slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6676 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English
| Message 25 of 89 23 July 2011 at 4:03pm | IP Logged |
Josh Cohen wrote:
EDIT: "istiqbāl = reception and istiqlāl" -- you could think of it as i-stiq-bal and i-stiq-lal. "Istiq" is "I stick" -- either hitting someone with a stick or pasting sticky notes on them. Your image of the receptionist could be your pasting sticky notes on a ball balanced on his/her head. "I stick ball."
For "istiqlal", "lal" could be "LOL" -- maybe an LOL cat covered in sticky notes celebrating independence day by riding some fireworks into the sky.
Sorry for the rushed response -- I have to run and catch a bus.
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Thank you for your answer.
Some people transform their L2 words in several L1 words. Then they make associations in a certain order: up to down or left to right.
For example:
Martillo is hammer in Spanish.
First you can divide the word in: mar-ti-llo, m-a-r-t-i-l-l-o or mar-til-lo
You need an image for every part. For example if you use MAR-TIL-LO, you can use:
MAR= imagine MARs (chocolate)
TIL= imagine a TILl (cash register)
LO= imagine LOaf (bread)
Mnemonics:
Imagin a HAMMER in a horizontal position and visualize above it a MARS, a TILL and a LOaf from left to right.
With abstract words you can use the same, but you need more imagination an practice.
Edited by slucido on 23 July 2011 at 4:09pm
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slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6676 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English
| Message 26 of 89 23 July 2011 at 4:06pm | IP Logged |
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Edited by slucido on 23 July 2011 at 11:14pm
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Josh Cohen Newbie United States mnemotechnics.org/ Joined 4877 days ago 35 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Portuguese, Esperanto
| Message 27 of 89 23 July 2011 at 10:29pm | IP Logged |
Doitsujin wrote:
... however, if I asked you to name the index number for the jack of diamonds, you'd have to run through all memorized cards, until you find it, don't you? |
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Not necessarily -- you just say, "what was the Jack of Diamonds doing? (Robin Hood) He was shooting arrows at an anchor (2 of Clubs) which fell into a glass of iced tea (10 of Diamonds) and that was at the grassy field: location #11, meaning that that the Jack of Diamonds is the 31st card" (if 3 cards per locus).
What are "L2-to-L1 translations"?
slucido wrote:
For example:
Martillo is hammer in Spanish.
First you can divide the word in: mar-ti-llo, m-a-r-t-i-l-l-o or mar-til-lo
You need an image for every part... |
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That's interesting. I use left-to-right and top-to-bottom also.
I don't make an image for every part of the word unless it's a difficult word. When something is on the tip of your tongue, you can usually bring it back if someone prompts you with the first letter or sound. The mnemonic image is an imaginary friend that gets you past the "tip of the tongue" problem.
For martillo, my way of doing it would be to picture someone named Marty doing something unusual with a hammer. If I had trouble recalling the last syllable, I could add another image for that, like the "loaf" you mentioned.
I usually go with the first association that comes into my head. "Where is the first place my mind goes when I hear that word?" That's where the mnemonic images gets attached.
Edited by Josh Cohen on 23 July 2011 at 11:17pm
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Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6012 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh
| Message 28 of 89 23 July 2011 at 11:14pm | IP Logged |
Josh Cohen wrote:
What are "L2-to-L1 translations"? |
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L1 is your first language, L2 is the second. L2->L1 translation is going from your "target" learning language back to your native language.
Quote:
That's interesting. I use left-to-right and top-to-bottom also.
I don't make an image for every part of the word unless it's a difficult word. When something is on the tip of your tongue, you can usually bring it back if someone prompts you with the first letter or sound. The mnemonic image is an imaginary friend that gets you past the "tip of the tongue" problem. |
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That's actually a very important point: when we recall words in any language, the first thing we recall is the first syllable or its onset (the first consonant cluster) and the prosody (the number of syllables and the stress pattern) of the word.
When you get that "tip-of-the-tongue" sensation, you generally have a notion of the starting sound, and you could generally drum out the rhythm on a table.
One of the dangers of mnemonics is that they rarely respect this pattern. "Mars till loaf", for example, doesn't indicate the second-syllable stress of the Spanish "Martillo", so it doesn't reinforce natural recall of the word.
Of course, some mnemonics are even worse than this -- take this example from MT Russian by Natasha Bershadski: the Russian for "to understand" is понимать (ponimat’), so she says "I don't understand why the pony is on the mat". But this inserts three dummy syllables in the way of the word....
