Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with memorization

How much memorization does art dance performance require?

Joe Beese — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:52:35 -0800

How much memorization does art dance performance require? I assume it varies between genres - and between roles within genres. But can useful generalizations be made about how much performance data retrieval per minute is involved compared with, say, playing in a symphony orchestra?

Your best tips for working with stacks of 5x3" paper index cards?

NucleophilicAttack — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:11:23 -0800

Give me your best tips and tricks for dealing with large volumes of 5x3" index cards! As a preface, I'm looking specifically for tips on managing paper index cards, not recommendations or tips for programs, or moving to electronic systems.

For the purposes of memorizing information, I've been making decks of index cards, at the rate of one or two hundred new cards (one or two decks) a week. I anticipate doing this for a while, with an end product eventually of a few thousand cards, sorted into probably thirty to fifty decks, of one or two hundred cards, each.

While I don't specifically need to shuffle (I'll be reviewing each deck largely 'in order'), I would like to have a system where I can rapidly flip through a deck, add and remove cards very easily. I'm also using both sides of each card, for purposes of quizzing myself.

I'm finding it cumbersome to manage several decks of hundreds of loose cards each, and it's becoming quite a chore to keep the stacks neat, organized, separate, and clean. I'm also having trouble identifying what the content of a given deck is at a glance. Also, I'd like to be able to 'flag' a card for further review without removing it from its given position in a deck.

Other than the obvious rubber band, are there any tips, tricks, or tools that you have for managing decks of paper index cards? Should I hole punch them in one corner and put each deck on a giant round key ring, in order to review? Are there index card carriers? Any cool gadgets or organizational tips, would be greatly appreciated!

Help me overcome my terror of my art history graduate school comprehensive exam.

lxs — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:56:55 -0800

Help me overcome my terror of my graduate school comprehensive exam. I'm in a graduate program in art history and I have to take my comprehensive exam this fall. It involves memorizing the artist, title, date, period, and two points of significance for 500 works of art, and I have about seven weeks to prepare.

My problem is twofold: first, a good number of the works on the list of images to study are outside my field and I've found them incredibly difficult to memorize––I have little context for them and due to the number of them, don't really have enough time to teach myself said context. I am also very poor at memorization and so getting through the works outside my field has been as difficult as memorizing random strings of numbers for me. There are so many works that making flashcards is really time consuming and takes up time I should be using to memorize information. I've also been having difficulty using things like mnemonic devices––the dates of works, for instance, are random enough that I can't come up with anything that works. So, I'm looking for any sort of advice that might be available for memorizing very large amounts of unfamiliar, contextless information.

I also already took this exam once and failed it, which has really psyched me out. I am completely overwhelmed by the test and the task of preparing for it. I've tried creating a schedule for myself, but end up getting stressed out, not following said schedule, and feeling terrible about myself. I'm not certain how to manage my time most effectively to get through this, but I know it's a skill I really need to get down for grad school. Any suggestions for this, far more neurotic aspect of the test would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance!

Shakespeare's overlooked speeches

EarBucket — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:17:49 -0800

What are some good (relatively) obscure monologues from Shakespeare? I've decided I'd like to memorize at least one short (~one to two minutes) monologue from each of Shakespeare's plays. Male or female parts, but I'd like them to be non-obvious, i.e., no "St. Crispian's Day" or "Now is the winter. . ." Any suggestions?

I am a human being! Not a tape recorder!

Fuzzy Dog — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:53:35 -0800

Please help me memorize a huge amount of dialog for a play! I have performed on stage before, in large and small roles, but not in a role this large, I am very excited about the part, but struggling to memorize the large amount of dialog, this is compounded by the fact that the character has very strange, and often incomplete sentence patterns.

There is still a month to production, but even though I study every day for a 2 -3 hours, I am way behind the curve in committing my part to memory.

So I figure it must be partially related to my technique. What are some techniques the hive mind has used to memorize things verbatim?

Any and all help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Short world-changing documents written in English.

salvia — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:17:55 -0800

What essays, papers, or declarations were written in English and have changed the world.... and are short enough to memorize? Memorization helps prevent the early onset of dementia. My roommate brought this up at a house dinner last night, and -- after a rousing recitation of the declaration he's memorizing -- convinced several of us to memorize something ourselves. Now we're all trying to come up with good selections.

The rules:
* It must have "changed the world" or "changed history."

* It must have been written in English. It can have been simultaneously written in another language, but the translation cannot have been an afterthought. So, the Bible and the Koran are out. (Some people were open to exceptions here.)

* It must be short enough to memorize but long enough to be a challenge. My roommate tested his -- it was 17,000 words long and took him 90 minutes to read out loud. So I'd say 20,000 words is the outside limit. Shorter is fine, but we don't want it so incredibly short that it's too easy.

* Ideally, we'd memorize the entirety of the document, rather than a sub-section.

We were surprised -- the group of us could only brainstorm half a dozen documents that really met all the criteria. I thought perhaps you all might have a few to suggest.

Jobs involving memorization?

cadge — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 06:17:21 -0800

I have a good memory. What are some careers that involve memorization? I have a very good memory - not freakishly photographic, but good enough that memorizing things comes easily to me, especially data in lists. It's been great so far in life for acing vocab tests and pub trivia games, but I'm curious about what I could do to put it to further use. What kind of jobs really benefit from being able to memorize long and memorize fast?

