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Mnemonics are techniques to aid
memory. They can be very useful and quite interesting too. Some of
these techniques are- |
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• Acronyms- using
the first letter of each word or sentence to create another word
that acts as a cue. For example VIBGYOR where each letter stands
for the colours of the rainbow or “My Very Educated Mother Just
Showed Us Nine Planets” in which the first letter of each word
stands for the names of the nine planets. |
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• Narrative
Chaining- Creating a story with the help of the words. For
example, 5 random words- paper, clock, party, stars, banana can be
used to form this story- I was piling up all my papers when the
clock struck and I suddenly realized that I had to go for a party.
It was late and I saw many stars in the sky and interestingly,
they were arranged in the shape of a banana. Any such story would
work- you'll be surprised to see the large number of words and
concepts can be easily remembered this way. The funnier the story
and the more visually powerful, the better. |
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• Rhymes and songs- like the ones I've
made to explain the principles of studying help to remember.
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• Peg and hook
system- linking each concept to a word in a popular song. For
example to remember the parts of a plant, you can link each part
to the lines of a poem like this |
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• One for bun- mum made a fruit bun
yesterday |
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• Two for shoe- I have a pair of shoes
made of leaves |
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• Three for tree- this shouldn’t be
difficult! |
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• Four for door- a door is made of
wood |
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• Five for hive- bees make hives on
the branches of trees |
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Method of loci |
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This involves
placing objects at various locations on a familiar path. When you
want to remember this information, just take a mental trip and
you'll recall all these objects . To illustrate this technique,
I've used the way from a railway station ticket counter to the
train to remember the various periods in Indian history.
Stone age- visualize people selling stone tickets at the ticket
counter
Harappan age- imagine that the staircase as a part of the Harappan
town
Vedic age- visualize people chanting mantras and preparing yajnas
on the platform
Mughal age- imagine Akbar sitting on his royal throne under the
indicator
Freedom struggle- remember Gandhiji being thrown out of the train
in South Africa and how that sparked off his desire to fight
injustice.
The examples I've given are very basic, but these techniques can
be used to remember a variety of complex concepts. Try them out
for yourself and see the difference. |
