One thing that I am constantly struggling with is when to use mnemonics.
I was very influenced by Alex Mullen’s suggestion that (paraphrasing here) you should only use it when you have difficulty to internalize the material in other direct ways, and it is how I have used them for some time now.
Recently, I did a change in my study strategies by applying free-recall techniques(also know as blurting)*, after a long dissatisfaction with flashcards. And it has been a blast. I am finally able to remember information within their context, generating more understanding than I ever had with flashcards. Now, the flashcards are reserved for some smaller details that, when I do the free-recall, get forgotten constantly.
But there are some cons with this new strategy. The review time has become longer, since I retrieve whole subtopics and not, as it was before with flashcards, only the cards that I was having more difficulty.
I woudn’t go back to flashcards even if I was paid for it, but, now, I think that the time-gap between using mnemonics as the main memorization technique and the techniques I am applying has decreased. Other than that, the benefits of a way higher retrieval from the mnemonics are unparalleled, as is the fun of using them (although filling a blank sheet of paper with all that I know from a subject while doing free-recall is very pleasurable). I am more satisfied with free-recall than I ever was with flashcards, but the mermaid’s song of mnemonics is always in the back of my mind, enticing.
It would be of immense help if you life-long learners could give some guidance in this matter, which would be pretty much this question:
- Should mnemonics be a main method of memorization?
But any advice or even just descriptions on how you use them in your studying would be of value.
There is almost a certain emotional component in mnemonics for me, as it is such a venerable ancient tradition, independently found in different folks throughout the world, and sometimes I feel like I am wasting/downplaying it. And its own potential for almost perfect retrieval also makes me wonder sometimes: “I know that if I put the effort to learn this material with mnemonics, I will have this excelent recall of it: what is your excuse in not doing it?” Anyway, that is it. Any help would be very appreciated.
*Here is a link that describes a very sound way of applying them: https://www.samstudysystem.com/