MEMORY TRICKS
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1 Warm up
Look at this list. Take two minutes to memorize as many items as you can and in the correct order.
• Washington
• Adams
• Jefferson
• Madison
• Monroe
• Quincy Adams
• Jackson
• Van Buren
• Harrison
• Tyler
When the two minutes is up, cover the above list and write down as many of them as you can from memory. How many did you remember?
Now discuss the following questions in pairs.
picture A
1. How easy or difficult was the task?
2. What method did you use to memorize this list? Is that what you usually do?
3. Do you know any special methods you can use to memorize?
4. Why do you think there is a picture of a banana in a hotdog (picture A)? How could this be connected to the topic of memory?
2 Listening
Listen to the following lecture, which describes a memory technique called the ’Linking Method’.
After listening, discuss the following questions in pairs.
1. Were you able to recall the names more easily after hearing the story?
2. Do you think you could use this for other information you need to remember?
3 Vocabulary
Part A: Match the vocabulary with the correct definitions.
1. spaced (adj.) a. a piece of wood or metal which you can use to hang something with or on
2. peg (n) b. reinforce something and make it stronger 3. rereading (v) c. doing something again
4. acronym (n) d. something arranged with space between
5. solidify (v) e. a series of letters where each letter stands for a word 6. interval (n) f. an aid to help remember something
7. retrieval (n) g. a period of time or space in between things 8. repetition (n) h. getting something back from some place
9. mnemonic (n) i. reading something you have already read another time
Part B: Complete the gaps in the following sentences with the vocabulary above. Note that you may need to change the form.
1. Many organizations are known by their . For example, the FBI, CIA, NASA and NATO.
2. I use to remember how to spell some words I find difficult. My
favorite is: ‘’there is a rat in separate”.
3. The appointments were three weeks apart.
4. Librarians learn about storage and of information.
5. I’m currently Charlotte’s Web for the eighth time. It’s my favorite book.
6. The success of the business deal her reputation as an excellent negotiator.
7. is essential when learning. You cannot expect to remember something after seeing it only once.
8. Please hang your coat on the in the hallway.
9. The bus runs at 10 minute .
4 Reading: prediction task
You are going to do a reading called "Memory Methods". First, have a look at the sub-headings of the reading and answer the following questions.
• Acronyms and acrostics
• Learn in spaced intervals
• Practice memory retrieval - test yourself
• Create a memory palace
• The Peg System
1. Do you know anything about any of these?
2. If you don’t know any of them, can you guess what they might be about?
Memory Methods
There’s no way to have a perfect memory, but it is a skill you can improve with practice. Here are just a few methods you can try.
A. Acronyms and acrostics
These are mnemonics (memory devices) that help you remember information more easily. You probably know some already. For example, to remember the great lakes of North America you can use the acronym HOMES (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).
Another common mnemonic is a kind of sentence known as an acrostic. For example, "My Very EducatedMotherJustServedUsNoodles." can help you remember the planets in order from the Sun:
Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus, Neptune.
B. Learn in spaced intervals
In the 1880s, a psychologist named Hermann Ebbinghaus memorized nonsense syllables in order to track his ability to remember them. He used his analysis to create the Forgetting Curve, a graph which shows how quickly we forget something we have learned. He demonstrated that after learning something new most people will have forgotten around 70% within 24 hours.
But he also found that if you review material in spaced-out intervals you will reduce the rate of forgetting dramatically. You will remember more, even if you spend fewer actual hours studying. This is known as Spaced Repetition.
C. Practice memory retrieval - test yourself
A passive rereading of material will only give you the illusion of knowing the material, according to Barbara Oakley, instructor of the Coursera course Learning How to Learn. Instead, it is far more effective to attempt to actively recall the information. Test yourself regularly. Regular retrieval practice helps solidify your memories.
D. Learn with mental pictures
Creating a visual association with the thing you want to learn will help you remember it better.
For example, this can be used when learning new vocabulary in your target language. Memory athlete Nelson Dellis recommends the images should be
‘’over-the-top and bizarre”.
For example, imagine you want to learn the word
‘celo’ in Czech, which means forehead in English.
Because it sounds like a cello, a musical instrument, you could imagine a cello is stuck to your forehead, and you cannot walk through doors.
E. Create a memory palace
A memory palace is a place you know well in your mind which you then use to link pieces of information to. For example, you could use the house that you live in. Let’s say you had to remember a shopping list of milk, eggs, and bread. Picture your home and then imagine the following:
1) Your front door is covered with disgusting raw eggs. It gets on your hands as you open it.
2) Inside the hallway a giant slice of bread falls on your head from the ceiling.
3) Finally, you walk into the kitchen where you find a cow making a strawberry milkshake.
F. The Peg System
This system is commonly used by memory athletes (who do memory competitions) to remember packs of cards or long numbers. It uses an association between a concrete item and the thing you want to remember.
