The M in the beginning of mnemonic is silent, and it’s pronounced ne-mo-nics. Now that I got that out of the way, how does hacking your brain and storing huge amounts of information in the shortest and simplest way sound to you? That’s what mnemonics will help you with.
A mnemonic is any learning technique that helps you remember abstract things better. It works by translating complex, abstract information, that you would normally struggle with to memorize, into simpler forms that you can memorize and remember more easily.
In this article I’m going to show you how to use such memory aids to learn German and you’ll find a few more beautiful mnemonic devices in my Everyday German course (and to an extent also in my B2 course). But before we dive into that, let’s start by learning how mnemonics work.
What are Mnemonics?
Mnemonics, memory-improving strategies often taught in schools, aid students in learning and recalling information. Examples include setting the alphabet to music, rhymes for spelling rules, and acrostics like “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” (or PEMDAS: parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction) for algebraic order of operations .
These strategies extend beyond academics, assisting in remembering names, number sequences, and even grocery lists. Given diverse learning styles, what works for one person may not suit another. However, the versatility of mnemonic tools ensures various ways to incorporate them into your learning journey.
Why Do Mnemonic Techniques Work?
The aim of a mnemonic technique is to make abstract facts concrete so that they stick around and remain in your long-term memory. To achieve this, these facts are translated into a form that’s easier to grasp for your brain.
A good example of this is the mnemonic “My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Nachos,” in which the first letter of every word represents one of the 8 planets of our solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). In German that’d be: “Mein Vater erklärt mir Jeden Sonntag unsere neun Planeten” (My father explains to-me every Sunday our nine planets). That still includes Pluto though. The plantets’ names in German are: Merkur – Venus, Erde, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptun und Pluto.
Another example is what doctors use to remember the way to analyze the pain a patient is having: SOCRATES. Every letter of the word SOCRATES represents an aspect of the pain that the doctor has to report (Site, Onset, Character, Radiation, Associations, Time course, Exacerbating factors and Severity). Unfortunately I don’t know the German mnemonic for this one.
Mnemonics are not a new thing. In fact, the word mnemonic itself is derived from the name of the Greek goddess Mnemosyne, who was the goddess of memory. They were used throughout history by Aristotle and Plato, books were written about them by the likes of Cicero and Quintilian, and they were used by the emperors of Rome to remember their speeches.
In German, mnemonics are sometimes called Eselsbrücken, which literally means “donkey bridges”. The story behind this funny name is that donkeys are said to be very afraid of water, to the point where bridges were built for them to cross over the smallest bodies of water. So in a sense, if your brain is as afraid of information as a donkey is of water, you should build your brain a memory bridge to make information retention easier.
How to Use Mnemonics to Learn German
Your memory is a web of connections between times, places, sounds, images and everything else that makes up reality. Trying to learn an abstract fact or complex new words (e.g. Fremdschämen – feeling ashamed for someone else), or a grammar rule without associating it with anything of value to your brain will leave it floating in your memory not anchored to any context and difficult to remember later on. Mnemonics can help you create meaningful associations between these abstract facts with places, faces or sounds that are familiar to you, which anchors the facts to a place in your memory that you can easily access later on.
3 Mnemonic Techniques to learn German words
If you’re having trouble remembering all the German vocabulary you tried so hard to stuff into your brain, you might find it easier to convert these words first into mental images. You know what they say; “A picture says more than a thousand words.” Your brain might find it difficult to remember all many dry, boring words, but you’d be surprised by how easily you can remember images.
Just think of the many times you remembered someone’s face, but not their name. The reason for this is that vocabulary is one of the most abstract forms of information one can imagine and a word in a foreign language that also often doesn’t even ressemble any word in one’s native language is simply hard to connect with existing knowledge.
Technique 1
For German vocabulary, the simplest mnemonic technique I use is to imagine the meaning of the word in my mind. For example, the word “Regen” in German means “rain,” and to memorize this word I simply imagined rain in my hometown while repeating the word in my head or even saying it out loud, or even better have Memrise or Google translate say it out loud. This way I have created a mental connection between the word and the rain in my hometown and I could revisit this connection later to remember the word.
Technique 2
Another technique that I find works especially well for verbs is to imagine a famous actor doing the action. Like if I want to learn the word “fahren,” which means “drive” in German, I imagine Tom Cruise driving a car and saying the word. I sometimes add details to these visualizations like imagining him reading “Fahren.heit 451” while driving, which strengthens the connection in my mind even further.
Technique 3
The third technique that’s the most reliable is to draw similarities between different words in German and English that have the same pronunciation but different meanings. For example, the German word for table is “Tisch” which sounds an awful lot like “dish”. Now, if you imagine your food being served to you on tiny tables instead of dishes, you’ll make a connection in your brain between the dish in English and the table (Tisch) in German.
Another example of this technique is imagining a rat asking you for advice about his recent divorce, as the word “Rat” in German means “advice.” This technique is also known as Linkword or keyword technique.
For these memory techniques to work, you need to train your imagination a little to be able to draw mental images.
