Hi,
I enrolled in ITIL course and I need some help on how to memorize the stuff.
It uses a lot of abstract concepts and terms that I don’t know how to transform them into images.
Here is the link for one of the chapters: http://itil4all.com/Chapter2.html
and here are some of the terms I need the help with:
Service strategy, value creation, activity patterns, business outcome, service assets, service portfolio… there are 100’s of them!
And then there are list like this:
PROCESS OWNER
The Process Owner is responsible for ensuring that a process is performed as agreed and documented.
Responsibilities of the Process Owner:
- Documents and publishes the process.
- Defines the Key Performance Indicators or KPIs.
- Engages in process design and takes responsibility for it.
- Reviews and proposed enhancement to the process.
- Addresses any issue related to the way the process runs.
- Ensures that the staff has the required training in the process and are aware of their roles in it.
- Ensures that the processes, roles, responsibilities and documents are regularly reviewed and audited.
- Interfaces with the line management and ensures that the process receives the needed staff resources.
Is there a technique especially for this type of abstract terms?
Thanks,
Hi,
no, there is no special technique for that.
Service strategy? What comes to your mind, when you think ‘service’? I see guys in dark blue uniforms ready for repair some things. Strategy? Map on the table (or better only table, but like this one from Game of Thrones http://screencapped.net/tv/gameofthrones/albums/userpics/10003/got0202-720p-1252.jpg ). So I can combine it to one image: guys in uniforms staying around the table, playing with figures on the table.
Value? Heart for example, as love is value for me. Creation? Blacksmith. Imagine a blacksmith creating heart shaped sword.
etc.
If those are need to be remembered together then just link them with some ‘meta’ story.
You can do that with everything and with practice you can do such stories automatically without effort.
Combine this with proper Anki usage: Anki Tips: What I Learned Making 10,000 Flashcards · rs.io & https://www.supermemo.com/en/articles/20rules
You can also store it in memory palace, but I think it is not necessary - the trick is to modify dry knowledge in some way, you need to make some associations with your current knowledge, and then repeat it with proper intervals.
You need to make flashcards with normal words obviously, but you can also remind yourself about your stories by writing those in brackets. e.g:
Q: What are … ?
A: Service strategy, value creation, …
(guys around the table orders heart-shaped sword from blacksmith … )
[but look for nr. 9 in https://www.supermemo.com/en/articles/20rules to do it even better with lists of words]
While testing yourself with Anki you should repeat your stories for first few times, but after that you will just know things without those artificial images. Don’t worry, it looks like a lot of additional work only at the beginning.
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Thank you for suggestions.
I was trying to put a story for this definition:
Services are means of delivering value to customers, by facilitating the outcome customer wants to achieve, without the ownership of specific costs and risks.
and I frequently get stuck with words like “facilitating” and “achieve”.
Any idea please?
Thanks,
But do you really need to remember each word in this definition? Can’t you transform it to less abstract version? Can’t you remember it by some examples rather than this one sentence? Making comparisons like: “We can talk about services if …, but not if …”? This will be not only easier to remember (write it to Anki anyway), but also a lot more beneficial to you - you will understand the subject more.
If not, then remember that you don’t need to create in your story image for exactly that word. You can change “facilitating” to “facility” and nothing bad will happen. You will get the final, ideal version of this definition by spaced repetition (do it with Cloze deletion, #5 in 20 rules from link in my previous post), not by story. Mnemonics in such situations are only to start attaching things to your neural network, to make it easier at the beginning to remember at least some hints about the subject.
I’m not english speaking person, but I will try to give you some ideas how I would create story for your definition (if I understand it correctly):
guys in uniforms in colourful van full of heart-shaped things inside (swords sticking out through the windows) are riding around neighbourhood
they’re stopping in some places loudly asking (with Bjorn voice, like in 0:50 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUTJrBapMpA *) groups of people what they are dreaming about, what they want in life
and after a few seconds they are giving out all these things to people, yelling “■■■■ costs! ■■■■ risks!”, when asked “but how much will it cost me?”
as you can see I don’t bother with using exact words, I just want to make it stick in some way, and after that it is matter of few sessions with Anki to know the full, correct definition. You can change your stories later and make them more coherent with words from definition if you will have still too much trouble after few days.
- I like this scene from Vikings and by attaching such thing it makes the story even more personal and easy to remember. Do it in your way, play with it.
Thank you very much for the explanations and pointers. As you can notice, I’m just starting to learn the Art of Memory and my native language is also not English.
I think that it would be very helpful if somebody created a visual dictionary - someplace where you can type a word you have problem assigning an image for and then you get all the suggestions users put. It can also be linked with forum so when you post a request for a word that it shows in a new forum. Maybe it already exists?
Best,
I don’t think something like this exist.
You can use Google facilitate - Google Search
You can also use Thesaurus:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/facilitating
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/achieve
scroll down for synonyms if you have really big trouble with idea for word, often there is a picture 
Good luck, have fun
