Recent Posts from Cosmic Teapot

Any memory that you want to stick around requires reinforcement. Spaced repetition helps build memory and is the reinforcement that your brain needs. The inner workings of memory are incredibly complex, and there is still much to be discovered about how it works. Some things, though, are known. New information can get jumbled up, resulting in weak connections within the brain. The jumbled links are worsened when new information is continuously blasted at the learner. When you think about how information is delivered to most learners in school or the adult learning world, we are taught this way. This standard

Introduction Have you ever been told to memorize poetry, plays, and literature quotes from a book you studied in class? I remember being told to do it, but I couldn’t recall the reading selections. It was torturous.  The strange thing about being told to memorize poetry, plays, and literature in class was that the teacher didn’t instruct us on how to do it. Perhaps the teacher told you to read it repeatedly until it sank in. Eventually, that might work. But it’s not the most effective strategy to memorize works verbatim.  How to Memorize Written Work Verbatim The most effective way

Introduction A memory journey is similar to a memory palace. The difference is that while memory palaces are tied to buildings, journeys can take place anywhere. Like memory palaces, the key is selecting familiar locations and routes. We layer new information on top of our chosen spots to recall information as we mentally take the journey. Ultimately, we could undergo the same process with a large memory palace. It’s nice to use the journey technique when we have much information to remember. In particular, I like memory journeys for remembering the contents of articles, poems, and plays. It’s also fun

Introduction When I first started public speaking, I did what most new speakers do: memorize a speech verbatim. Sometimes that worked well. It was great if I could remember each word while not sounding robotic. But slipping up was awful. It took a moment to get back on track and back into the groove of the speech. By then, I had sometimes lost my audience’s confidence. After a few similar experiences, I knew there had to be a better way to memorize a speech. The real pros never made the same mistakes as me. How to Memorize a Speech First,

Introduction Like everything else in school, I wish I knew there was an easy way to memorize vocabulary words. I can see my teacher giving us a list of words to remember and me looking at the list like it was written in Greek. The funny thing is that you can use the link method to remember new vocabulary words or new languages, including Greek. (Click here for a refresher on the link system.) In our examples, we will only worry about how to memorize vocabulary words. Step One Get your vocabulary list together. We’ll work with three vocabulary words