Friday, April 25, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
The Memory Guru of India- A B C of Memory Part IInd
PEG WORDS 1 TO 20 – TUTORIAL 11
The Peg Word system is based on the sounds of the Phonetic Alphabet. The Peg Word for each number contains only the consonant sounds which that number transposes to, plus any vowels needed to form the word, as necessary. Remember that vowels have no value in the Phonetic Alphabet.
For example, the number ’1′ is always represented by the phonetic sound ‘t’ or ‘d’, so the Peg Word for 1 must contain only that consonant sound. The word tie contains only the consonant sound ‘t’, and can also be easily pictured, so tie can be the Peg Word for the number ’1′.
Of course, there are many other words which could have been chosen to represent the number ’1′ using these rules – toe, tea, dye, die, and dew are just a few examples. But the Peg System revolves around the idea that there will be one Peg Word for each number, and it will always be the same word. So, a picture of a man’s necktie will always represent the number ’1′.
Using the same rules, the Peg Word for ’2′ must contain only the consonant ‘n’. The word that will always represent ’2′ is Noah. Picture whatever image this word conjures for you – perhaps an old man with a long, grey beard standing on his ark.
The Peg Word for ’3′ will always be ma – picture a little old lady, or your mother, or whatever that word suggests to you.
The number 4 will always be represented by ray – picture a ray of sunlight, or a beam from a torch.
The Peg Word for 5 is law – picture a policeman, or perhaps a high court judge – anything which suggests ‘law’ to you.
Shoe is the Peg Word for 6. Picture a shoe.
Key is the Peg Word for 7. Picture a key.
Your Peg Word for 8 is ivy – picture ivy climbing all over a wall.
Bee is the Peg Word for 9 – picture a large bumble-bee.
The Peg Word for 10 must contain two consonant sounds, because the number ’10′ has two digits. The Peg Word for 10 will always be toes.
Those are the first ten Peg Words in the Peg System. They are simple to remember, because the phonetic sounds more or less tell you what the words are. Read through them once more, and you should know them. You will know them in and out of order, because you know the phonetic sounds out of order. When you are confident that you know the ten words, proceed with learning Peg Words 11 to 20 :
11 : toad – picture a croaking, wart-covered toad.12 : tin – picture an empty tin can.13 : dam – picture a dam on a river.14 : tyre – picture a car tyre.15 : doll – picture any sort of doll.16 : dish – picture any sort of dish.17 : dog – picture any dog that comes to mind.18 : dove – picture the white, cooing, bird.19 : tap – picture a tap, perhaps a dripping one.20 : nose – picture your nose.
Go over the twenty words in your mind several times , right now. Remember that the phonetic sounds practically tell you what the words are. You should be able to think of any number from 1 to 20 and know the Peg Word instantly. Conversely, if you hear any of the Peg Words, you should immediately know what number it represents.
When you know the first twenty Peg Words thoroughly, you will be ready to learn how to start applying the Peg System of Memory.
Press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have learned the first 20 Peg Words.
APPLYING THE PEG SYSTEM – TUTORIAL 12
Having learned the first twenty peg words, you are now ready to start putting them to practical use.
Assume that you wish to memorise the following twenty items, both in and out of order :
1. telephone 11. trumpet 2. table 12. spectacles 3. axe 13. carrot 4. porridge 14. moon 5. ladder 15. peach 6. sparrow 16. hat 7. piano 17. boat 8. cigar 18. daffodil 9. grapefruit 19. radio 10. camera 20. envelope
As you can see, these items have been chosen completely at random, and have no logical connection. To memorise the list of items in order, you could simply apply the Link System, and associate telephone to table, table to axe, and so on until you reach the twentieth item.
But, as mentioned in the introduction to this section, applying the Link method would not allow you to instantly recall, say, the fourteenth item. To recall that the fourteenth item was moon, you would have to work from the start of the list and count through the items mentally, until you reached number 14.
In other words, although the Link System is excellent for remembering lists of items in sequence, it doesn’t provide an easy method for remembering any item on a list out of sequence.
To memorise the twenty items on the previous page out of sequence, you simply associate each item to the Peg Word for the corresponding number.
Begin with item 1, telephone. Associate telephone to Peg Word 1, which is tie. See a ludicrous picture in your mind’s eye which will associate the two items. Perhaps you are wearing a telephone around your neck instead of a tie. See that zany image, or any crazy image which associates the two items, right now, in your mind’s eye.
Next, associate item 2, table, to the Peg Word for 2, which is Noah. You might picture Noah calling pairs of tables into his ark, instead of pairs of animals. Make a ridiculous association between table and Noah in your mind, right now.
Item 3 on the list is axe, so associate it to Peg Word 3, ma. Perhaps you can picture yourself chopping off a little old lady’s head with an axe. This is an image which may well make you shudder, but you certainly won’t forget it ! Make the association now.
Item 4 is porridge. Associate it Peg Word 4, which is ray. You might picture yourself sunbathing in your bathing costume, when the sun’s rays suddenly turn to streams of porridge, and you are covered in a horrible, sticky mess.
The fifth item is ladder, and you need to associate it to law, the Peg Word for the number 5. You could perhaps picture yourself being arrested by a ladder wearing a policeman’s helmet, or see yourself trying to climb a ladder made out of policemen.
Get the idea ? For each of the numbered items on the list, make a ridiculous association between that item and the Peg Word for that number. Try making your own associations for the remaining fifteen items, right now. Remember that creating your own images always increases your Initial Awareness.
Associate item 6 – sparrow to shoe (Peg Word 6) Associate item 7 – piano to key (Peg Word 7) Associate item 8 – cigar to ivy (Peg Word 8) Associate item 9 – grapefruit to bee (Peg Word 9) Associate item 10 – camera to toes (Peg Word 10) Associate item 11 – trumpet to tin (Peg Word 11) Associate item 12 – spectacles to toad (Peg Word 12) Associate item 13 – carrot to dam (Peg Word 13) Associate item 14 – moon to tyre (Peg Word 14) Associate item 15 – peach to doll (Peg Word 15) Associate item 16 – hat to dish (Peg Word 16) Associate item 17 – boat to dog (Peg Word 17) Associate item 18 – daffodil to dove (Peg Word 18) Associate item 19 – radio to tap (Peg Word 19) Associate item 20 – envelope to nose (Peg Word 20)
If you have really made the associations for all twenty items and visualised them clearly, you will know all the items in and out of order. Think of the Peg Word for number 1 – tie – what does it remind you of ? A telephone, which you pictured around your neck instead of a tie.
Think of the Peg Word for 5 – law – it will instantly remind you of ladder, the fifth item. Think of Peg Word 18 – dove – it should immediately make you think of daffodil, the eighteenth item.
Also, if you think of any item on the list, you will immediately know its numerical position. For example, where was the trumpet ? Well, trumpet makes you think of toad, which is the Peg Word for 11, so trumpet just has to be number 11.
If you haven’t yet made associations in your mind for all twenty items, go back and do it, right now. When you are ready, press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have memorised the items, in and out of sequence.
LEARNING PEG WORDS 21 TO 100 – TUTORIAL 13
As mentioned in the Introduction, this tutorial is a little different from the other tutorials, in that you can work through as little or as much of it as you like.
You should now be completely familiar with Peg Words 1 to 20, and you will find countless applications to which you can put them. This tutorial introduces you to Peg Words 21 to 100, and you can learn as many of them as you can find practical uses for. If you can think of any memory chore where you will want to memorise 100 items by numerical order, then learn all of them. Otherwise, just learn as many as you think you will use.
Of course, there’s no practical reason why the Peg Words should stop at number 100, and the concept of forming your own Peg Words beyond 100 is discussed in the Additonal Exercises section.
The Peg Words have been formed using the same rules as before. The Peg Word for each number contains only the phonetic consonant sounds contained in that number, with filler vowels used as necessary to form the word. Here are Peg Words 21 to 100. Decide how many you would like to learn at the moment, then study those words carefully. Pay particular attention to the phonetic composition of each word – remember that the phonetic sounds practically tell you what the Peg Word for any number is. Press Page Down when you are ready to test yourself on a section of the Peg Words.
21. Net 22. Nun 23. Gnome 24. Nero 25. Nail26. Notch 27. Neck 28. Knife 29. Knob 30. Mouse31. Mat 32. Moon 33. Mummy 34. Mower 35. Mole36. Match 37. Mug 38. Movie 39. Map 40. Rose41. Rat 42. Rain 43. Ram 44. Roar 45. Reel46. Rash 47. Rock 48. Roof 49. Rope 50. Lace51. Lad 52. Lane 53. Lamb 54. Lair 55. Lolly56. Leech 57. Leg 58. Loaf 59. Lip 60. Cheese61. Sheet 62. Chain 63. Jam 64. Jar 65. Jail66. Judge 67. Shack 68. Chef 69. Ship 70. Goose71. Cat 72. Coin 73. Comb 74. Car 75. Coal76. Cage 77. Cake 78. Cave 79. Cab 80. Vase81. Fat 82. Phone 83. Foam 84. Fire 85. File86. Fish 87. Fog 88. Fife 89. Fob 90. Bus91. Bat 92. Bone 93. Bomb 94. Bar 95. Ball96. Beach 97. Pig 98. Puff 99. Pipe 100. Daisies
OVERCOMING ABSENTMINDEDNESS – TUTORIAL 14
This tutorial suggests some simple systems which can be used to overcome absentmindedness. They are based on principles which you have already learned – Initial Awareness and Association of Ideas.
The definition of absentmindedness is staightforward – you are absentminded when you perform actions unconsciously, without thinking. If your mind is ‘absent’ while you are performing an action, there can be no Initial Awareness of that action.
The solution to the problem of absentmindedness is equally straightforward and obvious – you simply have to think of what you are doing at the time you are doing it. Of course, this is easier said than done – how can you be sure to force yourself to concentrate on a simple, everyday action at the time you are doing it ?
Think right back to Tutorial 1, where you learned that Association can be used to force Initial Awareness, and you have the answer to the problem. As Initial Awareness is the same as having something register in your mind in the first place, then forming an instant association when you perform an action must solve the problem of absentmindedness.
An example will make this much clearer. Suppose you are one of those people who freqeuently writes an important letter and then forgets to take it out and post it. What is the last action you perform before leaving your home ? Probably pulling the front door shut. So, after writing a letter, instead of saying to yourself ‘I must remember to post this…’ and then forgetting about it completely, do the following – associate letter to the action of closing your front door.
As ever, the association should be as ludicrous as possible. Visualise yourself closing the front door, when millions of letters come flooding through the door, pulling the door off its hinges and knocking you over. If you make that crazy association, the next time you go to close your front door you will think of letter, and if you have left one inside then you will go back and get it.
Of course, this will help you remember to take the letter, but you may still forget to post it and leave it in your pocket for a few days ! One way to avoid this is to associate the addressee of the letter to a post box. If it is addressed to someone you can visualise, picture that person’s head popping out of a post box and rolling down the street.
The next time you notice a post box – which you inevitably will – you’ll be reminded to take that letter out of your pocket and mail it. If the letter is addressed to a company or organisation, use a Substitute thought and associate that to a post box. If it’s your football pools coupon, picture billions of footballs flying out of a mailbox.
This simple idea can be applied to any action or item you wish to remember. Why spoil an evening out because you spend most of it worrying about whether you unplugged the iron, or switched off the oven ? Form the habit of making a quick association at the time you do these things. For example, as you unplug the iron, picture your fingers being sucked into the socket, giving you a violent electric shock. You might perhaps see your hair standing on end to make the picture vivid.
Every time you switch off the oven, picture your head inside the oven, being slowly roasted ! Later, when you think about the oven, you will >know that you have switched it off.
Don’t worry about the image you formed yesterday coming to mind when you think about whether you switched off the oven today. ‘True’ memory and Initial Awareness will tell you the truth. If you haven’t formed the silly picture of your head in the oven on any particular day, then you will know that you haven’t switched the oven off.
Perhaps you are one of those people who frequently goes outside the house to the garage or garden shed, only to stand there wondering what you came out for ? Simply make an association the moment you decide that you need to get something from the garage. If it’s a hammer, picture yourself opening the garage door and millions of hammers tumbling out. Try this idea – it really does work !
If you wear spectacles and are frequently forgetting where you put them down, try forming an association at the moment you put them down. If you place them on the dining table, picture them on a serving dish in the middle of the table, surrounded by a large salad. If you place them on top of the television set, picture the television wearing a large pair of spectacles. The next time you think of your spectacles, you are sure to know where they are.
Always form the association at the moment you are performing the action. If you put off doing it you’ll forget to form the association and you’ll forget where you put your glasses !
You may feel that forming these associations is a waste of time. But, after trying the idea a few times you will find that the pictures are formed in next to no time. Even more important is that time and effort that you will be saving.
REMEMBERING SPEECHES AND PRESENTATIONS – TUTORIAL 15
The most effective way to deliver a speech is to speak it in your own words, thought for thought. Any speech is basically a sequence of thoughts. If the thoughts are random, out of sequence, they won’t make a lot of sense.
You should by now be completely familiar with using the Link System to memorise things in sequence. The Link System, with the addition of the Key Word idea, will enable you to remember any speech you want to deliver, thought for thought.
This is how you do it. Firstly, write (or type) out your speech, including all the ideas you want to get across, and everything you want to say about those ideas. When you are happy with the speech, select a Key Word or Phrase for each of the thoughts in the sppech which will remind you of the entire thought.
