!

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Memorlslng and exams are closely llnked and leads us Lo anoLher one of Lhose myLhs where exams are
seen as memory LesLs. 1he polnL of all Lhls sLudy and exam sLuff ls Lo ald your undersLandlng, whlch wlll
mlnlmlse Lhe needed Lo memorlse.
8uL ln any sub[ecL Lhere are golng Lo be facLs LhaL you need Lo know. 1he problem wlLh a loL of facLs or
sLaLemenLs ls LhaL Lhere ls noLhlng memorable abouL Lhem. 1hey don'L requlre any undersLandlng, [usL
slmply belng able Lo reproduce Lhe lnformaLlon ls enough.
ln such slLuaLlons, memory ls lmporLanL, and can conLrlbuLe Lo an exLra few marks ln an exam. SLudenLs
ofLen Lhlnk LhaL Lhls ls Lhe easy parL buL lL can be dlfflculL Lo accompllsh.

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1here are some memory Lechnlques ln Lhe secLlons below LhaL can save you some marks. 1he Lechnlques
are for slngle words and shorL phrases buL wlLh pracLlse you could use Lhem for longer passages of LexL.
Powever, you shouldn'L really need Lo memorlse huge long passages of LexL word for word. lL's all abouL
plcklng ouL Lhe maln polnLs and uslng Lhem as prompLs.
lor me, belng able Lo recall lnformaLlon comes from proper sLudylng. 1he goal ls Lo see a quesLlon and
someLhlng pops lnLo your head. 1hls ls a Lrlgger word or a prompL. Cnce you have Lhls word lL ls easy Lo
remember Lhe deLalls and expand upon lL. l lmaglne lL llke a flow charL wlLh Lhe Lrlgger word aL Lhe Lop.
So Lhe flrsL memory meLhod ls Lo look for Lrlgger words ln your noLes and books. SLudy wlLh Lhose ln
mlnd.

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1he word memorlse lmplles slLLlng down wlLh Lhe sole lnLenLlon Lo remember lnformaLlon by repeaLedly
golng over lL unLll you are bored Lo Lears. 1hls can work buL Lhe problem ls LhaL lL's [usL so borlng. lL also
Lakes a loL of Llme and can prove Lo be lneffecLlve unless you are really deLermlned.
1hls can lead Lo people saylng LhaL Lhey have a poor memory. ?ou also need Lo keep golng back over lL
from Llme Lo Llme.
Pavlng sald LhaL, %")"*,*,$/ ls how you geL good aL anyLhlng. 8uL Lhe Lrlck ls Lo be able Lo do lL over and
over wlLhouL becomlng bored.
lL's a blL llke when klds play fooLball. 1hey mlghL go Lo fooLball Lralnlng where Lhey need Lo do a blL of
runnlng Lo lmprove Lhelr flLness buL Lhe lasL Lhlng Lhey wanL Lo do ls [usL run, Lhey wanL Lo klck a ball. 8uL
havlng a good level of flLness ls lmporLanL, so Lhey need Lo be made Lo run wlLhouL reallslng whaL Lhey
are dolng. 1hls requlres a varleLy of exerclses LhaL lnvolves runnlng )01+ +$#"*2,/- "0+". 1he comblnaLlon
of Lhe 'someLhlng else' plus Lhe borlng parL ,+ effecLlve.
lL's Lhe same here wlLh sLudylng. ?ou are of course golng Lo have Lo read Lhe maLerlal many Llmes buL you
need Lo do lL ln a varleLy of ways.
Some people can slL down and read Lhlngs over and over for hours buL lL Lakes a loL of wlll power and
even Lhen Lhey could probably use Lhelr Llme beLLer. So all Lhe varlous ways LhaL we dlscussed abouL
lnLroduclng varleLy lnLo your sLudylng Lo ensure LhaL you are learnlng and noL hlLLlng a plaLeau applles Lo
memory Loo.

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When l was sLudylng l was always Lrylng Lo slmpllfy Lhlngs and Lo make llfe as easy as posslble. l noLlced
LhaL l would be uslng llLLle Lechnlques Lo ald my memory when faced wlLh Lhlngs LhaL l goL mlxed up wlLh.
MosL of Lhe Llme Lhey weren'L even whaL you would call Lechnlques, l would look aL Lhe Lhlngs LhaL l
couldn'L remember and ask myself 'how can l make Lhls more memorable?'
1he reason l dld Lhls was Lo #3,/*3,/ #$#"/*1#. SomeLlmes you could be worklng on undersLandlng a
concepL buL Lo go from one parL Lo Lhe nexL Lhere could be a sLaLemenL or facL LhaL llnks Lhem. lf l could
remember Lhls one llLLle facL Lhen l could work my way Lhrough a large concepL. 1o me, lL made sense Lo
Lry Lo memorlse Lhls facL Lhere and Lhen. l am noL Lalklng abouL long passages of LexL or anyLhlng Loo
demandlng here, [usL someLhlng LhaL shorL and qulck.

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Lvery slngle sub[ecL you wlll ever do ls golng Lo be swamped ln Lechnlcal language and blg" words LhaL
probably mean noLhlng Lo you. As Lhey have no real meanlng Lo you Lhey can be dlfflculL Lo learn and
remember Lhelr meanlng.
lor example, ln sclence, deflnlLlons are a paln. 1here ls loLs of Lechnlcal [argon and sLudenLs forgeL Lhem
all Lhe Llme even afLer worklng hard work Lo learn Lhem.
So, whaL you need Lo do ls puL Lechnlcal [argon ln your own words.