I used to struggle with visualizing things in my mind, but the more I put my imagination into real use, the more vivid it got and the more useful I found it for language acquisition. You can use mnemonic devices to memorize more complex German words that might be super long (like compound nouns) or words that are difficult to connect to any mental image.
What you can do in this case is break down the word into smaller parts and then put all those parts into one big mental picture. An example of this would be the German word “wahrscheinlich,” which means “probable”. You can break the word into three parts: Wahr, schein and lich. Now try to put those three parts into a single mental image.
I tried it myself and got into a war where shiny tanks were fighting while between them a cat licked himself. This all might sound too much effort for a single word to you, but if you turn this into a habit you use to learn difficult long words, it’ll become like second nature very soon and it will pay off in the near future. Always remember: your brain loves images and hates boring abstract words.
Mnemonics to Learn German Grammar
What I showed you above for learning German vocabulary can almost all be also used to learn German grammar.
Technique 4
An example of this is remembering the gender of nouns, which is one of the most difficult topics for non-Germans to master. The gender system in the German language can seem so random that even native German speakers sometimes can’t agree whether a noun is male, female or neuter, as it all seems to possess no obvious system. And if you didn’t grow up in Germany having the advantage of learning the genders of the nouns as native speakers, you might find it difficult to learn it all in one go.
The Superhero Technique
The Superhero technique is a fine mnemonic device to memorize German articles easily. One way to solve this problem using mnemonics is to use clearly distinguishable symbols for each gender.
At SmarterGerman I use a Superhero or a Pirate for the (m)asculine gender, a Queen or Princess for the (f)eminine gender and a Big Fat German Baby for the (n)euter gender.
In order to memorize that “Stuhl” (chair) is (m) – masculine, you can imagine a Superhero flying on a plane sitting comfortably on a chair (we’d call this “Holzklasse” in German, which means flying Economy). That’ll provide you with a solid mental image that you can always revisit to remember the chair’s gender.
As an exercise, try to imagine a Queen petting a cat (Katze, f) or a big fat baby in a hospital (Krankenhaus, n). Deepen and practice this technique with my Free German Articles Course here and don’t worry about learning the meaning of those words. You’ll learn that in many different ways with SmarterGerman.
And once you come across the German word for “chair,” “cat” or “hospital,” you’ll instantly know its gender just because you invested a few minutes in reading this article. That works fabulously as you can see in the reviews here.
Learning German with Music
Technique 5
One of the most powerful mnemonics to learn a new language is music. Music triggers so many different areas of your brain that it has the potential to enhance your foreign language learning experience significantly.
But not just any music, of course. While listening to your favorite German songs is certainly a lovely and useful thing to do, music that will speed up your German learning needs to be designed in a different way.
At SmarterGerman, I’ve always used smarter music to teach grammar or things that are difficult to remember like e.g. the German dative prepositions. Take a look at our mnemonic songs for German learners that deal with precisely this topic.
How to remember the German dative prepositions
Sing along a few times and you’ll never forget the German dative prepositions again. Credits for the music go to the very talented Harry Bum Tschak. The video I cut together myself with help of some lovely stock footage.
We have created 10 songs in total which you can all find on my YouTube Channel. Check out our Grammar Songs playlist there and make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so that you will get informed whenever I publish a new video.
More Memorizing Techniques
Here are also some other helpful techniques that can greatly enhance the process of learning languages and memorizing other types of non-verbal information
Chunking and Verbal Working Memory
Chunking or grouping information is a mnemonic strategy that works by organizing information into more easily learned groups, phrases, words, or numbers. Phone numbers, Social Security, and credit card numbers are also often organized using chunking.
For example, memorizing the following number: 47895328463 will likely take a fair amount of effort. However, if it is chunked like this: 4789 532 8463, it becomes easier to remember.
Interestingly, chunking is one of several mnemonic strategies that have been studied in people with mild Alzheimer’s disease. Results from these studies concluded that chunking can be helpful in improving verbal working memory in the early stages of dementia.
Rhyming
The capacity to memorize nursery rhymes is frequently attributed to a combination of repetition and rhyming. Rhyming words serve as mnemonics, aiding in the learning and recall of information.
At times, words can be rearranged or substituted with synonyms to create rhymes. One well-known example of a rhyming mnemonic is the phase “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” This mnemonic phrase lingers in our memories not only due to repeated exposure but also because of the rhyming elements it incorporates.
Creating a Narrative
The mnemonic linking method, also known as “chaining,” involves creating a narrative or image that interconnects various pieces of information to aid in memory recall. Each item in the sequence triggers the remembrance of the next.
For instance, consider the task of helping your kid remember the items to bring to school in the morning: homework papers, glasses, gym shoes, wallet, lunch money, and keys. Applying the linking system, you might create a brief story like this: Jack’s homework papers, sporting glasses and gym shoes, dashed over to his wallet, where his ravenous keys were munching on his lunch money. Enhancing the narrative with interesting details or humor often facilitates easier retention of the information.
Alliteration Mnemonics
Using alliteration as a mnemonic device proves handy when memorizing names. For instance, if you meet Sabina, associating her with words like sophisticated, sincere, and stylish, all starting with “S,” aids in recalling her name effectively. This association allows you to narrow down and remember her name by connecting it to the distinctive qualities represented by the shared initial letter “S.”