This is not as difficult as it may appear. Almost any thought, whether you intend to express it in six words or sixty words, can be recalled by just one Key Word or Phrase. Take as an example the following excerpt from a speech to a sales conference. ‘We have high expectations of our new products, Eclipse, New Woman, and Femme Fatale. These products should help us stir a lot of new business. It has been over a year since we introduced any new product lines at all, and we must push these products as hard as we can…’
This paragraph can be summed up by the Key Phrase new products. Assuming that you are familiar with the facts about which you are talking – for example that your company has launched no new products for over a year – then thinking of new products sums up the entire thought of the above paragraph.
Having extracted the Key Thoughts from your speech, if you then link them together, in sequence, you will have memorised your speech, thought for thought.
Of course, you could simply jot down your Key Words on a piece of paper and occasionally glance down at your notes to remind yourself of your next Key Thought. However, you may not instantly see the next point if your list is fairly long, and you can easily miss points out if your eye runs over them. It can ruin a point finished on a high note to link to the next point with an ‘Er…um….ah…’ as you glance surreptitiously at your notes.
Once you are confident with the idea oflinking Key Words to help you remember a speech, you can use the method with more aplomb than even the scantiest notes. You will find that you can move smoothly from one point to another, recalling the next Key Word as you are reaching the end of the one before it.
Let’s consider an example. Suppose you have to deliver a brief speech to a meeting of company employees, outlining reasons for changes in policy by the company. Assume that you have written out your speech and selected the following ten Key Thoughts which you need to remember :
(1) New Technology (6) Productivity(2) Progress (7) Costs(3) Manpower (8) Profit Margins(4) Redistribution (9) Overseas(5) Talent (10) Morale
Assume also that you know what you want to say about each of these thoughts. If you new nothing about the subject, why would you be speaking about it ? Your problem is simply to remember the Key Thought in the correct sequence, without missing any.
The first Key Thought is New Technology. Think of a Substitute Word or Phrase to remind you of New Technology. For technology you could picture your computer (you must have a computer or you wouldn’t be running Memory Master !). For new you could perhaps visualise your computer being brand, spanking new – so new that it shines and gleams with newness.
The second Key Thought is Progess, so begin your link by associating that thought to New Technology. You might picture your new, gleaming computer sprouting legs and marching (progressing) down the road. Or, to make the image more vivid, you could picture millions of new computers progressing down the road. See that zany image, or a ludicrous association you thought of yourself, in your mind’s eye, right now.
The next Key Thought is Manpower, so continue your Link by associating it to Progress. For Manpower you might visualise an army of identical little matchstick men. To associate it to Progress, you might picture that army of little men progressing down a road, or perhaps progressing slowly up a very steep hill. Make that association now.
Redistribution is the next Key Thought. To help you picture this thought, you could visualise your army of matchstick men being moved around by a giant hand, like a chess game. See that crazy picture now.
To help you picture the fifth Key Thought, Talent, you could picture some entrants in a talent contest – jugglers, singers, clowns, comedians – anyone you might see on a talent contest. Now associate Talent to redistribution. Picture those talent contest entrants being redistributed around a stage by a huge hand or claw, in a zany, comic fashion. See that picture.
Complete the Link yourself, by adding the remaining five Key Thoughts – Productivity, Costs, Profit Margins, Overseas, and Morale to the five thoughts you have linked so far. Here are some suggestions for Substitute Words and Phrase to help you make the associations.
Productivity – someone busily producing huge quantities of something Costs – huge piles of coins or notes Profit Margins – ma (a little old lady) selling gin and making a profit Overseas – a ship sailing on the ocean, or just an expanse of water Morale – more ale (lots of beer)
Forming a Link accomplishes two things. It forces you to concentrate, and be Initially Aware of, the thoughts of the speech, and it will give you the sequence of thoughts. When you know that you definitely have that sequence fixed in your mind, it gives you a confidence you wouldn’t have if you were relying on notes.
If you haven’t yet seriously tried to form a mental Link between the ten Key Thoughts listed on the previous pages, go back and do it right now. When you are ready, press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have memorised those ten Key Thoughts
REMEMBERING JOKES AND STORIES – TUTORIAL 16
You have already learned the systems which will enable you to remember any joke or story. The Key Thought idea, the Link System, and the Peg System can all help you to remember Jokes and Stories.
Have you ever wondered how professional comedians can tell jokes for an hour or more, and repeat the same act night after night, telling the same jokes in the same order ? Well, many professional comedians Link a Key Thought of one joke to the Key Thought of the next, and so on. The comedian knows each of the jokes – he simply needs reminders of the jokes and their sequence.
So, a Link of Irishman to hamster to doctor to figs would be sufficient to remind a comedian to first tell the joke about the Irishman, then tell the one about the hamster, then the one about the doctor, and so on.
If you would like to remember a number of jokes, simply form a Link of Key Thoughts which will remind you of the jokes. To start your Link, you can picture any simple joke or gag, and associate that to a mental image of yourself dressed as a circus clown, telling jokes.
Suppose you pick a very old gag such as ‘What’s black and white and red all over….. a newspaper’. The Key Thought from this joke is newspaper, so you would associate newspaper to that picture of yourself telling jokes as a clown.
When you hear or read a joke that you would like to remember, you simply decide on a Key Thought to remind you of the joke, and associate it to the last item in your mental ‘Joke Chain’. So the second joke you want to remember would be associated to newspaper, the third joke to the second, and so on.
Selecting a single Key Thought or Key Word to remind you of a joke is easier than you might think. After all, when you hear people talking about jokes, they usually say things like ‘Tell us the one about the elephant’, or ‘Did you hear the one about the nun’. Each joke is summarised by one, Key word. Also, concentrating on the joke to come up with a Key Thought will make you concentrate on that joke, and be Initially Aware of it.
When you are forming your ‘Joke Chain’, use the principles you have already learned to make your visual associations strong ones. Be sure that your mental pictures are ludicrous and humorous. See them clearly in your mind’s eye for just a fraction of a second, and you will not forget them.
To recall the jokes you have memorised, you simply run through your Link mentally, and stop at the Key Thought for any joke that you wish to tell or recall.
For short gags, you can extend the Link idea by associating the punchline to your Key Thought for the joke. Take the following short joke :
Two eggs were in a saucepan. The first egg said ‘I’m fed up with this – it’s boiling in here’. ‘Just wait till you get out’ said the second egg, ‘They smash your head in !’
The Key Thought of this joke is eggs, so you would include eggs in your ‘Joke Chain’. If you then associated eggs to smashed head, you would also remember the punchline of the joke.
For longer jokes, anecdotes, and stories, you simply associate your Key Thought for the story to a series of ‘minor’ Key Words that will remind you of the sequence of the story.
Consider the following story :
A duck walked into a Public Library. It went over to the counter and said to the librarian ‘Book Book…Book Book…Book Book’. The librarian grabbed a broom and shooed the duck out of the library. Five minutes later the duck waddled in again, went over to the counter and said ‘Book Book… Book…Book’.
This time the librarian became angry and threw a book at the duck, which picked up the book in its beak and rushed out. It carried walking until it reached a big pond. In the middle of the pond was a frog, sitting on a big water lily. The duck splashed into the water, swam over to the water lily, and dropped the book in front of the frog.
The frog picked up the book, tossed it impatiently aside, and croaked ‘Reddit Reddit…Reddit Reddit’.
Now, your Key Thought for this story could be duck. To remember the sequence of the story, simply Link each of the main points of the story, starting with duck. For example, you could Link duck to library to broom to angry librarian to book to pond to frog to reddit. This would remind you of all the points in the story, in sequence.
An alternative method to Linking the jokes you want to remember is to use the Peg System. If you know Peg Words 1 to 100, then you have the means to remember a hundred jokes, in and out of sequence.
Simply associate the Key Thought of each joke you want to remember to a Peg Word. You then have an easy method of recalling jokes at random. Simply think of a Peg Word between 1 and 100, and the Peg Word for that number will remind you of the Key Thought for the joke you associated to it.
For example, suppose you associated a joke about a donkey to net, which (as you know) is the Peg Word for 21. If you subsequently think of 21, you know that the Peg Word for that number is net, which will remind you of donkey.
Before leaving this tutorial, go over the ideas discussed and think how you might apply them to the sort of jokes, gags, anecdotes. stories, etc., that you would like to be able to tell.
As an exercise, try the following over the next week or so. Every time you see, hear or read any type of joke, wisecrack, funny story, etc., decide on a Key Thought for that joke and associate it to a Peg Word. Start at Peg Word 1, and continue until you have exhausted all the Peg Words you know. The joke could be heard or seen anywhere – television, radio, at work or school, in a newspaper or book – absolutely anywhere. Make sure that the associations you form are strong and clear, and you will not forget those jokes.
When you have completed the exercise, go over each of the Peg Words you know, and you will be amazed to find that you have memorised that number of jokes within a week. You will be particularly impressed if you know 100 Peg Words, and so a hundred jokes !
That concludes the Tutorial on Remembering Jokes and Stories. Pres Page Down to return to the Main Menu.
READING, STUDYING, AND LEARNING – TUTORIAL 17
Having worked through Memory Master tutorials 1 to 16, you now have the necessary knowledge to remember any reading material as you read it.
The facts in reading material are normally sequential, so you can apply, basically, the Link System. Within most reading material you may come across names, unfamiliar words, numbers, technical data, and so on. None of this need present a problem, because you already know how to memorise them.
You are familiar with the Substitute Word system, which will help you remember names, unfamiliar words, and concepts. You know the Key Word or Key Thought idea, which, together with the Link System, will help you remember those things in sequence. You also know how to picture numbers, which will enable you to remember them as you read.
All you have to do is simply apply the Memory Master systems to the reading material you wish to remember.
Let’s see how that actually works in practice. Assume you want to remember the facts in the following ‘mini geography lesson’ about the island of Jamaica.
‘The island of Jamaica lies in the Caribbean Sea, and is one of the group of islands known collectively as the West Indies. Jamaica covers an area of some 4,411 square miles, and has a population of 2,388,000. The island’s capital is Kingston, which is situated in the South.
Jamaica was first reached by Europeans when Columbus landed there in 1494. The island became British in 1655, and independent within the Commonwealth in 1962.
The island’s chief exports are sugar, bananas, bauxite, and coffee. Jamaica also has a rapidly expanding tourist industry.’
Now, start applying the Link System to the facts in this text about Jamaica. You should begin your Link with a ‘Heading’ picture, a Substitute thought which will remind you of Jamaica. You might, for example, picture a Jam Maker, a chef dressed all in white who is frantically making pots and pots of strawberry jam, and getting covered in it from head to toe.
As always, the picture which you think of yourself is best for you to use, but let’s assume for the moment that you are going to use Jam Maker to begin your Link.
Before proceeding with the Link, you should realise that although the silly pictures described on the next few pages take a lot of words to describe, the actual images are formed in your mind as fast as thought.
O.K, picture a Jam Maker carrying beans to some Vest Indians – a group of Red Indians wearing string vests. This ludicrous picture will remind you of the first few facts – you’re reading about Jamaica, which lies in the Caribbean, and forms part of the West Indies. See the crazy picture in your mind’s eye for just an instant, right now.
The next two facts to remember both involve numbers – the area of Jamaica is 4,411 square miles, and has a population of 2,388,000. This is precisely the type of data which is normally so difficult to remember – it is completely abstract.
But, you have now learned how to picture numbers, so (as, incidentally they say in Jamaica) it is ‘No Problem !’. The number 4,411 could transpose to Re-routed, and 2,388,000 to Gnome Viva Success. So you could picture those Red Indians in string vests running around and being re-routed as they run, by a giant hand. And, as they are re-routed, they keep tripping over a garden gnome, which hops about shouting ‘Viva Success’.
Now, it may take a little time to come up with that picture, but, in order to do so, you are really concentrating on the material, and heightening your Initial Awareness of the facts you wish to remember. Also, how would you set about memorising a number like 2,388,000 without a system ?
Make sure you see that last picture clearly, then continue your Link. Associate the gnome saying ‘Viva Success’ to King’s Ton (Kingston). You might picture a King sitting on a throne, surrounded by a ton of gold coins. Suddenly, out of the gold pops that gnome, still merrily shouting ‘Viva Success !’.
The next fact to remember involves a date – Columbus discovered the island in 1494. To picture any date, simply split it into two two-digit numbers and link the Peg Words for those numbers. So, 1494 would be Tyre Bear.
Now, link King’s Ton, Column Bus (Columbus) and Tyre Bear. Imagine the King counting his ton of gold when out of the gold pile drives a bus shaped like Nelson’s column. The column bus drives round and round on the ton of gold, then screeches to a halt. Out of the bus leaps a bear, swinging a big tyre around its middle like a hoola-hoop. Try and see that zany picture right now. It does take a little imagination to come up with the sily pictures, but once you see them clearly, just for a split second, you will have memorised the facts you wish to learn.
The next fact to remember is that the island became British in 1655. To picture this, you could see a dish – shaped lily (16 – 55) waving a Union Jack flag. Now associate that image to Tyre Bear. Picture that bear, still swinging the tyre around its middle, leaping into a pond full of dish-shaped lilies which are vigourously waving Union Jack flags. As mentioned earlier, this picture takes a lot of written words to describe, but is actually seen in an instant.
