cavalry rushes into the attack.
Glass – Goats– two goats rushing towards each other. When the distance between them turns out to be very small, someone’s kind soul manages to insert glass between them – so that the goats do not inadvertently damage each other. They bang their horns with a crash on the glass that can withstand their impact, shrug their shoulders in bewilderment and disperse, leaving behind the clinking glass. By doing this, you can tie anything together. And the more incredible the association between them, the better.
3 Using rhymes also helps. For example,
– загляни скорее в шкаф,
Там на полке шарфик – scarf!
4/ Mimd map is a method of graphically representing words to remember. We find a connection between these words and draw a diagram.
5 Method of thematic cards and stickers. It means that we lay out the cards by topic (for example, education, food, etc.) and teach them literally for five minutes over a cup of coffee. And the sticker method is very simple:
We write the name of the object in a foreign language on self-adhesive paper and glue it onto the object itself. Thus, each time we approach the window, we will know how it sounds in a foreign language.
6 Audiolinguistic method.
It is suitable for those people who have a well-developed auditory memory. The essence of the method is to learn the language through oral assimilation of the English text. This is possible both when listening to audio recordings and when watching films in English. The best option is to watch films, as the person perceives the material better. At the initial stage, it is best to watch films with subtitles, first in Russian and then in English.
We looked at 6 methods of memorizing words. The main thing is not to forget about five important components:
Comprehensibility.It is necessary to understand that any information is easier to perceive when it is familiar and understandable to us. If, while reading the book, there are unfamiliar terms in the text, then it will be better to parse them first, and then start memorizing.
Structure. When information is organized. An example is books, dictionaries, catalogs, in which information is divided into certain sequences, categories and blocks.
Visualization.Any information that can be presented in the form of vivid visual images is easier to remember, since visual memory works better than other types of memory.
Association. Everything that surrounds us is interconnected. For example, if you imagine a dog, then simultaneously with its image, others will emerge through associations: a collar, a muzzle, a leash, a ball, a bone. So in the process of memorization, when we can link new information with the old, it will be several times easier to memorize.
Attention. If you do not pay attention to something, you will not be able to remember it. Your interest is a good example of this. Everything that will be associated with them will be easily remembered. Attention is automatically directed to an interesting topic. Where there is no interest, there will be the opposite effect.
