Memory: Your brain is like a muscle — use it or lose it!
The human brain is very small and light (Only 2% of our total body weight), but it needs about 20% of the oxygen that our body takes in. We can't think well if our brain isn't getting enough oxygen, so always make sure there is enough oxygen in the air when you need to learn or remember something!
No one can remember everything, but everyone can learn how to improve their memory. Here are some tips — none of them can make your memory 100% perfect, but all of them are helpful:
● When you want to remember something, tell a friend about it. This way the new information becomes more memorable. Later on, think about the conversation with your friend. It will remind you of the information you wanted to remember.
● Don't over-train your brain. When you've remembered a list of new vocabulary, stop studying. It's better to study a lot of material for a small amount of time than a small amount of material for a lot of time! But remember: you do have to practice your new vocabulary regularly!
● Our memory works well when we are asleep. If you want to remember something, go to bed and go to sleep immediately after learning it.
● If you have to remember something big, break it down into smaller sections. It's easier to remember 198756430387 if you break it into four smaller bits: 198-756-430-387.
● If you want to remember a piece of information, and you can't, don't get angry. Relax and tell yourself, ‘If it's important, I will remember it later.'
One of the best ways of remembering is to make ‘pictures' on the ‘movie-screen' of your mind — and it's fun too. Experts say that our brain works a lot in pictures. So sometimes, if we want to remember new information, it helps to make a picture story. Anyone can learn to do this. Imagine someone wants to go shopping for the following things:
● food for the goldfish
● batteries
● roller skates
● a vocabulary notebook
● a bottle of shampoo
Now make a crazy story that reminds you of all the things in the right order, for example:
Once upon a time there was a girl. She was very hungry and was looking for FOOD. Her name was on her T-shirt in big golden letters: GOLDIE FISH. She opened the fridge and saw it was full of BATTERIES. Goldie was angry. She put on her roller skates and tried to leave the house, but she tripped over her vocabulary notebook and fell on a bottle of shampoo. The shampoo was everywhere: on the floor, on the chairs …
Let yourself be surprised by your memory!