Continue your Link. Jamaica became independent in 1962 (tap – chain). Picture a tap with arms and legs which swings a heavy chain around in the air. As it does this, it jumps across that lily pond, stepping on the dish-shaped lilies as it goes, until it falls in the deep end (independent) of the pond and sinks slowly, dramatically, to the bottom.
Now, form your own silly pictures to Link to the next facts – Jamaica’s exports include sugar, bananas, bauxite, rum, and coffee. Include each one of these items in your Link :- associate tap – chain to sugar to bananas to bauxite to rum to coffee (hint – for bauxite picture box it – the other items can be easily pictured). Make those associations clearly, right now.
Complete your Link by associating coffee to the final fact – the island’s rapidly expanding tourist industry. Picture lots of tourists who are somehow expanding very quickly, as if being inflated by a giant pump. They are drinking coffee, which is so hot it makes them burst, like balloons. Make that mental image as comical as possible, and you are sure to remember it.
That completes your Link, and also the task of memorising the stated facts about Jamaica. Go over the complete Link in your mind once more, before reading any further. If you have really tried to see all the ridiculous pictures, you will remember all the facts in the ‘mini lesson’.
In this example, every fact from the reading material was included in the Link. Obviously, when you actually start to use the system in practice, you will be selective and only link the facts you feel you want to remember.
Press Page Down to see how well the systems worked for you in remembering the facts from the example given.
LEARNING THE 52 CARD WORDS – TUTORIAL 18
As stated in the Introduction, playing cards are difficult to remember because they are intangible. The system you are about to learn is based on having each card in the deck represented by a tangible item, which can easily be pictured.
The system is in fact an extension of the system you have already learned to help you remember numbers. You will be taught a Card Word for each of the 52 cards. The Card Words follow a definite phonetic pattern (remember the Phonetic Alphabet ?), and are easy to learn. Each of the Card Words is an item which can easily be pictured, and hence associated to other items.
The phonetic pattern used is very simple. The Card Word for each card will begin with either C,D,H,S, for Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades. The next consonant sound in the word represents the value of the card. For example, the word home can only represent the 3H. It begins with a H for Hearts, and the next consonant sound in the word is m, for 3.
The word (and also picture) cake must represent the 7C. It begins with a C, for Clubs, and the next phonetic sound is k, for 7. Similarly, the 9S is soap, and dune can only be the 2D.
Once you understand the pattern, there are no choices or decisions to make. Before proceeding any further, make sure you understand the examples given so far.
Now, before presenting you with the full list of 52 Card Words to learn, here are some further rules about the Phonetic Pattern used.
The s sound will always be used to represent the four 10 cards – i.e. 10C, 10D, 10H, 10S. Since there is no zero of any suit, this fits in nicely with the pattern. The Aces are simply counted as 1 – e.g. the AD (Ace of Diamonds) will always be represented by the Card Word date.
The Court Cards Jack, Queen, and King are treated as numbers 11, 12 and 13 respectively. So the QC (Queen of Clubs) will always be represented by the word cotton – c for clubs, tt for 1 (the first digit of 12), and n for 2 (the second digit of 12). Similarly, satan will always represent the QS (Queen of Spades), and hooded will be the Card Word for the JH (Jack of Hearts).
As with the Peg Words, you will need to form a definite mental picture for each Card Word, and learn the words so well that every time you see, say, the Jack of Hearts in a deck of cards, you will instantly see a mental picture of a hooded man. Once again, the mental pictures you form are entirely up you – the important thing is that you should be able to see each picture clearly, and be able to conjure up the picture instantly.
On the next page is a list of the 52 Card Words for you to learn thoroughly. To obtain a hard copy of the list, print the file ‘CARDS.LST’ on the Memory Master disk. Because the words follow a definite pattern, they are much easier to learn than you think. Take some time now to learn them thoroughly – you will find them just as effective an aid for remembering Playing Cards as the Peg Words are for remembering numbers.
As you learn each Card Word, fix on a definite mental picture for that word and stick to that same picture every time. We could give you suggestions for the mental pictures, but you will be aware by now that this removes your Initial Awareness – it is much better if you form your own, vivid mental images for the words. Here is the complete list of 52 Card Words :
Clubs Diamonds —– ——– AC – Cute AD – Date 2C – Can 2D – Dune 3C – Come 3D – Dame 4C – Core 4D – Door 5C – Cool 5D – Duel 6C – Cash 6D – Dash 7C – Coke 7D – Deck 8C – Cuff 8D – Dive 9C – Cap 9D – Dip 10C – Case 10D – Daze JC – Cadet JD – Dotted QC – Cotton QD – Detain KC – Cut Me KD – Dead Ham Hearts Spades —— —— AH – Hat AS – Suit 2H – Hen 2S – Sun 3H – Home 3S – Sum 4H – Hair 4S – Sore 5H – Hole 5S – Sail 6H – Hash 6S – Sash 7H – Hog 7S – Sock 8H – Hoof 8S – Safe 9H – Hoop 9S – Soap 10H – Hose 10S – Suds JH – Hooded JS – Steed QH – Hoe Down QS – Satan KH – Hit Me KS – Steam
Take some time right now to learn them as thorougly as you learned the Peg Words. Remember that the phonetic pattern almost tells you what the word for each card is. When you think you are ready to test yourself on the Card Words, press Try Me.
SEQUENCES OF PLAYING CARDS – TUTORIAL 19
Having learned the Card Words thoroughly, you now have the knowledge to memorise a complete deck of 52 cards – in sequence !.
Difficult ? Not at all, if we combine the Card Word System with our old friend the Link System.
Of course it will take a little practice, so let’s start with say a dozen cards. Imagine someone is turning over twelve cards off the top of a shuffled deck, one at a time, and you are trying to remember them in sequence.
The first two cards are the 4H (Hair) and the KS (Steam), so begin your Link by picturing steam coming out of your hair. As ever, make your mental picture as ludicrous and vivid as possible. Imagine that steam pouring out of your hair really viciously, so that your are enveloped in steam.
The next card is the QD (Detain), so continue your link by picturing a policeman detaining you for some crime – he is so mad that steam is pouring fast and furiously out of his ears.
The fourth card is the 7S (Sock), so link detain to sock. Perhaps the policeman is now detaining a gigantic sock – make the picture ridiculous, and see it clearly in your mind’s eye for a split second.
The fifth card is the 2H (Hen), so to continue the Link you might picture yourself wearing a hen on your foot instead of a sock. See that picture.
Now, continue the Link with the following seven cards, in sequence :
6C – Cash, 9S – Soap, 7H – Hog, 5S – Sail, 5D – Duel, AH – Hat, 2C – Can
Link Hen to Cash, to Soap, to Hog, to Sail, to Duel, to Hat, to Can. Make those ridiculous associations right now, and be sure to see each mental picture very clearly.
When you have completed the Link then you must know the twelve cards in sequence, because the Card Words tell you what the cards are. Following the phonetic pattern you learned in the previous tutorial, Hen can only transpose to the two of hearts, and so on.
The system applies equally well to 52 cards as 12, though it does take a little longer !
Press Page Down to test yourself on how well you have learned the sequence of twelve cards.
APPLYING THE CARD WORDS – TUTORIAL 20
You now have the knowledge to picture any playing card instantly, and to memorise sequences of playing cards quickly and efficiently. The exact way in which you apply these skills to playing card games will depend on which games you play. The systems you have learned are flexible – you can adapt or expand them to help you improve your chances at any card game you choose.
This tutorial aims to demonstrate a few ways in which the systems can be applied to various card games . Once you understand the basic idea, you can creatively apply the systems in your own way to your own favourite card game or games.
Although the Link system when applied to memorising the complete sequence of a deck of cards is a truly impressive stunt, the Link idea is not actually the most useful when applied to games such as bridge, solo, gin rummy or canasta.
In all these games, you need to know which cards have been played so far during any hand – the order in which they were played is usually not so important. The easiest method of accomplishing this is to use the mutilation idea.
To memorise all the cards played, you simply picture the Card Word for each card as it is played, and mutilate that picture in some way. If the 3H is played, picture a burning home. When the 5S is played, see a ripped sail; the 2H, picture a headless hen; the 7D picture a burning deck, and so on. Simply mutilate the picture that represents the card in your mind, in some quick way.
As you get more practice, this will become easier and easier to do. For one thing, you will get to know the Card Words better and better. Also, once you see a mutilation of any Card Word, you will use that same picture all the time.
Try the idea now, with a deck of cards. Take out, say, ten cards, without looking at them, and put them to one side. Now, turn over the remaining 42 cards one at a time, and as you look at each card, mutilate the Card Word for that card in your mind. The way in which you mutilate the picture is entirely up to you, but remember that whatever comes to mind first is the best picture to use.
When you have turned over the 42 cards, and created 42 mutilated Card Word pictures in your mind, you will easily remember which ten cards were taken out of the deck. You simply go over the 52 Card Words in your mind – any picture which has not been mutilated will stand out like a sore thumb !
Practice this stunt a few times on your own, then try it with a friend calling out the cards to you as he turns them over. This is a truly impressive stunt when done quickly. Incidentally, it does not matter how many cards are removed from the pack – in fact, the more cards removed the easier, because there are fewer to mutilate. For bridge players, thirteen cards is a good demonstration. Have someone deal four hands of thirteen cards, and call out three of the hands, a card at a time. You then tell him exactly what is in the fourth hand !
To gain speed, you will need to work at making the Card Words second nature. The better you know them, the quicker you will be able to perform the missing card stunt. When you are running through the list of Card Words in your mind to determine which ones have been mutilated, is a good idea to always use the same order for the suits – say Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades. This will save you the time and possible confusion of going over the same list twice.
The mutilation system works well for any discard game. Bridge players in particular use the system to great effect. Some memorise only the trump cards which have been played, so they mutilate only the trump cards. More experienced players will often memorise all the cards played, so they mutilate each one as it is played.
In gin rummy, it is important to know whether it is safe to play any particular card. So, as you play, mutilate each card discarded by yourself and your opponent. When you want to know if it is safe to discard a particular card, you just need to think of three or four Card Words. If you are thinking of discarding the 7D, think of the Card Words for the 6D and 8D. If they haven’t been mutilated then your opponent may be waiting for the 7D to complete a diamond run. When your opponent takes a card, associate the Card Word to his face. If he takes the 2H, see a hen sitting on his head. Later, you will remember all the cards your opponent has picked up !
In Pontoon or Blackjack, knowing what cards have been played is a great help in knowing when to double your bet, and when to stop, or twist.
Although poker is not a discard game, a memory of what has been played is certainly very useful. All good poker players have an idea of poker odds, and the odds do change according to cards played. So in a stud poker game it would be bad play to keep betting because you are waiting for an ace when you know that two aces have already been dealt to other players.
The above ideas are just some of the ways in which you can apply the Card Words to various card games. The most important thing to remember is that applying the systems is a creative activity. We have given you the basic systems – the way in which you apply them to the card games you play is now up to you. Good Luck !
IMPRESSIVE MEMORY STUNTS – TUTORIAL 21
This tutorial suggests some ‘amazing’ feats of memory you can perform, using the systems you have learned throughout the Memory Master course.
When reading how to perform these stunts, bear in mind that they are really only suggestions for memory demonstrations that you might like to try out on your friends. If you can think of ways to adapt or expand these stunts to suit yourself, then so much the better.
MEMORY STUNT NUMBER 1 – MISSING NUMBERS
Get someone to number a piece of paper from 1 to 100, and tell him to circle or highlight any five of the numbers, at random. Then tell him to call out all the remaining numbers one by one, and to cross them out as they are called. The numbers should be called out randomly, not in any numerical sequence.
You don’t of course look at the paper while he is doing this. You could be blindfolded, or sitting with your back to him. When all the numbers except the circled ones have been crossed out, you tell your friend exactly which five numbers he originally circled !
Difficult ? Not at all, provided that you know Peg Words 1 to 100 really thoroughly. As your friend calls out the numbers, you simply picture the Peg Word for that number, and mentally ‘deface’ the picture. Suppose the number 5 (Peg Word law) was called. Think of your mental picture for law – a policeman, and deface it. Perhaps the policeman has been stripped of his uniform, and is wearing nothing but his underwear and his police helmet.
If the number 20 is called, see a bleeding nose. For 14 you might see a punctured tyre; for 73 a comb with teeth missing; for 97 a book with its cover torn, and pages missing; for 30 a mouse without a tail; and so on.
When all the numbers have been called out, go over the Peg Words from 1 to 100, and any one that has not been ‘defaced’ in your mind has to be a circled number.
The process of ‘defacing’ your mental pictures of the Peg Words will become easier and quicker to do as you practice doing it. There are two reasons for this – you’ll get to know the Peg Words better and better as you practice, and once you picture a ‘defaced’ Peg Word, you’ll use the same picture to deface it every time. The defaced picture will become an instantaneous image in your mind.
If you don’t feel confident with handling a hundred numbers, then you could start with fifty, and increase the number each time you perform the stunt. When you are completely confident with the Peg Words, and your friend calls out the numbers quickly, this really is a most impressive demonstration of ‘memory power’.
MEMORY STUNT NUMBER 2 – MEMORISING A MAGAZINE
A really impressive feat of memory is to memorise the highlights of every single page in a magazine. To do this, you simply associate the Peg Words for each page number to the outstanding stories or pictures on that page.
