The document outlines effective memorization strategies by identifying 11 properties that affect memory difficulty, such as familiarity, size, and complexity. It provides various techniques to enhance memorization, including previewing material, using chunking and categorization, and employing methods like memory palaces and visualization. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of preparation and optimal study environments for successful memorization.

1. How To Memorize Things
Quickly & Effectively

2. TIPS HOW TO LEARN
EFFECTIVELY

3. Understand memory
What makes something easy or hard to
memorize? If you can identify
why something is hard, you can adapt
your approach to compensate.

4. These are the 11 properties that determine
how difficult something is to memorize.
• Familiarity – How much exposure you have had to it
• Size – How much there is
• Order – How logically structured it is
• Salience – How interesting it is
• Complexity – How difficult it is
• Relevance – How useful it is to you
• Importance – How it will impact your life
• Immediacy – How soon it is required
• Abstractness – How conceptual it is
• Humanness – How relatable it is to the human experience
• Sensuous – How you perceive it with your senses

5. These are the ways to improve the
effectiveness of your memorization
strategy based on each property.
• Familiarity – Review it more frequently
• Size – Break it down into smaller chunks
• Order – Restructure it in a way that makes more sense to you
• Salience – Create a whacky or funny story about it
• Complexity – Break it down into smaller, simpler steps
• Relevance – Find how it could be useful in your life
• Importance – Set a goal/objective
• Immediacy – Set a deadline
• Abstractness – Relate it to something that exists around you
• Humanness – Include it in a story with you as the main character
• Sensuous – Associate it with another sense (smell, taste, touch,
etc.)

6. Preparation for memorizing
Don’t underestimate how much proper
preparation can influence your ability to
memorize.

7. Don’t listen to music (with lyrics)
How well can you listen to another person speak
while you listen to music? Music, especially
music with lyrics, interferes with your
language processing center. By listening to
lyric-heavy music like rap, hip-hop, country or
pop, you’re sabotaging your ability to
memorize.

8. Disconnect from all social media
Don’t let a Facebook or Twitter notification
disrupt your concentration 5 minutes after
you start. Turn off notifications on your phone
and computer by either turning the wi-fi off,
putting it on silent, turning off notifications or
turning the power off. Set a timer for 20
minutes and dedicate the next to one thing
and one thing only, memorizing.

9. Optimal time for memorizing
An optimal memorization time is when you have
energy, your mind is clear and when you’re
least likely to be interrupted. For most
people, studying early in the morning or late
at night, when everyone else is asleep, works
best.

10. Move around
Standing and walking promotes blood flow and
engages your muscles, keeping you alert and
engaged, while sitting results in reduced blood
flow and oxygen to the brain. If possible, pick
up the material you want to memorize and
review it while leaning against a wall, pacing
back-and-forth in your room

11. Preview…
One of the simplest and most effective
techniques to improve memorization is to
preview it. By previewing the material, you
give yourself a better understanding of the
context and meaning

12. • Read the relevant Wikipedia article
• Search for a video summary or explanation on
YouTube
• Quickly skim the chapter/book/material,
paying special attention to the headers,
emphasized content, bold text and chapter
summaries
• Search for summaries/explanations on Google
• Search for relevant graphics on Google Images

13. Chunking & Spaced Repetition
Some theory and little practice

14. Did you know that there is an optimal size of
information for memorization? In fact, there are
countless examples of it all around you.

15. • Scientists and marketers have long known that
the ideal information chunk size is
approximately 3 to 4 units, and have used this
knowledge to design everything around us to
be easier to memorize.
• Whether it’s a vocabulary list or set of
concepts, break them down into chunks of 3
to 4 units for optimal memorization.

16. Categorization
A powerful complementary technique to
chunking is categorization. This entails re-
ordering the items into groups based on
common traits. This could be anything from
color, alphabetical, physical size, type, cost,
age, difficulty, etc.

17. Let’s say you have to memorize this list
of 15 animal types.
• Rabbit
• Cat
• Elephant
• Tuna
• Pigeon
• Octopus
• Salmon
• Dolphin
• Peacock
• Hippo
• Crow
• Dog
• Platypus
• Giraffe
• Crocodile

18. Instead of just chunking the list into smaller
groups, you could categorize them into groups,
like this:
By doing this, you create a strong sense of order and connection between
seemingly random items. Now, the word “Rabbit” will help you recall the other
“Pets” items, “Cat” and “Dog.”

