> Good memorization skills are a huge leverage and it is something that can be learned and practiced.
Any recommendations in how to get better at memorization?
Any recommendations in how to get better at memorization?
I don't think people become better at "effortless" memorization. Instead they learn what it is they need to do if they want to remember something.
It's just really hard to get there.
The reason my memory ended up so nuts is that I was only interested in the nuts and bolts of the language, so I didn't continue on with French when it became about literature, I just picked up a new language instead. After a while, languages become more about things like context clues, but at the beginning and intermediate stages, you have to memorize a lot. Since I wanted to go for linguistic breadth (since I was interested in how languages were related/how features travel), I did the memorization stage of language learning a lot.
So I'd say it's down to consistency and longevity of practice. I used spaced-repetition as my main technique, but it's really down to spending 1+ hour a day for 8 years on memorizing.
You also have to keep up with it, or your memory degrades. It's been a good 10 years, and I don't have nearly the memory I used to.
What I do focus on is remembering key details, as well as key emotional responses and postures. I try to take away from any sort of interaction any 1) new details that I find to be important and 2) how they reacted to other bits of information.
This helps me create a sort of holistic picture of a person, which I then take with me to my next interaction with them. I find this ultimately more useful than remembering the actual things said, as for the most part the counterparty does not either. However, their fundamental emotional posture(s) and motivations rarely change that quickly and having that knowledge helps me shape conversation faster and better.