How to MEMORIZE and LEARN
Sometimes you're learning the wrong way. You’re not the brilliant student because you’re trying to learn through a different channel. How can you learn better? The Holistic Health Pathways channel presents Dr. Lair Ribeiro in an incredible way to learn how to learn.
Have you noticed that as you talk, your eyes are moving in all directions? We can position our eyes in nine different positions. If we remove the central positions, we’re left with six: two upward, two horizontally, and two downward.
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Every time you move your eyes upward, you activate the visual part of the brain. Every time you move your eyes horizontally, you activate the auditory part of the brain. And when you look downward, to your right, you activate the kinesthetic part of the brain.
For example, if I want to recall something. What color was the shirt I wore last Sunday? Immediately, my gaze shifts upward. If I look up and to the left, I’m recalling things. If I look up and to the right, I’m constructing things. So, if I’m studying and want to memorize a physics formula, I’ll look upward, first to the right to construct the formula in my head, and then upward to the left to recall it until it becomes part of my psychological structure.
If someone is taking an entrance exam and suddenly goes blank, why does that happen? Because they lowered their head, looked down at the test, and asked the question. They forgot the physics formula. If they had simply raised their head and looked in the correct position, they would have solved the problem.
Eyes are the windows to the soul. I would also say that eyes are the windows to the mind. All studies done so far, in every country, show no correlation between school grades and success in life. In other words, a mediocre student can become a great entrepreneur, while a straight-A student may not succeed in life.
Imagine you’re taking a test with 80 questions and have four hours to complete it. You encounter a problem, spend 7 or 8 minutes on it, and can’t solve it. Your self-esteem plummets, and your self-confidence disappears. The rest of the test won’t have the same mental performance. There’s a strategy for taking exams.
Remember when you were a kid and played pick-up sticks? You would drop the sticks on the table and pick the easiest one first. The test is the same. Take the test and divide the questions into A, B, and C. “A” are those you know how to answer; “B” are the ones you know but that will take some effort; and “C” are those you don’t know if you’ll be able to answer.
Answer the “A” questions, mark the “B” questions, and skip the “C” ones. If there’s time left, you tackle the “C” ones. It’s a simple strategy, like playing pick-up sticks. But someone without this strategy thinks they need to answer in order: 1, 2, 3, 4. By bad luck, they encounter a difficult question, spend 7 or 8 minutes on it, and already feel discouraged, with their self-esteem low.
See the impact of a simple explanation like this. See the difference it makes. What happens to most students? They learn, forget, and say, “Oh, my memory is bad.” But it’s not that your memory is bad, it’s that you don’t know how to use it.
Memory loves movement. Thinking of a stationary dog is different from thinking of a running dog. The memories you have in your mind are like movies, not slides. If you memorize something as stationary, you’ll forget. If you memorize it in motion, you’ll always remember.
There are studies showing that a teacher who uses chalk in two colors increases the class’s performance by 19%. That’s because using another color stimulates different areas of the brain. So, study with at least two colors.
Also, exaggerate! Thinking of a dog is one thing, but thinking of a dog the size of an elephant is another. If I want to memorize a physics formula, I imagine it as big as a building, in my favorite color, blinking. That way, I’ll never forget it.
To memorize a phone number, I imagine the numbers the size of a building. This makes memorization easier. There’s no such thing as a bad memory; we all have a good memory. If you have a new car but don’t know how to drive, it won’t be useful. The problem isn’t with the car, but with your ability to drive. The same applies to memory.
It loves movement, colors, and mnemonics. All the young people who placed first in the entrance exams used simple mnemonics like “Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November; all the rest have 31.” They created their own mnemonics to make memorization easier.
These young people also used review cards, creating decks for physics, chemistry, and biology. Before going to sleep, they would review them. Medicine shows that the last 20 minutes before sleep are what the mind processes during the night.
If you study all day, watch TV, and go to bed, what your mind will process during the night is TV, not what you studied. So, study all day, watch TV, and then review for 10 to 15 minutes before bed. That way, you’ll ruminate on the study content overnight and increase your chances of passing exams and entrance tests.
Repetition is the mother of learning. How did you learn to walk? You got up, fell down, until one day you succeeded. It’s important to give rhythm and context to what you learn.
For example, if you can’t remember where you left your keys, walk into the room where you were. Context helps memory. The same goes for tests. If you can’t remember a formula, close your eyes and transport yourself to the place where you studied. This can help you recall.
Breathing also helps. Inhale for four seconds, hold for four, and exhale for four. The brain needs oxygen and glucose to function. So, take some chocolate bars to the exam. Every 40-50 minutes, stop, breathe, and eat a piece. This could make the difference between passing or having to repeat next year.
80% of what you’ll learn in life will be through reading. Speed, comprehension, and memorization are interconnected. Many learn to read aloud, then with their throat, but this limits reading to 180 words per minute, while the brain processes 1,000.
To increase speed and concentration, start with simple exercises. Try reading a book upside down, using your hands as a guide. This improves reading mechanics.
There’s an interesting exercise: rub your hands together until they warm up and place them over your eyes. This relaxes the eyeball, aiding reading.
When taking notes, record ideas, not words. Use mind maps, developed by Tony Buzan. He has already proven that the method is effective, improving students’ performance. A mind map reflects how the brain learns, boosting results.
Once you learn how to learn, you become the captain of your ship. Watch it several times, share, and apply the knowledge.
A big hug from the Holistic Health Pathways channel!
Lamartine is an experienced researcher who produces evidence-based content focusing on health, wellness, supplements, lifestyle, and utilities. On the website holistichealthpathways.com, he offers objective, research-backed information to help readers make informed choices.