19. In the case of memorizing speeches and text, chunk
sizes should vary so that you don’t break sentences up
in unnatural ways that would make it more difficult to
memorize.
For example, if you wanted to memorize this sentence,
you shouldn’t set a fixed chunk size to 4 words.
The Chunking System builds | on top of Chunking | and
Categorization and adds | a process that ensures | maximum
retention.

20. Instead, you should take into consider the
natural flow of the language.
The Chunking System | builds on top of |
Chunking and Categorization | and adds
a process | that ensures maximum
retention.

21. Chunking
This is a technique generally used when
remembering numbers. A common rule is that a
person can remember 7 (plus or minus 2) "items"
in short-term memory. In other words, people
can remember between 5 and 9 things at one
time.
When you use "chunking" to remember, you
decrease the number of items you are holding in
memory by increasing the size of each item.

22. Example of chunking
Try to remember the number string of 64831996. You
could try to remember each number individually, or
you could try thinking about the string as 64 83 19 96
(creating "chunks" of numbers). This breaks the group
into a smaller number of "chunks."
Instead of remembering 8 individual numbers, you are
remembering four larger numbers. This is particularly
helpful when you form "chunks" that are meaningful or
familiar to you (in this case, the last four numbers in
the series are "1996," which can easily be remembered
as one chunk of information).

23. I'm going on a picnic and I'm
bringing....
When using mentioned children’s game as each
new object is added, the old objects are
repeated. Once you are able to remember 5
items on your list without looking, add a 6th,
repeat the whole list from the start, add a 7th,
and so on.
Break up the information into small bits that you
can learn, one step at a time, and you may be
surprised at how easy it can be.

24. Paraphrase
Paraphrase the information. There are many ways to do this, including:
• Summarize It – Re-write it into a concise format in your own words.
• Make A Cheat Sheet – List all the important information in a bullet
point or tabled format
• Teach It – Explain the concepts to another person.
• Visualize It – Convert the information into diagram, chart, picture,
mind-map, etc.
• Discuss It – By conversing about it with a classmate, you force
yourself to summarize it into your own words
• ELI5 (Explain It Like I’m 5) – Imagine explaining the material to a 5
year old. This forces you to re-word things into simpler terms.

25. Visualization & Storytelling
Basic visualization and storytelling simply requires you to be creative
and convert raw information into vivid pictures and memorable
stories. This can be done using one or a combination of the
following:
• Exaggerate Characteristics – Identify something that sticks out to
you (such as the color, shape, size, pattern, effect, etc.), then
exaggerate it to make it more memorable. F.e. Giraffe – pink,
Elephant – big yellow ears
• Tell A Story – Visualize the information in a movie scene like
situation, with actors and a story. The wackier and stranger the
story, the better.
• Use Analogies – Compare the new information to something
already known. F.e. castle – palace, dog – your own pet.

26. Build Memory Castles
Plant images in your spatial memory, and walk around it to retrieve
information.
Let’s start with the basics by having you remember the following shopping
list:
• Banana
• 2 pairs of socks
• 3 salmon
• Garlic
• Strawberry
• Wall clock
• Backpack
• Mlekołaki Cereal
• BBQ pit
• Goggles

27. Step 1
Choose a place that you remember very well to
be your memory castle. It can be your room,
wherever. It doesn’t matter where you
choose, as long as you’re very familiar with
the place and where everything goes.

28. Step 2
Plant the objects in the room in the form of images as
you walk around it in your head. Close your eyes and
visualize yourself in that place. Open the door, start
walking around the place, and make an effort to notice
and remember where everything is the last time you
saw it.
Then imagine yourself at the door again, only this time,
you have the things in the shopping list in your hand.
Start walking slowly around the place, placing the
items around the room in order. The more bizarre you
make the images out to be, the better!

29. Example of Memory Castles
If my place is my room, I would start by imagining a
banana wearing a pair of socks on his feet, and another
pair on his hands, lying on my bed. Then, walking
further in, I would imagine the three salmon talking at
my study table, their mouth stinking of garlic breath.
Looking at the wall above them, I’d see a wall clock in
the shape of a strawberry. Then turning to my right, I
would imagine hanging my backpack in my cupboard,
filled with delicious Mlekołaki cereal. And lastly, as I
make my way back to the door, I bump into a BBQ pit
sitting happily in the middle of the room, and hanging
behind the door is my goggles.

30. Play Around with Words
One of the most common technique is by making acronyms from the
key points that you need to remember.
The Acronym Method
Let’s say you have to remember the below key words:
• Changes in Media
– Concentration of media ownership
– Conglomeration
– Globalization
– Audience Fragmentation
– Hyper-Commercialization
– Convergence
The acronyms are the first letters in the beginning of each word, so as
reflected in the underlined letters, my acronyms are “C, C, G, A, H,
C”.