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slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6676 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English
| Message 29 of 89 23 July 2011 at 11:22pm | IP Logged |
Josh Cohen wrote:
Doitsujin wrote:
... however, if I asked you to name the index number for the jack of diamonds, you'd have to run through all memorized cards, until you find it, don't you? |
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Not necessarily -- you just say, "what was the Jack of Diamonds doing? (Robin Hood) He was shooting arrows at an anchor (2 of Clubs) which fell into a glass of iced tea (10 of Spades) and that was at the grassy field: location #11, meaning that that the Jack of Diamonds is the 31st card" (if 3 cards per locus).
What are "L2-to-L1 translations"?
slucido wrote:
For example:
Martillo is hammer in Spanish.
First you can divide the word in: mar-ti-llo, m-a-r-t-i-l-l-o or mar-til-lo
You need an image for every part... |
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That's interesting. I use left-to-right and top-to-bottom also.
I don't make an image for every part of the word unless it's a difficult word. When something is on the tip of your tongue, you can usually bring it back if someone prompts you with the first letter or sound. The mnemonic image is an imaginary friend that gets you past the "tip of the tongue" problem.
For martillo, my way of doing it would be to picture someone named Marty doing something unusual with a hammer. If I had trouble recalling the last syllable, I could add another image for that, like the "loaf" you mentioned.
I usually go with the first association that comes into my head. "Where is the first place my mind goes when I hear that word?" That's where the mnemonic images gets attached. |
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My example is a bad example, because it is too easy. I was talking about very difficult words, like the Arabic ones.
I agree. It is much better to use the first sound and the first image or assotiation that comes into mind.
Anyway, people have a hard time with abstract words or weird sounding words. Without a good memory training, it is difficult to take a real advantage of mnemonics.
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Josh Cohen Newbie United States mnemotechnics.org/ Joined 4877 days ago 35 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Portuguese, Esperanto
| Message 30 of 89 23 July 2011 at 11:27pm | IP Logged |
Cainntear wrote:
Of course, some mnemonics are even worse than this -- take this example from MT Russian by Natasha Bershadski: the Russian for "to understand" is понимать (ponimat’), so she says "I don't understand why the pony is on the mat". But this inserts three dummy syllables in the way of the word.... |
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I don't know if making sentences is as effective as visual images. Visual memory is the strongest. I think you only need an image of "pony" and "mat" under a stand. You have to fool yourself into believing that you saw it. Then visual memory takes over.
That's why I personally wouldn't use "Marty" and "low". "Low" is abstract and can't be visualized. A "loaf" can be visualized. Marty is beating a loaf of bread with a hammer. (No sentences, just a visual memory of the tragic event.)
Edited by Josh Cohen on 23 July 2011 at 11:28pm
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slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6676 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English
| Message 31 of 89 23 July 2011 at 11:37pm | IP Logged |
Cainntear wrote:
One of the dangers of mnemonics is that they rarely respect this pattern. "Mars till loaf", for example, doesn't indicate the second-syllable stress of the Spanish "Martillo", so it doesn't reinforce natural recall of the word.
Of course, some mnemonics are even worse than this -- take this example from MT Russian by Natasha Bershadski: the Russian for "to understand" is понимать (ponimat’), so she says "I don't understand why the pony is on the mat". But this inserts three dummy syllables in the way of the word.... |
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You only need memory training to add stress or whatever you want..
Mnemonics is good if it is efficient to make you remember and that depends on your personal history and background. Some mnemonics can be extremely good for me, but very bad for you. Much worse if our native languages are different.
Mnemonics only gives you a CLUE to remember with your NATURAL memory. Mnemonics doesn't substitute your natural memory, it helps it.
With a good training, the magic comes when you use the keyword technique with locations (loci), because you can review this words anywhere for several days and to fix them in your long-term memory without the need of any clue (previous mnenomics)
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slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6676 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English
| Message 32 of 89 23 July 2011 at 11:40pm | IP Logged |
Josh Cohen wrote:
Cainntear wrote:
Of course, some mnemonics are even worse than this -- take this example from MT Russian by Natasha Bershadski: the Russian for "to understand" is понимать (ponimat’), so she says "I don't understand why the pony is on the mat". But this inserts three dummy syllables in the way of the word.... |
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I don't know if making sentences is as effective as visual images. Visual memory is the strongest. |
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I think sentences are the first level. Visuals are the second level. Synesthesia the last level.
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