The True Art Of Memorization

There are many ways to try to improve your ability to memorize and process information. Unfortunately in our age many have only considered the physical factors affecting it (i.e lack of healthy food, vitamins etc) although the psychological factors are much greater. First of all, before you even try to memorize anything you should ask yourself why you want to memorize it?

Is it necessary or is it enough to just understand a principle without the need of memorizing it. Secondly, what are your motives behind wanting to memorize this information. You see, having a strong purpose will make your job a lot easier, even if you don’t really give it much thought. Having that said, I believe we’ve covered some of the basics and fundamentals of memorization so let’s move on to the actual techniques.

To memorize something, you need to learn the art of association, namely linking one piece of information (the thing you want to remember) with another more explicit piece of information (i.e something you already remember), this will enable you to recall the former without any real need of reflection.

It’s here that mnemonics come into the picture. Mnemonics are basically a type of memory aid used in order to memorize different pieces of information, a good example of a mnemonic is the thirty days hath September rhyme which is thought in elementary schools all over the U.S. Albeit, mnemonics do not end there, you could for instance link between pieces of information by rhyme, by alliteration or something of that kind.

Do remember that we all learn in different ways so do not force yourself to adapt to a specific way of learning if it does not fit you. The purpose of your studies is for you to learn not to follow a certain way of learning, right? Having that said, I would like to conclude this article with the following words:

«A successful student forces him/herself to remember».