31. But that’s hard to remember isn’t it?
The successful way to memorize it is to
create sentences from the acronym. So in
the above sentence, a sentence would be
something like “Charlie the Cat Go And
Hug Chickens.”

32. METHOD OF LOCI
1. Before using the technique, you must identify a common
path that you walk. This can be the walk around your
house, whatever is familiar. What is essential is that you
have a vivid visual memory of the path and objects along
it.
2. Once you have determined your path, imagine yourself
walking along it, and identify specific landmarks that you
will pass. The number of landmarks you choose will
depend on the number of things you want to remember.
3. Once you have determined your path and visualized the
landmarks, you are ready to use the path to remember
your material. This is done by mentally associating each
piece of information that you need to remember with one
of these landmarks.

33. EXERCISE: METHOD OF LOCI
1. If someone reads a list of unrelated words to you, just once, how many do you
think you could remember? Give it a try. Have someone read a list of 10 words to
you at a slow but steady pace (about 1 word per second). How many words did
you remember?
2. Now take a few minutes to identify a path or object that you can use in the
method of loci. Familiarize yourself with each of sections of your path or object.
Mentally go through each of the loci (locations) and visualize them as best you
can. Remember, it is important to be able to visualize and recall each location
readily. Once you have done this, have your friend read you a different list of
words. This time, try to create visual images of the words associated with one of
the locations.
3. This may not come easy at first, but with practice you should be able to create
these visual images more readily. If you find that you are having difficulty coming
up with the images quickly, practice on some more lists until you have improved.
Chances are, when you become familiar with using this technique, you will be
able to remember many more words (maybe all 10 items).
4. Practice the technique to sharpen your skills.

34. VIVID ASSOCIATIONS
When learning something new and unfamiliar,
try pairing it with something you know very
well, such as images, puns, music, whatever.
The association does not have to make logical
sense.
For example, they may remember the name
"Robert Green" by picturing Robert playing
golf (on the green), wearing green clothes, or
covered in green paint

35. VIVID ASSOCIATIONS: LEARNING THE
NAMES OF CLASSMATES
1. Pick names of classmates with whom you are unfamiliar.
2. For each name, brainstorm some words or ideas that you
can associate with the name. For example, if one student's
name is Teresa Pszczoła, you might think of Mother
Teresa, and a pszczoła (a bee - type of insect).
3. Once you have brainstormed several ideas, you can begin
to think of ways that some of the associations can be
combined to remember the name. In the above example,
you could create a visual association by picturing Mother
Teresa standing near the hive.
4. Do this for each person, and you will have a great way to
remember the names of your new classmates!

36. Remembering dates
The system works as follows: months are assigned the numbers 1
to 12 and given the appropriate Key Word from the Major
System.
• January - tea
• February - Noah
• March - Ma
• April - ray
• May - law
• June - jaw
• July - key
• August - foe
• September - Pa
• October - daze
• November - Dad
• December - Dan

37. To remember a birthday, anniversary or
historical date, all that is necessary is to
form a linked image between the month-
and day-words and the date you wish to
remember. For example, your girlfriend's
birthday falls on 1 November. The Key
Word from the Major System for
November is Dad; and the Key Word for 1
is tea. Imagine your girlfriend giving a
gigantic cup of tea to your Dad.

38. Memory Systems for
Vocabulary and Language
One of the better ways of accomplishing this
aim is to learn the prefixes (letters, syllables or
words recurring before root words), the
suffixes (letters, syllables or words recurring at
the end of root words) and the roots (words
from which other words are derived) that
occur most frequently in the language you are
attempting to learn.

39. As with other memory systems, the key word is
association.
In English, you want to remember the word
vertigo, which means 'dizziness' or 'giddiness',
and in which a person feels as if surrounding
objects were turning around. To imprint this
word on the memory you associate the sound
of it with the phrase where to go? which is the
kind of question you would ask if you felt that
all surrounding objects were rotating about
you.

40. Two words that many people confuse in the
English language are acrophobia, which is a
morbid fear of heights, and agoraphobia, a
morbid fear of open spaces. The distinction
can be firmly established if you associate the
aero in acrophobia with acrobat (a person
who performs at great height) and the agora
in agoraphobia with agriculture, bringing to
mind images of open fields (though the Greek
word agora actually means 'marketplace').