Memory training: exciting learning techniques for long-term memory

Learning is part of everyday school life. But this is quite difficult for some children and young people. Best-selling author and memory trainer Christiane Stenger has a simple explanation why this is so: "Long-term memory has lost its importance because we can look up facts at any time on our smartphones." In an interview with the news agency spot on news, she explains another problem. The brain receives a lot of information every day – especially in social networks – and this significantly shortens the attention span. "But if we just see something, that doesn't mean that we memorize this information."

That is why it is important to learn to deal with topics and to actively memorize something. "Otherwise our knowledge gets stuck in the smartphone." With the right techniques, the brain can increase its performance enormously, she explains. "Our brain remembers some things more easily than others," says Stenger. "If a topic is explained in an exciting way in school, the pupils are much more motivated to memorize something." In addition: the brain memorizes things more easily if they can be called up in images. "It is also helpful when learning if we combine the new with the familiar." That is why the junior world memory champion recommends a learning method in which knowledge is called up in pictures.

Learn words using your own story

If, for example, students have to learn the federal states of Germany, they can make use of memory aids, recommends Stenger: "Introduce, connect and make exciting." You can do that with a story, for example. "Anyone who wants to learn the federal states should find a suitable memorandum for each individual," she advises and gives an example: "For Bavaria we could imagine the Oktoberfest, for Baden-Württemberg we could think of swimming trunks. Saarland, for example imagine it as a salt bridge, like a double donkey bridge. Salt has a similar initial syllable as Saarland, the bridge stands for the capital Saarbrücken. " Rhymes and letters would also help memorize, explains Stenger.

"From the individual images that we have now imagined, we will then form a story." Using the example of the federal states, Stenger explains: "I'm at the Oktoberfest, I win swimming trunks there and that's why I jump from the salt bridge into the Rhine." Students could continue the story. "The story doesn't have to make sense, it's all about visualizing the learning material and imagining it in the form of pictures and linking them together."

Learn vocabulary using donkey bridges

It is different with vocabulary learning. No stories are needed here. Stenger has a tip for this: find donkey bridges. "Similar to the enumerations, this strategy also works when learning vocabulary," explains the memory trainer. She explains this technique using the Latin word "cubare", which means "to lie". "In it we find the words cow and stretcher. If we now imagine how a cow is lying on a stretcher, we have already memorized the word."

However, the learning technique is difficult to implement with complex words such as those found in biology classes. Here Stenger recommends building a story. "If we approach the subject matter in a playful way and actively help shape it, our brain can remember things much more easily than when we stubbornly memorize them," says the expert.

Memorize words using route technology

"If you get confused with stories, you can also try out the route technique," suggests Stenger. "Here we note ten points on our body such as feet, knees, trouser pockets or concise points in the apartment such as the entrance door, cloakroom and chest of drawers." The terms that you want to remember "are then linked in sequence with the individual route points".

This technique is worthwhile for the subject of history, for example, explains Stenger. "With the first route point we note the first important year – then we work on the next route point."

If pupils and parents think up stories together or train with the help of route technology, if learning is much more fun, the memory trainer is sure. "Parents can sit down with their children and get creative together. This also makes queries more amusing than asking for strict facts."

The alpha and omega of all techniques: repeat

According to Stenger, it is crucial to repeat the invented stories and catchwords. In order for what we have learned to stay in the brain, "we should do at least four to five repetitions," she advises. "The brain cells constantly establish new connections with each other when we learn something new. The problem: If we only hear a new piece of information once, it simply creates a small trail in the brain." If the new knowledge is not called up again, this beaten path will disappear again immediately. "If we repeat what we have learned regularly, however, broad roads emerge, like a data highway that is firmly anchored in long-term memory."

It is important to slowly warm up to the learning methods. "Of course, these methods sound like a big detour at first, but in fact it is easier to acquire the learning that way." Over time this goes faster and faster and "the knowledge remains in long-term memory".

Provide the right learning environment

Stenger's tip for homework: "Put your cell phone away!" Because: "Even if the cell phone is next to you, your attention drops," she says. Another piece of advice from the expert is to set an alarm clock. "After ten or fifteen minutes of active learning, we can give our brain a break – that's very important."

Christiane Stenger's concept of "learning to remember" is based on learning games, targeted training plans for long-term memory and imaginative stories. She has created an online course for children and parents in which she explains memory training techniques in a simple and easy-to-understand way.