Fluent in 3 months - Language Hacking and Travel Tips

How to Use a Memory Palace to

Boost Your Vocabulary
by ANTHONY METIVIER (HTTPS://WWW.FLUENTIN3MONTHS.COM/AUTHOR/METIVIERANN/)

The clever use of mnemonics is something I talk about a lot when I try to get beginner
language learners into acquiring new words quickly. It's vastly superior to the rote
learning technique we tend to use in school. That's why I'm glad to have a post that takes
this to a whole new level, through memory palaces, presentedby memory trainer Anthony
Metivier (http://www.magneticmemorymethod.com).

Over to you Anthony!

Do you want to become uent in a new language, faster?

Id like to show you a proven language learning technique you can use to memorize and
recall difcult new words and phrases: mnemonics.

A mnemonic is a learning device that helps you recall difcult information. One of the
most powerful types of mnemonics is the Memory Palace. You can use a memory palace to
memorize hundreds of words and phrases from your language of choice at will.

In this blog post, Ill explain why mnemonics work, but in a way that you may not have
encountered before. Ill tell you about Memory Palaces and how to construct one expressly
for boosting uency in your target language.

Plus Ill explain how Abraham Lincoln can help you learn faster.

The Scientic Case for Mnemonics

In his book Learning German with Mnemonics (http://www.learn-german-smarter.com/),
German (https://www.uentin3months.com/language-hacking-german-10tips/) teacher
Peter Heinrich reports positive results amongst students who used mnemonics to learn
and memorize German articles like der, die and das. As he points out, articles can be
difcult to learn because as phonemes, they have no particular meaning.

But by using an image like a boxer to associate with all words that take the masculine
article der, a skirt with die for feminine and re for the neutral article das, students can
make faster progress, because der Bus becomes a boxer pounding on a bus, die Flasche
becomes a Coke bottle wearing a skirt and das Band becomes a ribbon covered in ames.
Heinrich found the retention rate of learners not using mnemonics was 47 percent,
whereas students learning German (https://www.uentin3months.com/german-learning-
resources/) verbs, adjectives and other points of grammar using mnemonics had an 82
percent retention rate.
percent retention rate.

Additionally, in a now famous study on mnemonic techniques

(http://egitimvebilim.ted.org.tr/index.php/EB/article/viewFile/783/377), Professor Richard
C. Atkinson demonstrated the ineffectiveness of rote learning by writing words repeatedly.
He concluded Mnemonic strategies have therefore had particular success in the learning
of a language.

Memory techniques dont apply only to languages that stem from English. James Heisig
has helped many students learn Japanese using mnemonicsusing an approach similar to
Bennys for how he learns new words (https://www.uentin3months.com/imagination-
your-key-to-memorizing-hundreds-of-words-quickly/).

If Mnemonics Work, Why Don't More People Use Them?

A key reason more people don't use mnemonics is because the books advocating this
method of language learning are lled with examples that come from the imagination of
the author rather than teaching the reader how to create their own. Few books teach you
how to come up with your associative-imagery to encode the words and phrases you learn
into your memory (an easy technique I will show you shortly).

On top of that, mnemonics are rarely taught in the context of language learning or a
Memory Palace.

A Short History of the First Memory Palace

(https://www.uentin3months.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Simonides.jpg)

Sometime during 556-468 BC, the Greek poet Simonides of Ceos

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci)attended a banquet to give a speech.
Someone called him outside, and at that moment the roof caved in and crushed everyone
left in the building.

Because Simonides used a special memory technique to hold the names of all the
attendees and where they had been sitting, he was able to identify all the bodies.
Simonides achievement helped the bereaved families properly bury their dead.

And with this heroic act of memory, the idea using a building or Memory Palace to place,
store and retrieve information was born.

What is a Memory Palace?

A Memory Palace is an imaginary construct in your mind thats based on a real location. If
you can see your bedroom in your mind, then you can build a Memory Palace.
(https://www.uentin3months.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/walker_memory_palace.jpg)

Within your Memory Palace, stations are locations like a bedroom or sitting room and
the space between them is called a journey. As you build your Memory Palace, you will
leave words and phrases at these stations and then pick them up later on when you take a
journey through your palace.

