【一起闲话英语】怎样提高记忆力—How to improve your memory

Transcript: 

Mary: I’d like to welcome Charles Long to the studio today. Charles has just published an article in New Science journal about memorisation. It’s all about how to make our memory function better.

 

Charles, exam time is looming¹ and there’ll be lots of teenagers tuning² in today. Can you give us some advice about improving our ability to memorise³?

 

Charles: Hello! Yes, of course. I’d like to start by talking about the process of memorisation. It’s vital that we understand the process if we want to make adjustments to the way we function. We all use memory in the same way. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student revising for your finals or an adult standing⁴ in the aisle⁵ of a supermarket, trying to recall a particular item from a grocery list.

 

Mary: Ha ha! That’s me. I always forget to take my list.

 

Charles: You and thousands of other people too, Mary. We learn to use our memory when we are still at nursery school. Young children are naturally very good at working out how to remember things. The tips I’m going to share today are based on the things we used to do to help us remember when we were children. The process of memorisation occurs in two distinct forms. Do you know what they are?

 

Mary:  Are they ‘long-term memory’ and ‘short-term memory’?

 

Charles: That’s right! But these aren’t completely separate concepts. We use a combination of both types of memory when we want to formulate⁶ our thoughts and recall information, whether we’re trying to remember something from a decade ago or just an hour earlier.

 

Mary: So what tips have you got for improving the quality of our memory?

 

Charles: Right. Let’s start with ‘association’.

 

Mary: Association?

 

Charles: Yes. We can use word association to remember an idea or a concept. This means choosing a word or phrase you associate with what you are trying to remember. The word needs to be something familiar, that you come into contact with on a daily basis. So, for example, you can use the name of your pet dog to remember a scientific equation. Try it! Read the equation a few times and then say your dog’s name again and again. Later, in your science exam, just recall the name and the whole equation should come back to you.

 

Mary: It sounds too good to be true! What else, Charles?

 

Charles: Visualisation is another trick we can use. So you have to visualise an image that is connected to the thing you need to remember. For example, if you want to remember the date that the Berlin Wall came down, you might visualise a picture of a wall with the date written on it in graffiti. The image of the wall becomes an important part of what you will remember. You can use several images in a row to remember things like information in a text or a list of ingredients for a recipe.

 

Mary: Yes, that makes sense.

 

Charles: Singing can help with memorisation too.

 

Mary: Singing?

 

Charles: Yeah. So instead of reading a text aloud, you sing it. Singing is one of most effective and earliest memory tricks that are used for learning new concepts. I used to ‘sing’ lists of historical facts and dates. It works.

 

Mary: And did you have to sing aloud in your history exams?

 

Charles: Not aloud! But I did used to sing in my head. And I always got good marks for history.

 

Mary: Any more tips, Charles?

 

Charles: Yes! I’ve saved the best one till last. It’s particularly relevant for any students who have tuned⁷ in. ‘Teach it’.

 

Mary: Teach it? Teach ‘what’?

 

Charles: Teach whatever it is that you want to remember. So, if you’re studying for an English exam, teach the concepts to someone else. It can be a real person - a friend in a study group is ideal - or it can be a ‘pretend’ person. You can just imagine someone is listening to you as you teach. Better still, record yourself ‘teaching’ and then play back the video to revise the material further.

 

Mary: That sounds like a great tip … or ‘trick’.

 

Charles: Yes, it really works because in order to teach something you need to understand it. Teaching reinforces the understanding. And although these sound like ‘tricks’, they aren’t really.

 

Mary: No?

 

Charles: No. They are just simple ways that we can train our brains to be more effective. By getting into the habit of using word association, visualisation, singing and teaching, our brains develop and work better for us. And of course that has a knock-on effect on our memory and our abilities to recall all kinds of data.

 

Mary: Thank you, Charles. Now, I think we’ve got time for a couple of questions from our listeners.

1 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

2 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 memorise   

vt.记住，熟记

参考例句：

• An actor must be able to memorise his lines.演员须善于熟记台词。
• I shall try to memorise all these phrases.我要熟记所有这些词组。

4 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。

5 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

6 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

7 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》