If there are more than a hundred pages in the magazine, you can make up Peg Words to fit. Using the Phonetic Alphabet, there is literally no limit no the number of Peg Words you can create.
This stunt probably works best with a magazine that you are actually interested in, such as a hobby magazine for your favourite hobby. However, it will work well for any magazine. Once you have made all the associations, you should be able to describe the highlights for any page number called. You will probably find that you know the positions of the pictures, without making a special effort to remember them.
Each association will conjure up for you a mental picture of the whole page. This is one of the closest things to a ‘photographic’ memory. Try it for yourself, with any magazine, and you’ll be surprised how effective it is !
MEMORY STUNT NUMBER 3 – THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE
This stunt relies on you having one or more friends or relatives who are prepared to occasionally accept a strange phone call, and who understand the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet.
It works like this. Tell a group of friends (or your ‘audience’) that you know someone who can read thoughts over long distances. Before you begin the ‘demonstration’, give one of your audience the phone number of your ‘medium’ friend.
Next, ask someone to jot down a six-digit number on a piece of paper. Your audience then have to look at the number and concentrate on it very hard. You then ask someone to dial the telephone number you gave them earlier. As they are dialing, you say ‘Ask for Thomas Smith’. When your friend answers the phone, he tells the caller that the number you are all staring at is 130031, and he will be dead right !
How is it done ? Well, you have told your ‘accomplice’ that the number is 130031, via the name Thomas Smith, which phonetically translates to 130031.
Of course, the name you tell the caller to ask for will be different each time, because it depends entirely on the six-digit number. You will have told your assistant beforehand that the number will always be six digits, so he or she will ignore any phonetic sounds in the name after the first six.
For example, if the six digits were 926329, you might give the name :
Benjamin Biggs
(9-26-3-2-9-7-0)
Your assistant would only give the first six digits – 926329, because he knows that the number only contains six digits. Your ‘medium’ friend should not blurt out the number, but give the digits slowly, one at a time, as if really concentrating on the process of thought transference. At your end, the showmanship is really up to you. Don’t worry about being able to come up with a name that fits the number given. You will have plenty of time while your audience are ‘concentrating’ on those digits.
With the right amount of showmanship from you, and dramatic pauses from your assistant, this really is a most effective stunt !
That concludes the Memory Master training course. If you have just skipped through the course, nodding as you understand the principles but not really stopping to try all the examples, you should go back to the beginning and learn the basics thoroughly. Start with Association and the Link, and really make an effort to perform the mental exercises given.
The time you spend doing it now is guaranteed to save you huge chunks of time and effort in the future. Above all, remember that the Memory Master systems are designed to be flexible – adapt them to your needs, and to the things that you personally would like to remember
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
The Memory Guru of India- A B C of Memory Part I Basic Theory of memory Improvement part I
Basic Theory of memory Improvement part I
Association of Ideas – Tutorial 1
For your first
exercise in Association, let’s assume you want to memorise these ten everyday,
unrelated items, in sequence: banana, car, newspaper, sausage, pen, tree,
watch, tie, television, football. In order to do this, you are going to
consciously apply the basic memory rule defined in the Introduction, but with
an an important addition – You Can Remember Any New Information If You
Associate It To Something You Already Know In Some Ludicrous Way.
exercise in Association, let’s assume you want to memorise these ten everyday,
unrelated items, in sequence: banana, car, newspaper, sausage, pen, tree,
watch, tie, television, football. In order to do this, you are going to
consciously apply the basic memory rule defined in the Introduction, but with
an an important addition – You Can Remember Any New Information If You
Associate It To Something You Already Know In Some Ludicrous Way.
First, picture a
banana in your mind. You can’t apply the rule yet. But now we come to the next
item – car. If we assume that you already know banana, you can now apply the
memory rule. You simply need to create a ridiculous picture, or image, in your
mind’s eye – an association between banana and car.
banana in your mind. You can’t apply the rule yet. But now we come to the next
item – car. If we assume that you already know banana, you can now apply the
memory rule. You simply need to create a ridiculous picture, or image, in your
mind’s eye – an association between banana and car.
In order to do this
you need a ludicrous, far-fetched, crazy, illogical, absurd, – picture or image
to associate the two items. What you don’t want is a logical or sensible
picture. For example, a sensible picture might be – someone sitting in a car
eating a banana. Although this would not be something you would expect to see
every day, it is in not in any way bizarre or impossible.
you need a ludicrous, far-fetched, crazy, illogical, absurd, – picture or image
to associate the two items. What you don’t want is a logical or sensible
picture. For example, a sensible picture might be – someone sitting in a car
eating a banana. Although this would not be something you would expect to see
every day, it is in not in any way bizarre or impossible.
An impossible, crazy,
picture might be – a gigantic banana is driving a car along the motorway, or
you open a car door and billions of bananas tumble out and knock you over.
These are ludicrous, illogical pictures.
picture might be – a gigantic banana is driving a car along the motorway, or
you open a car door and billions of bananas tumble out and knock you over.
These are ludicrous, illogical pictures.
What you need to do is
select one of these pictures, or a crazy image you thought of yourself, and see
it your mind for just a fraction of a second. Be careful not to picture the
words banana and car. You need to see the action you’ve selected – the huge
banana driving the car, or the mountain of bananas tumbling out of a car, or
whichever image you’ve decided on. See that picture in your mind’s eye for just
an instant, right now.
select one of these pictures, or a crazy image you thought of yourself, and see
it your mind for just a fraction of a second. Be careful not to picture the
words banana and car. You need to see the action you’ve selected – the huge
banana driving the car, or the mountain of bananas tumbling out of a car, or
whichever image you’ve decided on. See that picture in your mind’s eye for just
an instant, right now.
The next item on your
list is newspaper. Assuming that you already remember car, you now need to form
a ridiculous association in your mind between car and newspaper. For example,
you open a newspaper and a car leaps out of the pages and knocks you over. Or
you are driving a huge rolled up newspaper instead of a car. Or you are driving
a car when a massive sheet of newspaper appears in front of you, which the car
rips as you drive through it. Choose one of these images, or one you conjured
up yourself, and picture it clearly for a split second.
list is newspaper. Assuming that you already remember car, you now need to form
a ridiculous association in your mind between car and newspaper. For example,
you open a newspaper and a car leaps out of the pages and knocks you over. Or
you are driving a huge rolled up newspaper instead of a car. Or you are driving
a car when a massive sheet of newspaper appears in front of you, which the car
rips as you drive through it. Choose one of these images, or one you conjured
up yourself, and picture it clearly for a split second.
Sausage is the next
item to remember, so you now need to form a ludicrous association between
newspaper and sausage. You could picture yourself eating rolled up newspapers
and eggs for breakfast instead of sausages and eggs, or you are reading a
gigantic sausage which has lots of news printed on it, or a paperboy is walking
along a street pushing very long sausages through letterboxes instead of
newspapers. See one of those crazy images.
item to remember, so you now need to form a ludicrous association between
newspaper and sausage. You could picture yourself eating rolled up newspapers
and eggs for breakfast instead of sausages and eggs, or you are reading a
gigantic sausage which has lots of news printed on it, or a paperboy is walking
along a street pushing very long sausages through letterboxes instead of
newspapers. See one of those crazy images.
Next on the list is
pen. Associate it to sausage. See yourself trying to write with a sausage
instead of a pen, or you cut into a sausage with a knife and fork and gallons
of ink shoot out of the sausage into your face. Picture one of these scenarios
clearly in your mind.
pen. Associate it to sausage. See yourself trying to write with a sausage
instead of a pen, or you cut into a sausage with a knife and fork and gallons
of ink shoot out of the sausage into your face. Picture one of these scenarios
clearly in your mind.
The next item is tree.
Picture millions of pens growing on a tree instead of leaves, or a colossal
fountain pen is growing in your garden instead of a tree. Be sure to see the
image clearly.
Picture millions of pens growing on a tree instead of leaves, or a colossal
fountain pen is growing in your garden instead of a tree. Be sure to see the
image clearly.
Watch is the next item
on the list. Picture a tree with lots of branches which are wearing giant
wristwatches, or you look at your watch and see that there is a tree growing
out of it, with roots curling up your arm. Select one of these images, or one
of your own, and see it for an instant in your mind’s eye.
on the list. Picture a tree with lots of branches which are wearing giant
wristwatches, or you look at your watch and see that there is a tree growing
out of it, with roots curling up your arm. Select one of these images, or one
of your own, and see it for an instant in your mind’s eye.
Tie comes next. See
yourself wearing an elongated wristwatch instead of a tie, or an enormously
long tie is tied around your wrist instead of a watch, so long that it drags
along the floor.
yourself wearing an elongated wristwatch instead of a tie, or an enormously
long tie is tied around your wrist instead of a watch, so long that it drags
along the floor.
The next item to be
remembered is television. You might picture yourself with a television hanging
around your neck instead of a tie, or you switch on the television and a vast,
horribly spotted tie bursts out of the screen, unrolling itself for yards and
yards. Select a crazy association between tie and television, and see the
picture in your mind.
remembered is television. You might picture yourself with a television hanging
around your neck instead of a tie, or you switch on the television and a vast,
horribly spotted tie bursts out of the screen, unrolling itself for yards and
yards. Select a crazy association between tie and television, and see the
picture in your mind.
The final item on the
list is football. See a football match where the players are kicking around a
television instead of a football. Or you are watching a football game on
television when millions of footballs suddenly burst throught the screen and
hit you in the face. Picture one of those images.
list is football. See a football match where the players are kicking around a
television instead of a football. Or you are watching a football game on
television when millions of footballs suddenly burst throught the screen and
hit you in the face. Picture one of those images.
If you have really
tried to see all those pictures, you will now remember the list of ten items in
sequence, both forwards and backwards. Press ‘Try Me’ to test yourself on how
well you have memorised the ten items.
tried to see all those pictures, you will now remember the list of ten items in
sequence, both forwards and backwards. Press ‘Try Me’ to test yourself on how
well you have memorised the ten items.
The Link System -
Tutorial 2
Your second memory
training exercise again involves memorising a list of items in sequence, but
this time we’ll make the list more practical. Assume you wish to memorise the
following shopping list of fifteen items :
training exercise again involves memorising a list of items in sequence, but
this time we’ll make the list more practical. Assume you wish to memorise the
following shopping list of fifteen items :
Chicken, Melon,
Scouring Pads, Shredded Wheat, Milk, Baked Beans, Shampoo, Runner Beans, Meat
Pies, Car Polish, Evening Newspaper, French Loaf, Tea Bags, Soap, Eggs.
Scouring Pads, Shredded Wheat, Milk, Baked Beans, Shampoo, Runner Beans, Meat
Pies, Car Polish, Evening Newspaper, French Loaf, Tea Bags, Soap, Eggs.
Of course, it’s just
as easy to jot down your shopping list on a piece of paper as it is to try and
memorise it. But how many times have you reached the supermarket or shops only
to realise that you’ve left your list on the kitchen table, or in the pocket of
a coat which you decided not to wear after all ?
as easy to jot down your shopping list on a piece of paper as it is to try and
memorise it. But how many times have you reached the supermarket or shops only
to realise that you’ve left your list on the kitchen table, or in the pocket of
a coat which you decided not to wear after all ?
Any way, let’s assume
for the moment that you wish to memorise the list of items above. You are going
to memorise the list of items in sequence, using the Link System. Of course,
it;s not important to know a shopping list in sequence – you simply want to
remember all the items. But, if you don’t memorise the list in sequence, and
particularly if it’s a long list, how else will you be sure you’ve remembered
all the items ?
for the moment that you wish to memorise the list of items above. You are going
to memorise the list of items in sequence, using the Link System. Of course,
it;s not important to know a shopping list in sequence – you simply want to
remember all the items. But, if you don’t memorise the list in sequence, and
particularly if it’s a long list, how else will you be sure you’ve remembered
all the items ?
Actually, there is
another method of memorising all the items, using the Peg System, but we’ll
come to that later !
another method of memorising all the items, using the Peg System, but we’ll
come to that later !
O.K., let’s make a
start on memorising that shopping list. The first item is Chicken. Before
moving on to item two, consider for a moment how you can be sure that you will
remember the first item in any Link. After all, there is nothing to asssociate
it to. The answer is to associate it to the subject of your Link – in this case
the supermarket.
start on memorising that shopping list. The first item is Chicken. Before
moving on to item two, consider for a moment how you can be sure that you will
remember the first item in any Link. After all, there is nothing to asssociate
it to. The answer is to associate it to the subject of your Link – in this case
the supermarket.
For example, picture
yourself opening the supermarket door and millions of chickens flying out,
knocking you over. If you can picture that ridiculous image, or a similar
ludicrous picture, clearly in your mind for just an instant, then you will
remember that first item on your shopping list.
yourself opening the supermarket door and millions of chickens flying out,
knocking you over. If you can picture that ridiculous image, or a similar
ludicrous picture, clearly in your mind for just an instant, then you will
remember that first item on your shopping list.
An alternative method
of remembering the first item of any Link is to think of any item in the middle
of the Link, and work backwards through your associations. This must eventually
lead you to your first item.
of remembering the first item of any Link is to think of any item in the middle
of the Link, and work backwards through your associations. This must eventually
lead you to your first item.
