Mnemonics are techniques used to improve the ability to memorise by using special strategies or associations that facilitate the acquisition and storage of information in the memory.
They are considered to be the most effective ways to remember information.
They are particularly useful when memorising new vocabulary when learning English and other foreign languages.
What are mnemonics and how do you use them?
This method involves assigning information, or concepts, to specific places in an imaginary location, making it easier to remember and retrieve this information by recalling the place.
In language learning, it is very easy to place such words in a story, especially when trying to make it up in a foreign language.
For example:
We want to learn to count to 10 in English.
So we put the names of the numbers in the path from the forest to the house:
‘In the forest I saw a tree with “One” carved on it.
In the meadow there was a bird that chirped ‘two two two’
Walking past a pond, I noticed a piece of paper with ‘three’ written on it…’
This is a method that most of us have unconsciously used at least once in our lives. It involves associating a word with some other word that we already know.
For example:
We want to remember the word ‘chrysalis’
‘chrysalis’ sounds similar to ‘crystal’.
We can then imagine a pupa turning into a crystal butterfly.
This will make our brain associate that ‘chrysalis’ which sounds like ‘crystal’ means pupa.
This method is particularly useful when we want to remember some sequences of words. The b are taken and an acronym is created from them, i.e. a password created from the first letters of a set of words.
For example: We want to remember the names of the present tenses in English one by one:
Present Simple – PS
Present Continuous – PC
Present Perfect – PP
Present Perfect Continuous – PPC
That is, the acronym of the present tenses in English listed in turn would be: PS PC PP PPC
In addition, it will be easier to remember such a sequence if we repeat it to some rhythm.
This technique consists of creating stories in which we weave the information or words we want to remember.
By associating concepts with a sequence of events, we will remember them more easily.
For example:
We want to learn the word ‘clarity’
So, when making up a story we can put such a word in a sentence: The clarity of the glasses was so spotless that I could perfectly see every detail of my hand through them.
This involves associating the information we want to remember with the names of famous people, making it easier to remember by associating them with people who are well known to us.
For example, we can associate a word with the name of an actor we know by using the first letter, or a rhyme.
For example:
We want to remember the word ‘patch’
So, we memorise using the example of the actor Benedict Cumberbatch -> Benedict Cucumberpatch
Using the senses, such as sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell, to make associations to help remember information.
For example, we can eat a candy with some previously unknown taste while learning. This taste will associate our brain with what we want to assimilate.
Mnemonics are a great way to consolidate words learnt in language courses.