6 7"8 *"92/,:1"+
?ou wlll have experlence of some Lechnlques already. 1v adverLs lnLroduce sLupld annoylng [lngles,
concepLs and phrases so LhaL people wlll remember Lhem. Lven brand names can be LoLally unrelaLed Lo
Lhe producL [usL Lo make Lhem memorable.
WhaL has Lhe word Apple goL Lo do wlLh compuLers, whaL has Lhe word Coogle goL Lo do wlLh search
englnes, whaL has Lhe word Mcuonalds goL Lo do wlLh burgers?
now Lhlnk abouL some of Lhose 1v adverLs llke 'webuyanycar.com' or 'compare Lhe meerkaL'.agaln boLh
memorable because of a [lngle or a concepL. 1he polnL ls LhaL Lhe more absLracL or sllly you can make
someLhlng, Lhen Lhe more llkely you are Lo remember lL.
?ou could be Lrylng Lo remember quoLes from a book ln Lngllsh, maLhemaLlcal formulae, words ln
anoLher language. lf Lhey don'L lnLeresL you, lf Lhey don'L requlre any undersLandlng, lf Lhey mean
noLhlng Lo you or Lhey are wrlLLen ln over compllcaLed Lechnlcal language, Lhen you have no chance of
rememberlng lL unless you puL ln hours of repeLlLlon.
?ou need Lo be able Lo 0,/; *2" *2,/- *23* &$1 3%" *%&,/- *$ %"#"#<"% *$ +$#"*2,/- #$%" #"#$%3<0" $%
,/*"%"+*,/-.
1he polnL ls LhaL Lrylng Lo remember anyLhlng from scraLch wlLh noLhlng Lo prompL or help you can be
dlfflculL. 1haL's why people geL Lhe so called 'exam blanks'. 1here has Lo be someLhlng Lhere Lo help you
and Lhls ls where Lechnlques are useful.
1he flrsL 4 ln Lhe llsL below you can do ln a maLLer of seconds. 1hese are Lhe sorL of Lhlngs l would do all
Lhe Llme, llke when descrlblng malnLalnlng momenLum above:
1. lf lL ls a word LhaL you are Lrylng Lo remember, you can Lry Lo make a =,77"%"/* 8$%= from lL. A
word LhaL ls ldeally sLupld or funny or aL leasL more lnLeresLlng Lhan Lhe one LhaL you are Lrylng Lo
remember. 1he word could be slmllar soundlng Lo Lhe orlglnal word, lL could conLaln some of Lhe
leLLers of Lhe orlglnal word or could be assoclaLed Lo Lhe orlglnal word.

2. 8elaLe lL Lo someLhlng else. SomeLhlng LhaL ls memorable Lo you.

3. uL phrases ln your $8/ 8$%=+. lf Lhey are uslng compllcaLed [argon, Lhen slmpllfy lL by puLLlng lL
ln your own language. lL could even be sllly LexL Lype language or someLhlng LhaL makes you laugh
or how you would speak Lo your frlends, raLher Lhan borlng Lechnlcal [argon.

4. Look for 0,/;+ and =,77"%"/9"+. lf you always geL mlxed up beLween Lwo slmllar looklng or
soundlng Lhlngs, you need Lo flnd a way Lo dlfferenLlaLe beLween Lhem. lay spoL Lhe dlfference
or learn one of Lhem and reverse lL for Lhe oLher.

3. CulLe ofLen people use 3<<%">,3*,$/+ Lo remember phrases or a llsL, for example, Lhe classlc:
8lchard Cf ?ork Coes 8aLLllng ln valn = red, orange, yellow, green, blue, lndlgo and vloleL, whlch ls
supposed Lo represenL Lhe colours ln a ralnbow. l'm sure Lhere are counLless examples of Lhls alone.
1hese are call mnemonlcs (sllenL 'm' aL Lhe sLarL).

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Mnemonlcs works very well. 1he 8lchard of ?ork example above ls one way Lo do lL. AnoLher ls Lo Lurn
Lhe word or phrase lnLo a plcLure and relaLe lL Lo anoLher plcLure.
1hls works well by flrsLly havlng a predeflned llsL from say 1 Lo 20. Lach number has a predeflned plcLure
aLLached Lo lL (Lhls ls geLLlng a blL more Lechnlcal and Lhere are ways Lo do Lhls on Lhe lnLerneL lf you look
for lL).
8rlefly, as en example, Lhe predeflned llsL LhaL you need could rhyme: 1 = bun, 2 = shoe, 3 = Lree, 4 =
floor, 3 = dlve.
?ou Lhen Lake Lhe word LhaL you are Lrylng Lo remember and make a menLal plcLure wlLh Lhe Lhlng ln Lhe
predeflned llsL. Make Lhe plcLure as sllly or wacky as posslble. So when you Lhen Lry Lo recall Lhe word,
you Lhlnk of 1, a bun should pop lnLo your head and Lhen Lhe plcLure, wlLh Lhe word you are looklng for.
?ou should also noL rely upon memory Lechnlques. 1hey should be vlewed as a bonus. 1hey are Lhere Lo
be used when needed buL Lhey are noL a subsLlLuLe for proper sLudylng. lf you sLudy well all year Lhen
you wlll remember Lhe ma[orlLy of your course maLerlal wlLhouL necessarlly slLLlng dolng Lrylng Lo
remember.