For the moment, let’s
assume that you know the first item, chicken. The second item is melon. Now,
form a ridiculous association between chicken and melon. You might picture a
chicken trying to lay a huge melon insead of an egg, with a contorted
expression on its face. This is rather a crude picture, but one that is likely
to stay in your mind. See that image, or a similar zany association between
chicken and melon in your mind’s eye, right now.
assume that you know the first item, chicken. The second item is melon. Now,
form a ridiculous association between chicken and melon. You might picture a
chicken trying to lay a huge melon insead of an egg, with a contorted
expression on its face. This is rather a crude picture, but one that is likely
to stay in your mind. See that image, or a similar zany association between
chicken and melon in your mind’s eye, right now.
Remember that the
ludicrous associations suggested here are only suggestions. If you come up with
your own images then so much the better – you are increasing your Original
Awareness.
ludicrous associations suggested here are only suggestions. If you come up with
your own images then so much the better – you are increasing your Original
Awareness.
Now, continue with
your Link. The next item is scouring pads, so you might picture yourself trying
to clean some dishes with a massive melon instead of a scouring pad. Next comes
Shredded Wheat. To associate that item to the previous one, you could picture
yourself eating a bowl of scouring pads soaked in milk, instead of Shredded
Wheat.
your Link. The next item is scouring pads, so you might picture yourself trying
to clean some dishes with a massive melon instead of a scouring pad. Next comes
Shredded Wheat. To associate that item to the previous one, you could picture
yourself eating a bowl of scouring pads soaked in milk, instead of Shredded
Wheat.
The fifth item is
milk. You might picture yourself pouring from a milk bottle, but instead of
milk out come hundreds of Shredded Wheat. See each one of those Shredded Wheat
squeezing itself painfully out of the bottle, so that it bursts into a thousand
pieces when it finally squeezes through the neck of the bottle.
milk. You might picture yourself pouring from a milk bottle, but instead of
milk out come hundreds of Shredded Wheat. See each one of those Shredded Wheat
squeezing itself painfully out of the bottle, so that it bursts into a thousand
pieces when it finally squeezes through the neck of the bottle.
Next comes baked
beans. Imagine yourself piercing a can of beans with a tin opener, when gallons
of milk squirt out, soaking you from head to toe. The seventh item is shampoo.
Picture yourself pouring some shampoo over your head, but instead of shampoo,
tons of baked beans come squirting out of the bottle, until you are knee deep
in them.
beans. Imagine yourself piercing a can of beans with a tin opener, when gallons
of milk squirt out, soaking you from head to toe. The seventh item is shampoo.
Picture yourself pouring some shampoo over your head, but instead of shampoo,
tons of baked beans come squirting out of the bottle, until you are knee deep
in them.
The next item is runner
beans, so associate that item to shampoo. You could see yourself lathering your
hair with shampoo, when dozens of runner beans suddenly start sprouting out of
your hair. See that association, or one you thought of yourself, for just a
split second. Remember, you don’t have to see the picture for a long period of
time – you just need to see it clearly for a fraction of a second.
beans, so associate that item to shampoo. You could see yourself lathering your
hair with shampoo, when dozens of runner beans suddenly start sprouting out of
your hair. See that association, or one you thought of yourself, for just a
split second. Remember, you don’t have to see the picture for a long period of
time – you just need to see it clearly for a fraction of a second.
You are now just over
half way through forming your Link of fifteen items. Before continuing, just
pause and review the associations you have made so far. Look back over the
associations suggested up to this point, and consider how the five principles
of Out of Proportion, Substitution, Exaggeration, Movement, and Humour have
been used in the suggested images.
half way through forming your Link of fifteen items. Before continuing, just
pause and review the associations you have made so far. Look back over the
associations suggested up to this point, and consider how the five principles
of Out of Proportion, Substitution, Exaggeration, Movement, and Humour have
been used in the suggested images.
O.K., let’s continue
with the ninth item in the Link, meat pie. To form a ludicrous association with
runner beans, you might see yourself cutting into a meat pie with a knife and
fork. Suddenly a huge runner bean plant sprouts out of the middle of the pie,
so tall that it shoots right through the ceiling.
with the ninth item in the Link, meat pie. To form a ludicrous association with
runner beans, you might see yourself cutting into a meat pie with a knife and
fork. Suddenly a huge runner bean plant sprouts out of the middle of the pie,
so tall that it shoots right through the ceiling.
Next comes car polish.
See yourself trying to clean a car with a meat pie, instead of a tin of car
polish. Picture yourself dipping a cloth into that meat pie, and covering the
car with dripping gravy. See that image clearly.
See yourself trying to clean a car with a meat pie, instead of a tin of car
polish. Picture yourself dipping a cloth into that meat pie, and covering the
car with dripping gravy. See that image clearly.
The eleventh item is
evening newspaper. A zany association here might be – you open the evening
newspaper to the middle pages, and an arm holding a duster covered in car
polish zooms out of the newspaper and polishes your face, causing you to
splutter and cough.
evening newspaper. A zany association here might be – you open the evening
newspaper to the middle pages, and an arm holding a duster covered in car
polish zooms out of the newspaper and polishes your face, causing you to
splutter and cough.
Next, associate
evening newspaper to french loaf. For example, imagine yourself trying to make
sandwiches out of the evening newspaper, instead of the french loaf. Then comes
tea bags. A ridiculous picture here could be – you are trying to push a
gigantic french loaf into a teapot.
evening newspaper to french loaf. For example, imagine yourself trying to make
sandwiches out of the evening newspaper, instead of the french loaf. Then comes
tea bags. A ridiculous picture here could be – you are trying to push a
gigantic french loaf into a teapot.
The fourteenth item on
your shopping list is soap. See yourself perhaps washing your face with tea
bags, and getting into an awful mess. To complete your Link, associate soap to
eggs. You could picture yourself eating a bar of soap out of an egg cup for
breakfast, instead of a boiled egg. As you eat the soap out of the egg cup,
your mouth fills up with soap suds !
your shopping list is soap. See yourself perhaps washing your face with tea
bags, and getting into an awful mess. To complete your Link, associate soap to
eggs. You could picture yourself eating a bar of soap out of an egg cup for
breakfast, instead of a boiled egg. As you eat the soap out of the egg cup,
your mouth fills up with soap suds !
If you have really
seen all those crazy pictures in your mind’s eye, you will now know the
shoopping list in sequence, both forwards and backwards. As stated earlier,
there’s no reason why you would want to know the list in sequence, but it’s an
extremely useful exercise in practising the techniques of Association and
Linking.
seen all those crazy pictures in your mind’s eye, you will now know the
shoopping list in sequence, both forwards and backwards. As stated earlier,
there’s no reason why you would want to know the list in sequence, but it’s an
extremely useful exercise in practising the techniques of Association and
Linking.
Press ‘Try Me’ to test
yourself on how well you have memorised the fifteen items in the imaginary
shopping list.
yourself on how well you have memorised the fifteen items in the imaginary
shopping list.
Substitute
Words and Phrases – Tutorial 3
For your first
exercise in Association, let’s assume you want to memorise these ten everyday,
unrelated items, in sequence: banana, car, newspaper, sausage, pen, tree,
watch, tie, television, football. In order to do this, you are going to
consciously apply the basic memory rule defined in the Introduction, but with
an an important addition – You Can Remember Any New Information If You
Associate It To Something You Already Know In Some Ludicrous Way.
exercise in Association, let’s assume you want to memorise these ten everyday,
unrelated items, in sequence: banana, car, newspaper, sausage, pen, tree,
watch, tie, television, football. In order to do this, you are going to
consciously apply the basic memory rule defined in the Introduction, but with
an an important addition – You Can Remember Any New Information If You
Associate It To Something You Already Know In Some Ludicrous Way.
First, picture a
banana in your mind. You can’t apply the rule yet. But now we come to the next
item – car. If we assume that you already know banana, you can now apply the
memory rule. You simply need to create a ridiculous picture, or image, in your
mind’s eye – an association between banana and car.
banana in your mind. You can’t apply the rule yet. But now we come to the next
item – car. If we assume that you already know banana, you can now apply the
memory rule. You simply need to create a ridiculous picture, or image, in your
mind’s eye – an association between banana and car.
In order to do this
you need a ludicrous, far-fetched, crazy, illogical, absurd, – picture or image
to associate the two items. What you don’t want is a logical or sensible
picture. For example, a sensible picture might be – someone sitting in a car
eating a banana. Although this would not be something you would expect to see
every day, it is in not in any way bizarre or impossible.
you need a ludicrous, far-fetched, crazy, illogical, absurd, – picture or image
to associate the two items. What you don’t want is a logical or sensible
picture. For example, a sensible picture might be – someone sitting in a car
eating a banana. Although this would not be something you would expect to see
every day, it is in not in any way bizarre or impossible.
An impossible, crazy,
picture might be – a gigantic banana is driving a car along the motorway, or
you open a car door and billions of bananas tumble out and knock you over.
These are ludicrous, illogical pictures.
picture might be – a gigantic banana is driving a car along the motorway, or
you open a car door and billions of bananas tumble out and knock you over.
These are ludicrous, illogical pictures.
What you need to do is
select one of these pictures, or a crazy image you thought of yourself, and see
it your mind for just a fraction of a second. Be careful not to picture the
words banana and car. You need to see the action you’ve selected – the huge
banana driving the car, or the mountain of bananas tumbling out of a car, or
whichever image you’ve decided on. See that picture in your mind’s eye for just
an instant, right now.
select one of these pictures, or a crazy image you thought of yourself, and see
it your mind for just a fraction of a second. Be careful not to picture the
words banana and car. You need to see the action you’ve selected – the huge
banana driving the car, or the mountain of bananas tumbling out of a car, or
whichever image you’ve decided on. See that picture in your mind’s eye for just
an instant, right now.
The next item on your
list is newspaper. Assuming that you already remember car, you now need to form
a ridiculous association in your mind between car and newspaper. For example,
you open a newspaper and a car leaps out of the pages and knocks you over. Or
you are driving a huge rolled up newspaper instead of a car. Or you are driving
a car when a massive sheet of newspaper appears in front of you, which the car
rips as you drive through it. Choose one of these images, or one you conjured
up yourself, and picture it clearly for a split second.
list is newspaper. Assuming that you already remember car, you now need to form
a ridiculous association in your mind between car and newspaper. For example,
you open a newspaper and a car leaps out of the pages and knocks you over. Or
you are driving a huge rolled up newspaper instead of a car. Or you are driving
a car when a massive sheet of newspaper appears in front of you, which the car
rips as you drive through it. Choose one of these images, or one you conjured
up yourself, and picture it clearly for a split second.
Sausage is the next
item to remember, so you now need to form a ludicrous association between
newspaper and sausage. You could picture yourself eating rolled up newspapers
and eggs for breakfast instead of sausages and eggs, or you are reading a
gigantic sausage which has lots of news printed on it, or a paperboy is walking
along a street pushing very long sausages through letterboxes instead of
newspapers. See one of those crazy images.
item to remember, so you now need to form a ludicrous association between
newspaper and sausage. You could picture yourself eating rolled up newspapers
and eggs for breakfast instead of sausages and eggs, or you are reading a
gigantic sausage which has lots of news printed on it, or a paperboy is walking
along a street pushing very long sausages through letterboxes instead of
newspapers. See one of those crazy images.
Next on the list is
pen. Associate it to sausage. See yourself trying to write with a sausage
instead of a pen, or you cut into a sausage with a knife and fork and gallons
of ink shoot out of the sausage into your face. Picture one of these scenarios
clearly in your mind.
pen. Associate it to sausage. See yourself trying to write with a sausage
instead of a pen, or you cut into a sausage with a knife and fork and gallons
of ink shoot out of the sausage into your face. Picture one of these scenarios
clearly in your mind.
The next item is tree.
Picture millions of pens growing on a tree instead of leaves, or a colossal
fountain pen is growing in your garden instead of a tree. Be sure to see the
image clearly.
Picture millions of pens growing on a tree instead of leaves, or a colossal
fountain pen is growing in your garden instead of a tree. Be sure to see the
image clearly.
Watch is the next item
on the list. Picture a tree with lots of branches which are wearing giant
wristwatches, or you look at your watch and see that there is a tree growing
out of it, with roots curling up your arm. Select one of these images, or one
of your own, and see it for an instant in your mind’s eye.
on the list. Picture a tree with lots of branches which are wearing giant
wristwatches, or you look at your watch and see that there is a tree growing
out of it, with roots curling up your arm. Select one of these images, or one
of your own, and see it for an instant in your mind’s eye.
Tie comes next. See
yourself wearing an elongated wristwatch instead of a tie, or an enormously
long tie is tied around your wrist instead of a watch, so long that it drags
along the floor.
yourself wearing an elongated wristwatch instead of a tie, or an enormously
long tie is tied around your wrist instead of a watch, so long that it drags
along the floor.
The next item to be
remembered is television. You might picture yourself with a television hanging
around your neck instead of a tie, or you switch on the television and a vast,
horribly spotted tie bursts out of the screen, unrolling itself for yards and
yards. Select a crazy association between tie and television, and see the
picture in your mind.
remembered is television. You might picture yourself with a television hanging
around your neck instead of a tie, or you switch on the television and a vast,
horribly spotted tie bursts out of the screen, unrolling itself for yards and
yards. Select a crazy association between tie and television, and see the
picture in your mind.
