I have read several threads in this section and people are always talking about which system is best for memorizing text verbatim, what’s best for memorizing key points, etc. I have seen people advocate a number of different views, but what I’m interested in how effective each method has been so far. I am more specifically interested in large volumes of verbatim memorization, but I thought perhaps it would be helpful for all you who memorize text/speeches/poetry verbatim or otherwise to list not only how you go about it, but how much you’ve been able to actually memorize with that system.
So, I suppose I’ll go first.
I am just starting to experiment with memorizing text, with plans to memorize the entire content of the New American Standard Bible. I have tried a few different methods to test the waters. Simply coming up with an image to remind me of each word has felt most natural and stuck best so far. I memorize a single chapter of the scripture with it and retention was near perfect even before the first review. I also tried a PAO system that memorized only the first letter of each word as a hook. For me, this failed miserably. I was getting so bogged down with images, often similar, that halfway through a single chapter I went back to review and couldn’t sort it all out. I’ve essentially memorized nothing with such a system. I’ve also attempted rote memorization, a few years ago, and it was slow, and retention only lasted while constant review did. I had memorized around 9 chapters this way over the course of a couple of months, but I lost it during a few weeks of zero review and high stress during a period when my dad was in critical condition in the hospital.
All in all, I definitely prefer an image-per-word image-per-locus system. I feel confident that I will be able to easily do one to two chapters a day with it, then do space out reviews of each chapter. Please post what method you use and how much text you’ve memorized with it so far!
You wrote about very interesting problem. I am also very interested in memorizing text verbatim . Thats why I am still looking for the best method to memorize longer texts.
I usually use method of Szereszewski ( Russian mnemonist ) but I am open to other methods
Would you kind to explain me exactly image-per-word image-per-locus system, please.
Sure, dar 124. I typically read through the passage I’m going to be memorizing first, because I feel that already having the context of and meaning of the text gives you some pretty good memory hooks. Then, I go word by word or phrase by phrase and come up with an image that will remind me of that word or phrase. For instance, for the phrase “Grace to you and peace,” In the scripture, I picture a girl I know named Grace, and next to her 2 ewes (sheep) and a peace sign necklace on the sheep. So, Grace, two ewes, and a peace sign, translate easily back into “grace to you and peace.” I suppose to say it’s one-image-per-word and one-image-per-locus is not precisely accurate. Sometimes two words combine into one image, and sometimes it’s helpful to put a few interacting images into one locus.
At first I was leaning towards creating a system that would exactly code letters or phonemes so the information would be impossible to misinterpret during recall. But, with this system, although there is no precision coding involved, it is more than enough to spark my memory which already has a good idea of how the passage is supposed to flow, what it’s about, etc.
I am now tackling a second Shakespeare play (“As You Like It”), experimenting with a method similar to your’s and Josh’s, with one major exception: I am not using loci or a memory palace. I am using the simple Link method to link words/phrases together. I reason that by using the Link, I won’t have to use a memory palace or palaces over and over again, and won’t have to bother with erasing images to re-use a particular palace. So far I’ve done all of Act One, Scene One, which is about 140 lines, at a pace of 10 lines per day, without using the audio recording for oral mnemonics as I did with “Hamlet.”
Hamlet Hafiz, yeah, I am essentially using the method described in that article. I think the way you went about Hamlet is a good idea, particularly with poetry, although I may have used some images to help speed the process at the same time. Unfortunately, even the parts of the bible that are in poetry in the original languages are not generally rendered poetically in English, and that is the primary text I have interest in memorizing verbatim. I may tackle some Ukrainian poetry soon for fun though. And I’m going to experiment with your preference of removing loci from the equation when memorizing text. I already did this with memorizing foreign vocabulary and it is working wonderfully.
By the way, excellent job memorizing all of Hamlet, that is quite a bit of text. And, it’s encouraging to know there are people out there memorizing large bodies of text.
Hi Steele. I might experiment with loci/memory palace in the future. I would guess that one advantage of using loci would be that the memorizer would be able to review specific lines out of order if he wanted to. A disadvantage of my Link method would be forgetting a particular line or two at a weak link. Since I haven’t tried the loci/memory palace method yet, these considerations are still theoretical for me. Regardless, I doubt either method would work well without repetition (spaced reviews), which, in the long run, results in all mnemonic images disappearing anyway.
