I can’t get past 4 cards because of this. Could someone give me some tips on memorizing cards and creating pins for the suits, please?
I am from Brazilian.
Use the numbers 70 to 99 for the signs. For example, for hearts I use the images created from 70 to 79, and for the face cards, someone from your family (always for hearts), the same goes for the other three signs. Just one note: for the face cards, if you use the family for hearts, use, for example, someone you can’t stand for spades, etc. I hope I’ve made myself clear.
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There are several ways to do this using major.
One way is to treat each card as a 2-digit number by combining the value and the suit as the two digits. Because there are more than 10 values, a slight modification needs to happen. There are a couple ways to do this. First is to use the normal values for their major sounds as the first digit for A-10. Then choose 4 digits to represent the suits…
Ace = 1 (t/d)
2 = N
3 = M
4 = R
5 = L
6 = J/Ch/Sh
7 - K/G
8 - F/V
9 - P/B
10 = 0 (s/z)
= 1 (T/D)
= 2 (N)
= 3 (M)
= 4 (R)
This allows easy translation for all the non-picture cards into numbers, which you can then map onto a peg list or a PAO for those numbers.
For example: [3 ] would be 3 (M) for the value, 2 (N) for the suit, which give you MN… maybe the MooN is your image.
When it comes to the picture cards, if you use this strategy you’ll need to adjust how you read them. For the number cards, the value determines the first digit and the suit determines the second digit, but for the picture cards, this will be reversed. The suit will determine the first digit and then the Jack, Queen, and King will need to be assigned to numbers that are NOT used for your suits.
Here’s one way:
Jack = 6 (J/Ch/Sh)
King = 7 (K/G)
Queen = 8 (F/V)
So when you encounter a card like [King ] you would read the suit first (1 = T/D) then the value (King = 7, K/G). So [King] becomes T/D-K/G, maybe a TiCK or a TaCo would be your image.
Here are the complete mappings for each card to its number and some ideas for People / Actions / Objects that fit Major for those entries:
| CARD | # | PER. | ACT. | OBJ. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
10  |
01 | ZiTa | SiTTing | ZiTi |
10  |
02 | SoNNy | SigNing | SigN |
10  |
03 | SaMMy | SwiMMing | S.a.M. |
10  |
04 | SaRa | SoaRing | SoRRy |
| A |
11 | TeD | TooTing | ToaD |
| A |
12 | ToNy | TuNing | DiNo |
| A |
13 | ToM | TaMing | ToMb |
| A |
14 | TaRa | TeaRing | DeeR |
| 2 |
21 | aNDy | kNighTing | NewT |
| 2 |
22 | NuN | NaNNying | NeoN |
| 2 |
23 | NeMo | NaMing | gNoMe |
| 2 |
24 | NeRo | hoNoRing | NaiR |
| 3 |
31 | MooDy | MeeTing | MeaT |
| 3 |
32 | MooNey | MooNing | MooN |
| 3 |
33 | MiMe | MaiMing | MuM |
| 3 |
34 | MaRy | MaRRying | MoRay |
| 4 |
41 | RuDy | RiDing | RooT |
| 4 |
42 | RoN | RuNNing | RhiNo |
| 4 |
43 | RaaM | ReaMing | RaM |
| 4 |
44 | RoRy | RoaRing | ReaR |
| 5 |
51 | LaDDy | LeaDing | LuTe |
| 5 |
52 | LeNNy | LeaNing | LioN |
| 5 |
53 | LeMMy | LooMing | LLaMA |
| 5 |
54 | LaRRy | LuRing | LoRRy |
| 6 |
61 | JeD | SHooTing | JeT |
| 6 |
62 | JeNNa | SHiNing | CHaiN |
| 6 |
63 | GeMMa | SHaMing | GeM |
| 6 |
64 | JeRRy | CHeeRing | CHaiR |
| 7 |
71 | KaTe | CuTTing | CaT |
| 7 |
72 | KeNNy | CaNing | GuN |
| 7 |
73 | CaM | CoMing | CoMb |
| 7 |
74 | CaRRie | CaRRying | CoRe |
| 8 |
81 | FaTTy | FeeDing | FooT |
| 8 |
82 | ViNNy | FaNNing | FaN |
| 8 |
83 | PHaM | FuMing | FoaM |
| 8 |
84 | PHaRaoh | FReeing | FuR |
| 9 |
91 | PeTe | PeTTing | PoT |
| 9 |
92 | PeNNy | PiNNing | PoNy |
| 9 |
93 | PaM | PalMing | PaM |
| 9 |
94 | BaRRy | BuRying | BeaR |
| J |
16 | DJ | DoDGing | DiSH |
| J |
26 | NaCHo | NuDGing | NaCHo |
| J |
36 | MaCHo | MoSHing | MatCH |
| J |
46 | RaJ | ReaCHing | RoaCH |
| Q |
18 | TiFa | DiVing | DoVe |
| Q |
28 | NeVe | eNVying | kNiFe |
| Q |
38 | MaeVe | MoVing | MuFF |
| Q |
48 | RuFio | RooFying | ReF |
| K |
17 | TaaKo | aTTaCKing | DuCKy |
| K |
27 | NiCK | kNoCKing | NuKe |
| K |
37 | MiKe | MoCKing | MiC |
| K |
47 | RoCKy | RoCKing | RoCK |
| Black JOK | 00 | SoSa | SeiZing | SauCe |
| Red JOK | 99 | PePPa | PooPing | PooP |
A second approach, if you don’t want to deal with having to read the cards differently when you encounter a picture card, is to assign unique consonant sounds to the Picture Cards, either by splitting them off of another number or by using some of the “unused” sounds that are typically left out of Major.
