How to Memorize Anything, the Real Deal Part 2

Last time we discussed the Number Shape system where we used the shape of the numerals as hooks on which to hang a list of items you need to remember. Here is another system that is just as effective, but uses the sound of the numerals this time.

The reason for learning more than one memory system is functionality: Every person has different levels of comfort with learning each system. If you are more visually oriented, the Number-Shape system will be easier to learn; on the other hand, if you are more of the auditory (listening) type, the way the numerals sound will be more natural to work with. This is not to say you cannot use both systems-- of course you can! In fact you can use one system for one list, and the other for some other set of items. They will still work.

Now take a look at (but do not try to memorize) the following peg-list:

1 - Bun
2 - Shoe
3 - Tree
4 - Door
5 - Hive
6 - Sticks
7 - Heaven
8 - Gate
9 - Vine
10 - Hen

If you have read my first Memorize Anything posting, you probably guessed there was a logic behind this seemingly odd collection of items. This time, it is a bit easier to explain: Each word simply rhymes with its number! "Bun" rhymes with "One", "Shoe" rhymes with "Two", "Tree" rhymes with "Three", and so forth. Go through the list once or twice without looking just to check you know these peg-words.

This time we'll deal with a list that is familiar, yet few people know entirely: The Seven Dwarfs. Can you name them off the top of your head? This will give you an easy way to remember them.
Make sure to make very clear and super-detailed images and actions, letting the pictures and sounds pop out at you. This ensures the items getting locked into your memory.

Warning: Do not skim through the follwing list! Read it carefully and follow the mental exercises in detail, to get used to this style of memorizing. I promise it will be painless, if not entertaining.

1 - Bashful: Bun is the peg-word. We'll bend the name a little bit, and stick with Bash (it should be enough, and has more potential for surprising images). Imagine a bun on a table (What kind of bun? How large?) suddenly getting bashed by a large club! How loud do you hear the sound of bread getting hammered flat?

2 - Doc: Shoe. Imagine your favorite doctor (Note his or her hair color, facial features, voice, etc.). A typical doctor-thing to do is to listen to your body with a stethoscope. Instead of that instrument, this time give him a pair of your shoes! Could you imagine your doctor with shoes on his or her hands, placing them on your chest, saying "Now breathe in..."?

3 - Dopey: Tree. Everyone knows this lovable, childlike, Dwarf. He could be sitting in a tree, but adding action to the imagery makes it truly stick. Make him happily swing from branch to branch, or even tree to tree.

4 - Grumpy: Door. Another memorable Dwarf. What's he grumpy about now? How about being hung on a door, unnoticed by people hurrying past him? He helplessly thrashes around to catch their attention.

5 - Happy: Hive. This is a fun one for me: Imagine a beehive, with bees swarming all around it. Not only is the hive marked with a big, yellow, happy, smiley face (my symbol for 'Happy'), but each and every one of the bees is wearing a big smiley-face mask! One of the bees buzzes out , "Have a Nice Day! "

6 - Sleepy: Sticks. A dwarf is trying to sleep on the ground, using not a mattress but a pile of sticks. It is difficult, because, the sticks keep falling apart, and they clatter loudly against the floor.

7 - Sneezy: Heaven. A dwarf is surrounded by clouds, apparently in heaven. The serenity is broken when his sneeze blasts the clouds away! Make the sneeze loud enough to echo and possibly (you're not going to like this) have some of his spittle spray onto your arm!

I must stress that this is not word association. Words by themselves are easy to forget. Much better to integrate are sounds, images, textures, emotions. Note the above treatments of the item and their respective peg-words: each linkage has some combination of action, distortion, noise, surrealism, and generally strange things that will easily stay in your imagination.

I mentioned in an earlier article that I dislike "getting the general idea or pattern" of the list. This is because getting just the general idea actually prevents you from memorizing the details that seem to keep popping up in test questions at school. We are usually asked for specifics, and hardly get general-idea questions. In this list, the general idea would be "Disney Dwarfs with Personality Traits for Names". That does not really help you memorize every name.

Another trick that is sometimes used is taking the initial letters of the items, such as the "Roy G.Biv" device we are taught for remembering the colors of the rainbow in order (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Inidgo, Violet) , or "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizza-Pies" for the planets of our solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto).
These are really handy when someone thinks of them and shares it with us.

The drawbacks of this are that (1) When there are several list-words starting with the same letter, it will be easy to get confused. In our case, "Doc" and "Dopey", as well as "Sleepy" and "Sneezy" will trip you up. (2) Not everything we have to study is already pre-arranged in some clever pattern, so we only remember those facts using such patterns, and quickly forget everything else. We will have to use our mnemonic system anyway, in order to effectively recall everything else.

Now without looking back at the list, do you remember who the sixth dwarf is? Which dwarf was Dopey? What you will realize you're asking yourself is "Which is the one on sticks?" and "What strange thing was Dopey doing?".

Look away briefly and recite your peg-list to yourself, and at each one, recall what was going on with each. It should remind you which dwarf it was associated with.

How did you do?

By now you should be starting to get convinced that this is a lot better and more efficient than reading and repeating the list, over and over, for the better part of an hour, and then worrying the next morning if you remember even most of it! That is like taking your jacket, pushing it against the wall over and over again, hoping it'll stick. Perhaps by some result of brute force, perspiration and a stroke of luck, it will magically stay there. But wouldn't you rather leave it on a hook and find some better use for your time?

Homework: Find something else to memorize, such as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, or anything from your studies you have to know for a test or presentation. Use the Number-Rhyme System for one list, and the Number-Shape system for another. Then review once or twice, until you are comfortable that you can recall these facts at any time. The fun part is seeing how much time you can save, and find other fun or productive things to do. This is one of those secrets that have worked really well for me, and I hope it does the same with you.