Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

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Yunus39
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Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby Yunus39 » Thu Sep 09, 2021 9:09 am

Hi all,
First time poster.

Does anyone have experience memorizing 5-7 minute stories in another language (when at a b1-b2 level)? If so what method did you use?

More info:

I have been learning Bangla (Bengali) in Bangladesh for the last two years mainly using GPA (Growing Participator Approach), though I did spend six months in formal classes after Phase 1 (I regret it). I am currently in Phase 5, but I have to take an exam from an NGO. The exam is content-specific. I have to prepare to tell three 5-7 minute stories. While I do not have to tell them word for word, they want fairly detailed and specific retellings. In the previous exam I memorized a spoken language version of the story and told it. I received a "B" for not being detailed enough.

For the first exam the stories were about 3 minutes. I used a memory palace and mnemonics for most of the words. This was not good from a language-learning perspective, but worked well for the exam. I did the same for the second exam, but combined a bit more rote memorization. I am now taking the 3rd exam, and I memorized the first story using "chunking"/"shadowing" and a memory palace. It was exhausting and by far took the longest amount of time to do.

I am now almost done memorizing the second story using a memory palace and the "first letter of each word" method. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8k_rNTDjJM)

I will start working on the third story this week. It seems like there has to be an easier way to do this. I am thinking about drawing out a comic strip of the story, and just practicing telling it from the comic strip. I can store the comic-strip pictures in a memory palace and do it that way.

I haven't found anything that is specific about memorizing page-long content in languages you are learning. Anyone have resources, suggestions, methods?
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby jackb » Thu Sep 09, 2021 12:38 pm

Hi jammon, welcome to the forum. I think this is one of the things that flashcards are really good at. You basically have the first line of the story as the 'question' then the second line as the answer. The next card has the second line as the question and the 3rd line as the answer, continuing until the story is finished.

This may explain it better https://www.supermemo.com/en/archives1990-2015/articles/20rules. The page is long, but it 'rule' 10 (A poem split into easy items)
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby Deinonysus » Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:30 pm

It could be that you are focusing too much on getting the wording exact which could cause you to drop some details. I'm sure they would appreciate a paraphrase in your own words that is more detailed.
I think the comic book idea is great and that will probably be much more effective than remembering the first letter of each word.
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby Stefan » Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:53 pm

Does it have to be a taught story? Otherwise I reckon it would be a lot easier to just flesh out a memory of an experience you had and tell that story, because you'll know all the details and you'll be able to visualise it when telling it.

If it's a specific story, then I like the comic book idea, although I would consider a video version myself. I recorded a three minute video of two friends before the summer and after editing it, I can still visualize every scene months later. At the same time, I don't remember a single word of the song that I played over and over again to cut the scenes to. So for me personally, something visual works extremely well. It's a lot of work though.
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby Kraut » Thu Sep 09, 2021 3:07 pm

I memorize mini-stories, but it takes a while to get them into long-term memory.

I do bidirectional translation and memorize at the same time. Visualizing scenes is very important.

Here I describe the method a bit

https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 1&start=80

https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... &start=320

I'm under no pressure and do it slowly - a quarter of an hour/half an hour per session. The follwing text took me about two weeks in this rythm to reach 100 per cent correctness - or almost. I can hold it in my memory for about three days and then it starts fading, but comes back completely when I do repetitions.

https://www.tripadvisor.es/ShowUserRevi ... lucia.html

This is what my bidirectional sheet looks like:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby german2k01 » Thu Sep 09, 2021 5:21 pm

Well, practice every day and be more intense right before the exam. Try writing the story on a piece of paper many times by hand first looking at the text then without looking at the text. Then try memorizing a couple of sentences and recalling them from your memory. Then add a couple of sentences and start recalling again right from the beginning. Then add a couple of sentences and then again start recalling from the beginning and do it gradually with the whole story. Repetition is the mother of learning.