Now I might use an audio recording primarily for the spaced reviews, which would be additional reinforcement. The actors’s voices rendering the poetic Hamlet language seems embedded in my inner ear, almost like a piece of music I can’t get out of my head. Perhaps you might be able to find a superb production of an audio recording of the Bible that might assist you with this oral mnemonic method.
I was partially inspired to memorize lots of Shakespeare when, in college, I heard about those Muslim youth in the madrasas overseas who study the Koran. Many of them go on to memorize the entire Koran and are revered for their accomplishment with the title “Hafiz” (hence, my online moniker Hamlet Hafiz). When I found out the Koran has about 70,000 words and Hamlet “only” about 30,000, I decided not to stop with Hamlet.
Thanks, dar124. Could you elaborate on your application of Szereszewski’s method? Do you have an image for every single word? Have you developed a system in which the common words (like “a,” “the,” “and,” “of,” etc.) each have it’s own unique image (similar to Gunther Karsten’s method as described in Moonwalking with Einstein)? Or is your system like steele’s, wherein you assign images primarily for key words?
hi, my system is rather similar to steeler’s method - I try to memorize key words , but I need more practice and i am still looking for more techniques and tricks to memorize better and better . Every suggestion in this subject is for me valuable .
hi, I’m very happy to find other people interested in using these techniques to memorize literature!
After some preliminary test with brief poems using the loci method, I started with Dante’s Hell.
Now, 1 and a half year later, I’m at the 30th canto (out of 34).
What I used: as many say the loci method by itself doesnt work. BUT I find it extremely useful for “staging” the main actors/scenes of each canto. Moreover, when during constant repetition I stumble upon some sequence of words that dont stick whatever I do, I find some allitteration from it that produces a memorable scene that I insert in the locus.
My loci are the streets of the city I live (Torino, IT), and due to the size of the project I am always surrounded by Dante’s Hell wherever I go!
Some final thoughts… I find that refreshing is, of course, essential - I try to do it with an inverse function of the forgetting curve Forgetting curve - Wikipedia
For refreshing, my experience is that the perfect time to do it is during physical exercise: running and biking are my favorites.
I would use a mix between a memory palace, with a room per book of the bible. In the room I will place an object for every chapter (psalms might need 2 or 3 adjoining rooms, and Psalm 119 might need a number of objects) I then break the chapter into logical units and link them to parts of the chapter objects. I keep branching until I get to a level where I can use Iconization to link word clusters. I prefer clusters of words, as I find my mind have no problem getting the original word order and text spot on.
The reason for the multi-tier system is simply that I find it more orderly to travel along the memory palace and zoom in on specific parts of the text, rather than having something like a link for book, and then try to use some number system for chapter / verse, as there are so many chapter 1 verse 7 's etc. This leads to overlapping in the memories after some time. So is rather spend some extra time in the setup, which pays off in long term recall.
I have different objects in the room for chapters, and I then use the link method to go in deeper. Luckily the bible verses usually corresponds well to the logical units, so I can actually just count linked items to get to the right verse. In the Odd instance where this is not the case I use the major system to add an object or person to the unit, to remind me of the verse
Genesis 2 verse 1 is a good example, as the monks who ordered the original version actually had the end of chapter one grouped with chapter 2. So In the first room of my building (reception hall) I have a door (chapter one) off to the left I have a statue of a tree (chapter 2) there are a number of elements in the painting for the different units in the chapter, but verses 1-3 do not fit in chapter two, so in the top left corner (I always work from left to right and from top to bottom) I stick a pencil into the painting (a pencil is one of the images I use for one) Looking closer at the pencil I see the pencil has an interesting tip, some gold embossing on the body, and a weird eraser. on the tip I want to chain the following: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
To the tip of the pencil has an angel with his feet stuck where the lead were supposed to be.
He is swinging a globe on a chain (earth) trying to break the wood that encases his feet.
A hundred F1 checkered flags are stuck in the Globe, and they make an ominous fluttering sound as the globe whirls through the air.
On the tip of every flag I see an Olympic ring, This reminds me of Hosting the olympic games
So when I review it I know that Genesis 2 verse 1 actually belongs in chapter 1, and then I see the words Heaven, Earth, Finish, and Host. and constructing the order of the words in the verse from there is automatic
To elaborate, I just count to the chapter I want, and then walk the room. The more I use the memories in the palace, the easier it is for me to quickly reach specific verses or parts of verses
