The Best Way to Study Memorization Work

Tricks are useful to help you memorize material.

There are many tricks you can use to aid in memorization. Children learn the alphabet by singing the letters to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," and acronyms like LASER for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation are in common use. Use tried-and-true memorization techniques, or make up your own method based on the way you learn. Not everyone learns in the same way, so you can try a few different methods and see which ones are the most effective for you.

Instructions

1. Make a list of the elements to be memorized. You may have to break down this list into manageable units. If you are memorizing the main characters in "Romeo and Juliet," for example, write down Romeo, Juliet, the Nurse, Lord and Lady Capulet, Lord and Lady Montague, the Friar, Mercutio, Benvolio, Paris and Prince Escalus. Then group the characters in a meaningful way.

2. Create an acronym with the first letter of each name in the group. For example, Juliet, the Nurse, and Lord and Lady Capulet can be grouped together to form the acronym JNLLC. When you see the letters, you can easily recall that "J" stands for Juliet, "N" stands for the Nurse and "LLC" stands for Lord and Lady Capulet.

3. Use the first letter of each name to create an acrostic sentence. JNLLC can become "Jerry Never Leaves Lions in Cages." The sillier the acrostic, the better chance you have of remembering it.

4. Create a rhyme or song with the information to be memorized. This technique allowed the ancients to memorize such long epic poems as Homer's "Odyssey" before writing and reading was widespread. Many of us learned to spell Mississippi with the rhythm MIS SIS SIPPI.

5. Try the Roman Room approach, especially effective for kinesthetic learners (those who learn best through touch, movement and space). Visualize your room, and make an association between an object in the room and an element to be memorized. For example, for the list of "Romeo and Juliet" characters, Juliet could be looking out the window, the Nurse could be waiting to speak to her in a chair, and Lord and Lady Capulet could be walking in the door.

Tips & Warnings

• Know your learning style. If you are a visual learner, you may learn best from lists and charts. If you are an auditory learner, you may learn best from listening.

• Use a combination of mnemonic devices to help with memorization.

• Don't expect to memorize information quickly; leave enough time for your techniques to work.

References

• Academictips.org: Memory Techniques
• Mnemonic Techniques and Specific Memory Tricks to Improve Memorization