Memory Tips

General memory tips:

• Concentrate!
  You need to learn something before you can remember it. So listen in class and choose quiet places to study, where you can concentrate.
  

• Ask yourself questions about what you are studying as you read
  You are more likely to remember information if you have a purpose for reading it. Ask yourself questions about what you are studying as you read.

• Try to remember your lessons without your books
  A very good way to remember information is to try to remember it without your books. Test your memory by making notes and then checking them against your books.

• Quickly look again at what you have studied at the end of every lesson
  Quickly look at the main points of what you have studied at the end of each lesson to help you remember them later. Summarise your notes using key words – these key words will help improve your memory later on.

• Look at what you have studied as often as possible
  Regular study is a better way of remembering than trying to learn everything at the last minute.

• Use different learning techniques
  Generally, we remember 20% of what we read; 30 % of what we hear; 40% of what we see; 50% of what we write or say and 60% of what we do. Write material down, say it out loud, draw pictures: try to use all your senses.

Vocabulary memory tips:

• Draw pictures of the words
  Simple pictures are good enough. Thinking of a way to illustrate new words will help you to remember them later on. Also, pictures are easier to remember than words.

• Use new words to write sentences about yourself
  Using new words in a personalised way is an excellent way to memorise them. Writing words down and using them in context will help you learn the meanings.

• Act out words as you learn them
  Perform an action which describes the word as you learn it.

• Say the words out loud as you learn them
  Record yourself saying the words out loud and then listen to the recording.

• Look for connections between new words
  You can do this by organising words into groups. For example, by topic, in pairs (with similar or opposite meanings), by word types (verb, noun, adjective etc).

• Look and listen for the new words you are learning
  Look out and listen for the new words when you are speaking to people, watching TV, or reading books and magazines in English.

• Write words in a small notebook
  Write news words in a notebook. Include an example sentence. Carry the notebook with you and use it to test yourself when you have some spare time: during your lunch break or waiting for the bus.

• Use different learning techniques
  Generally, we remember 20% of what we read; 30 % of what we hear; 40% of what we see; 50% of what we write or say and 60% of what we do. Try to use all of your senses.