What if the key to memorization is... memorization?
Yes, it's yet another Renshaw post. I haven't gotten around to doing a full 52-card pack, but I've discovered that by simply stating the number in the sequence and the name of the card, I can learn half a deck (26 cards) in ten to fifteen minutes. It seems to stick in my head as a sort of poem. The first two or three times, I may even fail to remember the first card as I start the next run through. But by the fifth or sixth time through I know half the cards and by the tenth time, I'm mostly calling cards before I lay them down.
I've been working through language flashcards in a similar manner: I read the English silently, pronounce the word out loud twice and move on to the next. I just keep going through the items until I'm coming up with answers before I check. In a way, it lines up with Charles Berlitz' assertion that you need to see/hear/use a word however many times before it sticks. Having a deck and flipping through it is a quick way to get those exposures.
The most important thing I've noticed with both the deck of cards and the flash cards is the importance of relaxing and not worrying about whether you're actually doing anything. I've found that when I try to memorize, try to notice a pattern, try to remember a sequence... try to do just about anything... it takes longer. The key is to keep going through your items while giving an answer if you know it and checking the answer if you don't - until you've got it. By having 20+ cards or 20+ language items, you've got enough space between reviews that your brain has to have picked up the information for you to have it.
One thing Renshaw mentioned, contrary to a lot of memory people, is that mnemonics can actually mess you up. They make you spend time processing rather than just having the answer. If a mnemonic helps and comes naturally, I suppose there's nothing wrong with using it because it will fall away when your memory is sure. But there could be a danger in trying to come up with a mnemonic for every item you're learning - you'll have too many associations and will get them confused if they're too forced. At least this has been my experience since I started playing with this.
They used to say that people really only used ten percent of the brain, and imagine what you could do if you could use the whole thing. I believe that's been shown to be a canard. That said, most people have the potential to learn or do more than they realize if they let go of preconceptions of their limitations and just do it. Indeed, some have suggested that memory programs work less because of their science than because they make people focus on the power of the device instead of their own, self-imposed limitations. (See this from Victoria on the importance of believing you can.) Either way, if it works, it works.
So, if you want to ramp up your vocabulary, or want to get comfortable with something like a sentence pattern that you can't quite get the hang of, when all else fails try brute force: keep working through the wordlists or running through the sample sentences until you know them so well that they bore you to tears. You'll find you reach this point sooner than you'd ever expect, just so long as you relax about knowing and just keep working through to you realize you do.
I've been working through language flashcards in a similar manner: I read the English silently, pronounce the word out loud twice and move on to the next. I just keep going through the items until I'm coming up with answers before I check. In a way, it lines up with Charles Berlitz' assertion that you need to see/hear/use a word however many times before it sticks. Having a deck and flipping through it is a quick way to get those exposures.
The most important thing I've noticed with both the deck of cards and the flash cards is the importance of relaxing and not worrying about whether you're actually doing anything. I've found that when I try to memorize, try to notice a pattern, try to remember a sequence... try to do just about anything... it takes longer. The key is to keep going through your items while giving an answer if you know it and checking the answer if you don't - until you've got it. By having 20+ cards or 20+ language items, you've got enough space between reviews that your brain has to have picked up the information for you to have it.
One thing Renshaw mentioned, contrary to a lot of memory people, is that mnemonics can actually mess you up. They make you spend time processing rather than just having the answer. If a mnemonic helps and comes naturally, I suppose there's nothing wrong with using it because it will fall away when your memory is sure. But there could be a danger in trying to come up with a mnemonic for every item you're learning - you'll have too many associations and will get them confused if they're too forced. At least this has been my experience since I started playing with this.
They used to say that people really only used ten percent of the brain, and imagine what you could do if you could use the whole thing. I believe that's been shown to be a canard. That said, most people have the potential to learn or do more than they realize if they let go of preconceptions of their limitations and just do it. Indeed, some have suggested that memory programs work less because of their science than because they make people focus on the power of the device instead of their own, self-imposed limitations. (See this from Victoria on the importance of believing you can.) Either way, if it works, it works.
So, if you want to ramp up your vocabulary, or want to get comfortable with something like a sentence pattern that you can't quite get the hang of, when all else fails try brute force: keep working through the wordlists or running through the sample sentences until you know them so well that they bore you to tears. You'll find you reach this point sooner than you'd ever expect, just so long as you relax about knowing and just keep working through to you realize you do.
2 Comments:
So I assume you say no to SRS systems? I know this brute force learning, and I applied it in high school. So when I had a French vocab test I drilled all words in my head, creating some kind of mental path (like you do). But in the end, do I speak French? NOT A SINGLE WORD! I'm skeptical if this works for true language fluency (apart from the fact you're learning single words, which is bad in my [humble] opinion).
Ramses,
I think SRS is great. Ditto for Michel Thomas, Pimsleur, LingQ. Even Learn in Your Car has its place. -For different learners at different times. Some programs are better than others, but if there's enough exposure to comprehensible input coupled with enough supports for expanding the range of what's comprehensible, you're going to wind up learning something... if you stick with it. I think the central problem of language learning is sticking with it. So a lot of the tips I post are not end-all, be-all solutions to learning; they're things to try when you're stuck.
I think the neat thing about the card trick and extending it to other memorization is that if you're down on yourself about not making enough progress, it can show you that you have untapped potential. Of course this is, as the post-title indicates, memorization. You still have to do something with the memorized items, whether it be exercises in a book, working through a newspaper article or what have you, in order to go from memorizing stuff to learning language.
Perhaps a post on what to do with those memorized words or phrases (and I prefer phrases, sharing your distaste for learning single words out of context) is in order.
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