Mnemonics
Mnemonics are little memory aids in the form of poems, rhymes, phrases etc that are easier to remember than the actual topic.
The word mnemonic is derived from the Ancient Greek word mnemonikos ("of memory") and is related to Mnemosyne ("remembrance"), the name of the goddess of memory in Greek mythology. Both of these words refer back to ("remembrance").
A good example of mnemonics can be for remembering the colours of the rainbow in order.
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain.
Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet
Similarly, to remember the nine planets in order, we have : ( The controversy if Pluto is a planet or not is still not resolved)
My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Up Nine Planets
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
How to Use Mnemonics?
Mnemonics can be used as per your convenience. You need to visualize, create, imagine mnemonics to suit what is easy for you.
=> Mnemonics can be used as a rhyme in remembering the months of the year.
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Excepting February alone:
Which hath but twenty-eight, in fine,
Till leap year gives it twenty-nine.
=> Mnemonics can be used as acronyms in remembering spellings
BECAUSE: Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants.
NECESSARY: Not Every Cat Eats Sardines Some Are Really Yummy.
=> Mnemonics can be used as phrases in remembering spellings
POTASSIUM: one Tea, two Sugars ( one T, two S)
RECEIVE: I before e, except c
(In English language, usually whenever there is a c, the I comes after e)
Example: Conceive, Deceive, Receive, Perceive.
Exceptions: Weird, Neighbour. Here even without a ‘c’, the ‘i’ comes after ‘e’
=> Mnemonics can be used in learning vocabulary
1) Pulchritude: means beauty
Pul can remind us of pulse. Beauty can be Aishwarya Rai. So Asihwarya raises your pulse i.e something beautiful.
2) Egregious: means foul smelling, rotten.
Egg from egregious. Egg has a distinct smell, not everyone likes it.
3) Parsimonious: stingy, thrifty.
Parsis don’t spend much money, they are stingy.
=> Mnemonics in grammar
There are mnemonics to remember the coordinating conjunctions.
BOY SAT with BEN
But Or Yet So And Then Both……and Either……..or Neither……..nor
What makes a good mnemonic?
A good mnemonic depends on your particular style and preference. Most people feel that if the mnemonic has some or all of the following characteristics, then yousinglequoteve got an image that will stick in your memory:
• Recounts some sort of a story. The verbal or rhyming mnemonics work like this. But you can also make up a mental image story by imagining some of the consequences of your mental image.
• Is vivid, absurd, unusual, humorous, disgusting, repulsive, and/or grotesque.
• Involves as many of the senses as possible. Try to involve the audible, tactile, and even smell and taste rather than just visual things in the mental image.
• Is dynamic rather than static. Involves movement and changes of state, and the items you are visualizing should interact with each other.
To conclude it can be said, mnemonics is based on the principle that the human mind more easily remembers spatial, personal, surprising or humorous or otherwise meaningful information than arbitrary sequences. Hence try and remember things suing this technique.
And for students, the one last example of mnemonics would be an advice:
The PPPPP mnemonic: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance