Remembering the Memory Book -

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Last Updated on January 5, 2022 by Scott Charleboix

This post, Remembering the Memory Book is about a true story that happened when I was in the sixth grade that is regarding something that happened with the “Memory Book” (described at the end of this post called My Memory Book Story) that was designed with the purpose for improving your memory and providing memory techniques.

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The Memory Book Story A blog for the love of Pinterest

I wanted to share this story with you because it’s funny and it’s one of the best books that I’ve read. It was very instrumental in my life because I was able to remember more material when it came to tests when I was going to college and High School as well.

Before I begin to share my story with you, I first want to explain to you a little about the Memory Book on the chance that you haven’t heard about it and that it will benefit your studies like it did mine. I read an overview on the book online and this is what it had to say about the Memory Book:

“Begin today. The change in your life will be unforgettable.”

Table of Contents

Overview of the Memory Book

I was impressed that they would demonstrate how Jerry Lucas would be able to recite names of people that he met through the memory technique of mnemonics that were mentioned in the book.

We all have the propensity to use our memory, but it’s not used by majority of people and with the Memory book you’re tuned in to how mnemonics works.

Some of the benefits of the book are that it helps to Unleash the hidden power of your mind. The Memory Book is especially useful to master the art of remembering.

• Read with speed and greater understanding.
• File phone numbers, data, figures, and appointments right in your head.
• Send birthday and anniversary cards on time.
• Learn foreign words and phrases with ease.
• Shine in the classroom and shorten study hours.
• Dominate social situations: Remember and use important personal details.

What appealed to me about this book is that there’s a table to remember numbers and with mnemonics you’re able to recall the information faster. This came in extremely handy throughout the years, especially when I had to study for an upcoming test.

What is Mnemonic?

“A mnemonic device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory for better understanding.” – Wikipedia

The part of the book that stood out to me the most which I took advantage of is a technique called encoding. What it boils down to is using a phonetic alphabet system and substituting letters for numbers.

The Phonetic Alphabet System

The Phonetic Alphabet System encodes 10 numerals as 10 different consonant sounds.

1 = t / d / th – a typewritten t has one downstroke.
2 = n – a typewritten n has two downstrokes.
3 = m – a typewritten m has three downstrokes.
4 = r – four ends with an r.
5 = L – spread five fingers of one hand, thumb straight out, the thumb and forefinger form L.
6 = j / sh / ch / soft g – the digit 6 and capital j (J) are almost mirror images.
7 = k / g / hard c – K can be formed by two 7’s, one right side up, the other upside down.
8 = f / v / ph – an 8 and a handwritten f are both made with two loops, one above the other.
9 = p / b – 9 and p and almost exact mirror images.
0 = z / s / soft c – the first sound in “zero” is z.

There are several rules and the ones that are most important to me are the ones below:

Remember: you’re encoding for sounds, not letters
a / e / i / o / u and y don’t encode anything
Double letters with one sound count just once (apple → 95)

Here’s an example for numbers 1 to 10 from The Memory Book:

1 = tie
2 = Ma
3 = Noah
4 = Rye
5 = law
6 = shoe (I remember this one as a constant J)
7 = cow (I remember this one as a constant K)
8 = (I remember this one as a constant F)
9 = bee (I remember this one as a constant P)
10 → toes

And you can use the same technique reciprocally changing the letters to numbers or numbers to letters (to remember dates and/or events).

For example, I won’t forget this date for obvious reasons, but if I had to use the system above to memorize the year that I was married – 1982 it would be – TPFN / TBFN / DPFN / or DBFN

The one that readily stands out to make it easy to remember is DPFN that could be remembered by thinking of something absurd like DEEPFAN or DIPFAN and then trying to depict that to something that can be associated. I was originally thinking of deepfry but then I noticed that there was an R in there and this system takes patience and practice. The R doesn’t work but when I was looking at DEEPFAN or DIPFAN is was thinking that I could remember DIPFAN by visualizing a wedding ring get dipped in a deep fryer with a fan running in the background. The more absurd you make visualization the easier it is to remember the association.

My Memory Book Story

I’ve provided you with how the Memory Book made a difference to me and now I want to tell you my Memory Book story.

When I got this book, I read it and studied the table so that I could remember dates more easily (especially for things like History which brings me to my story).

What transpired was an event in my 6^th grade History class. I remember that it was 6^th grade, but I don’t recall the name of the teacher. I had been studying the book, highlighting the table and trying to memorize it so that I could remember dates easier for some of my studies like History where it’s chock full of historical events.

I don’t know how I did it, but I left the Memory Book under my chair seat and left the room without it.

When I came to class the next door I was completely embarrassed by the teacher when he announced to the entire class that I had forgotten my book in class and then he told EVERYBODY the name of the book that I had forgotten (THE MEMORY BOOK). The entire class broke out laughing and that was the #1 most embarrassing moment of my grade school experiences.

I’ve provided a cursory overview of the Memory Book and it tremendously helped me throughout the years to improve my studies. I hope that after reading this post, you might be persuaded to buy this book to improve your studies.

And a word of caution, if you buy this book, get a book cover so that others can’t see the title of the book if you’re likely to forget it, like I did.

To buy the Memory Book go to the Bookshop and do a search for the Memory Book that resembles the book cover as in the picture below.