u/Pie-Guy

Hi, (Ciao a tutti)

This is a little long.

So, I am trying to learn Italian. I am in the "research" phase. I want to make sure my time is well spent.
I read about mnemonics and memory palaces and was instantly intrigued. I have a VERY visual memory and images fit my learning style. My wife can't believe how easily I can recognize a face and how terrible I am at remembering names.

So I watched some videos on memory palaces. In one of the videos, the guy in the video takes a room I have never seen and a paragraph on a topic I know nothing about and walked us through making a memory palace. I was paying attention but had no reason to remember what I was seeing. The next day, while thinking about it, I could recall around 60% of the various images. I was very impressed. This very much seems to fit the way I learn.

So, I started looking at videos on how mnemonics are used in language learning. I have a couple of questions.

For those of you who use mnemonics and memory palaces, how do you store you images. Let me elaborate:

Let's take the word "cat" - in Italian a cat is "gatto". An easy mnemonic for me is a cake painted with the colors of the flag of france as cake in french is gateau (I am English but can speak French - Immersion in School).

Now, when I am speaking Italian, when I need the word for "cat", I can think of my mnemonic and voila. BUT - what if I someoone says "gatto" and I want to remember what a "gatto" is, that it means "cat". So, my question is, do most of you make an native tongue meme to represent a foreign tongue word if that makes sense. For my "cat" example, if I were in a conversation with someone in Italian and they said "gatto" - would my "cake" mnemonic work when it comes to remember that it is a cat and not a cake. I hope that made sense.

Also, do we need memory palaces for mnemonics when using them to store vocabulary. I have been creating images at random just for practice and I remember them all - no palace required. I wonder if memory palaces are better for things that should be in order - like if you memorise a paragraph. The reason I ask is, in a video I watched someone suggested using AI to generate your images once you know what you want. If you want a bear made of oranges, AI can do that. He then suggested putting that image on the answer side of an anki card. So, see the word in Italian, remember the definition by remembering the image - if you can't, you can then refresh the image and see what you came up with originally.

So, anyone out there using a Memory Palace for learning language vocabulary. If so, what is the approach. Create mnemonics for the Italian word (like a cake for gatto) - and when I hear "gatto" it will just click? Any insight would be helpful.

For the memory palace question, do you use memory palaces for vocabulary or do you just mnemonics to memorize words.

Any help/opinions would be appreciated.

Hi, (Ciao a tutti)

This is a little long.

So, I am trying to learn Italian. I am in the "research" phase. I want to make sure my time is well spent. I bought Rocket Italian which has good reviews and I really like, but I am always looking for ways to supplement it.

I read about mnemonics and memory palaces and was instantly intrigued. I have a VERY visual memory and images fit my learning style. My wife can't believe how easily I can recognize a face and how terrible I am at remembering names.

So I bought a Udemy course on memory palaces (on sale for 10ish bucks) and watched all videos. In the course, the teacher takes a room I have never seen and a paragraph on a topic I know nothing about and walked us through making a memory palace. I was paying attention but had no reason to remember what I was seeing. The next day, while thinking about it, I could recall around 60% of the various images. I was very impressed. This very much seems to fit the way I learn.

So, I started looking at videos on how mnemonics are used in language learning. I have a couple of questions.

For those of you who use mnemonics and memory palaces, how do you store you images. Let me elaborate:

Let's take the word "cat" - in Italian a cat is "gatto". An easy mnemonic for me is a cake painted with the colors of the flag of france as cake in french is gateau (I am English but can speak French - Immersion in School).

Now, when I am speaking Italian, when I need the word for "cat", I can think of my mnemonic and voila. BUT - what if I someoone says "gatto" and I want to remember what a "gatto" is, that it means "cat". So, my question is, do most of you make an native tongue meme to represent a foreign tongue word if that makes sense. For my "cat" example, if I were in a conversation with someone in Italian and they said "gatto" - would my "cake" mnemonic work when it comes to remember that it is a cat and not a cake. I hope that made sense.

Also, do we need memory palaces for mnemonics when using them to store vocabulary. I have been creating images at random just for practice and I remember them all - no palace required. I wonder if memory palaces are better for things that should be in order - like if you memorise a paragraph. The reason I ask is, in a video I watched someone suggested using AI to generate your images once you know what you want. If you want a bear made of oranges, AI can do that. He then suggested putting that image on the answer side of an anki card. So, see the word in Italian, remeber the definition by remembering the image - if you can't, you can then refresh the image and see what you came up with originally.

So, anyone out there using a Memory Palace for learning language vocabulary. If so, what is the approach. Create mnemonics for the Italian word (like a cake for gatto) - and when I hear "gatto" it will just click? Any inight would be helpful.

For the memory palace question, do you use memory palaces for vocabulary or just mnemonics.

Any help/opinions would be appreciated.

Like the title says. Should I make sure I know all the content in a lesson before I move on. Just keep repeating it - or - do people do the lesson, retain as much as possible and keep going. 
The people who designed this course must have a vision of how the typical user will approach this. I could see it taking less time to get through if I just do a lesson and move on but then I risk having to re-do the course I imagine. 

(I am doing Rocket Italian b.t.w.)