In this episode of the Magnetic Memory Method Podcast, you'll learn how to find more Memory Palaces, even if you live in a small town and …
… don't want to appear creepy to the locals.
You can use the Method of Loci anywhere for language acquisition, and yet, what if you don't have access to a big city? What if you live in the boondocks? What if you're a prisoner and haven't seen daylight for a hundred thousand hours?
Well, I haven't got answers for all of these questions, but as I talk about in this episode, often the questions are more important anyway.
Why?
Because questions open up the mind. Questions trigger the search for solutions. Throw experimentation into the mix and the next thing you know, life changes. And usually for the better.
That's why I especially admired this recent letter I received from a member of the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass. Give it a read as a supplement to this week's episode, followed by a basic prose version of my answer. As always get in touch if you have any questions. I'd love to help you if I can.
The Magnetic Questions Of The WeekI'm going to apologize in advance, this email is going to be a bit long, and…I am very sorry for that. I would be, however, very grateful for your help.
I have to say this… I watched a lot of your videos, listened to a lot of podcasts, and…I honestly am pumped to get started really seriously learning Japanese vocabulary.
However…
At the risk or sounding like I'm obfuscating things…I just have a few quick and simple questions, involving the "Art of Association" itself, so to speak.
Should one prefer memory palaces, or images?
If you have looked at Japanese before, you probably have noticed that its spelling is in no way similar to western languages, so I came up with two possible ways to memorize vocabulary, but, I'd rather do things the right way, the easier and more efficient way, right from the get-go. So, in idea one, I thought of treating each kana as a sentinel, to give each one a specific image that will be tied to vocabulary. I'd create 26 memory palaces, a-z, and store words based on their first letter when transliterated. Then tie the actual first kana image, to the rest of the word. That way I can have words like yasai and yokoshiro in the same palace, with distinct "sentinel" images attached to them, to give away the first kana itself. This idea uses less palaces, but more images. And is, as I think of it, "Palace-Conservative".
The second idea, (Don't worry,there is only two), is "Image-Conservative", and, the general idea, is to use a single palace for each kana. Now, there are variations to this, really, in variation 1, I only looked at the hiragana, (because katakana uses the same sounds but different symbols), and would store words based solely on the first kana in the word. (no transliteration). Including the Datuken, I would require 70 palaces. If I included "Combo-Hiragana", I'd require 106. (Roughly). To blow this up even more, in variation 2, if I were to treat the katakana and hiragana separately, to remember the proper spelling of words (Like, which kana syllabary to use), I'd need roughly 212 palaces.
I'm brand new to memory palaces, and the magnetic memory method, and really, the "Palace Conservative" idea sounds more intuitive to me, but, haha, this is coming from a guy who thought rote learning and spaced repetition systems like Anki were the only way to go. And I really, really didn't like them.
Memory Palace Acquisition, a problem?
For me, yes. Let me explain: I'm 21 years old. I live in a town of 5000 people. Nearest town has maybe 500 people. Nearest city, of 250,000, is 400k
Published on 11 years ago
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