外國人背數字的方法

外國人背數字的方法HowtheMajorMemorySystemWorksOurbrainsarenotoriouslypooratmemorizingnumbers.Theproblemliesinthefactthatnumbersareabstractconcepts.Althoughtheyarerepresentedvisuallybysymbols,theydon’tfeelveryrealorappealingtoourbrains.AsIexploredinapreviousarticle,ourbrainsusuallyworkbestusinglively,vibrantimages.Numbershardlyqualify.Andthat’swhattheMajorsystemisabout:convertingabstract,dullnumbersintovivid,strikingimages.Whenwedothat,committingthesenumberstomemoryisasnap.Letmeshowyouhowtodoit.TheMajorMemorySystemin3Steps1.LearntoEncodeNumbersasImagesTheheartoftheMajorsystem—andthekeytoconvertnumberstoimagesandvice-versa—isa10-itemmnemonictable.Thetableshowshowtotransformthedigits0-9intocorrespondingsounds;whichwe’lleventuallyusetoformwords.Themnemonicsareeasytolearn(itshouldn’ttakemorethan20minutestofullymasterthem)and,oncelearned,theycanbeusedforlife.Heretheyare:DigitSoundMemoryAid0s,z,softczisthefirstletterofzero.Theothershaveasimilarsound.1d,t,thdandthaveonedownstrokeandsoundsimilar(noticethetipofyourtongueasyousaythem).2nnhastwodownstrokes.3mmhasthreedownstrokes,alsomlookslikea3lyingonitsside.4rthelastletteroffour,also4andRarealmostmirrorimagesofeachother.5lListheRomannumeralfor50.6j,sh,softch,dg,zh,softgaｓｃｒｉｐｔjhasalowerlooplike6.Theselettersalsohavea『whistle-like’sound,and6lookslikeawhistle.7k,hardc,hardg,q,qucapitalKcontainstwo7s(ontheirsides,backtoback).8v,fthinkofvasinaV8motor.fsoundssimilar(noticehowyourteethtouchyourlipsforboth).9b,ppisamirror-image9.bsoundssimilarandresemblesa9rolledaround(alsonoticehowyourlipmovementisthesamewhenpronouncingtheseletters.)-vowelsounds,w,h,yThesesoundscanbeusedanywherewithoutchangingaword’snumbervalue.Asanexample,let’stakethe(in)famousnumber42.Accordingtothemnemonictable,thedigitsinthenumber42translatetorandnrespectively.Nowweneedtoformawordwithrandn.Weshouldfillthegapsbetweenthelettersusingthe『neutral’elements(fromthelastrowofthetable:vowelsounds,w,hory).Thewordraincomesnaturallytome.42getsencodedasrain,then.Decodingfromwordtonumberisevenmorestraightforward.『Mouse’,forinstance,becomes30(3formand0fors;vowelsoundsareignored).Theconversionprocessmayseemalittleslowandcumbersomeatfirst,butwithjustalittlebitofpracticeitbecomessecond-nature.Therearejustacouplemorenotestobearinmind:*Theconversionsarestrictlyphonetic,thatis,basedonhowthewordssound—nothowthey’respelled.Ifawordhasdoublelettersthataccountforjustonesound,youcountonlyonesound(ex:thersoundincherrycountsasonlyonenumber).Bythesametoken,muteletters(suchasthebindebt)shouldbeignored.*Whencomingupwithwords,choosethosethatareeasytovisualize.Concretenouns—suchasobjectsoranimals—alwaysworkbetterthanabstractnouns,adjectivesorverbs.2.AssociateImagesinYourMindNowforthefunpart.Wealreadyhaveanimage,nowwe’llneedawaytoglueitinourminds.Thewaywe’regoingtodothisisbyimaginingascene,ascenethatcombinestwoimages:theencodednumberimagealongwithapegimagethatwillbeusedtotriggerthememory.Asanexample,supposeyouwanttobuyalightbulb,andyoumustrememberthatitmustbea30-Wattone.Thetwoimagestocombinewouldbetheimageforlightbulbandtheencodedimagefor30.Usingourmnemonictable,wefindthat30translatestothelettersmands.Mouseseemsaprettygoodwordfortheseletters,sowe’llgowithit.Ourmission,then,istocreateamentalscenecombininglightbulbandmouse.Thesecretforthistoworkistomakethementalscenememorable:makeitcrazy,ridiculous,offensive,unusual,animated,nonsensical—inshort,makeitfun!