future.
Die Gardine (a curtain);
My key image is of a beefeater 'guarding' something. As it's another feminine word, I go back to the museum (location), where there is a very valuable curtain hanging on one wall inside. I imagine the beefeater 'guarding' this old relic.
Das Glass (the glass):
In cases like this, where the German word is identical to the English, you should incorporate a code of some sort to indicate as much. I always use the image of a court jester or a joker (I am playing a wild card). It's a neuter word, so I make my way out of town to a suburb I have previously designated a
neuter district. I know where there is a kitchenware shop (location), as likely place as any to find a glass. I imagine a court jester standing in the window, precariously balancing a Waterford cut-glass goblet on his head.
CONCLUSION
Pick a language and then establish the layout of your town, making sure to cordon off certain areas for different genders and word types. Let the words take you all round the town, spreading through your different districts.
See how quickly you can think of a key image for a foreign word, and then find a suitable location suggested by the English. Remember to combine them with an association. It's no good kidding yourself that you'll remember anyway.
If you don't form a mental chain of links now, how can you expect to make the connection in a few days' time? It's like being given directions by someone in your car; if you are on your own later and you weren't concentrating the first time, you won't be able to find your way back.
I hope that this method removes some of the pain of acquiring a large
vocabulary in a short space of time. You should find that it accelerates your rate of learning quite dramatically. If only I had discovered it when I was at school!
13
HOW TO
REMEMBER
GEOGRAPHICAL
FACTS
When I listen to the news on the radio, I am more likely to pay attention to an item on Ghana than on Liberia. Both share the same west African coastline, and both countries have English as their official language. The sole reason I express an interest in Ghana is because I have been there. It's an important difference.
A few years ago, I spent a short time in Accra, the capital. Located on the coast, it represents a tiny part of the country, but I now have several lasting key images of Ghana. Every time I hear or read about it, I immediately associate the news with one of them. For example, a story on the BBC's World
Service about Bolgatanga in northern Ghana might remind me of the hotel I stayed at in Accra, 600 kilometres away. The image is quite irrelevant, of course, but it's enough to make me remember the story.
By contrast, I am not attentive to a news item on Liberia. There's no inher-ent reason why its affairs should be less interesting than those of Ghana. It's just that I've got nothing to go on. Until I have a key image of the country, Liberia will remain a word.
A DIET OF IMAGES
The ideal way to study geography would be to work your way around the
world, building up accurate mental pictures of every country as you go. Sadly, this rather grand approach to learning is beyond most people's means, and we have been obliged to adopt less costly methods of studying the planet.
For example, the first thing we do when we want to find out about a remote country is look it up in an atlas. Even though it's two-dimensional, the image on the page helps the brain to process the information. The country is no longer just a word; it has shape and size. Not much, but it's a start.
We endeavour to get our bearings from other sources as well, building up a portfolio of images from newspapers, magazines, and TV. A glossy Sunday
supplement full of gut-wrenching photographs of a drought in Sudan might provide us with our only image of the country. A TV drama on the battle for Goose Green might leave us with our only mental picture of the Falkland
Islands.
Sometimes our sole insight into a country
Die Gardine (a curtain);
My key image is of a beefeater 'guarding' something. As it's another feminine word, I go back to the museum (location), where there is a very valuable curtain hanging on one wall inside. I imagine the beefeater 'guarding' this old relic.
Das Glass (the glass):
In cases like this, where the German word is identical to the English, you should incorporate a code of some sort to indicate as much. I always use the image of a court jester or a joker (I am playing a wild card). It's a neuter word, so I make my way out of town to a suburb I have previously designated a
neuter district. I know where there is a kitchenware shop (location), as likely place as any to find a glass. I imagine a court jester standing in the window, precariously balancing a Waterford cut-glass goblet on his head.
CONCLUSION
Pick a language and then establish the layout of your town, making sure to cordon off certain areas for different genders and word types. Let the words take you all round the town, spreading through your different districts.
See how quickly you can think of a key image for a foreign word, and then find a suitable location suggested by the English. Remember to combine them with an association. It's no good kidding yourself that you'll remember anyway.
If you don't form a mental chain of links now, how can you expect to make the connection in a few days' time? It's like being given directions by someone in your car; if you are on your own later and you weren't concentrating the first time, you won't be able to find your way back.
I hope that this method removes some of the pain of acquiring a large
vocabulary in a short space of time. You should find that it accelerates your rate of learning quite dramatically. If only I had discovered it when I was at school!
13
HOW TO
REMEMBER
GEOGRAPHICAL
FACTS
When I listen to the news on the radio, I am more likely to pay attention to an item on Ghana than on Liberia. Both share the same west African coastline, and both countries have English as their official language. The sole reason I express an interest in Ghana is because I have been there. It's an important difference.
A few years ago, I spent a short time in Accra, the capital. Located on the coast, it represents a tiny part of the country, but I now have several lasting key images of Ghana. Every time I hear or read about it, I immediately associate the news with one of them. For example, a story on the BBC's World
Service about Bolgatanga in northern Ghana might remind me of the hotel I stayed at in Accra, 600 kilometres away. The image is quite irrelevant, of course, but it's enough to make me remember the story.
By contrast, I am not attentive to a news item on Liberia. There's no inher-ent reason why its affairs should be less interesting than those of Ghana. It's just that I've got nothing to go on. Until I have a key image of the country, Liberia will remain a word.
A DIET OF IMAGES
The ideal way to study geography would be to work your way around the
world, building up accurate mental pictures of every country as you go. Sadly, this rather grand approach to learning is beyond most people's means, and we have been obliged to adopt less costly methods of studying the planet.
For example, the first thing we do when we want to find out about a remote country is look it up in an atlas. Even though it's two-dimensional, the image on the page helps the brain to process the information. The country is no longer just a word; it has shape and size. Not much, but it's a start.
We endeavour to get our bearings from other sources as well, building up a portfolio of images from newspapers, magazines, and TV. A glossy Sunday
supplement full of gut-wrenching photographs of a drought in Sudan might provide us with our only image of the country. A TV drama on the battle for Goose Green might leave us with our only mental picture of the Falkland
Islands.
Sometimes our sole insight into a country
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