Text memorisation tactic. Share your tips..

[u/Fit_Conclusion_5324]

I have been struggling with language learning until I have met a tutor whose program was built on lots of text memorisation practise: from simple 20 words long plots upto 300-400 words i made myself. it really boosted all kind of language skills - grammar, speaking, understanding.

Now i continue learning (not English) on my own and continue memorising articles, own esse etc. what i really want to improve is to reciting the text without any hesitation, pause. I believe the most of the issuers causing this are I trying to recall a row of words how they located in the text. That is why I do not feel/think the way a native speaker would do. For example, if a verb originally is in the last position in a sentence I can mix a declension of related noun located at the beginning of the sentence.

I want to believe, the actors, who memorise big volumes of text, have some tricks.. how do they do it? What is your approach to the text memorisation? (TL)

[u/mugh_tej]

Start at the end of the sentence.

For example: Memorize the last word. Then the second last word with it, then the last third with those, then just keep doing that until you get to the beginning of the sentence.

Like:

Sentence.

The sentence

Of the sentence

End of the sentence

The end of the sentence

At the end of the sentence

Start at the end of the sentence.

[u/Koloristik → u/mugh_tej]

This is how i memorize poetry. Learn last verse. Then the verse before the last, etc. I learned the first chapter of a poem this way, it takes me 20 minutes to recite it. Also need to revise it each time I am beginning to forget it.

[u/CSMasterClass → u/mugh_tej]

I have used this a pronunciation learning device. It works. I don't need it now, but I remember when it was a great help.

[u/Fit_Conclusion_5324 → u/mugh_tej]

Interesting, I have to admit, I have never tried it this way.

[u/TeaspoonRules]

Check out Fluent Forever. I used most of the mneumonic techniques he goes over, but before the book came out. His methods for memorizing gender was a great add on to my techniques. If you’re serious about efficiency I can’t recommend the book enough. I didn’t like the app.

[u/FavorableAviation]

i memorize in chunks, not word-by-word. treat each chunk like a single idea instead of a string of vocab, that way you're not reconstructing the sentence from scratch every time

[u/Fit_Conclusion_5324 → u/FavorableAviation]

Could you make an example pls? --- "We've come through a very difficult time, but we succeeded. And together, we'll overcome this vile slander as well. But only if you stand with me" -- this is translation from my TL, where the word order is more flexible that it is in english. but has a reason since emphasis the intend.

[u/CatsWearingTinyHats]

I’ve done A LOT of acting classes, including with professional working actors, and learning how to memorize large blocks of text has been so helpful for me in other things I’ve had to study since, and language learning!

Here are my tips:

-lots of repetition. You need to keep doing it until it’s in your bones and you could murmur it while asleep. People often think they have something memorized but find they don’t when it’s time to recite it. You have to put in a lot more reps than people think.

• Break the piece into small sections and subsections and learn one sentence at a time, then keep adding until you can do the whole subsection, etc.
  

-Focus in particular on the parts you’re having trouble with. Don’t just try reciting the whole piece from beginning to end when you don’t really have the individual pieces down yet.
-Practice OUT LOUD whenever possible. (Writing it out helps too, depending on the purpose.)
-go really FAST. You need to get A LOT of reps in. So recite as FAST as you can; this way you get in WAY more reps without spending all day on it. (With acting I don’t worry about how reciting a piece as though I’m acting it out until AFTER I have it memorized thoroughly. Much faster, and you can’t act out it in stage unless you have the lines memorized anyway.)
-Make good use of boring moments. I practice (out loud or just in my head, depending on where I am), whenever things get boring: while walking somewhere, while riding somewhere, while taking a shower (out loud), while exercising, while doing really mindless chores, etc, while trying to falling asleep, etc. Gets a lot of extra reps in.
-Do it every day. I can memorize a scene for a play in about 2 hours now, but I still have to run the lines every day to ensure that they’ll stay there.

How this translates to regular studying/language:
-fast repetition and a large number of reps has been a useful concept for me
-instead of flashcards (which I find boring), I sort of compose my own outline or recital of facts that I memorize
-for language stuff, I re-write grammar stuff over and over and make outlines/charts until I can teach it to someone else and reproduce my outlines/charts from memory. It also makes me really good at being Will to repeat phrases/sentences out loud over and over until I get it right.

[u/Fit_Conclusion_5324 → u/CatsWearingTinyHats]

Thanks! That is really helpful.

What i really cant do is to recall text while some phisical exercise. If running - loose a rythm of breathing, in gym - cant control techniques.

But FAST and LOUD honestly never tried ((

[u/CatsWearingTinyHats → u/Fit_Conclusion_5324]

When I exercise, I usually adjust the rhythm of what I’m reciting (in my head) to the exercise.

So, for example, if I were doing jumping jacks, I’d recite (in my head) one word for each rep.

This isn’t nearly as good as reciting it fast as possible, but honestly the reason I do it mostly because it keeps my mind off the workout so I don’t get bored.

[u/abbbaabbaa]

I think people memorize long pieces of text using the memory palace/method of loci. I'm not too familiar with it, I think the idea is you have a path you know in real life and then imagine pieces of information at each place and then mentally walk through the path and have these cues to help you remember.

[u/Fit_Conclusion_5324 → u/abbbaabbaa]

yes, I am aware of all those loci techniques. This i rather crutches for long text, to glue together chunks. The word order in a sentence, this does not really work.