The final item on the
list is football. See a football match where the players are kicking around a
television instead of a football. Or you are watching a football game on
television when millions of footballs suddenly burst throught the screen and
hit you in the face. Picture one of those images.
list is football. See a football match where the players are kicking around a
television instead of a football. Or you are watching a football game on
television when millions of footballs suddenly burst throught the screen and
hit you in the face. Picture one of those images.
If you have really
tried to see all those pictures, you will now remember the list of ten items in
sequence, both forwards and backwards. Press ‘Try Me’ to test yourself on how
well you have memorised the ten items.
tried to see all those pictures, you will now remember the list of ten items in
sequence, both forwards and backwards. Press ‘Try Me’ to test yourself on how
well you have memorised the ten items.
Picturing Names – Tutorial 4
Some names can be
easily pictured, because they have meanings. For example, the surnames Wood, Bell, Fox, Bush and Green
immediately create an image in your mind.
easily pictured, because they have meanings. For example, the surnames Wood, Bell, Fox, Bush and Green
immediately create an image in your mind.
But what about names
which have no meaning, such as Forbes, Harrison, or Pensford ? Using the
Substitute Word system which you learned in section C, any name can be
pictured.
which have no meaning, such as Forbes, Harrison, or Pensford ? Using the
Substitute Word system which you learned in section C, any name can be
pictured.
For Forbes, you might
picture four bees. To visualise the name Harrison
you could picture a hairy sun, and for Pensford – someone writing with a
gigantic pen all over a Ford car.
picture four bees. To visualise the name Harrison
you could picture a hairy sun, and for Pensford – someone writing with a
gigantic pen all over a Ford car.
The Substitute Word
System works beautifully for remembering names. Just applying the system will
force you to concentrate on the name – to be Initially Aware of it. And, no
matter how long or strange – sounding a name is, there is always a Substitute
Word or Phrase you can use to help you picture the name.
System works beautifully for remembering names. Just applying the system will
force you to concentrate on the name – to be Initially Aware of it. And, no
matter how long or strange – sounding a name is, there is always a Substitute
Word or Phrase you can use to help you picture the name.
For Rubenstein you
could picture someone vigorously rubbing a stein (of beer). For Polanski you
could use pole and ski, and picture someone holding a huge, striped barber’s
pole in his teeth while trying to ski. For Poppadopalis you might use poppadum
and police and a picture a policeman wrestling with a gigantic poppadum.
could picture someone vigorously rubbing a stein (of beer). For Polanski you
could use pole and ski, and picture someone holding a huge, striped barber’s
pole in his teeth while trying to ski. For Poppadopalis you might use poppadum
and police and a picture a policeman wrestling with a gigantic poppadum.
The Substitute words
and phrases you create can be anything, as long as they remind you of the name
you want to remember. For MacDonald, you could picture Donald Duck wearing a
kilt. Other people might prefer to picture Mac don old – an old don (professor)
wearing a mac (macintosh). Remember that the first Substitute Word you think of
is usually best for you to use.
and phrases you create can be anything, as long as they remind you of the name
you want to remember. For MacDonald, you could picture Donald Duck wearing a
kilt. Other people might prefer to picture Mac don old – an old don (professor)
wearing a mac (macintosh). Remember that the first Substitute Word you think of
is usually best for you to use.
For short names, you
can often use a Substitute Word which rhymes, or is similar – sounding. For the
name West, you might use Whist, or Vest, or Waist, or Waste. Any word (or
phrase) which can be pictured will do the job.
can often use a Substitute Word which rhymes, or is similar – sounding. For the
name West, you might use Whist, or Vest, or Waist, or Waste. Any word (or
phrase) which can be pictured will do the job.
Associating
Names and Faces – Tutorial 5
Having learned how to
picture any person’s name using Substitute Words and Phrases, the next step is
to associate that picture with the person’s face.
picture any person’s name using Substitute Words and Phrases, the next step is
to associate that picture with the person’s face.
First of all, you need
to look at the person’s face and select one outstanding feature, such as a high
forehead, large or small nose, spectacles, moustache, beard, narrow or wide-set
eyes, large or small ears, thin or thick lips, thin or bushy eyebrows, dimples,
freckles, warts – anything which is at all memorable.
to look at the person’s face and select one outstanding feature, such as a high
forehead, large or small nose, spectacles, moustache, beard, narrow or wide-set
eyes, large or small ears, thin or thick lips, thin or bushy eyebrows, dimples,
freckles, warts – anything which is at all memorable.
First impressions are,
more often than not, lasting impressions, and whatever seems outstanding to you
now will usualy still seem outstanding when you next meet that person. What’s
more important is that by looking closely at a face, you are concentrating on
it, and etching the details on your memory.
more often than not, lasting impressions, and whatever seems outstanding to you
now will usualy still seem outstanding when you next meet that person. What’s
more important is that by looking closely at a face, you are concentrating on
it, and etching the details on your memory.
Having decided on the outstanding feature of a person’s face, you then
simply associate the Substitute Word or Phrase you’ve invented for that
person’s name. If you make a strong enough association, it will be almost like
having the person’s name written on his or her face !
simply associate the Substitute Word or Phrase you’ve invented for that
person’s name. If you make a strong enough association, it will be almost like
having the person’s name written on his or her face !
For example, suppose you’ve just met Mr Ball, and want to be sure that you
remember his name. The name Ball might suggest to you a football, or a rugby
ball, or perhaps a golf ball. Let’s also suppose you have decided that the
outstanding feature of his face is his red, curly hair. Now, you look at that
hair and picture millions of golf balls springing out of it, and bouncing
around everywhere. Or, picture a football with Mr Ball’s red curly hair growing
out of it – the football is on his shoulders in place of his head.
remember his name. The name Ball might suggest to you a football, or a rugby
ball, or perhaps a golf ball. Let’s also suppose you have decided that the
outstanding feature of his face is his red, curly hair. Now, you look at that
hair and picture millions of golf balls springing out of it, and bouncing
around everywhere. Or, picture a football with Mr Ball’s red curly hair growing
out of it – the football is on his shoulders in place of his head.
Remember the rules of
association, and make your mental picture as ludicrous and exaggerated as
possible. If you really see that image clearly in your mind’s eye, you will
know Mr. Ball’s name the next time you meet him.
association, and make your mental picture as ludicrous and exaggerated as
possible. If you really see that image clearly in your mind’s eye, you will
know Mr. Ball’s name the next time you meet him.
Imagine next you meet
a Mr Carrington, who has large ears. Use the Substitute Phrase Carry Ton to
help you picture the name, and associate that picture to those unusually large
ears. Imagine him carrying a ton weight on his head. His head is being
flattened by the weight, pushing his ears out at right angles to his head. This
image is the sort of picture you might see in a ‘Tom and Jerry’ cartoon, and in
fact the ridiculous pictures you see in children’s cartoons are exactly the
sort of zany images you need to create to make the pictures memorable.
a Mr Carrington, who has large ears. Use the Substitute Phrase Carry Ton to
help you picture the name, and associate that picture to those unusually large
ears. Imagine him carrying a ton weight on his head. His head is being
flattened by the weight, pushing his ears out at right angles to his head. This
image is the sort of picture you might see in a ‘Tom and Jerry’ cartoon, and in
fact the ridiculous pictures you see in children’s cartoons are exactly the
sort of zany images you need to create to make the pictures memorable.
Although these
pictures take a little while to describe in text, they can actually be pictured
in your mind in a fraction of a second. Many ‘Memory Man’ stage performers
throughout the world use this system to remember the names of five hundred or
more people in an audience, after hearing the names just once ! This is an
extremely impressive stunt when seen on television or in a theatre, but is
actually based solely on the simple system described above.
pictures take a little while to describe in text, they can actually be pictured
in your mind in a fraction of a second. Many ‘Memory Man’ stage performers
throughout the world use this system to remember the names of five hundred or
more people in an audience, after hearing the names just once ! This is an
extremely impressive stunt when seen on television or in a theatre, but is
actually based solely on the simple system described above.
Of course, you will
need some practice before you can memorise five hundred names in quick
succession, but you can benefit from the system after a very small amount of
practice.
need some practice before you can memorise five hundred names in quick
succession, but you can benefit from the system after a very small amount of
practice.
Try it now, with ten
example names. For the moment, as you’re trying it without real people or
faces, just see the features themselves, and the (ludicrous) associations.
example names. For the moment, as you’re trying it without real people or
faces, just see the features themselves, and the (ludicrous) associations.
First on the list is
Mrs Lambert, who has a long, pointed nose. You might use lamb butt to help you
picture the name Lambert. Picture a lamb jumping up and butting that long
pointed nose. Not a pleasant picture, but you’re sure to remember it.
Mrs Lambert, who has a long, pointed nose. You might use lamb butt to help you
picture the name Lambert. Picture a lamb jumping up and butting that long
pointed nose. Not a pleasant picture, but you’re sure to remember it.
Next is Mr Biggs, who
has a bushy beard. Picture millions of big letter ‘S’s dropping out of the
bushy beard onto the floor, or see that beard gradually uncurling into a big
‘S’ shape. Choose one of those pictures, or one of your own, and reallly see
that image in your mind’s eye.
has a bushy beard. Picture millions of big letter ‘S’s dropping out of the
bushy beard onto the floor, or see that beard gradually uncurling into a big
‘S’ shape. Choose one of those pictures, or one of your own, and reallly see
that image in your mind’s eye.
Third on the list is
Miss Fortescue, who has silver-white hair tied up in a bun. You might see a Fort Askew
(lopsided) on top of that bun of white hair. Remember, the crazier the picure
the better.
Miss Fortescue, who has silver-white hair tied up in a bun. You might see a Fort Askew
(lopsided) on top of that bun of white hair. Remember, the crazier the picure
the better.
Fourth comes Mr
Whitelaw, who has a noticeable gap in his front teeth. Associate Whitelaw
(perhaps white law – a policeman covered from head to toe in white paint) to
that gap in his teeth. You could picture a policeman covered in white paint
trying to crawl out of Mr. Whitelaw’s mouth through the gap in his front teeth.
A ridiculous, illogical picture which is sure to remind you of the outstanding
feature of Mr Whitelaw’s face.
Whitelaw, who has a noticeable gap in his front teeth. Associate Whitelaw
(perhaps white law – a policeman covered from head to toe in white paint) to
that gap in his teeth. You could picture a policeman covered in white paint
trying to crawl out of Mr. Whitelaw’s mouth through the gap in his front teeth.
A ridiculous, illogical picture which is sure to remind you of the outstanding
feature of Mr Whitelaw’s face.
Next on the list is Mr
Pontin, who has a high forehead. Picture that high forehead and see a hand,
with one finger outstretched, shooting out of the forehead and pointing at you.
Make you you see the picture clearly, just for a split second. Miss Webb comes
next, and she has very long blond hair, right down to her waist. Picture that
hair covered in masses of cobwebs, with spiders crawling all over it.
Pontin, who has a high forehead. Picture that high forehead and see a hand,
with one finger outstretched, shooting out of the forehead and pointing at you.
Make you you see the picture clearly, just for a split second. Miss Webb comes
next, and she has very long blond hair, right down to her waist. Picture that
hair covered in masses of cobwebs, with spiders crawling all over it.
Seventh on our list of
fictitious people is Mr Cleese, who has very bushy eyebrows. A good Substitute
Word to help you picture Cleese might be cheese. Picture those bushy eyebrows
covered in cheese, which is melting, and dripping everywhere.
fictitious people is Mr Cleese, who has very bushy eyebrows. A good Substitute
Word to help you picture Cleese might be cheese. Picture those bushy eyebrows
covered in cheese, which is melting, and dripping everywhere.
Next we have Mrs
Green, who has a mole on her right cheek. Picture that mole gradually turning
green. It gets greener and greener, until it is really bright and luminous.
Green, who has a mole on her right cheek. Picture that mole gradually turning
green. It gets greener and greener, until it is really bright and luminous.
Ninth on the list is
Mr Hetherington, who has long ginger sideburns. You might use heather in ton to
help you picture this surname. Visualise tons of heather suddenly sprouting out
of those sideburns, until it covers his face.
Mr Hetherington, who has long ginger sideburns. You might use heather in ton to
help you picture this surname. Visualise tons of heather suddenly sprouting out
of those sideburns, until it covers his face.
Finally comes Mr
Price, whose outstanding facial feature is a large dimple in his chin. Picture
that dimple with millions of price tags stuck to it. If you prefer to use a
crazy picture of your own, then you will probably remember it even more
clearly.
Price, whose outstanding facial feature is a large dimple in his chin. Picture
that dimple with millions of price tags stuck to it. If you prefer to use a
crazy picture of your own, then you will probably remember it even more
clearly.
Memorising Foreing
Words – Tutorial 6
For your first
exercise in applying the Substitute Word system to remembering foreign
vocabulary, you are going to memorise the following Spanish words and their
English translations :
exercise in applying the Substitute Word system to remembering foreign
vocabulary, you are going to memorise the following Spanish words and their
English translations :
Spanish Pronounciation English
------- -------------- -------
marido (mah-ree-dhoa) husband
corbata (kor-bah-tah) tie
barca (bahr-kah) boat
lago (lah-goa) lake
helado (ay-lah-dhoa) ice cream
pluma (ploo-mah) pen
carpeta (kahr-pay-tah) file
bata (bah-tah) dressing gown
resaca (ray-ssah-kah) hangover
maleta (mah-lay-tah) suitcase
Let’s
begin with marido, pronounced mah-ree-dhoa, which means husband. Picture a
husband – a bridegroom – marrying a door. See the bridegroom perhaps standing
at the aisle next to a front door, which is dressed in a wedding gown and veil.
begin with marido, pronounced mah-ree-dhoa, which means husband. Picture a
husband – a bridegroom – marrying a door. See the bridegroom perhaps standing
at the aisle next to a front door, which is dressed in a wedding gown and veil.
