Alright so I finally took the time to go through Metivier's Russian language book How To Learn And Memoriza Russian Vocabulary from cover to cover. As a book about memorizing vocabulary it's quite good and from a language enthusiast's perspective I was glad I bought it.
However, the book itself doesn't contain that much tips concentrated specifically on russian language, rather it contains some general tips on how to take advantage of memory techniques when it comes to languages. The most valuable parts of the book are the step-by-step instructions on how to establish a memory chain with which massive amount of vocabulary can be stored in your memory palace.
What Metivier essentially argues for, is seeing each letter as an individual and then segmenting different words under different letters based on the first letter. Essentially what we're building here is an internal and mental search engine for your language vocabulary. He provides background and story for each letter in order to make us remember the letter and it's sound easily.
Bear with me as I go through the juiciest parts of the system and take from it what you will:
Establishing a memory trail
To ensure maximum recollection ability a three-part trail is to be built. It contains 1) Location, 2) Imagery and 3) Activity.
1) Locations are places in our memory palace where we store information, attaching a certain piece to a certain place. Metivier recommends using indoors only as there's a greater risk of tainting the memory if it's stored outside. He himself has used hotel rooms, rooms from his many apartments throughout his years and some houses of his acquintances. Even thought he talks against using outdoors, using familiar walking routes is still one of his preferred methods.
The more you use the places you already know, the less you have to remember.
2) Imagery. Like said, make it big, make it bright, make it unusual. Combine with a location for maximizing chances of recovery. He writes that many people (non-visual learners) opt not to use imagery at all. However, the more you activate your brains concerning one bit of information the better you remember it, hence he recommends using paintings or fictional characters for those lacking in creating visual stimuli.
3) Action. For maximal recovery, combining action with images and a location is optimal. He recommends scenes of cartoonish violence or politically incorrect situations.
The more memories with these three components are used through the better they are sown into your head. Metivier writes that in the long run the aforementioned memory devices usually melt to the background as your mind gets used to this train of thoght, with only the memory -in this case a russian letter or a russian word- itself remaining.
Preparation and predetermination
- Relaxe the mind, take couple of deep breaths before beginning each study session. Do not try to force your mind as it only serves to connect negative associations to the language project at hand.
- Predetermination. Decide what routes, images and actions you're going to use before beginning the process. Get familiar with the tools before subjecting them to learning. Do not try to make up your Memory Palace as you go along.
- Select a familar place to be your Memory Palace. Metivier himself used old apartment and it's surroundings, segmenting them with a following manner: 1) Office, 2) Laundry room, 3) Bathroom, 4) Bedroom, 5) Wife's office, 6) Living room, 7) Hallway, 8) Kitchen, 9) Outside of the door, 10) Stairwell, 11) Front door, 12) Parking garage, 13) Sidewalk, 14) Used book store, 15) Playground, 16) Fire station, 17) Church, 18) Sushi restaurant
- He offers two more tips concerning the efficient way to build this: 1) Never cross your own path and 2) Never trap yourself. <Insert Admiral Akhbar meme here> This is because we must minimize our chances of confusing ourselves. Best create a journey that follows a straight route so your mind can only focus on the recollection of the memories. Also he recommends that you make your route believable. No jumping from the balconies because next time you do the routine you might start doubting yourself as to was this truly the route.
- And finally an equation he uses: Location/station = Word, Image = Pronunciation, Action = Meaning
Alphabet
A = Ah is what do you say to a doctor.
б = Do not let Michal Bay make another Transformer!
V = V for Vlad the Impaler (This one's mine. Like mentioned before it's best personify your memory trails as much as possible for efficient recovery.)
Г = Gay. You can picture a smug-faced Milo for this one.
Д = For this he offers D-Day, so I picture Tom Hanks storming Normandy.
E = For this one I use my own rule. I was corrected on how to pronouce Putin's mistress' name Alina Kabaeva (e = je) by my very own russian mistress.
Ё = Yo! Picture your favourite rapper uttering this.
З = Here Metivier uses a snake curled up in a McDonalds ''M'' saying Ze ze ze...
И = Guys playing basketball with a ball made out of meat.
Й = Eagle (To add peculiarities, you can for example picture it sitting on Trump's shoulder.)
K = For this he recommends a cat, so I picture Cheshire Cat grinning.
Л = This is Lex Luthor (So I picture Gene Hackman looking arrogant.)
