Is your Memory Giving You a Hard Time?

Trying hard to learn a new language but run into problems when learning new words or phrases? It doesn't matter if you come from the best English school Washington has to offer, memorization is usually a problem for a lot of language students. In particular, the way a lot of learning techniques try to implement learning new words or phrases by monotonous repetition (often known as rote memorization) is very inefficient and doesn't harness the power of our brain to deal with information. There is certainly a need for a technology of learning, as well as one of teaching. Learning has always been a priority activity for humans, as our ability to be flexible and adapt depends on it. On the modern world, the need for an effective learning method is more pressing than ever as the rapid technological changes increase in velocity and the world changes around us.

The Roman Room System

This method, also known as the Method of Loci, is an effective way to remember bits of information when the structure of said data is not important. This means that it is a great technique to use when you need to remember the blocks of data and not how they relate to each other. Used well, it can be an amazingly powerful mnemonic system for those who are trying to learn a new language. It engages several of our senses at the same time and by doing so drastically increases the chances of recalling specific information whenever we need it.

How to use the system:

To use this tool, you will need to imagine a room that you personally know. You can use a room from your house, school or work or any other place you know very well. When I was working in some English schools New York area I usually recommended my students to use the usual hangout places for inspiration. Imagine also the objects and different details that usually populate this room. The idea is to associate images that represent the information that you wish to memorize with different objects. In order to do this, you are allowed to change the details of an object, it's contents or even its function. Once you can associate something you need to remember with an object in a way that thinking about the object can lead you to that piece of data, it becomes a matter of taking a mental stroll around the room and visualize the particular object that holds the information you need.

The technique can be greatly expanded by going into more detail and making sure that your associations use all the senses. The more vivid the image the easier it is for your brain to recall it. This house you imagine can also later accommodate more rooms for different topics so you can easily think within a particular context. Of course there is no need to use a room at all, any familiar setting will do since you already have most of the details stored in your memory and have a personal attachment with the place.

Last Updated 12th June 2009