Newsletter No. 6
IN THIS ISSUE WAYS TO HELP YOUR
MEMORY
PROF. M. D. MUCI
Strategies for memory PROF. CHIURTU GEORGETA
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY AGATA WALTER
Mnemonics – tricks to remember
Umberto Eco's Strategies for memory
Memory is an invaluable tool in our mind, but if we do not exercise it we risk losing it, with serious damage for our brain. In a letter to his grandson, Umberto Eco, one of the most important modern Italian writer, writes:
"I would like to talk to you about a disease that affects your generation and even that of boys older than you, who may already go to university: the loss of memory. It is true that if you get the desire to know who Charlemagne was or where Kuala Lumpur is, you have only to press a few buttons and the Internet tells you right away the information you need, Â but the risk is that because you think your computer can
tell  you everything at every moment, you lose the taste of storing in your head. (...)"
 "The memory is a muscle like those of the legs, you have to practice it otherwise it withers away and you become (from the mental point of view) a disabled, that is (Let's speak clearly) an idiot ".
Umberto Eco recommends his grandchild to learn the verses by heart, perhaps by competing among the companions, he recommends to learn the teams of players or making memory competitions on other topics.
Our brains, in fact, improves through exercise and over time it becomes more and more powerful; on the contrary PC, which also are called electronic 'brains', gradually grow old and they must be changed. The human brain has more connections than a computer and it is strengthened and perfected a lot with the exercise of memory. So, dear students, let’s devote our time to learn the poems by heart.
If we are children we learn nursery rhymes, we play with rhymes, with tongue twisters and we take care of our memory! If we are older, we learn the poems of the classics and the great authors, because they were the masters in rhymes, in the sound construction of the verses and in the construction of the beautiful images of which our brain is filled and nourished to develop imagination, ability of imagination and abstraction.
The crocodile, with cunning smile, sat in the dentist’s chair. He said, “Right here and everywhere my teeth require repair.” The dentist’s face was turning white. He quivered, quaked and shook. He muttered, “I suppose I’m going to have to take a look.” Let’s seek the sounds in poetry, the images in the verses, and let them help us to remember the verses by heart. It 'a fantastic exercise, our challenge! Let’s cultivate our memory then, and tomorrow we will memorize "The Dentist and the Crocodile".
HOW HOW TO TO IMPROVE IMPROVE YOUR YOUR MEMORY MEMORY How many days has April ? To answer this question, an Englishman would start singing ”Thirty days hath September”. You, instead, would look at your fist and start counting your knuckles. The two examples represent mnemonics that help you remember complicated information by associating an image with information. Mnemonic techniques aim encoding information in a manner that will be easier to remember for the brain. They can be easily used in daily life.
As researches show, it turns out that humans remember: 5% of what they learn from a lecture (i.e. university/college lectures) 10% of what they learn when they’ve learned from reading (i.e. books, articles) 20% of what they learn from audio-visual (i.e. apps, videos) 30% of what they learn when they see a demonstration 50% of what they learn when they see a demonstration of what they learn when they practice what they learned
75% 90% of what they learn when they use immediately (or teach others). Powyższy schemat nie jest jednak doskonały, bo metodę uczenia należy dostosować do uczącego się oraz do materiału. Pływania najlepiej uczy się w basenie, ale osiągnięcie mistrzostwa w szachach bardziej wspomaga analizowanie partii mistrzów niż samodzielne granie.
2. Create links
This technique is useful when you have to memorize a list. Take each object and connect it with the previous object in a memorable manner. Thus, the unusual story that will emerge will be difficult to forget. 3. Mind maps
Thay consist of a central word or concept. Around this central word or concept you draw the 4 to 10 main ideas that relate to that word. Mind Maps are very useful in memorizing complex information. They help in establishing logical connections between different types of information and in determining the most important issues.
4. Localization
Localization technique helps you to remember information, making a connection between the object or event that you have to memorize and the elements of a route.
5. Do something out of the ordinary There are some things so small, that we often give little importance and forget them. Perhaps the best example lies in the gesture of closing the door. How many times has it happened to think or even think back to check if you closed the door?