(Fordetailsonhowtoeffectivelyassociateimages,checkoutthisarticle.)Let’ssee:What’sthezaniestwayyoucancombinelightbulbwithmouse?Idon’tknowaboutyou,buthere’swhatIjustimagined:「I’minmylocalsupermarket,intheelectricalaccessoriesaisle.AsIcatchonelightbulbtoobserveitmoreclosely…Bang!Itbreaksinmyhand,andagiantmousejumpsoutofit!Themouserunsaway,squeakingfrenetically.Everybodyinthesupermarketstopsandstaresatmepuzzledandinabsolutesilence…」Well,imaginethatscenevividlyinyourmindandtrynotrememberingthatgiantmousenexttimeyou’reinthatsupermarketaisle…「30-Wattitsurelyis!」3.ForLargeNumbers,ExtendtheSystem「Yes,buteveryonecanmemorizeasmallnumbersuchas30,」—yousay—「whataboutthebignumbers?」ThegreatthingabouttheMajorsystemisthatyoucaneasilycombineitwithjustaboutanyothermemorytechnique,simpleoradvanced.That’swhatmakestheMajorSysteminsanelyscalableandabletohandlegiganticnumbers.Formemorizingasmallnumberwecreatedamentalscenecombiningtwoimages.Tomemorizealargenumber,weneedtolinkmanyofthosescenestogether,formingasequence.Therearemanywaystodothis.Manypeopleliketocreateastorylinkingthescenestogether,forexample.Myfavoritemethod,however,istousetheMemoryPalacetechnique.Inshort,youusefamiliarplacesforstoringmemories.Ifyou’renotacquaintedwithit,checkitouthere).Let’stryapracticalexampleagain:an8-digittelephonenumber.Thespecificsonhowtomemorizeitareamatterofpersonalpreference,ofcourse.ThewayIdoitisbychunkingthenumberin4-digitgroups,andplacingeachofthosegroupsinamemorypalacelocation.I’llusemyin-lawsphonenumber(slightlymodified),usingtheirhomeasmymemorypalace:Phonenumber:2417-2220Scene1:Associatefirstmemorypalacefeature(frontdoor)with2417:UsingtheMajorsystem:24=Nero,17=Duck.「AsIarriveatmyin-laws’frontdoor,IseenoonebuttheemperorNerohimself,laughingoutloud,asheisabouttosetthewholeapartmentonfire!Buthehasnomatchesoratorchinhishands:hehasablowtorch—infact,arubberduck-shapedblowtorch!Anditquacksasitspitsfire!」Scene2:Associatesecondmemorypalacefeature(sofa)with2220:UsingtheMajorsystem:22=Nun,20=Nose.「AsIentertheirapartmentisthesofa,thefirstthingIseeisanunchantingandjumpingaboutonthesofa,facingbackwards.WhenItouchhershoulder,sheturnsaround—andit’sactuallyawitch!Shescaresthehelloutofme—andguesswhat—shehasthebiggestnoseever!Andyuck—that’sthebiggestzitI’veeverseen」(yes,gettingdisgustingisalsoagreatwaytohelpyourmemory!)Thismayseemlikealotofworkforaphonenumber,butinfact,thisallhappensquitefastinourminds.Recoveringanumberusingtheprocessabovetakesmenomorethan4secondstotal—andIhaven’tbeenpracticingthatmuchlately.Ifyoupracticethisregularly,you’llbeabletodoitmuchfasterandwithlesseffort.Bonus:GainSpeedwithaWordListThepreviousthreestepsarethebasictoolsyouneedtousetheMajorsystem.Ifyouwanttomakeitevenmorepowerfulandefficient,onewayistouseapredefinedimagelistforthenumbersyouusemoreoften.Ifyouuseasetofpredefinedimagesfor,say,allnumbersfrom00to99,you’llgreatlyimproveyourspeedwhenformingimages,asyouwon’tneedtoimaginedifferentwordseachtimeyoutriponthosenumbers.Ofcourse,memorizingmorethan100mnemonicsrequiresafairamountoftimeandeffort,butonceit’sallinyourlong-termmemory,youcanuseitforlife.Tobefair,youdon’tneedtomemorizeit(inthetraditionalsenseoftheword).Letmeexplain.Ifyoujuststartusingthemnemonics,theimageswillsoonautomaticallycometoyou.Idon’tknow,buttheremustbesomethingaboutthephoneticsthatmakestheimagesmanifestthemselvesrathereasily.我個人整理過的數字所需要的英文希望大家會喜歡0sea1