h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have the microfilm in my sock. Do you have a copy of the secret plans?

Hi Franacropan! Saw your name here and recognised it from Yahoo! Just wanted to say welcome to h2g2 I've had an account here for a while now, but have only recently started using it properly again. Spooky, meeting someone you've never met, recognizing their name, introducing yourself and having to explain your second alias - not the sort of thing I do every day. Still, that's cyberspace for you.

Signed,

Vandervecken (a.k.a. Stanislavskyuk!)

Oh wow, you won't believe this but I was actually thinking about the club we were both in just before I logged on. I have been asked to join some one in attending French lessons ( I know that also means something else but I am not sure what) and can't decide whether to use the Dominic or Major system to help. I am tending towards the Dominic, he uses different areas of a town for different types of words whereas I can't imagine how I will dredge a word up using the Major. What do you think? Or would you prefer to talk about that in the club?

No, I prefer it here for "offline" discussions. I know everyone can still read this, but it feels more private somehow! I get a bit self-conscious posting to the Yahoo! club because it's fairly small, and I feel as if everyone can see me. Not that I'm shy or anything

I know the difference between Dominic and Major when it comes to digits and lists, but I'm not sure how languages fit in. Could you enlighten me?

The only time I learned a foreign language using a memory system was when I went to Portugal for a few days. Strangely enough, I didn't learn Portugese. I'm afraid I was just too lazy - it looked too difficult, especially the pronunciation. So I learned some Spanish instead, so that when we returned via Madrid I could use a bit of it. I learned from a book using the "linkword" system, which is basically one of "soundalike" associations. It was only later that I heard about the 'subdivision' technique for keying word categories. I've never tried it, but it sounds very effective to me.

I still can't believe I found you here. What a small world!

I have not tried this method yet,Vandervecken, but so far I find Dominics methods "imprint" better than the Major system. Briefly, but hopefully fairly clearly, I will try and explain his method for learning a new vocabulary.
Chose a familiar town so that you can make a mental map of it.
Use your imagination and associations on the new word to let it suggest an image. When I studied his method he used the German word for plate (teller) to illustrate it, so I will too as that is how I remember it. So, you think of how the word sounds and what it makes you think of, just going by the sound of it at first not it's real meaning. So "teller" might make you think of a bank teller, or a story teller etc.
Place your key image, based on its meaning, in an appropriate location in your town, as it is a plate a cafe or restaurant would be suitable, bearing in mind the location can be imagined by you, you have been there. Combine the associations you had of the image with it's location. Dominic said in this example imagine a bank teller counting out heaps of money on to a plate in the location.
Continue in this way and use various parts of the town for groups of words i.e. action words such as to run, to shout etc. could all be in the sports centre.
Of course he goes on to explain how to sort out languages that have genders, like French with it's le and la, but that is the gist of it. I know you can use the Major system for learning languages and have even seen the numbers of the matrix recommended but I don't know how you actually put it in to practice. Sorry this post is so long, I kept it as succinct as possible, but then of course it is a vast subject.

Thanks for the explanation. I think I've come across some of these ideas before, but didn't realize that they were Dominic's. They sound very effective, though. Next time I have a language to learn (if at all!) I'll try and apply them.