THE HUMAN MEMORY

You find a telephone number in the phone book, dial it and then forget it. This is your short-term memory. It lasts less than 30 seconds. (There are 60 seconds in a minute) However, you don't look in the phone book for a friend's number. You know it. This is long – term memory. Your long-term memory has every thing that you remember.
Why do you forget something? What is the reason? You did not learn it in the beginning. This is the major reason for forgetting. For example, you meet some new people, and you forget their names. You hear the names, but you do not learn them. Then you forget them.
You can remember better. Here are some ideas.
Move information. Say the information to yourself. Think about it. Spend time on it.
Overlearn. After you learn something, study it some more. Learn it more than you need to. For example, when you know a list of new words, don't stop. Practice the words a few more times.
Be sure that you understand the information. It is difficult to memorize some thing you don't understand.
Do only one thing at a time. Study in a quiet place. You cannot listen to music or people and memorize at the same time.
Try to connect the new information with something you already know. For example, when you learn the name of a new kind of food, think of a similar kind of food.
Divide the information in to parts. Do not have more than seven parts. Learn one part and stop for a few minutes. Don't try to learn all the parts at the same time.
Make a picture in your mind. For example maybe you see a new word. It is a kind of furniture. Make a picture in your mind of this furniture in a room. Remember what it looks like.
Try to relax when you study. Enjoy it. You cannot remember things when you are tired or unhappy.
Some people have a photographic memory. They see everything like a picture. Later they can see the picture in their mind again and describe everything in it. They can remember long lists of numbers and thousand of other things.
Would you like to have a photographic memory?