Category: Cram Session
Hello :)
Does anyone have good ideas on how to learn pretty long texts by heart?
- Ranveig -
Continuous repetition.
First, break it into parts, like paragrapsh. Memorize a paragraph until you can say it five times through without a mistake. Then do the next paragraph. Then put it all together until you can do all of them together. Do it again. Do it again. Do it again. Do it again. Then do it again.
Once you've done that, do it again, and again and again and again and again and again and again. Get it?
Repeat it multiple ways. Read it, recite it, copy it down in writing, discuss it with other people. Try saying it backward, then forward.
Read it enough times till you understand it. I mean really understand it, first.
IMHO too many people sit down to memorize a text or a formula or anything without first figuring out how it works or what it's about: For a text, what are the main parts? Who's doing what t whom? Revisit this often when you're trying to memorize.
The understanding of what's going on is far far far more valuable to you as an educated human being, than your ability to parrot something back.
Just learning to parrot it back takes a lot of maintenance without a whole lot of benefit later. That's where you work all term, then two weeks after the test you've completely forgotten what you learned.
But if you do like I said, you'll memorize quite a bit of it without trying in the usual sense.
the challenge wiht this is that it has to be accurately quoted .. we're talking liturgy that i'm not that familiar with. but i'm working on it!
so i know .. after a while i'ts gonna be more or less routines, but ... untill then ...
thanks for answers :)
and about understanding texts .. i agree fully, but not for this use. I also find it is more important to understand prinsiple of a text than to know it by heart. i gues that's why i got such a hard time learning by heart too. ;)
- ranveig -
work on it slowely.ran. you will learn it!