It's good to replay facts, images, words and intentions over and over to yourself. But psychologists have shown it's better to 'distribute' practice rather than to have it 'massed' into one session. So, for example, when practising a name you've just learned, don't repeat it over and over in sequence. Repeat it to yourself once or twice, then try something else. Then come back to it.
Ideally, use expanding intervals and repeat it to yourself over longer and longer time periods. And don't cram for exams!
If you're trying to remember words in a new language try using flash cards around the house with the words written on them - that will keep reinforcing the memory.
Janet
Usefull, particularly the flash card suggestion.
Lynn Henry
Yes, to learn script for instance, learn half a page, the next night learn the next half, the following night put the two halves together
Candy
Cramming doesn't work. ever. it just messes up your mind and you get stressed when you dont remember! as a singer i have to "rehearse" anyway, everyday, and its easier to learn a little bit everyday and remember that than to cram in one day and try and remember everything the next, b/c it just doesnt work.
George
When I come back to it I've forgotten it! I'm still a crammer, sorry!
M.C.
Quite useful. I find it works if I have a meeting and want to make a point.
Tracy
Very useful technique, which has been so helpful to me over the years. I found it good for remembering equations aswell when studying chemistry and physics at school.
June
I agrre that having flash cards around the house to keep reminding yourself of key points would be useful.
Lisa
Flash cards are great and so is rehearsing - this is one the one that works for me best, repetition. Going over it again and again until its ingrained in my brain!
aileen
good tip - especially if a word is "on the tip of your tongue". - It's just no good desperately trying to think what it is. - You have to come back to it, and it's just there!
Strange phenomenon!
Simon James (Grockle)
This seems to be the technique I must have been using to some effect to learn some Jazz stanards for the walking bass line in the left hand. Obviously you need to know what chord is on the horizon next. Still hard though.
bogwell
98% success rate with this method for learning play scripts, and bullets for presentations.
Ian
Could be useful I'll try it in a few weeks
sadie
rehearsing will help you remember things better like if you read some sentences a few times you can remember it.
TOPTIP!
Rick
Practice makes ..... PERMANENT
I agree that practice works but only if what you are learning is correct.
Veronica Grantham
My 3 year old niece uses the 'flash card' technique to learn chinese characters. Her school in Sydney is full of young children like her who have already learnt 200-300 chinese characters. No bad for their age!!!
Me
I like to cram the night before an exam anyway! It's so reasurring when I come accross loads of facts that I already know and any I'm a little rusty on it reminds me so that in the exam everything looks familiar.
Obviously I rehearse them beforehand for revision, so it works, but don't tell me not to cram!!!!1!!1
Mandy Winter
Depends what it is I'm trying to remember, no problems with names and faces, foreign language, thats different and unless its simple and not a tongue twister I don't seem to be able to remember.
Sue
I have used this and it works
JAMES ELEY
GREAT
steve
This is the main technique I used for my computing degree many years ago, and I pass no problem. I did use cramming to get the facts in my head, but generally, it help to cover each subject in ever increasing levels of detail, and repeating each level of detail at 1, 2, 5, and 7 day intervals.
It's only the stuff I learnt in this way, that I can rememeber to this day - but it's the facts (that I crammed and have now forgotten) that "impresses" people in conversation.
Cramming
This was covered in Cramming. See, I remembered!
Rehearsing is a pretty obvious choice, however.
Peggy
It works. As with all these tips, no single one works for all memory problems.Learning individual words for a language this way helps me with reading, but not with grammar. I keep trying different methods of learning the endings for Russian nouns and adjectives, but haven't hit on any that works yet.
Marjorie W.Brown
I remember where a fact appears on a page
and then visualising it when it comes to the test. This means that
preparing for a test I would have to !see! several notes I had made or visualise the book that gave me the information
Gill
I use this method with children in my class to learn tables & spellings.They have a box small with dividers-every day, 2 days,1 week,1 month. New things go in front compartment -when they know them they gradually move back. Get one wrong it goes back to start. It's an rxcellent method & the whole of class, knew all their tables,%, fractions & decimal equivalent facts.
Sandra
This is a must for someone who does a lot of presentations and public speaking. Works for me and like Mags I tend to use bullets to remind myself of key points rather than try to learn it all verbatim.
