Study method: How to memorize a long chapter quickly
To study quickly and well there are no tricks or shortcuts. You can improve your study method, speed up your reading, but the real solution to study quickly is to train your memory, to quickly memorize what you study. It happens to everyone, in fact, that they have little time to study for a question or a task in the classroom.
We often have over 30 minutes to study a whole chapter of history. This is why we have prepared this simple and useful guide that will help you quickly memorize a long chapter in less time. The memorization technique that we will show you is widespread and really works. According to some scholars in the field of cognitive teaching once this mnemonics has been learned, also called photo-reading, it is possible to memorize 100 pages in 20 minutes. To begin, let’s try to understand how to memorize a long chapter as soon as possible.
Step 1: Memory techniques
The first step in applying the photo reading system is to take note of your goal, to become aware of what you are about to do. It is therefore essential to empty the mind of all superfluous thoughts and affirm one’s own will: “I am about to memorize an entire chapter”. It may seem a superfluous step, but it is not, it is a way to prepare our mind to receive new information and to “unleash” our willpower. Initially removing unnecessary thoughts will take some time, but with a little training it will come naturally.
Step 2: Quickly browse the chapter
Quickly browse through the chapter you need to study. Focus on the titles of the paragraphs, on the words in bold, on each type of visual indicator. An old military proverb teaches that time spent reconnaissance is never wasted time! This depends on the fact that through the preview of the materials to be studied, we allow our mind to start cataloging the information, as if they were files to be filled. The more precise and complete your mental archive will be the more precise and complete reconnaissance.
Step 3: Fast reading techniques
The most difficult step in the photo reading technique, or the moment in which the brain absorbs information directly from the pages we are about to study. To read, or gather information from the book quickly, you can use the fast reading technique you prefer. Photo reading is based on a different way of “looking” at the book. Not as a text to read every word, but only the information that really interests us. Indeed, photo reading experts advise beginners to associate a quick reading technique with a preliminary phase in which the information that really interests us is emphasized with a pencil.
Step 4: Activation
By reading quickly, your mind will have absolutely no control over the information you have read. This means that immediately after reading the book you will have the feeling of not knowing anything. Thus begins the fourth phase: activation. This consists in recalling the information acquired in a non-conscious way, through one of the memory recall techniques that you most prefer. Within a few weeks your storage times will decrease by 50%.
Step 5: Self-question
The fifth step is optional. And it is recommended for students who have to face an oral test or an exam. It consists of self-evaluation. Several times we have explained to you that the best way to understand if you have understood or not what you have studied is to put yourself in the shoes of the prof and ask yourself questions. Do it even after using photo reading. That of photo reading is a complex technique, but once learned it can really help you speed up your study and quickly remember what you read. Do not be discouraged immediately and if you are interested in exploring the subject we advise you to read the books written by the creators of this technique.
