[ti:Make a Memory Palace to Improve Your English]
[al:Education Report]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2025-01-22]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Sherlock Holmes is an imaginary private detective created by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1880s. 
[00:13.46]Doyle's stories about the detective have been turned into movies and television shows.
[00:21.92]One of Sherlock Holmes' great skills is a powerful memory.
[00:27.95]In a recent BBC television series, the character uses a memory technique called a "mind palace" or "memory palace."
[00:40.04]On one show, for example, Holmes has been severely wounded in a shooting and retreats into his mind to search for ways to survive. 
[00:52.83]He visits rooms in his mind palace, looking for helpful memories.
[00:59.46]In one room, he finds his childhood dog, and the memory helps calm the detective.
[01:07.49]The memory palace idea was not a BBC creation. 
[01:13.77]The method for remembering has existed for thousands of years.
[01:20.24]Many language educators today teach their students how to use the method to improve their language skills.
[01:29.84]But what exactly is a memory palace?
[01:34.13]It is a real structure, such as a home or building, that you can picture in your head. 
[01:42.35]You then imagine placing things you want to remember inside the structure.
[01:50.80]You can use a memory palace to remember words, phrases, facts, or even the order of events. 
[02:00.33]If you can see the inside of a house or building in your mind, you can make your own memory palace. 
[02:09.90]On today's Education Tips, we will show you how.
[02:15.86]Start with a list of words or phrases that you want to remember. 
[02:22.05]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.
[02:35.72]If your chosen space has only one or two rooms, do not worry. 
[02:42.94]You can also use things like doors, passageways, steps or other permanent places along the physical path.
[02:53.84]The next step is to imagine walking through the space using the path that you would normally take through it.
[03:03.97]As you walk through, put objects that you want to remember at specific places along the path. 
[03:13.09]Leave the objects there to pick up later when you visit your memory palace.
[03:20.74]Now, let's try this technique by using six ingredients for a pizza: flour, water, dry yeast, tomato sauce, cheese and basil.
[03:35.84]Close your eyes and picture a home.
[03:39.09]First, you open the front door and see a bag of flour on the floor.
[03:46.90]The bag is broken and some of the flour has spilled. 
[03:53.40]You are worried that you might slip, so you carefully step over the area.
[04:00.16]Second, you walk into your bedroom. On top of your bed sits a cup of water.
[04:10.18]The cup is shaped like an upside-down piece of pizza.
[04:16.51]You think about how funny that is and laugh about it.
[04:21.57]Third, as you enter the living room, you see a very large spoon of dry yeast sitting on the sofa.
[04:32.29]The spoon is watching a cooking show on television.
[04:37.50]Fourth, while standing in the living room, you notice the room has a strange smell to it. 
[04:45.98]You look above the television and see a block of cheese hanging on the wall.
[04:52.48]Fifth, you walk into the kitchen and see two tomatoes chasing each other around the room. 
[05:01.11]Suddenly, they crash and explode, covering the floor in red.
[05:07.54]And sixth, you open the back door and go outside. 
[05:13.37]There, you see a group of very tall green basil plants.
[05:19.98]In a funny voice, the tallest plant says, "Choose me! Choose me!"
[05:28.69]Did you notice anything strange about the palace? 
[05:32.94]It was full of extraordinary and humorous imagery.
[05:38.26]We will say more about that in a few minutes.
[05:42.34]But first, let's check how well our technique worked.
[05:47.97]See if you can answer these questions:
[05:51.67]1-What was on the wall above the television?
[05:58.91]2-Where were the tomatoes and what were they doing?
[06:04.11]3-Which object was sitting on the bed?
[06:10.27]4-Where was the yeast and what was it doing?
[06:16.39]5-Which ingredient spoke and what did it say?
[06:22.63]6-What did you see when you opened the front door?
[06:29.19]My guess is that you remembered everything in our memory palace. That's good news.
[06:37.59]Experts offer some advice for making strong memory palaces.
[06:44.34]For instance, if you want to remember a lot of words, memory trainer Anthony Metivier suggests first drawing a simple map of your memory palace.
[06:58.79]Then, number the places along your path where you will put the things that you want to remember. 
[07:07.88]You can put more than one thing in each room or area. 
[07:13.03]Later, you will add the mental imagery.
[07:17.47]English teacher James, of the YouTube channel JamesESL English Lessons, has additional advice.
[07:27.94]In his video on memory palaces, he says that there are three keys to a strong memory palace. 
[07:36.81]They are: emotion, movement, and connections between the object and something permanent.
[07:46.25]Both he and Metivier say imagining things in a humorous or crazy way improves your ability to remember them. 
[07:57.50]These experts also agree that connecting images to actions or movement will create lasting memories. 
[08:07.93]For instance, the tomatoes were chasing each other and the basil spoke.
[08:15.60]And finally, teacher James suggests placing the objects next to or on something permanent in your palace. 
[08:25.78]Beds, sofas, floors, walls, doors - all of these are permanent.
[08:34.51]The block of cheese was on the wall, for example.
[08:39.54]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.
[08:52.48]Let us know how it goes.
[08:54.84]I'm John Russell. And I'm Alice Bryant.