Re: Memorization (conlang version)

On Tue, 8 Feb 2000, FFlores wrote:

> I just received a message from someone who came across my
> pages, with the following very interesting questions:
>
> > Do you have any methods for ease of learning an artifically
> > created language ? In old societies, have you ever wondered how
> > the scribes memorized the torah, or mahabarata ?
>
> Does anyone know about this? What do *you* do when you want to
> learn a new language fast? For conculturers, please see my post
> to Conculture... Has any of you attempted to memorize their
> conlang's lexicon?
>
The only thing that really helps with memorizing is repetition,
I think. That holds for vocabulary, too. When I was a student I
repeatedly looked for silver bullets (not having read Brooks's essay
at the time), but there was nothing that could beat a combination of
learning vocabulary with double-sided flashcards and reading a lot
in the target language. Stretches of poetry can be memorized best by
learning them one verse at a time, and adding verses once the previous
one is memorized. Well, the conclusion must be that memory is something
to exercise, if it has to work.

Boudewijn Rempt  | http://www.valdyas.org