Learning methods that really work.
From the method of loci in antiquity to the forgetting curve: twelve techniques for memorising languages and facts faster — explained briefly, with their strengths, limits and how they relate to memory pictures.
The memory-picture method: storing vocabulary as an image
Why one absurd picture does more than ten repetitions — and how “potato” becomes a Po-Tattoo.
Since antiquity · named after Mnemosyne, the goddess of memoryMnemonics: the toolbox of memory athletes
An overview of the techniques memory champions use to retain thousands of digits — and which of them work for vocabulary.
Ancient Greece · attributed to the poet SimonidesMethod of loci: the memory palace
How a walk through your own flat helps you retain lists in any order.
Vera F. Birkenbihl · management trainer and author, 1946–2011The Birkenbihl method: learning languages without cramming
Four steps, no vocabulary lists: Vera F. Birkenbihl's method relies on decoding and listening instead of drilling.
Richard C. Atkinson, Stanford · studies from 1975The keyword method: the science behind the sound picture
The keyword method studied by Richard Atkinson is the classic of vocabulary research — and the reason memory pictures work.
Hermann Ebbinghaus · “On Memory”, 1885Spaced repetition: review before you forget
Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve shows when knowledge disappears — and spaced repetition shows how to prevent it.
Sebastian Leitner · “So lernt man lernen”, 1972The Leitner system: the card box with five compartments
Sebastian Leitner's card box makes spaced repetition tangible: what you know moves back, what you don't stays in front.
Testing effect · studied systematically since the 2000s (Roediger & Karpicke)Active recall: quizzing instead of looking
Reading feels like learning but hardly is. Only the attempt to remember makes knowledge solid.
Allan Paivio · Dual Coding Theory, 1971Dual coding: why picture plus word holds twice as well
Allan Paivio's dual coding theory explains why a word with a picture leaves two memory traces instead of one.
Chain method · a staple of memory trainingThe story method: chaining words into a plot
Ten loose terms you forget. Ten terms in a crazy story you don't — the chain method taps the brain's appetite for narrative.
George A. Miller · “The Magical Number Seven”, 1956Chunking: turning many small pieces into a few big ones
Working memory holds only a handful of units. Chunking turns 20 pieces into 4 bundles — and 12 letters into one word.
Canadian immersion programmes · since the 1960sLanguage immersion: diving in instead of lessons
Children learn their mother tongue without a single vocabulary list. Immersion tries to recreate that for adults — with one decisive addition.
Reading is good. Trying is better.
The 60-second test shows you how memory pictures work in your own head — right now, no sign-up.