This might be a bit Chatfilter. Mainly I am curious because my imagination is stopping at "foreign language translator" and "actor." I don't have any immediate plans to change careers, unless maybe someone suggests something mindblowing! :)

Importing tab-delimited text into supermemo

mammary16 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:06:30 -0800

How to import text into SuperMemo? After looking around on AskMefi for flash card suggestions, I've decided to use SuperMemo. However, I can't figure out (after looking through their help files) how to import all these words I have in a tab-delimited text file, which I created from an Excel file I've been entering Russian words and their translations into.

Anybody know? The only files SuperMemo lets me open are ".kno" files, which I don't know how to create. Best I could find was a program that converted text files into .pdb files for SuperMemo.

I'm sure the answer's really easy, but I'm not the most computer savvy.

Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a better note-card program that spaces things out (so that I can put thousands of Russian words in a database and have the computer schedule it for me) - I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Flash card programs for Windows ...?

killdevil — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:26:26 -0800

What is the best software out there for making, printing and managing large numbers of flash cards? I'm involved in some rather memory-intensive academic work at present. I've been experimenting with various Windows flash card programs, but haven't yet found anything that I consider to be a killer app.

My ideal program would be professionally coded (as opposed to some of the dreck I've found so far), incorporate some basic drawing tools and/or allow external image placement, support importing of cards from Excel and/or CSV files, and have sophisticated printing and card management capabilities.

The closest I've come to a decent solution is WinFlash; it unfortunately feels like it was written by an 8-year-old with a mediocre grasp of Visual Basic.

Suggestions? Pointers towards more general "knowledge management" applications that include flash card functionality are also appreciated.

Can't Remember My Own Lyrics

Ironmouth — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 08:10:26 -0800

I'm starting to gig out for the first time. Problem is I often forget the lyrics, even though I wrote them. Any suggestions for remembering one's own lyrics?

Memorization/self-quiz software

sherlockt — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:30:53 -0800

Does anyone know of good computer software for general memorization? When I approach a topic or realm of information, I find that I am a "top-down" learner - I need to master the big picture first before I can remember all the little details. I'm looking for a software program that can aid this process. . .specifically, something where I can enter an outline and be quizzed on the major points or subpoints. For example, if I were to learn about physiology, I would want something where I can put the names of the major systems, then subsystems, and so on. Then the software would quiz me at a high level ("what are the major body systems") and at a lower detail level (name the major areas of the brain) and so on down through levels of detail. Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

Help me improve my memory!

johnd101 — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 13:56:42 -0800

I’m studying for an exam and would like some tips on polishing my memorization skills. How do actors remember their lines? I know repetition helps, but what else can I do to retain the questions/answers I’m studying. Any tips, tricks or websites of interest would be appreciated.

Language learning tips!

anjamu — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 18:43:48 -0800

I'm at a stage where I need to memorize vocabulary in a foreign language, and I am looking for advice, tips & useful software. The more recommendations, the happier I'll be, especially as regards flashcard software and that sort of thing.

I'm also interested in radio broadcasts in Spanish, French & Portuguese, and possibly slowly-spoken Hindi. And in bilingual texts in the latter.

And memorization techniques, can't forget those.

Ooof.

What should I memorize?

NickDouglas — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 10:21:34 -0800

What are some common and useful things I can memorize? I carry a Hipster PDA around, and I'd like to fill an index card or two with poetry, facts, or anything useful to memorize in my spare moments (standing in line, stuck somewhere without a book). I am not interested in scripture or conversion rates.

temp to perm memory

grumblebee — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 13:44:02 -0800

For some research I'm doing (in order to help actors), I'd like to know what science exists about moving data from (human) temporary memory to (human) permanent memory. I DO know that our temporary memory can only hold about seven items at once. But what is the most efficient way to move those items from temp to perm? Let's say someone told you to memorize three phone numbers so that you could recall them next week. Obviously, this would involve some repetition. But how much? Can we say something like, "for most people, saying each number 60 times will be enough to move it into permanent memory?" Should you repeat it 10 times, take a break, and then do another round? Surely there have been experiments.

How do I learn lots of people's names quickly?

sdis — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 20:16:44 -0800

How do I learn lots of names of people quickly? I'm beginning a summer at the Middlebury language schools and I need to get to know as many people as possible *quick*. Unfortunately, I suck at remembering names. Even for like 3 seconds. I try to write them down as fast as possible, and most of the time I lose it before I get to my handy pocket notebook. Tips?

Memorization tips and tricks?

Mossy — Wed, 26 May 2004 20:47:14 -0800

Exam time. 2 weeks until some massive exams, which mostly consist of memorising and regurgitating code snippets and proofs for maths theorems out. Any tips/hints for last minute revision to round off longer term memorisation?

Memorizing a 5-minute speech for a contest--in Japanese.

Jeanne — Sun, 07 Mar 2004 20:08:28 -0800

Help! I have less than one week to memorize a 5-minute speech for a contest--in Japanese. Most of what I can find on Google tells me not to bother with memorization, but the contest rules say I have to have it memorized verbatim. I have about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes memorized so far, but they're not solid yet. Does anyone have some tips for memorization?