For example, for numbers one, two and three you can use bun (one), shoe (two) and tree (three). Then, when you are trying to remember a number, you can associate these in your mind visually. So, for the number 312, you can imagine a tree which starts growing buns instead of fruit, and then one of the buns falls into a huge pink high heel shoe.
Sources: CNBC, Psych Central, Wikipedia, mindtool.com
Now, cover the reading, go back to sub-headings (page four) and test yourself or each other in pairs.
What do you remember about each technique?
5 Discussion questions
Discuss the following questions.
1. Do you feel like you have a good memory?
2. What is easy/hard for you to remember?
3. Have you heard of any of these methods from the reading before?
4. Have you tried any of these or any other memory methods?
5. Do you know any other acronyms or acrostics?
6. Now go back to the list of vocabulary in section three and choose one word from the vocabulary list that was new for you. Try to create a visual image to help you remember the word.
6 Language point: making lists
Part A: Go through the notes in the boxes about the use of commas, colons and semi-colons when writing a list in a sentence.
A simple list: use commas
• Use commas when you write a list in a sentence, for example:
I like milk, bread, potatoes and carrots.
• If there is any ambiguity about the last two, you can use an Oxford comma (an additional comma before the last ‘and’). For example, in the following sentence it is not clear if the person likes pineapple and pizza eaten together or separately:
I really like milk, bread, pineapple and pizza.
• In this case, if the person likes the two things separately, an Oxford comma will make this clear:
I really like milk, bread, pineapple, and pizza.
• Note that the Oxford comma is considered optional in British English. You can choose to use it when it makes sense in order to avoid ambiguity. In American English it is generally mandatory.
A complex list: use semi-colons
• You can use semi-colons to divide the items of a list if the items are long or contain other commas. In these cases, the semi-colons help readers keep track of the divisions between the items. In the following sentence, the list is simple. There are three names and so you need only commas.
I have invited my friends Sean, Moira, and Tom to the party.
But let’s say we now want to add more details to the list, as follows:
• Sean, my friend from work
• Moira, Sarah’s sister
• Tom, the doctor
• So, to put this information into a sentence we now need semi-colons, e.g.:
I have invited my friends Sean, my friend from work;
Moira, Sarah’s sister; and Tom, the doctor; to the party.
• You can see the semi-colons help to make the separation between the list items clear.
Introduce a list: use colons
• Another way of introducing a list is a colon. It sets the list apart. Use it when the first part of the sentence is a complete sentence, e.g.:
To make my banana smoothie you only need a few key ingredients: bananas, milk, honey, and cinnamon.
• You can see the first part is a whole sentence by itself:
To make a banana smoothie you only need a few key ingredients.
• This is when you need a colon.
• If the first part is not a complete sentence then use only commas e.g.:
To make a banana smoothie you need bananas, milk, honey, and cinnamon.
• To make a banana smoothieis not a whole sentence by itself.
Part B: Add the correct punctuation into the following sentences.
1. I tried some different foods while I was in Canada. I tried poutine bannock butter-tarts and beavertails.
2. I have visited many places in Canada Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.
3. I have visited three provinces of Canada Quebec Labrador and Prince Edward Island.
4. I have visited Quebec Labrador and Prince Edward Island.
5. My favorite places in Canada are Quebec City where they speak French Ontario which is the biggest city and of course Montreal which is also mostly French-speaking.
(Note that Newfoundland and Labrador are the name of one province)
7 Optional extension/homework
1) Choose three new English words you would like to remember. Use one of the techniques described in the lesson to memorize them. Report on your experience next lesson.
2) Memorize the list of countries which border Germany in the following order: Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands(Hint: you could try using the linking method or making up an acrostic)
3) Look up other memorization methods. Describe one of them in the next lesson.
Transcripts
2. Listening
Speaker: How can you memorize a list of items in order? Well, you could try simple repetition or you could give your brain a hand and try the Linking Method. It is a way of taking a boring list of information and turning it into a story you can visualize.
Speaker: Let’s say you want to learn the last names of the first 10 US presidents. First, you need to create some kind of association for each of the names. For example, for the first president George Washington, we have the association washing machine. All you need is something which is going to jog your memory of the name.
Speaker: Once you have your associations you’re ready to create your links. The crazier and weirder the better. Today, in our demonstration we’re going to incorporate some association ideas recommended by champion memory athletes such as Nelson Dellis and Luis Angel.
Speaker: Okay, so first imagine a giant washing machine (Washington). It is swirling around and around violently until finally, it bursts.
Speaker: Water gushes out dangerously until a huge dam (Adams) wall suddenly shoots up and stops the water in its tracks.
Speaker: Behind the dam are the chef, Gordon Ramsey, and his son (Jefferson), who are both struggling to hold the dam in place. Finally, they collapse from exhaustion until a doctor comes along with medicine (Madison). He gives him the medicine and they get better.
Speaker: Then Marilyn Monroe (Monroe) appears and gives the doctor a jar of quince apple jam (Quincy Adams) as a thank you. Suddenly Michael Jackson (Jackson) moonwalks past Marilyn.
Speaker: He is heading towards a burning van (Van Buren) which is being driven by Harry Potter (Harrison).