Please dont rob yourself of this powerful language learning device by saying you're not a
visual person. In whatever way feels natural, just think about where your bedroom is in
relation to your kitchen. Consider how you would move from the bedroom to the kitchen.
Take note of the doors, hallways and rooms along the way.

As an example, this image is a simple drawing of a high school I attended:

(https://www.uentin3months.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/brock_highschool_memory_palace.jpg)

Each station in this Memory Palace has a number. These numbers are for creating a top-
down or numbered list of the stations in the Memory Palace.

How to Create a Memory Palace In 4 Easy Steps

Step 1: Choose a familiar building and draw a oorplan. This can be your home, a school,
church or movie theatre. It can be any building so long as you know it well enough to draw
a oor plan.

Step 2: Form a linear path through the oorplan. Do this before you number your stations.
Memory Palaces work best when you don't cross your own path or lead yourself into a
dead end. Dont cram every possible station into your rst palace. Include the obvious
locations like a bathroom, bedroom, living room, kitchen, as well as an entry point.

Heres an example of the same Memory Palace with arrows:

(https://www.uentin3months.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/brock_highschool_memory_palace_2.jpg)

Notice that my journey is simple and linear. Because I know this location well, it is almost
nothing for me to think about as I move from station to station. You should select
buildings with which you have a similar level of familiarity.

Step 3: Make a top-down list of those stations in linear order. This step is useful for testing
purposes. Heres an example of how you can create such a document:

(https://www.uentin3months.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/excel_memory_palace_screenshot.png)

Step 4: Review your palace: At this point, you should have: (1) a oorplan of a familiar
building, (2) a linear path drawn on the oorplan that does not cross itself, (3) designated
a starting point and exit point, (4) numbered the stations, (5) written the top-down list,
and (6) walked through the Memory Palace (oorplan) several times so you can see or
recall each station.

Congratulations on constructing your rst Memory Palace!

How to Use Your Memory Palace

Now, it's time to learn how to place words and phrases on each of the stations in your
Memory Palace. To make these words and stations memorable, were going to use the
three classic principles of learning and memory. These are:
 1. Paying attention in a special way to target words and phrases.
2. Encoding the sound and meaning of information using imagery and action so each
word or phrase becomes memorable.
3. Decoding imagery and actions so you can move words and phrases into long-term
memory.

To encode your information, create images that are large, bright, colorful, weird and lled
with intense action. You can stick the images to a station in your Memory Palace and
revisit them at any time.

Tip: exaggerate this imagery so that you can retrieve them by drawing on sounds and
meaning.

(https://www.uentin3months.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Elephant-With-
Wings.jpg)

For example: If youre learning Spanish and you discover that tengo para dar y regalar
basically translates in English to, Ive got plenty to share, would you nd that phrase
immediately memorable?

Probably not.

But what if I told you Id seen a strange performance of a tango dance with Darth Vader
tangled up in a parachute? And in his frustration hes trilling an r with his tongue
through his breathing grill while trying to share an egg with his dancing partner. She
herself is a giant egg and also tangled up with Darth Vader in the parachute. She says, no
thanks, Ive got plenty. Darth Vader responds, No really, Ive got plenty to share.

Are you be able to see that scene in your mind? Its such an unusual image that chances
are you can.

Next, imagine this scene taking place in your bathtub. Really concentrate on the elements.
This is the kind of outlandish image and sound-based story you need when you bring your
mind back to your bathroom tub and decode it. The equation here is:

Tango + para(chute) + Dar(th Vader) trilling r and handing off a reggular = tengo para
dar y regalar.

With a few visits to the story and practice decoding it for sound and meaning, followed by
use in a speaking session, the phrase will quickly pour itself into long term memory.

Notice how in this example Ive tied sound to meaning using the images and actions. Its
Notice how in this example Ive tied sound to meaning using the images and actions. Its
not just that Darth Vader trilling his r and handing off an egg helps recall the sound of
the word. The action also helps regular the meaning of the word in the context of the
phrase.

