Make a Memory Palace to Improve Your English

 

Sherlock Holmes is an imaginary¹ private detective created by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1880s. Doyle's stories about the detective have been turned into movies and television shows.

One of Sherlock Holmes' great skills is a powerful memory. In a recent BBC television series, the character uses a memory technique called a "mind palace" or "memory palace."

On one show, for example, Holmes has been severely² wounded in a shooting and retreats³ into his mind to search for ways to survive. He visits rooms in his mind palace, looking for helpful memories. In one room, he finds his childhood dog, and the memory helps calm the detective.

The memory palace idea was not a BBC creation⁴. The method for remembering has existed for thousands of years. Many language educators today teach their students how to use the method to improve their language skills.

But what exactly is a memory palace? It is a real structure, such as a home or building, that you can picture in your head. You then imagine placing things you want to remember inside the structure.

You can use a memory palace to remember words, phrases, facts, or even the order of events. If you can see the inside of a house or building in your mind, you can make your own memory palace. On today's Education Tips, we will show you how.

Making your palace

Start with a list of words or phrases that you want to remember. Then, close your eyes and choose a physical space that you know well, such as your home, a school you attended, or a current or former workplace. If your chosen space has only one or two rooms, do not worry. You can also use things like doors, passageways, steps or other permanent places along the physical path.

The next step is to imagine walking through the space using the path that you would normally⁵ take through it. As you walk through, put objects that you want to remember at specific places along the path. Leave the objects there to pick up later when you visit your memory palace.

Now, let's try this technique by using six ingredients⁷ for a pizza: flour, water, dry yeast⁸, tomato sauce, cheese and basil.

Close your eyes and picture a home.

First, you open the front door and see a bag of flour on the floor. The bag is broken and some of the flour has spilled. You are worried that you might slip, so you carefully step over the area.

Second, you walk into your bedroom. On top of your bed sits a cup of water. The cup is shaped like an upside-down⁹ piece of pizza. You think about how funny that is and laugh about it.

Third, as you enter the living room, you see a very large spoon of dry yeast sitting on the sofa. The spoon is watching a cooking show on television.

Fourth, while standing¹⁰ in the living room, you notice the room has a strange smell to it. You look above the television and see a block of cheese hanging on the wall.

Fifth, you walk into the kitchen and see two tomatoes chasing¹¹ each other around the room. Suddenly, they crash and explode, covering the floor in red.

And sixth, you open the back door and go outside. There, you see a group of very tall green basil plants. In a funny voice, the tallest plant says, "Choose me! Choose me!"

Did you notice anything strange about the palace? It was full of extraordinary and humorous imagery. We will say more about that in a few minutes.

But first, let's check how well our technique worked. See if you can answer these questions:

1-What was on the wall above the television?

2-Where were the tomatoes and what were they doing?

3-Which object was sitting on the bed?

4-Where was the yeast and what was it doing?

5-Which ingredient⁶ spoke¹² and what did it say?

6-What did you see when you opened the front door?

My guess is that you remembered everything in our memory palace. That's good news.

Make memory strong

Experts offer some advice for making strong memory palaces.

For instance¹³, if you want to remember a lot of words, memory trainer Anthony Metivier suggests first drawing a simple map of your memory palace. Then, number the places along your path where you will put the things that you want to remember. You can put more than one thing in each room or area. Later, you will add the mental imagery.

English teacher James, of the YouTube channel JamesESL English Lessons, has additional¹⁴ advice. In his video on memory palaces, he says that there are three keys to a strong memory palace. They are: emotion, movement, and connections between the object and something permanent.

Both he and Metivier say imagining things in a humorous or crazy way improves your ability to remember them. These experts also agree that connecting images to actions or movement will create lasting¹⁵ memories. For instance, the tomatoes were chasing each other and the basil spoke.

And finally, teacher James suggests placing the objects next to or on something permanent in your palace. Beds, sofas, floors, walls, doors – all of these are permanent. The block of cheese was on the wall, for example.

Now, it's your turn. Pick a list of English words or phrases that you have trouble remembering and try this method on your own.

Let us know how it goes.

Words in This Story

palace – n. a very large and impressive¹⁶ house

ingredient – n. one of the things that are used to make a food or product

slip – v. to lose your balance, especially on a slippery¹⁷ surface

phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence

spoon – n. an eating or cooking tool that has a small shallow¹⁸ bowl attached to a handle

sofa – n. a long and comfortable piece of furniture on which a person can sit or lie down

kitchen – n. a room in which food is cooked

guess – n. an attempt to give an answer about something when you do not know much about it or are not sure about it

key – n. something that is necessary in order to do or achieve something

1 imaginary   

adj.想象中的，假想的，虚构的，幻想的；虚数的

参考例句：

• All the characters in this book are imaginary.此书中的所有人物都是虚构的。
• The boy's fears were only imaginary.这小孩的恐惧只是一种想象。

2 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

3 retreats   

撤退( retreat的第三人称单数 )； 隐退； 离开； 规避

参考例句：

• As he retreats, I march forward. 彼退我进。
• Prograding bar-finger sand bodies are over-ridden by distributary channels as the shoreline retreats. 当海岸线后退时，向海推进的指状沙坝被分流河道所覆盖。

4 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

5 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

6 ingredient   

n.（烹饪）等的材料，原料，成分，因素

参考例句：

• The basic ingredient of this meal is rice.这一餐的主要原料是大米。
• Trust is a key ingredient.信任是关键要素。

7 ingredients   

n.（混合物的）组成部分( ingredient的名词复数 )；（烹调的）原料；（构成）要素；因素

参考例句：

• All ingredients are readily available from your local store. 所有的原料都可以方便地从你当地的商店买到。
• We never use second quality ingredients to build building. 我们决不使用次等材料用于建筑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 yeast   

n.酵母；酵母片；泡沫；v.发酵；起泡沫

参考例句：

• Yeast can be used in making beer and bread.酵母可用于酿啤酒和发面包。
• The yeast began to work.酵母开始发酵。

9 upside-down   

adj.颠倒的，混乱的；adv.颠倒，倒置

参考例句：

• They left the room upside-down.他们把房间弄得乱七八糟。
• The world had turned upside-down.整个世界陷入一片混乱之中。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 chasing   

n.雕镂术，雕刻工作；车螺丝；抛光；螺旋板

参考例句：

• My dog likes chasing rabbits. 我的狗喜欢追捕兔子。
• The children were having fun, chasing each other's shadows. 孩子们追逐着彼此的影子，玩得很开心。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 instance   

n.例，例证，实例

参考例句：

• Can you quote me a recent instance?你能给我举一个最近的例子吗？
• He's a greedy boy,yesterday,for instance,he ate all our biscuits!他是个贪吃的孩子――比如，他昨天把我们的饼干都吃了！

14 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

15 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

16 impressive   

adj.给人深刻印象的，感人的

参考例句：

• This cinema is so impressive that we can't help crying.这影片如此感人以至我们禁不住流下泪来。
• The suit made him look especially impressive.他穿上这套衣服真精神。

17 slippery   

adj.滑的；油滑的，狡猾的，不可靠的

参考例句：

• We found it very slippery under foot.我们感到地上很滑。
• Mind out,the steps are slippery!注意，台阶很滑！

18 shallow   

adj.浅的，肤浅的，浅显易懂的；n.(pl.)浅滩，浅处；v.变浅

参考例句：

• The dish is too shallow to serve soup in.盘子太浅，盛不了汤。
• His analysis was always shallow.他的分析总是很肤浅的。