I also couldn't memorize phone numbers. The only numbers that I know are my old and new mobile numbers and our analog landline when I was a kid (which doesn't exist anymore!). What's wrong with my memory? How did I even pass in school?! :)
Remembering names is another thing. And recalling faces too! Like sometimes I would see someone who looks familiar but I couldn't quite place where I've met the person. What's embarrassing is if this person was wearing a uniform the first time I met him, I wouldn't be able to place him if I see him in civilian clothes the next time! Seriously! Wahaha....
And so when I saw this book on kindle entitled Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive by Kevin Horsley, I just had to read it. Maybe I still have hope! Haha....
The book teaches a lot of techniques on how to improve your memory, and how to easily memorize and remember facts and figures, but like in all things, they require regular practice to master them.
But the underlying principle of all the techniques is you have to use your imagination to increase retention. And it's not just about adding a mental picture but engaging as many as your senses - see it in your mind, touch it, smell it, hear it, taste it.
And so when I saw this book on kindle entitled Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive by Kevin Horsley, I just had to read it. Maybe I still have hope! Haha....
The book teaches a lot of techniques on how to improve your memory, and how to easily memorize and remember facts and figures, but like in all things, they require regular practice to master them.
But the underlying principle of all the techniques is you have to use your imagination to increase retention. And it's not just about adding a mental picture but engaging as many as your senses - see it in your mind, touch it, smell it, hear it, taste it.
The SEE method requires the following - "See" it in your mind, "Exaggerate" and "Energize".
For example, you need to remember an elephant. Imagine an elephant in your mind.
To make it more memorable, exaggerate the image - it's a gigantic elephant and it's wearing a pink bikini.
To make it even more memorable, energize it by making it move in illogical ways - it's a dancing gigantic elephant with a pink bikini.
Which would have been memorable? A regular elephant or a dancing gigantic elephant with a pink bikini?
Now try how effective this technique is by using your imagination in the exercise below. At first, I thought nothing would stick but I was so happy, I did recall a few words. Try it -
Italian words
Chicken is Polo. You can imagine playing polo with a chicken instead of a ball.
Cat is Gatto. Imagine saying to your friend, “You’ve got to hold my cat.”
French words
Book is Livre. Sounds like liver, so you can imagine opening a book and finding squashed liver inside.
Hand is Main. My main hand is my right hand.
Zulu words
Dog is inja (eenjaa). Think of an injured dog.
Snake is Inyoka (eenyo’kaa). Imagine a snake slithering in your car.
Japanese words
Chest is Mune (Mooneh). Imagine money growing out of your chest.
Door is To (Toe). Imagine you are kicking the door with your big toe.
Quick quiz:
What is the Italian word for cat?
What is the Japanese word for chest?
What is the French word for book?
What is the Italian word for chicken?
What is the Zulu word for snake?
What is the Zulu word for snake?
What is the French word for hand?
Amazing, right?!
Here's another exercise:
See your car in your mind and imagine you squeeze a big apple into the front grid of your car.
Take a carrot and stab it into the bonnet.
On the windscreen see grainy bread, and think to yourself, “The grainy bread is going to damage my windscreen wipers.”
Get inside your car and squash dried fruit on the dash board, really see it go into your speedometer. On the driver’s seat imagine you are sitting on blue berries and strawberries – really feel it.
Throw eggs at the person sitting in the passenger seat next to you, they now have egg on their face. Imagine you are pouring thousands of nuts and seeds onto your back seat.
Go outside your car and imagine a massive orange on your roof. You open the boot and it is full of fish – really smell the fish.
In the exhaust pipe there is broccoli and Brussels sprouts growing out of the exhaust, and finally the tires of your car are made out of sweet potatoes.
Go through your car, from the beginning to the end, and see if you can remember all the information. If a word didn’t stick, go back, make the connection stronger and SEE it more clearly in your mind.
Quick Quiz:
What is on the roof?
What are the car tires made of?
What was on the driver’s seat?
What was on the bonnet of the car?
What you have just learned are 14 super foods.
How cool is that?! I'm able to remember some things! There's hope for people like me! Haha...
When I was a student, I was limited to using acronyms and mnemonics. Then after exams, everything just gets automatically purged. Haha... The only acronym that I could remember now is ROYGBIV. Wahaha....
The author also shared techniques on how to easily remember names and numbers but they are too complicated and long to blog. But the gist is for numbers, there are specific letters/sounds to each number from 0 to 9. Then if you want to memorize a string of digits, you create a word/phrase by translating the digits to letters/sounds. (All vowels are fillers so you know they don't have a numeric value.)
For example, you need to memorize the number 321.
According to the number method, here are the corresponding sounds:
3 = sound of M
2 = sound of N
1 = sound of either T or D
So if you want to remember 321, you could form the word MINT or MIND or MEND (vowels are fillers so they don't have numeric values).
Apparently, this number method isn't a new technique. According to Horsley, it was developed in the 1700s by a man named Stanislaus Mink von Wennshein. Wow.
And by using this method, do you know what the author could memorize? A 50-digit random number in less than 20 seconds and 100 digits in 45 seconds. Whoa!
And me? All I could memorize is a 4-digit number! Wahaha... But at least, I now can easily remember my plate number. Baby steps. Harhar...
