Two Methods of Effective Memorization
September 7, 2019
If you want to expand your knowledge, you need to constantly memorize new things. Situations at school or work often require us to absorb a large amount of information at once, which can be difficult to retain. That’s why we want to introduce two effective memorization techniques that can support your self-development and help you achieve better results.
1. Remember the Context
Have you ever told someone about an event, only for them to not remember it? Then you describe the context—where it happened, what day it was, what you were wearing, what time of day it was—and suddenly, they remember! Or perhaps you forgot where you left something and had to mentally retrace your steps. Then suddenly, you knew exactly where it was. This is the power of context. It’s difficult to extract a single piece of information from your brain without knowing where to look. But with more contextual clues, like when it happened or what it relates to, memory retrieval becomes much easier. People tend to think in categories like “childhood,” “school,” “work,” or “holidays.” Knowing the category makes it easier to locate the memory.
PRACTICAL USAGE
How can you apply this? Add context to every piece of information you want to remember. For example, if you want to understand the concept of “offside” in football, reading the definition is not enough. You need to see it during a game—then you’ll always associate “offside” with that match. When explaining it later, you just recreate that moment in your memory. This is far more effective than reciting a definition. If you can’t see something live, draw it or visualize it in your imagination. Pretend you are experiencing it. When learning a word in a foreign language, try to find scenes where it’s used—some websites even provide movie clips with that specific word. Thinking about the scene will help you remember the word and vice versa.
2. Learn in Different Places
If you cram the night before an exam, studying for hours in the same location, your brain links all material to that one environment. Later, trying to recall specifics from that single context becomes difficult. The same happens if you read an entire book in one place—it’s harder to isolate particular ideas. Spacing your learning across various times and places creates multiple contexts. When asked about a topic, you might recall, “I studied that in the library/living room/garden,” and your brain filters through a smaller set of data. The same applies to language learning: instead of flipping through a dictionary, you think of one specific scene from a movie where a word was used. There’s even a method where you label objects around you with their foreign language names. When you see or think of the object, you recall the corresponding word. Again, using more than one location enhances the effect.
Keywords: effective memorization, learning techniques, context-based learning, study tips, memory strategies, foreign language learning, how to remember better, study motivation, educational psychology, brain-friendly learning