Mags
Now this is interesting. As part of my degree we had to give talks on certain subjects. Everyone else wrote theirs down on a piece of paper, the complete speech. Whereas I felt more comfortable using flashcards with the shape of the speech and the pertinant quotes written in. Now inorder to be able to talk for the requiste 15 mins (no more no less) I had to have a few practices making sure I got the right amount of information in (everyone else had been told so many word = so many minutes and written accordingly). Well long story short, come the day for the talks. Turns out I was the only one to speak without stuttering or stop-starting. Occainsionally my friends would begin a sentence and forget what they were saying. And this was from reading from the piece of paper they had in their hands. According to the lecturer I was the most coherent of the bunch, thath and I was the only one to make eye-contact witht the audience. This was because I had made sure I had rehearsed it rather than relying on reading out loud.
shanaz ahmed
this is a useful tip that I shall use
Margaret
I have never tried flash cards but remember my children having them. I shall try it.
John
This method got me through exams essays. Writing everything down, reading and recording on tape then listening to the playback - sometimes when reading at the same time. I could memorise whole essays this way
hipmummie
The post-its on things for languages works for me but again, only if I am writing the word. Actually saying the word or putting it in a sentance from memory is near impossible for me.
Ljn
Yes because I can then put myself into a situation: at the cafe, at the airport ...
Eva
Yep! Rehearsing absolutely works!
Roz
Yes - very useful; I spend a lot of time giving my students suggestions as to how they can revise effectively. They need to use a variety of techniques including rehearsal and to incorporate several senses e.g. by using colour, shape and texture.
I hope they are listening to your programme and I shall guide them to this website! Thanks.
phil
This applies to my learning of languages. for example, verb conjugations can vary a lot among languages. I put them into root + ending patterns, and then find a way to remember by differences among languages as well as by repeated speech pattern - i.e what 'sounds' right for that language.
then, coming back to each language every now and then, I can keep up the level of familiarity with the material.
Jane
Rehersal is very useful, and put to best use when it will be something you are worried about messing up, presentation, public appearance, examination even travel and following route plans.
Prue anderton
While on a course on Speaking With Confidence, One tip remains with me . Quite simply----Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Now Whenever I have to give a speech, I make sure I practise and have "flash cards" to prompt me if I forget anything
mary
Moving while rehearsing works for me - I can still remember the registration number of a car my grandfather bought 54 years ago because I walked round and round the garage repeating it to myself until it stuck in my head - but i couldn't tell you the number of the car I am driving now unless i go outside to look at it!
Sue
Yes, this works.
Jan
A while ago I had to learn several pieces of choral music by memory so that I could take part in a performance despite not being able to attend rehearsals. I realised that although I always end up knowing my part by heart as a result of the weekly rehearsal process, I had no idea how to sit down and learn it quickly, on my own, without hearing it - notes, text, repeats, dynamics and so on. I ended up analysing the pieces, finding repeat patterns (same notes/same words, same notes/different words, same words/different notes and unique sections. I learned the notes first, then wrote out the text separately, colour coding lines that had the same melody. In the end I had reduced it to something I could memorise, and I had no problems. But I also think that all the analysis itself probably helped to drum it into my head, because I had to LOOK for ways to make it easier.
Helen
The best way to rehearse something is to write it out as you need to process information to remember it. I used to write my own revision notes for exams by subject in small notebooks and that act helped me to "set" the memory - you could then return to the notes and use them in the conventional way
Kay Barnard
When learning vast amounts of information for exams, I always found (and still do) that writing things down seems to "embed" the information in the brain. I often used to rewite my notes several times over. Is there a link between repetitive motor activity (in this case writing) and keeping the information in longer-term memory? I can still remember lots of "stuff" from both school and university.
Peter
Rehearsing something makes the links of the thing rehearsed stronger in memory, and therefore it is essential. In fact it is also mandatory, because there are few things we do repeatedly and get them wrong unless they are silly little errors where we don't really bother.
Barbara
A few times I've had to learn to use quite complex software programs and I find I always end up "rehearsing" actions in my sleep! It's probably a good thing, but it's intensely annoying to work hard all day and still be at work in my dreams.
Trevor
Connected with the advice on cramming: little and often is the rule.