M = He uses mommy, but for the sake of this being a game forum I prefer to use Mystery Method.
H = I picture the blond Bond villain posing as Agent Nash from the movie ''From Russia With Love''
О = For this I think of O from the kinky novel ''Story of O''
П = For this I think of Patrice O'Neal, may he rest in peace
Р = I think of Dwayne ''The Rock'' Johnson
C = He uses sun. I prefer using ugly ass snails.
T = Mr. T was the first thing that appeared so Mr. T that is.
У = He uses soon. I prefer using a visual of Looney Tunes.
Ф = Looks like a hieroglyph, so Pharaos that is [f].
X = X marks the spot where Loch Ness monster is located [kh]
Ц = I like to think of Jordan Belfort's ''woman with voluptuous tits''
Ч = Let's go with Chewbacca. Metivier pictures Che Guevara
Ш = Picture of Cumberbatch's Sherlock came to mind (You can add more ''shhhh'' my having Sean Connery pronounce it in your mind.)
Щ = Metivier says fresh cheese
Ъ = The one that makes letter before it harder
Ы = B-we, V-we. He imagines an elf stumping on a biology class, saying ''b-weology''
Ь = The softener. For this I just imagine couple of first words from the Simpson's Softball song.
Э = Kind of like the symbol of euro
Ю = I picture the pale kid from Ju-On with this symbol on his forehead
Я = For this I picture Ludvig Wittgenstein doing his famous ''Ja!'', with him smacking himself on his forehead
With the alphabet memorized, words have a greater chance of sticking to your mind as images flash before your eyes when going through different words. Combination with locations is adviced.
Chaining different words
He assigns a house or a room for every single letter. Then he begins filling them in a following manner:
P is Paul's house (Or for us, Patrice's). Under this roof, everything that begins with a P. посидеть (to sit; [pf.] to sit for a while; to be imprisoned) --> Imagine a fat posse being all sweaty because his of fat rolls, having to take a break from standing with sitting for a while.
--> Find simlar words with the beginning ''пос'' and start imagining them with slight differences, with the greasy fat rolls -posse
I'm happy to answer any additional questions![[Image: smile.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/smile.gif)
. Starting from Jan 1. I will aim to learn ten new words of russian every day for a year, with some Duolingo and reading after skillset grows. Aiming for Moscow State University as an exchange student in 2017 or '18.
However, the book itself doesn't contain that much tips concentrated specifically on russian language, rather it contains some general tips on how to take advantage of memory techniques when it comes to languages. The most valuable parts of the book are the step-by-step instructions on how to establish a memory chain with which massive amount of vocabulary can be stored in your memory palace.
What Metivier essentially argues for, is seeing each letter as an individual and then segmenting different words under different letters based on the first letter. Essentially what we're building here is an internal and mental search engine for your language vocabulary. He provides background and story for each letter in order to make us remember the letter and it's sound easily.
Bear with me as I go through the juiciest parts of the system and take from it what you will:
Establishing a memory trail
To ensure maximum recollection ability a three-part trail is to be built. It contains 1) Location, 2) Imagery and 3) Activity.
1) Locations are places in our memory palace where we store information, attaching a certain piece to a certain place. Metivier recommends using indoors only as there's a greater risk of tainting the memory if it's stored outside. He himself has used hotel rooms, rooms from his many apartments throughout his years and some houses of his acquintances. Even thought he talks against using outdoors, using familiar walking routes is still one of his preferred methods.
The more you use the places you already know, the less you have to remember.
2) Imagery. Like said, make it big, make it bright, make it unusual. Combine with a location for maximizing chances of recovery. He writes that many people (non-visual learners) opt not to use imagery at all. However, the more you activate your brains concerning one bit of information the better you remember it, hence he recommends using paintings or fictional characters for those lacking in creating visual stimuli.
3) Action. For maximal recovery, combining action with images and a location is optimal. He recommends scenes of cartoonish violence or politically incorrect situations.
The more memories with these three components are used through the better they are sown into your head. Metivier writes that in the long run the aforementioned memory devices usually melt to the background as your mind gets used to this train of thoght, with only the memory -in this case a russian letter or a russian word- itself remaining.
Preparation and predetermination
- Relaxe the mind, take couple of deep breaths before beginning each study session. Do not try to force your mind as it only serves to connect negative associations to the language project at hand.