Build a ritual, the more unusual the better. Every time you close the door revolve once. Subsequently, if you will come thinking "Did I close the door?", You will remember the pirouette that you did.
So to improve your memory you can: • replace the information with known images or objects; • create links ; • appeal to mind maps; • locate; • do something out of the ordinary. EXERCISE Try to memorize the 5 methods above using one of them.
There are many methods and techniques that promise to improve your memory. Before trying any of these methods, it is important to know what type of memory you have. In this way, you easily choose the most effective for you.
TYPES OF MEMORY
visual
auditory
those with visual memory learn better by reading, images
those with auditory memoryprefer to hear information
kinesthetic
those with kinesthetic memory learn through practice
auditory digital
auditory-digital m. occurs at those who assimilate information using their inner voice
Analyze your learning habits and see what kind of memory is predominant. Do not neglect the other types ! And choose the method that suits you best.
FIVE TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE MEMORY There are many methods used to improve memory. Here are just some of them: 1. Replace with known images or objects
The brain does not accept information that does not know. From a certain age, anything that we come in contact with we try to associate it with something that is already familiar.
Mnemonics – tricks to remember Mnemonics are memory strategies that make remembering information easier. By using them we can increase our ability to recall new informations. They are very useful if you need to learn something in a particular order, such as names, lists, or numbers. Mnemonics should clearly be associated to the concept being remembered.
Let’s see some common Mnemonics!
Music Mnemonics
How many lyrics to songs do you remember? How did you come to remember them? Why can’t we use this method at school? Music can help students recall important details to main ideas and many learners have made songs out of information when a list of items must be learned.
You can make a song or jingle using any type of music you choose for any list of items. Music Mnemonics work best with long lists. For example, some children learn the alphabet by singing the "ABC" song.
Rhyme Mnemonics Rhyme Mnemonic puts information in the form of a poem. For example:
„In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”
Acronims Acronims are created from the first letter of each item to be remembered. A well-known acronym is Roy G. Biv which helps remember the colours of the spectrum. That’s Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. PEN is useful to remember parts of an atom: Proton, Electron, Neutron.
Acrostics That’s a complete sentence or series of words in which the first letter of each word stands for something to be remembered. Examples: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos we can learn the names of planets in the solar system in order from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Passing Exams Maybe Difficult At Schools, helps to recall an order of operations in algebra: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subctration.
The PEG system If we have to remeber numbers we can use the PEG system. It is based on image of keywords which are represented by rhymes with numbers, for example: 1 bun 2 shoe 3 tree 4 door 5 drive 6 sticks 7 heaven 8 gate 9 vine 10 hen
To remember the speed of light is 186.000 thousand miles per second, imagine 1 bun, walking trough a gate 8, made of sticks 6. You can also creat a list of numbers that with the form are similar to something, f. ex. 1- candle , 2 – swan, 3 – clover...
Grouping
It is another method that involves putting individual pieces of information together in a way that makes them easier to remember. Shoping list might be easily remembered when items are grouped together by food categories. The individual digits 1,9, 4 and 5, are easier to recall as the year 1945.
Image Mnemonics
Example: to remember how do we write an English a word „because” we can draw a picture like this:
The crazier the imagine, the better. Don’t worry if you aren’t an artist!
Image Mnemonics are when the information to be remember is expressed in picture that enhances memory.
(https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/81979655694706009/)
Link System Method (Funny Stories) The essential of this method lies in putting together unrelated elements by creating a funny stories or films. We should use as much colouring, exaggeration, absurd, humour and ourselves as well as possible. Example: We have to remember these words: cat, printer, car, Jack, milk. A huge, pink cat is smoking a cigar. It’s sitting on the little printer. And the printer is located on the Jack’s car roof.
What makes Mnemonics more memorable? positive, humorous, funny, weird images
exaggerate particular parts of the image
vibrant colorful images
These are just a few examples you can use to enhance your memory but there are hundreds of examples on the Internet, or you might have some fun just creating your own!