Obviously, this example doesnt provide a one-to-one correspondence. I also havent

incorporated y, but I needed to, it would be as simple as having Darth Vader wearing a
y shaped neck brace that shouts eee at the situation. But in general, small words like
y tend to take care of themselves if you let them. And if you create similar scenes and
images on your own, theyll be close enough to jog your memory. The more you practice,
the better youll get.

Now remember, this is an example from my mind. In order for these procedures to work
for you, you have to come up with your own images and actions.

The reason this story works for me is because Im a fan of Star Wars, I love tango music
and its just the image that my imagination brought to me. If you let yourself relax and
your imagination ow, youll nd that with a minimum amount of practice, you can create
memorable and useful images like these too.

Enter Abraham Lincoln!

We can take things further and make the combination of a Memory Palace station like a
bathtub much more useful using another technique: a bridging gure.

The concept of a bridging gure will help you supercharge your Memory Palace and
accelerate your learning. This gure is someone who takes an imaginary journey through
your Palace and interacts with your images for each word. Ideally, your bridging gure
should be a person you already remember.

For example, I use Abraham Lincoln for words that start with A.

In this example, you can see Abraham Lincoln assisting me with the memorization of four
Spanish words using a journey in my old ofce in Berlin.

(https://www.uentin3months.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Abraham-Lincoln-
Learning-Spanish.png)

Bed Abajo: Abraham Lincoln smashing tobacco into a banjo down below his feet.
Bed Abajo: Abraham Lincoln smashing tobacco into a banjo down below his feet.

Desk Abrir: Abraham Lincoln tearing a hole in the rear of his pants to reveal an ear.

Wall Abuela: Abraham Lincoln says boo in Grandma Ella Fitzgerald's ear. My Grandpa
shouts lo (abuelo) and pulls Ella away. She says ,los as they pair up (abuelos).

I recommend focusing only on the words that interest you the most and that you think
you'll use. In other words, you dont have to memorize an entire dictionary like Dr. Yip
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDcVKtyryPw) to get great results with reaching your
vocabulary building goals.

Practical Tips for Using Your Memory Palace to Master a

Foreign Language
1. Build a well-constructed Memory Palace using the principles youve just learned.
2. Relax. Memory techniques work best when youre mentally and physically free from
stress.
3. Memorize a selected list of words, ideally in alphabetic order.
4. Catalog the words, meanings and mnemonics either by hand on paper or in an Excel
le or the equivalent.
5. Remove yourself from your written record or Excel le and all other materials that
might cause you to cheat by looking up the meanings of each word.
6. Write out the words and meanings based on your memory on a piece of paper. Dont
worry if you miss a word or your associative imagery fails to trigger the sound and
meaning of a word on your list. You can x this later.
7. Check the list you produced from memory with your record.
8. Use these words in conversations, write them into a ten-sentence email and keep your
eyes and ears open for them as you read and listen to your target language.

The Power of the Memory Palace for Language Learners

A Memory Palace is a powerful language learning device that you can use alongside other
techniques to learn and speak a foreign language.

Constructing a Memory Palace takes just a few hours and as you become more procient
building them, this method of learning will help you grow your vocabulary faster.

Once you have stored words and phrases in your Memory Palace, draw on them often as
part of your speaking practice. You may stumble and pause while accessing these words
and phrases, but dont worry: this is something we do in our mother tongues too.

If you practice and relax, the words and images youve created in your Memory Place will
come back to you when you need them, and theyll make the process of learning and
speaking a foreign language feel easier and more enjoyable.

So if youre ready and excited to build a Memory Palace and start using it to stock up on
words and phrases, you can tap your mind for familiar locations starting right now. Happy
memorizing!

About Anthony Metivier

(https://www.uentin3months.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Anthony-
Metivier.jpg)Anthony Metivier is a Canadian author and memory
trainer.If you want more help with Memory Palace construction and
 trainer.If you want more help with Memory Palace construction and
use, Anthony hasa free memory kit and video series that expands on
these ideas in detail:Memory Palace Mastery worksheets and free
video course (http://www.magneticmemorymethod.com/benny/).

ANTHONY METIVIER
SPEAKS:

View all posts by Anthony Metivier

(https://www.uentin3months.com/author/metivierann/)

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