- Predetermination. Decide what routes, images and actions you're going to use before beginning the process. Get familiar with the tools before subjecting them to learning. Do not try to make up your Memory Palace as you go along.
- Select a familar place to be your Memory Palace. Metivier himself used old apartment and it's surroundings, segmenting them with a following manner: 1) Office, 2) Laundry room, 3) Bathroom, 4) Bedroom, 5) Wife's office, 6) Living room, 7) Hallway, 8) Kitchen, 9) Outside of the door, 10) Stairwell, 11) Front door, 12) Parking garage, 13) Sidewalk, 14) Used book store, 15) Playground, 16) Fire station, 17) Church, 18) Sushi restaurant
- He offers two more tips concerning the efficient way to build this: 1) Never cross your own path and 2) Never trap yourself. <Insert Admiral Akhbar meme here> This is because we must minimize our chances of confusing ourselves. Best create a journey that follows a straight route so your mind can only focus on the recollection of the memories. Also he recommends that you make your route believable. No jumping from the balconies because next time you do the routine you might start doubting yourself as to was this truly the route.
- And finally an equation he uses: Location/station = Word, Image = Pronunciation, Action = Meaning
Alphabet
A = Ah is what do you say to a doctor.
б = Do not let Michal Bay make another Transformer!
V = V for Vlad the Impaler (This one's mine. Like mentioned before it's best personify your memory trails as much as possible for efficient recovery.)
Г = Gay. You can picture a smug-faced Milo for this one.
Д = For this he offers D-Day, so I picture Tom Hanks storming Normandy.
E = For this one I use my own rule. I was corrected on how to pronouce Putin's mistress' name Alina Kabaeva (e = je) by my very own russian mistress.
Ё = Yo! Picture your favourite rapper uttering this.
З = Here Metivier uses a snake curled up in a McDonalds ''M'' saying Ze ze ze...
И = Guys playing basketball with a ball made out of meat.
Й = Eagle (To add peculiarities, you can for example picture it sitting on Trump's shoulder.)
K = For this he recommends a cat, so I picture Cheshire Cat grinning.
Л = This is Lex Luthor (So I picture Gene Hackman looking arrogant.)
M = He uses mommy, but for the sake of this being a game forum I prefer to use Mystery Method.
H = I picture the blond Bond villain posing as Agent Nash from the movie ''From Russia With Love''
О = For this I think of O from the kinky novel ''Story of O''
П = For this I think of Patrice O'Neal, may he rest in peace
Р = I think of Dwayne ''The Rock'' Johnson
C = He uses sun. I prefer using ugly ass snails.
T = Mr. T was the first thing that appeared so Mr. T that is.
У = He uses soon. I prefer using a visual of Looney Tunes.
Ф = Looks like a hieroglyph, so Pharaos that is [f].
X = X marks the spot where Loch Ness monster is located [kh]
Ц = I like to think of Jordan Belfort's ''woman with voluptuous tits''
Ч = Let's go with Chewbacca. Metivier pictures Che Guevara
Ш = Picture of Cumberbatch's Sherlock came to mind (You can add more ''shhhh'' my having Sean Connery pronounce it in your mind.)
Щ = Metivier says fresh cheese
Ъ = The one that makes letter before it harder
Ы = B-we, V-we. He imagines an elf stumping on a biology class, saying ''b-weology''
Ь = The softener. For this I just imagine couple of first words from the Simpson's Softball song.
Э = Kind of like the symbol of euro
Ю = I picture the pale kid from Ju-On with this symbol on his forehead
Я = For this I picture Ludvig Wittgenstein doing his famous ''Ja!'', with him smacking himself on his forehead
With the alphabet memorized, words have a greater chance of sticking to your mind as images flash before your eyes when going through different words. Combination with locations is adviced.
Chaining different words
He assigns a house or a room for every single letter. Then he begins filling them in a following manner:
P is Paul's house (Or for us, Patrice's). Under this roof, everything that begins with a P. посидеть (to sit; [pf.] to sit for a while; to be imprisoned) --> Imagine a fat posse being all sweaty because his of fat rolls, having to take a break from standing with sitting for a while.
--> Find simlar words with the beginning ''пос'' and start imagining them with slight differences, with the greasy fat rolls -posse
I'm happy to answer any additional questions
. Starting from Jan 1. I will aim to learn ten new words of russian every day for a year, with some Duolingo and reading after skillset grows. Aiming for Moscow State University as an exchange student in 2017 or '18.