Corbata,
pronounced kor-bah-tah, is Spanish for tie. A good Substitute Word might be
Core Batter – an apple core batting in a cricket match. Picture that apple core
taking guard at the wicket on a cricket field – it is wearing a huge, horribly
spotted tie.
pronounced kor-bah-tah, is Spanish for tie. A good Substitute Word might be
Core Batter – an apple core batting in a cricket match. Picture that apple core
taking guard at the wicket on a cricket field – it is wearing a huge, horribly
spotted tie.
As
with all the Memory Master systems, if you prefer to use your own silly
pictures rather than the ones suggested here, then so much the better. Remember
that suggesting the pictures to you does take away some of your Initial
Awareness.
with all the Memory Master systems, if you prefer to use your own silly
pictures rather than the ones suggested here, then so much the better. Remember
that suggesting the pictures to you does take away some of your Initial
Awareness.
The
next word is barca, pronounced bahr-kah, which means boat. Picture a boat which
is barking – see the hull of the boat opening and shutting, like a dog’s mouth,
as it cruises down a river.
next word is barca, pronounced bahr-kah, which means boat. Picture a boat which
is barking – see the hull of the boat opening and shutting, like a dog’s mouth,
as it cruises down a river.
The
Spanish word for lake is lago, pronounced lah-goa. See yourself swimming in a
lake of lager. As you swim, you swallow some of the lake (lager), and begin
hiccoughing comically. The fifth word to memorise is helado, which means ice
cream. It is pronounced ay-lah-dhoa. For helado you could use the Substitute
Phrase hail-a-door, which you then associate to ice cream. Perhaps you are
standing at a taxi rank eating a monstrous ice cream, when some doors drive
past instead of taxis. You hail a door instead of hailing a taxi.
Spanish word for lake is lago, pronounced lah-goa. See yourself swimming in a
lake of lager. As you swim, you swallow some of the lake (lager), and begin
hiccoughing comically. The fifth word to memorise is helado, which means ice
cream. It is pronounced ay-lah-dhoa. For helado you could use the Substitute
Phrase hail-a-door, which you then associate to ice cream. Perhaps you are
standing at a taxi rank eating a monstrous ice cream, when some doors drive
past instead of taxis. You hail a door instead of hailing a taxi.
Next
comes pluma (ploo-mah), the Spanish for pen. Picture yourself writing with a
huge plume (a feather) instead of a pen. To make the image humorous, you could
perhaps see the plume tickling your nose and making you sneeze as you try to
write.
comes pluma (ploo-mah), the Spanish for pen. Picture yourself writing with a
huge plume (a feather) instead of a pen. To make the image humorous, you could
perhaps see the plume tickling your nose and making you sneeze as you try to
write.
Carpeta
(kahr-pay-tah) is next, which means file. This is an easy one – see yourself
walking on a carpet of files.
(kahr-pay-tah) is next, which means file. This is an easy one – see yourself
walking on a carpet of files.
The
Spanish word for dressing gown is bata (bah-tah). See yourself wearing a dressing
gown – the pockets are full of batter, which overflows disgustingly onto the
carpet as you put your hand into the pockets.
Spanish word for dressing gown is bata (bah-tah). See yourself wearing a dressing
gown – the pockets are full of batter, which overflows disgustingly onto the
carpet as you put your hand into the pockets.
Next
comes the Spanish for hangover – resaca (ray-ssah-cah). Picture yourself with a
terrible, blinding hangover, after consuming too much sangria. To make matters
worse, you are lying under a car, which is almost flattening you. In order to
escape, you have to raise-a-car.
comes the Spanish for hangover – resaca (ray-ssah-cah). Picture yourself with a
terrible, blinding hangover, after consuming too much sangria. To make matters
worse, you are lying under a car, which is almost flattening you. In order to
escape, you have to raise-a-car.
The
final Spanish word to memorise is maleta, pronounced mah-lay-tah. A possible
Substitute Phrase here would be ma-lay-tar – an elderly woman – ma – who is
laying tar. You then need to associate that phrase to suitcase. You could
perhaps picture ma laying the tar by pouring it out of your suitcase.
final Spanish word to memorise is maleta, pronounced mah-lay-tah. A possible
Substitute Phrase here would be ma-lay-tar – an elderly woman – ma – who is
laying tar. You then need to associate that phrase to suitcase. You could
perhaps picture ma laying the tar by pouring it out of your suitcase.
In
all the above examples, the Substitute Words and Phrases suggested have been
based on the pronounciations of the Spanish words rather than the actual
spelling. Remember that if you were seriously trying to learn a specific
foreign language you would be aware of the basic sounds and letters of that
language.
all the above examples, the Substitute Words and Phrases suggested have been
based on the pronounciations of the Spanish words rather than the actual
spelling. Remember that if you were seriously trying to learn a specific
foreign language you would be aware of the basic sounds and letters of that
language.
If
you read through the preceding text without really concentrating on seeing the
suggested pictures,or pictures you thought of yourself, then go back and do it
right now. Once you have really tried to visualise the ludicrous pictures, you
will know all ten Spanish words and their English equivalents.
you read through the preceding text without really concentrating on seeing the
suggested pictures,or pictures you thought of yourself, then go back and do it
right now. Once you have really tried to visualise the ludicrous pictures, you
will know all ten Spanish words and their English equivalents.
Press
Page Down when you are ready to test yourself on the ten Spanish words and
their English translations.
Page Down when you are ready to test yourself on the ten Spanish words and
their English translations.
Memorising Foreign
Phrases – Tutorial 7
You’ve now had some
practice at memorising foreign words using the Substitute Word system. The
system is equally applicable to foreign phrases – after all, phrases are simply
groups of words.
practice at memorising foreign words using the Substitute Word system. The
system is equally applicable to foreign phrases – after all, phrases are simply
groups of words.
The French phrase
‘quelle heure est-il’ means ‘what time is it’. Picture Associate ‘kill hare at
heel’ to ‘what time is it’ and you will have memorised the phrase. You might
picture yourself asking a French man the time – as you ask him the question, he
is trying to kill a hare at his heel, which is biting him.
‘quelle heure est-il’ means ‘what time is it’. Picture Associate ‘kill hare at
heel’ to ‘what time is it’ and you will have memorised the phrase. You might
picture yourself asking a French man the time – as you ask him the question, he
is trying to kill a hare at his heel, which is biting him.
Not a pleasant picture
- but, as mentioned as before, the more vivid the picture, the more likely it
is to stick in your mind.
- but, as mentioned as before, the more vivid the picture, the more likely it
is to stick in your mind.
The French phrase for
‘how much’ is ‘combien’. A possible Substitute Phrase to use here might be comb
bean. Picture yourself asking a shopkeeper how much a particular item is – as
you ask them the question, you are combing a bean. Make the image as
exaggerated and silly as you can. If you picture that ridiculous image clearly
in your mind’s eye for literally just an instant then you will have remembered
that phrase. Many people, when visiting a foreign country, go armed with a
phrase book which gives dozens of useful phrases in that country’s language.
This is fine, but when you arrive in the country you often find yourself
frantically searching through the book for the right phrase whenever you need
to make yourself understood. Unfortunately, the phrase books never give you any
hints on how to remember all those really useful phrases in the book.
‘how much’ is ‘combien’. A possible Substitute Phrase to use here might be comb
bean. Picture yourself asking a shopkeeper how much a particular item is – as
you ask them the question, you are combing a bean. Make the image as
exaggerated and silly as you can. If you picture that ridiculous image clearly
in your mind’s eye for literally just an instant then you will have remembered
that phrase. Many people, when visiting a foreign country, go armed with a
phrase book which gives dozens of useful phrases in that country’s language.
This is fine, but when you arrive in the country you often find yourself
frantically searching through the book for the right phrase whenever you need
to make yourself understood. Unfortunately, the phrase books never give you any
hints on how to remember all those really useful phrases in the book.
However, a few hours
spent applying the Substitute Word system to memorising the most useful phrases
in the book could help you enormously in making yourself understood. Those few
hours could even be spent on your journey – on an aeroplane, or boat, or bus,
or whatever.
spent applying the Substitute Word system to memorising the most useful phrases
in the book could help you enormously in making yourself understood. Those few
hours could even be spent on your journey – on an aeroplane, or boat, or bus,
or whatever.
Of course, it will
take a little more time to apply the Substitute Word system to a phrase than to
a single word. But, once you can picture that ridiculous picture clearly in
your mind, you will have memorised the phrase. And, bear in mind how difficult
it is for most people to memorise phrase from a book without a system -
repeating the phrase over and over, hoping that they will ‘stick’ in the
memory. Try the Substitute Word system on the following French phrases :
take a little more time to apply the Substitute Word system to a phrase than to
a single word. But, once you can picture that ridiculous picture clearly in
your mind, you will have memorised the phrase. And, bear in mind how difficult
it is for most people to memorise phrase from a book without a system -
repeating the phrase over and over, hoping that they will ‘stick’ in the
memory. Try the Substitute Word system on the following French phrases :
French Pronounciation English
------ -------------- -------
quelle heure est-il kehl uhr eh-teel what time is it
combien kohng-byang how much
le voici luh vwah-see' here it is
faites-le plein feht luh plang fill the tank
qui-est-il kee-eh-teel who is he
je desire zhuh day-zeer I want
comment allez-vous koh-mahn'tah-lay-voo how do you do
quelle ville est-ce kehl veel ehs what town is this
ou est le quai oo ay'luh kay where is the platform
il faut que je parte eel foh'kuh zhuh pahrt' I have to leave
You
have already been given Substitute Phrases for the first two examples. Try and
form your own Substitute Words or Phrases for the remaining phrases – remember
that giving you suggestions for the phrases removes much of your Initial
Awareness and concentration. You are much better off inventing your own
Substitute Phrases and crazy mental images. Press Page Down when you are ready
to test yourself on the above phrases.
have already been given Substitute Phrases for the first two examples. Try and
form your own Substitute Words or Phrases for the remaining phrases – remember
that giving you suggestions for the phrases removes much of your Initial
Awareness and concentration. You are much better off inventing your own
Substitute Phrases and crazy mental images. Press Page Down when you are ready
to test yourself on the above phrases.
The Phonetic Alphabet
- Tutorial 8
The Phonetic Alphabet
is based on the simple concept that there are ten digits in our numerical
system, and also ten basic consonant phonetic sounds.
is based on the simple concept that there are ten digits in our numerical
system, and also ten basic consonant phonetic sounds.
For example, think of
the letters ‘p’ and ‘b’. When you pronounce the letter ‘p’ your lips and tongue
are in the same position as when you say the letter ‘b’. For the purposes of
the Phonetic Alphabet, these letters can be classified as one phonetic sound.
the letters ‘p’ and ‘b’. When you pronounce the letter ‘p’ your lips and tongue
are in the same position as when you say the letter ‘b’. For the purposes of
the Phonetic Alphabet, these letters can be classified as one phonetic sound.
Similarly, think of
the letter ‘m’. When you pronounce ‘m’ you have your lips together, as if you
are going to hum a tune. No other letter in the alphabet requires your lips,
tongue, and teeth to be in that position for pronounciation, so the letter ‘m’
can be classified as a phonetic sound on its own.
the letter ‘m’. When you pronounce ‘m’ you have your lips together, as if you
are going to hum a tune. No other letter in the alphabet requires your lips,
tongue, and teeth to be in that position for pronounciation, so the letter ‘m’
can be classified as a phonetic sound on its own.
There are ten groups
of basic phonetic sounds, and each group is paired against one of the ten
digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0. The following table illustrates the groupings,
together with some simple memory aids to help you remember them.
of basic phonetic sounds, and each group is paired against one of the ten
digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0. The following table illustrates the groupings,
together with some simple memory aids to help you remember them.
1 = t or d
(the letter t has one downstroke)
2 = n
(the letter n has two downstrokes)
3 = m
(the letter m has three downstrokes)
4 = r
(the word 'four' ends in the letter r)
5 = l
(the Roman numeral for 50 is l)
6 = j,sh,ch,or soft g
(j is almost like a 6 the other way round)
7 = k,hard c or hard g
(the letter k contains two 7's, back to back)
8 = f,v,ph
(a handwritten 'f' and 8 both have two loops)
9 = p,b
(the letter p is the mirror image of 9)
0 = s, z, or soft c
(the word 'zero' begins with the letter z)
Vowels
have no value in the phonetic alphabet and are disregarded, as are all the
consonants not listed. They are used simply as ‘fillers’ when transposing
numbers to words. For example, the number 32 translates to the letters ‘m’ and
‘n’. Using the filler vowel ‘a’ gives us the word ‘man’, which immediately
transposes back to the number 32. Study the above table carefully, right now,
and memorise the rules. When you think you know the rules, press Page Down to
test yourself on how thoroughly you have learned them.
have no value in the phonetic alphabet and are disregarded, as are all the
consonants not listed. They are used simply as ‘fillers’ when transposing
numbers to words. For example, the number 32 translates to the letters ‘m’ and
‘n’. Using the filler vowel ‘a’ gives us the word ‘man’, which immediately
transposes back to the number 32. Study the above table carefully, right now,
and memorise the rules. When you think you know the rules, press Page Down to
test yourself on how thoroughly you have learned them.