Speaker: Harry Potter leaps out of the window of the van and says ‘everything’s fine, Taylor Swift (Tyler) is on the way’. He brings out his wand and shoots out Taylor Swift from the end of the wand.
Speaker: She’s singing into a firefighter’s hose instead of a microphone. She sees the fire and puts it out. Everyone cheers.
Speaker: Now, try writing down the list of the first 10 US presidents by thinking back to the story.
Can you do it? What else could you try the Linking Method with?
Key
1. Warm up
5 mins.
Ask students to memorize the names in the box. These are the last names of the first 10 US presidents. Some of the students may realize this straight away but don’t volunteer this information up-front if they don’t. The idea is to try to create a pure memorization task with as little context as possible. That way, once they learn the memory technique from the podcast they will be able to contrast the experience of memorizing more clearly.
Afterwards, if they have not already realized, you can let them know these are the names of the presidents’.
Then allow students time to talk about the topic using the discussion questions.
Regarding question four: There is an unexpected image here because memory techniques often involve associating strange or unusual visuals with information as a way of remembering it. This will be made more clear in the podcast.
2. Listening
5 mins.
Tell students they are going to have a listening about the Linking Method. You may wish to ask if anyone already knows about it. Then, play the lecture and then give the students a short amount of time afterwards to write down the presidents names.
Then give students time to discuss the talking points and share any interesting ideas they may have come up with for using this technique. If they can’t think of any ideas, you could suggest some of the following: the countries in Latin America, the states of the United States, the list of ingredients in a recipe, the names of Oscar-winning movies, actors or directors
3. Vocabulary
Part A:
5 mins.
Students match the vocabulary with the correct definitions. Assist them with meanings and pronunciations as needed.
1. → d. 2. → a. 3. → i. 4. → e. 5. → b. 6. → g. 7. → h. 8. → c. 9. → f.
Part B:
5 mins.
Now students complete the gap fills using words from part A. Draw their attention to the fact that in some cases a change of form will be necessary.
1. acronyms 2. mnemonics 3. spaced 4. retrieval 5. rereading
6. solidified 7. Repetition 8. peg 9. intervals
4. Reading: prediction task
Prediction questions 5 mins.
Give students a brief amount of time to do the prediction task. You can let them know that trying to predict information is a kind of pre-test which helps prime them for learning the material.
Reading 5 mins.
Students do the reading. They can read it out loud or silently to themselves.
Summary of reading 10 mins.
Have students cover the reading and then test themselves. You could ask them to write down a few key notes or tell each other the key points of each method.
Emphasize to them that this is in itself a practice of the method. Practice memory retrieval – test yourself.
If they want or need to, they can check the reading again to ensure they didn’t miss anything.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_peg_system
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/09/usa-memory-champion-nelson-dellis-how-to-improve-your-memory.html https://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/pegword-method/
https://www.mindtools.com/a9wjrjw/ebbinghauss-forgetting-curve https://www.learnupon.com/blog/ebbinghaus-forgetting-curve/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_peg_system
https://caseyinterview.com/blog/learning-to-learn-ace-case-interviews
https://bubblyprofessor.com/2020/02/19/spaced-repetition-conquer-the-curve-of-forgetting/
https://collegeinfogeek.com/spaced-repetition-memory-technique/
https://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/memory-palace/
https://psychcentral.com/blog/8-tips-for-improving-your-memory 5. Discussion questions
5 mins.
Students can now do the discussion questions. Feel free to select only one or two questions or assign different questions to different pairs if you are short on time.
6. Language point: making lists
Part A:
10 mins.
Go through the notes in the box about the use of commas, colons and semi-colons when writing a list in a sentence.
Note that the Oxford comma is also known as the Harvard comma and the serial comma. It is generally considered
Part B:
5 mins.
Students can now practice the use of commas, colons and semi-colons by adding the punctuation into the sentences.
Students could do this in pairs or alone. You may wish to circulate to provide assistance. For number two note that the use of an Oxford comma would be incorrect in this instance because Newfoundland and Labrador are in fact combined and putting a comma before ‘and’ would indicate that these are completely separate.
1. I tried some different foods while I was in Canada. I tried poutine, bannock, butter-tarts, and beavertails.
2. I have visited many places in Canada: Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. Note: no Oxford comma because Newfoundland and Labrador is one province name together.
3. I have visited three provinces of Canada: Quebec, Labrador, and Prince Edward Island.
4. I have visited Quebec, Labrador, and Prince Edward Island.
5. My favorite places in Canada are Quebec City, where they speak French; Ontario, which is the biggest city;
and of course, Montreal, which is also mostly French-speaking.
7. Optional extension/homework
Students can use these tasks as an opportunity to practice using one or two of these memory techniques and also to find out about other memory techniques. Ideally, they will share them with their classmates in a future lesson.
Note for task 2 that this would be an ideal one to use an acrostic with. You can give them a hint that an acrostic for this might exist. However, if they come up their own they may find this more memorable.