Here is a way to structure that:
Ace = T*
2 = N
3 = M
4 = R
5 = L
6 = J/Ch/Sh
7 = K/G
8 = F/V
9 = P/B
10 = S/Z
Jack = D*
Queen = W
King = Silent
Note that in this setup the Ace is ONLY represented by the T, without the usual option of allowing T or D for this value. This is because we reassign that D sound to the Jack. This way you know if your word starts with a T sound it means an Ace, and if its a D sound it is a Jack.
Also, we are now actually using the W sound to represent a value, so you’ll need to make sure that ONLY the words that you choose for the Queens start with a W sound. The W is usually a “free” sound that can be used as a filler, but because it will represent a value in this system it is now restricted to ONLY that value as the starting sound.
Finally, in this system, the Kings are silent, so any King will only generate a single consonant sound, based on the suit.
Suits are assigned the same way as in the previous system:
= 1 (T/D)
= 2 (N)
= 3 (M)
= 4 (R)
This now means every card can be read in the same way. Value first, then Suit, which means that you can focus a little better not having to worry about making that mental switch depending on the value.
Here’s some examples of how cards would be read:
[Ace ] Ace = T, Club = M… T-M. Maybe “ToMb” or “ToM” could be your image.
[King ] King = silent, Heart = N. So this would be a word with just a single consonant sound, N (represented by a single digit number). Maybe “Neo” from The Matrix is your image.
[Queen ] Queen = W, Spade = T/D… W-T/D. Maybe “WooD” or “WheaT” could be your image.
Either of these systems gives you a way to instinctively read the cards as simple words that can give you great images for scene generation and memorizing, and both are grounded in Major so if you’re already familiar with that it should be relatively easy to incorporate cards into it.
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@TheHumanTim I’ve only been into memory techniques for a few months - mostly lurking - but I wanted to say your posts always seem to click with me. Your advice has been invaluable in helping me get my systems off the ground.
For cards, I’ve been following your first approach quite closely, with a few tweaks that suited how I think about the mapping:
Suits: Spades = 0 (S/Z), Hearts = 4 (R), Clubs = 7 (K/G), Diamonds = 1 (T/D)
This feels more natural for me when “reading” a card, as the sound already directly associates with the suit in my mind.
• 2 Spades → NooSe
• 8 Hearts → PHaRoah
• 4 Clubs → RoCK
Face cards: My brain wanted these to stay in a lowest-to-highest ranking order.
Jack = 6 (keeps the J sound), Queen = 8 (F for female), King = 9 (after 8 / “biggest”).
Just thought I’d share in case others find helpful.
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My one-card system also works like this, slightly the opposite way.
I am mentioning just in case you are aware of some alternative ways to do it, too.
If I had a say in major system style, I would take suits ordered first and then digits come.
so
2 Spades → Sun
8 Hearts → Reef
4 Clubs → Car
And for face cards, I take face cards first and suits second.
like Q Diamonds → Net
K Clubs → Hook
J Hearts → Jar
J Spades → Juice and so on…
It also helped me with my 2-card system, where I have to read suits first and digits later, and for face cards, I read face cards first and suits second.
Interesting - I noticed you mentioned going suit-first, with face cards as the exception. I’ve seen others do this as well, but I went the opposite way and read number first, then suit - my reasoning being that it felt more “natural” (since people normally say a card aloud as “Two of Spades,” for example).
I’ve wondered if there’s some practical advantage or argument I’m missing for having most of the cards in your suit-first order. Is there faster recognition, easier grouping, less interference? Or is it mainly just what clicks best for you personally?
I can’t imagine moving to a 2‑card system, but why is it that in that approach you have to do suits first?
I think the more important thing for me would be to try to be consistent in the reading structure so that all cards are read the same way. I really dislike having to flip the order when encountering the exceptions for the picture cards. This is why I’d lean towards using the expanded sound set and picking unique sounds for all 13 values (beyond the 10 traditional Major sets). Yes, it causes there to be some “non-major” words in there (if you use W or H) but there are only a handful of those. The vast majority will be true major equivalent words that can be mapped directly to a number list. Having good synergy with numbers is really important, IMO, and becomes way more crucial if you ever move to 2-card / 3-digit number system. In that case, ideally you want to be able to use all 1000 of your number entries in your card list so there’s no wasted effort building and maintaining additional lists.
If someone uses a specific 2-card system or knows which one they eventually want to use, it can help to align their single card system with it so that they are consistent with how they view and read the suits and values. If you map your single suits to the equivalent sound for a 2-suit pair (think going with , going with , etc) it can give you a head start on transitioning to the larger system and you can reinforce the structure while using it in single card mode.
BUT, back to your actual question about suit-value or value-suit reading order… If you’re only planning to use a single-card system, then I don’t think it matters whether the suits or values are read first.
There are several viable approaches to 2-card systems. Some read the value first and some are read with suit combinations first. It really depends on which you go with. When designing a system, depending on the sounds used for the suit combinations it can “make more sense” if those sounds are at a certain position in a word. For example if you map suit combos to vowel sounds, it sort of makes sense to position those sounds as the second sound because it’s easier to pronounce and find words that follow a CV or CVC structure (at least in English). There are less options if the first sound of a word must be a specific vowel. Really depends on how the system treats those suit sounds.
In my 2-card system design, I have 16 unique sounds for suit combos and 13 for the values. It made sense to me to put the 16 suit-combo sounds as the first sound requirements. I think its “easier” to find words that start with those sounds vs requiring them to be specifically placed internally in the word. Some sounds like the W and H that I used are definitely easier to place at the beginning rather than in the middle, at least to my mind!