Memorize This!

Does this title remind you of a movie?  Does it make you think of a gesture?  Does it express your feelings about memorizing things?  Do these questions have anything to do with memorizing things?

Well, yes and no.  Those memories you just linked to are not examples of the power of memorizing.  But they may suggest some ways to turn your memory systems up to full power when you actually run into things you have to memorize.

Start with a piece of almost useless advice.  Before you fall back to memory maneuvers, check again for any possible way to organize the stuff or tie it to things you already know.  This advice should be totally useless, because memorizing is the hardest way to learn something.  And it has the least payoff in the long run.  And the more you memorize, the harder it gets.  And most people learn to hate it.  But people get in the habit.  And forget to look for alternatives.  Habits are hard to break.

Maybe they should memorize the alternatives.

If your do have to memorize something, here are some methods.

Team Study.  Everybody tries to bring a way to organize the stuff.  Those who don’t see a way to organize can bring a plan for memorizing it.

Acronyms

Silly sentences
A convenient way to remember passwords.

Route to remember

Rhythm, Rhyme, and Repetition. 

Study Skills Ratem

Audio
If you must memorize, make a commercial