English
English
Let the memory live again
Autor: Karolina Pluta
Why do we remember things? How does it happen that we can recall the facts, ideas and experiences from the past? We remember because the connections between our brain’s neurons change. Memory is a record of our experience, which is later used to guide our future behaviour.
It is easier for us to remember the things which we had experienced before or which are emotionally important to us. Everybody can use some strategies to reinforce their memory in a specific situation. They are called mnemotechniques.
Some of them are already well-known to us like rhymes, which are very useful in the education of children. When did Columbus discover America? "In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue".
If you have to remember a set of things, it might be possible to arrange them so that the initial letters make up an acronym, e.g. ‘carrots, apples, tomatoes’ form CAT.
You can also create a phrase with the same initial letters of the words. For example, to remember the order of the planets from the Sun it is enough to keep in mind My Very Easy Method: Just Set Up Nine Planets, which corresponds with the planet names: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.
This method is also very useful to learn the spelling of some tricky or difficult English words like RHYTHM: Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move.
You might be wondering if people are really using original methods of learning things. Arthur Verrall was a Cambridge University professor. He was once talking with his student about a mutual friend who had moved to 58 Oakley Street. When the student complained that this number would be difficult to remember, the professor disagreed. "Not at all," said Verall. The “Septuagint minus the Apostles!”
Karolina Pluta
Konsultacja językowa Ryszard Piękoś
Dictionary/Słownik:
Septuagint – Septuaginta (łac. 70)
Record – tu: zapis
To guide – kierować
To reinforce – wzmocnić
Mnemotechniques – mnemotechniki
Initial – początkowy
Mutual – wspólny
fot.