Chinese students memorize the whole 15-minute presentation word for word and regurgitate it in a class of 30 students. If they can do it, then do you.
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby Carmody » Thu Sep 09, 2021 6:35 pm

The Illiad was of course always recited from memory. I always though it would be great to memorize that....
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby Steve » Thu Sep 09, 2021 7:25 pm

I've not done this in many years (since doing acting in HS plays), but this is how I would approach it if I had to do something like that now. This leans heavily on how I've learned how to learn over the years in a way that works good for me. Your mileage will vary.

I'd first write it out and record it. If I could find a native speaker (whose voice I liked), I'd try to get a native recording. If not, I'd do it myself after reading and re-reading out loud enough times to sound semi-fluent. Rather than initially working word by word and phrase by phrase, I'd start with listening at a sentence and paragraph level to let my brain become familiar with the overall structure of the entire story. The main thing is getting my brain used to the sections and main thoughts to express. I'd do a combination of LR, L, chorusing/shadowing, R, etc. as to what seemed to be doing the most. I'd then go back to individual phrases to fine tune them.

I have an above average memory, but I find I have a problem practicing in a repetitive word by word and phrase by phrase manner to remember something. The memory structure formed in my brain ends up like a train with each car connected to the next. I'm always running on the edge of disaster where each link between each pair of words or phrases is a place where it might come uncoupled and I lose where I am at. I find I can make rapid initial progress memorizing this way (as well as subjectively feel like I'm making progress word by word), but then I end up having to find all the places I hesitate or get lost which becomes much more work. It renders me more susceptible to the inevitable brain freeze that can occur when stress levels spike during testing.

Working at paragraph level or so is more like learning a song to me. First time I hear it, I get the general structure and the catchy parts of the chorus. As I listen more, I remember more and more lyrics and the entire structure of the song becomes more and more familiar. Even if I don't know the lyrics at a point, I can hum along (or do a la-la-la) over words I forget but I still have an intuitive feeling where I'm at and know when the lyrics I can remember kick in. I also find that this allows me a fighting chance to improvise in places I cannot remember the exact words since I know what the main thought is at those points as well as knowing what direction I have to head to get back on track. Doing it this way, I find that individual words and phrases have more and stronger connections to the entire structure than only to the previous word. Brain freezes or gaps due to stress become more like when a blast of static on the radio kicks in but your brain can fill in the parts of the song that are inaudible since it is familiar with the song as a unit.

Again, this is how I've learned my brain tends to work. Other people's mileage will vary.

EDIT[I should clarify that I would spent much time in what is a repetitive phrase by phrase mode, but that is done in a way that fills in holes in the whole rather than adds cars to the train.]
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby Yunus39 » Fri Sep 10, 2021 2:34 am

jackb wrote:Hi jammon, welcome to the forum. I think this is one of the things that flashcards are really good at. You basically have the first line of the story as the 'question' then the second line as the answer. The next card has the second line as the question and the 3rd line as the answer, continuing until the story is finished.

This may explain it better https://www.supermemo.com/en/archives1990-2015/articles/20rules. The page is long, but it 'rule' 10 (A poem split into easy items)


Thanks I can try this.
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Re: Best Way to Memorize Stories Verbatim

Postby Yunus39 » Fri Sep 10, 2021 2:36 am

Stefan wrote:Does it have to be a taught story? Otherwise I reckon it would be a lot easier to just flesh out a memory of an experience you had and tell that story, because you'll know all the details and you'll be able to visualise it when telling it.

If it's a specific story, then I like the comic book idea, although I would consider a video version myself. I recorded a three minute video of two friends before the summer and after editing it, I can still visualize every scene months later. At the same time, I don't remember a single word of the song that I played over and over again to cut the scenes to. So for me personally, something visual works extremely well. It's a lot of work though.


Yeah, they are stories specific to the exam and not "daily life" kind of language. If I was telling stories from my own life, I wouldn't have to memorize anything and probably wouldn't require that much prep.
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