Dates are notoriously difficult to memorise. How many times have you filled out a form asking something like, "How long have you lived at your current address?" and got into a slight panic because you're just not sure? Not just of the day or month, but of the actual year. And that's something that happened in your life. So, it stands to reason that it's even more difficult to remember dates of historical events.
The reason dates - and numbers in general - aren't memorable is because they are abstract, which makes them hard to visualise. Visualisation is important because not only can we recall images faster than text and numbers, our brains find it much easier to recall the things that we can visualise. And that's where 'The Major System' comes in.
The Major System Explained
The foundation of the major system was developed by a German Scholar named Stanislaus Mink von Wennsshein in the 17th century, and it essentially works by assigning a letter - or consonant sound - to each number from 0 - 9 and then creating words from those letters by filling in the vowels.
That might sound a bit complicated, but it really is quite simple. Let's take the number 30. 3 is represented by the letter 'M' and 0 is represented by the letters 'S' or 'Z', so to remember the number 30 we just need to take the letters M (for 3) and S or Z (for 0) and fill in the blanks with vowels (a, e, i o, u) to make a word. For me 30 is 'Maze', but some other suggestions could be 'Mouse' or 'Muse', whatever is most memorable to you.
Once you've selected your word for a number, it's easy to reverse the process by taking the word and breaking it back down in to its consonant sounds by removing the vowels (MaZe) and then converting them back to the numbers (3 and 0)
So now we've seen an example, lets look at the consonants we can use:
- 0 = S or Z
- 1 = T or D
- 2 = N
- 3 = M
- 4 = R
- 5 = L
- 6 = Sh, Ch or J
- 7 = K, hard C or G
- 8 = F or V
- 9 = P or B
If you want to remember the number 64 using the above mappings, you can see we have the letters Sh, Ch or J for 6 and R for 4, now you just need to fill out vowels to create a word. I use 'Chair' and visualise a rocking chair (because it's more memorable than a normal chair), but you can choose any other word combining these letters by filling out the consonants with vowels (Share, Jar, Chore etc).
It's important when you choose a word to try to avoid filling it out with other consonants, as you might get confused. For example, if I chose the word 'Shark' for 64, the added 'K' is used to represent the number 7, so 'shark' could also be used to remember 647 (sh+r+k).
It does take a little time to get the number to letter mappings in to your head, but the more you use the system the easier it becomes. If you're struggling you can use our Major System Flashcards to help you remember.
Using The Major System with The PEG system
Now we have a way of encoding and decoding numbers to words, you might be thinking "what use is it if I just remember 64 as a (rocking) chair?"
To put the system to use you need to actually associate the image with something you're trying to remember. Taking our rocking chair as an example I can tell you that in 1964 Tokyo hosted the summer Olympics. I know this because I can clearly visualise an old lady knitting in a rocking chair at the top of Tokyo tower watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
This system of creating mental associations between two concrete objects (in this case Tokyo Olympics and Chair) is called the "mnemonic peg system". When you use the peg system, the things you visualise should be memorable, and for some reason, out brains are good at remember silly things, so when you're creating associations the rule is: the sillier the better.
Also, don't forget to create associations that will actually allow you to identify what you are remembering. In my example above, if I just used "An old lady sitting on Tokyo Tower in a rocking chair" I know Tokyo and I know 64, but what happened in Tokyo in 1964? So all my Olympic year visuals have an Olympic opening ceremony in them.
Similarly, if you want to remember Years of Oscar winning films you might choose to visualise everything at the Oscar's ceremony or on top of the Hollywood sign, or if you want to remember the atomic numbers on the periodic table you could visualise everything in your school chemistry lab. It doesn't matter where you choose, as long as you can identify it.
Remembering Longer Sequences
So far, my examples have shown how to remember 2 digit numbers, but let's say I want to remember the precise date that George Washington became president (February 22, 1732) I now have a longer date sequence (2,22,1732). In order to remember this we need to create a story that links those dates together. I don't encode single digits, I always add a 0 before the first number because it's easier to make a word, so I would remember 02, 22,1732. Similarly, I don't have a word for a 4 digit number like 1732, instead I have words for 17 and 32, so my story must include:
02 = 'Sun' (S + N)
22 = 'Nun' (N + N)
17 = Tug (T + G)
32 = Moon (M + N)
As I'm remembering Goerge Washington, I want my story to take place in The Oval Office. It's cool I have sun and moon, so an eclipse will definitely take place, let's give it a shot:
"George Washington is sitting in the Oval Office with a bright sun (02) shining through the window, a nearby group of Nun's (22) playing Tug of war (17) outside notice George Washington is being blinded, so use the tug of war rope to lasso the moon (32) and pull it over the sun"
Silly, right? but I bet you can remember it much better than Feb 22, 1732, and that's the point.
Getting Started with The Major System
Now you've seen how powerful The Major System can be, you might be wondering what the best way to get started is. I would suggest setting up a spreadsheet with the numbers 00 - 100, then choosing a set that isn't overly complicated to remember, such as Summer Olympic Host Cities or Oscar Winning Films of the 2010's.
Once you've selected your set, take the first date on the list and convert it in to it's consonant sound. So if you have 2010 you would take 20 (N + S or Z) and 10 (T or D + S or Z) and create a word for each (e.g. Nose and Daisy) and add them to your spreadsheet alongside their number. This step is important because not only does it help you practice converting the numbers to their consonant sounds, it also gives you a way to look up your word if you forget what you chose; something that can easily happen when you're just starting out.
Next create your visualisation. Using 2010 and Oscar Winning Films we have "The King's Speech", so we could have "King Henry VIII on stage accepting his Oscar about to make his speech (association with what we are remembering) when he starts to sneeze (Nose) and Brad Pitt quickly runs on stage with two Daisy's and shoves them up his nostrils to stop him from sneezing".
Do the same for the entire set, and then go back over the dates and try recall your stories and identify the fact you are trying to recall. Try to do the number to word mapping in your head or on paper, but you can use your spreadsheet to look up the words if you get stuck.
Make sure you repeat this recall process this over time to reinforce the information. If you're using Qwhizz, you can use our online spaced repetition system, so you don't need to manually remember when you need to reinforce the information.
Now, it's just a matter of gradually filling in the gaps on your spreadsheet when you have a new number to remember.
The Major System does take a bit of time to learn, but eventually the link between the numbers and words will get stronger and you'll be able to recall the information faster. As with everything in life, consistency is key, but in the end you just might just have the ability to remember the date you moved in to your own home.