Transposing
Numbers to Words and Phrases – Tutorial 9
Numbers to Words and Phrases – Tutorial 9
Having learned how to
translate digits into letters, the next step is learning how to transpose
numbers into words and phrases. Once you have transposed a number into a word
or phrase, it can easily be memorised using the principle of Association of
Ideas.
translate digits into letters, the next step is learning how to transpose
numbers into words and phrases. Once you have transposed a number into a word
or phrase, it can easily be memorised using the principle of Association of
Ideas.
For example, take the
number 9520. Let’s imagine that it is your P.I.N. (Personal Identification
Number) for a Cash Point card which you have been issued by your bank or
building society. You need to remember the number but, for obvious security
reasons, you don’t wish to keep a written record of it.
number 9520. Let’s imagine that it is your P.I.N. (Personal Identification
Number) for a Cash Point card which you have been issued by your bank or
building society. You need to remember the number but, for obvious security
reasons, you don’t wish to keep a written record of it.
In order to transpose
9520 into a word, you simply transpose the digits to letters one by one, then
join those consonant sounds together using any suitable vowels. The consonant
phonetic sounds in the number 9520 translate as follows :
9520 into a word, you simply transpose the digits to letters one by one, then
join those consonant sounds together using any suitable vowels. The consonant
phonetic sounds in the number 9520 translate as follows :
9 transposes to p or b
5 transposes to l
2 transposes to n
0 transposes to s, z, or soft c
This gives us several possible words
which can be formed from these letters,
using any 'filler' vowels you choose.
Some examples are :
balloons (b-a-ll-oo-n-s)
9 5 2 0
(double letters count as one sound
except where they make two sounds)
pylons (p-y-l-o-n-s)
9 5 2 0
balance (b-a-l-a-n-ce)
9 5 2 0
To
remember the number 9520, you simply choose one of these words, and memorise
it. Let’s say you choose ballons. Once you have memorised it, the word
‘balloons’ must lead you back to the number 9520 – simply remove the vowels and
transpose the consonant sounds one at a time.
remember the number 9520, you simply choose one of these words, and memorise
it. Let’s say you choose ballons. Once you have memorised it, the word
‘balloons’ must lead you back to the number 9520 – simply remove the vowels and
transpose the consonant sounds one at a time.
But
how do you connect the word ‘balloons’ to your PIN number ? Easy – you simply
form a mental association between balloons and your Cash Point card, or between
ballons and the cash dispensing machine. For example, picture yourself
inserting your card into a cash dispensing machine, and billions of balloons
fly out of the machine and hit you in the face. Once you have made that
ludicrous association you will not forget it – and once you remember ‘balloons’
it must lead you back to your PIN number – 9520. If you have a Cash Point card,
or any type of card with a P.I.N, try it now, with your own number. Form a word
from the number, then associate it to your card or cash dispensing machine.
Remember to make the association as ridiculous as possible. Do that right now,
before reading any further.
how do you connect the word ‘balloons’ to your PIN number ? Easy – you simply
form a mental association between balloons and your Cash Point card, or between
ballons and the cash dispensing machine. For example, picture yourself
inserting your card into a cash dispensing machine, and billions of balloons
fly out of the machine and hit you in the face. Once you have made that
ludicrous association you will not forget it – and once you remember ‘balloons’
it must lead you back to your PIN number – 9520. If you have a Cash Point card,
or any type of card with a P.I.N, try it now, with your own number. Form a word
from the number, then associate it to your card or cash dispensing machine.
Remember to make the association as ridiculous as possible. Do that right now,
before reading any further.
Let’s
take another example, this time a telephone number. Imagine you have a friend
called Fred, and that you are constantly forgetting his telephone number, which
is 941680. This number is a bit too long to easily transpose into one word, so
we need two words, or a phrase.
take another example, this time a telephone number. Imagine you have a friend
called Fred, and that you are constantly forgetting his telephone number, which
is 941680. This number is a bit too long to easily transpose into one word, so
we need two words, or a phrase.
Some
examples of words which can be formed from 941680 are :
examples of words which can be formed from 941680 are :
parrot jives (p-a-rr-o-t j-i-v-e-s)
9 4 1 6 8 0
bread shoves (b-r-ea-d sh-o-v-e-s)
9 4 1 6 8 0
pirate shaves (p-i-r-a-t-e sh-a-v-e-s)
9 4 1 6 8 0
To
remember Fred’s telephone, simply associate one of these to a picture of Fred
using the telephone. For example, Fred is talking on the telephone while a
parrot jives on top of his head. Or Fred is talking on the telephone and he has
a huge pile of bread which he shoves down the telephone receiver as he speaks
into it. Whenever you think of Fred using the telephone you would then be
reminded of, say , ‘parrot jives’ , which must lead you back to his telephone
number – 941680.
remember Fred’s telephone, simply associate one of these to a picture of Fred
using the telephone. For example, Fred is talking on the telephone while a
parrot jives on top of his head. Or Fred is talking on the telephone and he has
a huge pile of bread which he shoves down the telephone receiver as he speaks
into it. Whenever you think of Fred using the telephone you would then be
reminded of, say , ‘parrot jives’ , which must lead you back to his telephone
number – 941680.
Before
proceeding, try the system now, with the telephone numbers of three or four of
your friends.
proceeding, try the system now, with the telephone numbers of three or four of
your friends.
There
are two main pitfalls to avoid when learning how to apply the Phonetic Alphabet
- transposing according to letter rather than sounds, and counting a double
letter as two sounds instead of one. Always remember that it is the sounds that
count, not the actual spelling.
are two main pitfalls to avoid when learning how to apply the Phonetic Alphabet
- transposing according to letter rather than sounds, and counting a double
letter as two sounds instead of one. Always remember that it is the sounds that
count, not the actual spelling.
For
example, the letter s in the word television transposes to 6, not zero – the
‘s’ makes a soft ‘sh’ sound. Similarly, the letter ‘t’ in the word audition
transposes to 6, not 1.
example, the letter s in the word television transposes to 6, not zero – the
‘s’ makes a soft ‘sh’ sound. Similarly, the letter ‘t’ in the word audition
transposes to 6, not 1.
The
double letter ‘t’ in the word ‘matter’ transposes to 1, not 11. However, a
double letter can sometimes make two sounds, in which case both sounds count.
For example the double ‘c’ in the word ‘accident’ would transpose to 70,
because the sound produced is ‘ks’, as in ‘axe’.
double letter ‘t’ in the word ‘matter’ transposes to 1, not 11. However, a
double letter can sometimes make two sounds, in which case both sounds count.
For example the double ‘c’ in the word ‘accident’ would transpose to 70,
because the sound produced is ‘ks’, as in ‘axe’.
Finally,
note that silent letters do not count phonetically, because they make no sound.
So the word ‘knight’ would transpose to 21, not 721 – the silent ‘k’ is not
counted.
note that silent letters do not count phonetically, because they make no sound.
So the word ‘knight’ would transpose to 21, not 721 – the silent ‘k’ is not
counted.
In
Tutorial 10 you will be shown how to transpose long numbers into several words
and then link those words together using the Link memory system.
Tutorial 10 you will be shown how to transpose long numbers into several words
and then link those words together using the Link memory system.
But
first you will need some practice at transposing words to numbers. Press Page
Down to test yourself.
first you will need some practice at transposing words to numbers. Press Page
Down to test yourself.
Remembering Very Long Numbers – Tutorial 10
Having worked through
Tutorials 8 and 9, you should now feel confident with transposing any number
into a word or phrase. By combining this knowledge with the Link System which
you have already learned, you can easily memorise numbers with 15, 20, 50 or
even 100 digits.
Tutorials 8 and 9, you should now feel confident with transposing any number
into a word or phrase. By combining this knowledge with the Link System which
you have already learned, you can easily memorise numbers with 15, 20, 50 or
even 100 digits.
Of course, it’s
unlikely that you’ll ever need to remember a number with 15 or more digits. But
it’s an impressive memory feat, and anyone who can easily remember, say,
174120526400647 is unlikely to forget a telephone number or a bank account
number.
unlikely that you’ll ever need to remember a number with 15 or more digits. But
it’s an impressive memory feat, and anyone who can easily remember, say,
174120526400647 is unlikely to forget a telephone number or a bank account
number.
Let’s take that number
174120526400647. In order to memorise it there are three steps involved :
174120526400647. In order to memorise it there are three steps involved :
- Divide the number up into several smaller groups of
digits - Transpose each group of digits into a word or phrase
- Apply the Link System to each of those words or
phrases
For example,
174120526400647 could conveniently be divided into 5 groups of 3 digits – 174
120 526 400 647. Next we need to transpose each of those groups into a word or
phrase.
174120526400647 could conveniently be divided into 5 groups of 3 digits – 174
120 526 400 647. Next we need to transpose each of those groups into a word or
phrase.
Take the first group,
174. There are several words which would fit these digits – tiger, dagger,
digger, ticker, docker are a few examples. When you are trying to transpose
digits into words for yourself, the first one you think of is usually best for
you.
174. There are several words which would fit these digits – tiger, dagger,
digger, ticker, docker are a few examples. When you are trying to transpose
digits into words for yourself, the first one you think of is usually best for
you.
Now move on to the
next three digits. What fits 120 phonetically ? tennis, tons, tens, dons,
dennis… – try to think of some yourself.
next three digits. What fits 120 phonetically ? tennis, tons, tens, dons,
dennis… – try to think of some yourself.
Having decided on
words for the first two groups, you can start forming a link. Let’s say you
choose tiger and dennis. Now make a ludicrous association between the two – for
example, picture a tiger playing tennis in the Wimbledon
final. Be sure to see that picture clearly in your mind’s eye.
words for the first two groups, you can start forming a link. Let’s say you
choose tiger and dennis. Now make a ludicrous association between the two – for
example, picture a tiger playing tennis in the Wimbledon
final. Be sure to see that picture clearly in your mind’s eye.
The next group is 526.
Lunch, launch, lunge, lounge would all fit phonetically. Now continue the Link
- visualise yourself trying to eat your lunch with a tennis racket, or make up
a ridiculous picture of your own.
Lunch, launch, lunge, lounge would all fit phonetically. Now continue the Link
- visualise yourself trying to eat your lunch with a tennis racket, or make up
a ridiculous picture of your own.
Next comes 400. Roses,
raises, rouses or ruses would fit this group. Associate lunch to roses -
picture yourself eating lunch, when dozens of roses on long green stems
suddenly begin growing out of the table. Finally, think of a word to fit 647.
Shark, jerk, or shirk would do the job. Now complete your link by associating
roses to shark – see a shark trying to swim through a bed of roses instead of
in the sea, or any other bizarre picture which comes to mind.
raises, rouses or ruses would fit this group. Associate lunch to roses -
picture yourself eating lunch, when dozens of roses on long green stems
suddenly begin growing out of the table. Finally, think of a word to fit 647.
Shark, jerk, or shirk would do the job. Now complete your link by associating
roses to shark – see a shark trying to swim through a bed of roses instead of
in the sea, or any other bizarre picture which comes to mind.
You now have a short
Link of 5 words. Go over that link in your mind right now. Tiger is associated
to … tennis, which reminds you of … lunch, which is associated to …
roses, which reminds you of shark.
Link of 5 words. Go over that link in your mind right now. Tiger is associated
to … tennis, which reminds you of … lunch, which is associated to …
roses, which reminds you of shark.
If you know that
simple Link, then you also know 174120526400647. Just think of each word in the
Link, and transpose it back to digits. The word ‘tiger’ MUST transpose to 174 -
if you apply the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet, there can be no ambiguity in
transposing words back to digits.
simple Link, then you also know 174120526400647. Just think of each word in the
Link, and transpose it back to digits. The word ‘tiger’ MUST transpose to 174 -
if you apply the rules of the Phonetic Alphabet, there can be no ambiguity in
transposing words back to digits.
Similarly, ‘tennis,
MUST break down to 120, ‘lunch’ must give us 526, ‘roses’ can only be 400, and
‘shark’ must transpose to 647.
MUST break down to 120, ‘lunch’ must give us 526, ‘roses’ can only be 400, and
‘shark’ must transpose to 647.
If you have any
problems in transposing sounds to numbers then you haven’t learned the Phonetic
Alphabet rules properly. Go back to Tutorials 5 and 6 and work through them
thoroughly – the Phonetic Alphabet should become second nature to you.
problems in transposing sounds to numbers then you haven’t learned the Phonetic
Alphabet rules properly. Go back to Tutorials 5 and 6 and work through them
thoroughly – the Phonetic Alphabet should become second nature to you.
Of course, if you
remember 174120525400647 forwards, then you also know it backwards. Taking each
word in your Link backwards, shark, roses, lunch, tennis, and tiger must give
you 746004625021471.
remember 174120525400647 forwards, then you also know it backwards. Taking each
word in your Link backwards, shark, roses, lunch, tennis, and tiger must give
you 746004625021471.
Easy, isn’t it ? By
combining the simple rules of the Phonetic Alphabet with the equally simple
Link System, you have the means of memorising any long digit number, forwards
and backwards.
combining the simple rules of the Phonetic Alphabet with the equally simple
Link System, you have the means of memorising any long digit number, forwards
and backwards.
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