Spelling Mnemonics
Spelling mnemonics are effective tools for remembering the correct spelling of challenging words using patterns, phrases, or rules. For instance, the rule that “I” comes before “E,” which can be remembered for German words like “Brief” (letter) or ”nie” (never) with the mnemonic phrase “Nie glauben an eine Lüge” (Never believe a lie).
Mnemonics Misconceptions
This section addresses common misconceptions about mnemonics to offer clarity on their purpose and effectiveness.
- Mnemonics are only for poor memory or struggling students Contrary to the belief that mnemonics are exclusive to those with poor memory, they are beneficial for anyone aiming to enhance memory and information retention, regardless of their current memory abilities.
- Mnemonics are primarily for memorizing lists or large amounts of information While mnemonics assist in memorizing lists, they extend beyond to enhance learning and recall in various areas, including language acquisition, math, and everyday tasks like remembering names or appointments.
- Using mnemonics is “cheating” or a replacement for understanding material Mnemonics complement understanding rather than replacing it. They act as supports to reinforce information in memory and work most effectively as part of a comprehensive learning strategy.
- All mnemonic techniques work equally well for everyone Not all mnemonic techniques are universally effective. Personal preference plays a role, and individuals may find certain techniques more suitable. Experimentation is key to discovering the techniques that work best for each learner.
What Research Says
Research into the use of mnemonics in academic study has demonstrated their effectiveness. In a specific experiment, participants of varying ages who employed mnemonic techniques to learn new vocabulary outperformed control groups utilizing contextual learning and free-learning styles.
The aging process, particularly impacting the medial temporal lobe and hippocampus in humans, significantly influences the synthesis of episodic memory. Episodic memory retains information with spatiotemporal contexts related to items, objects, or features. As mnemonics prove more beneficial for remembering spatial or physical information than abstract forms, their efficacy may vary based on an individual’s age and the functioning of their medial temporal lobe and hippocampus.
Studies, including the notable “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two,” propose that the short-term memory capacity of adult humans is limited to holding only a specific number of items. Grouping items into larger chunks, as done in mnemonic strategies, may contribute to retaining a greater overall amount of information in short-term memory. This, in turn, facilitates the formation of long-term memories.
Use Mnemonics to Learn German Better and Faster
Now that you have an understanding of what mnemonics are and how they can be used to simplify the process of memorizing and foreign language acquisition, you can use what you’ve learned to create your own mental images and connections that will make German easier for you to learn.
Go over your progress, identify the difficulties you have faced in your studies and see how you can incorporate mnemonic techniques to make the information easier for you to remember. Use your imagination in the wildest and most vivid way you can think of, and the information will stick to your brain like glue. It’s incredibly fun and surprisingly helpful.
Of course, the easiest way to achieve that would be to work with my online courses which you can always preview for free. Click here to find out more. They contain all relevant mnemonics that are easy to use and that will benefit you greatly in the short and long run when learning German on your own. Now that you know the ins and outs of mnemonics to learn German, let me know in the comments what your favorite ones are.
FAQs about using mnemonics and learning German
Here are also some of the questions people ask about learning German vocabulary and German grammar rules fast
How can I memorize a German word fast?
Employ memorization techniques like the one listed above, integrating mnemonics by associating German words with vivid images or memorable phrases.
Use the spaced repetition technique, progressively spacing out your review sessions. Additionally, immerse yourself in the context of the words, connecting them to real-life situations, objects, and existing knowledge for more effective recall.
What is the easiest way to learn German?
The most straightforward way to learn German involves immersion strategies. Immerse yourself in the language through films, music, and speaking to native speakers.
Also, leverage mnemonic devices by associating German terms with the meaning of familiar English words or creating imaginative connections. Consistent practice is key, as well as online language courses or apps to reinforce learning.
How can I memorize German grammar?
While learning languages, including German, break down the grammar into digestible segments, employing memorization techniques such as mnemonics and key terms.
Focus on one concept at a time, create examples or sentences incorporating the grammar rule, enhancing retention for your long-term memory through imaginative associations. Regular practice, both in writing and speaking, will also play a big role in learning German grammar.
What is a mnemonic device in German?
A mnemonic device in German is a memory device that involves creating memorable associations for enhanced memory recall.
Use imaginative connections to reinforce German vocabulary or grammar rules. For vocabulary, link German words with familiar English counterparts or vivid images.
When learning grammar, devise memorable sentences encapsulating the rule. Personalized and creative memory aids make German and any other language more enjoyable, aiding in retention and recall.
Summing Up: 5 Useful Mnemonics to Learn German
Incorporating mnemonics into your German language journey can bring potent memory devices for effective language learning.
From crafting vibrant mental images for vocabulary to employing superheroes as aids in mastering gender in grammar, these mnemonic strategies actively engage the brain.
Mnemonics leverage the brain’s inclination for images over abstract words, facilitating the transfer of information to long-term memory.
Embrace the creative and mnemonic-rich teachings of a seasoned German teacher, making the learning process not only engaging but also deeply rooted in your existing knowledge.