Anthony Metivier - How to Learn and Memorize German Vocabulary ... Using a Memory Palace Specifically Designed for the German Language

Why You Need To Read This Book

Every day for six months I sat in German class and silently uttered streams of English swear words that would have reddened my teachers cheeks.

My frustration carried on until I devised the Memory Palace system taught in this book, the same technique that helped me advance from groveling through a small patch of vocabulary to soaring above the clouds of German diction.

Within hours of finally figuring out this system, my storage and recall of German vocabulary increased by a factor of ten. Within a month of working with the system, I had learned and memorized the sound and meaning of 260 new words. And within three months I was reading complex literature that had previously sent me running to the dictionary more than 100 times per page.

I also began engaging in sophisticated conversations that went far, far beyond asking for directions and ordering beer. I talked with people about Art History, philosophy and other subjects that are dear to me. Within a year I found myself giving public lectures in Germany to native Germans who could understand me perfectly. I know I was understood because they asked me intelligent questions and I satisfied them easily and naturally with the multi-layered nuances of my answers.

As my fellow students at the Hartnackschule Language School in Berlin watched this progress, they flocked to me for advice during breaks and after class, attracted to the methodical ways I turned my guerilla memory tactics into near-fluency. One student hired me to accelerate his language learning and this established me as a private memorization trainer.

The help Ive been able to give people over the years has been wonderful. In less than a week, I regularly have students return to me with a minimum of 260 new words firmly lodged in the alphabetical Memory Palaces taught in this book. These memorization techniques work for me, they work for my students and they will work for you.

This book is for anyone struggling with the complexity of learning and memorizing German vocabulary. Its for language learners who want to strike out on their own or supplement other training materials to read, hear and speak credible German in record time. Its for people overwhelmed with frustration at their inability to retain the words they learn and access them whenever the like.

You have three obstacles that keep you from learning and memorizing German vocabulary words.

1. A Belief That You Dont Need a Strategy to Memorize Words.

Many people rely on rote learning. They believe that if they repeat the words enough times or write them over and over again, they will eventually retain the vocabulary. Admit it. Youre secretly hoping that youll learn a new word, repeat it a bunch of times and have access to it forever. But that takes time, frustration and it rarely works as well as any of us would like. Dont let the fantasy of rote learning make you give up. You will succeed in your memorization goals to the extent that you learn and implement the proven techniques provided in this book.

2. A Belief That Memorization Techniques Wont Work For You

Every day I hear people say that the memory techniques I teach simply wont work for me. My response is always a confident yes they will. Then I show them convincing evidence that anyone and everyone can find success with the memorization techniques Ive used to memorize massive amounts of German vocabulary words.

Countless studies, including Richard C. Atkinsons published study of memory techniques used for language learning conducted at Stanford University demonstrate the power of memory techniques over what he calls cheap memory devices, i.e. the pen and paper used by millions of language learners around the world. This ancient habit of writing out the same word over and over again may help break writers block, but it does little to promote learning foreign language vocabulary.

Atkinson concluded that memorization techniques should be included in the curriculum of all language-learning classes. Language learners make incredible leaps when using these techniques and the study ends by saying that poorer learners receive special benefits, particularly if given some coaching along the way. How to Learn and Memorize German Vocabulary is your coach-in-a-book.

3. A Belief that Using Memorization Techniques are Too Much Work

My memorization strategies will take you approximately 5 hours to implement, but the effects are immediate once youve understood the principles. I know it takes 5 hours because Ive watched the clock when creating the Memory Palaces needed to effectively learn and memorize the vocabulary of a foreign language without any learning by rote. Because there are only a few things you have to do to truly make a difference in your progress with the German language (or any language that shares an alphabet with English), everything else is a waste of time, especially rote learning. After your Memory Palaces are set up and you understand the principles as they apply to German, you will be able to learn new German vocabulary words in 30 seconds or less.

Before we get started, I would like to make an appeal to you: Believe in your brain. I never used to believe in mine, but now I can speak, read and write German beautifully. It is impossible to tell you in just a few words how powerfully this ability has opened the door of life for me. To understand another culture with the levels of sophistication anyone can achieve with the right strategy has changed my life and will have life long benefits.

And the fact is that when you accelerate your German language skills, you get access to three cultures, not just one: German, Austrian and Swiss. Youll travel to these countries and experience them with greater joy and intensity than you have ever dreamed possible. Youll meet people you never could have approached without a full German vocabulary. If youre a businessperson, youll seal impressive international deals and acquire contacts both online and off that would have been impossible before. You can read German newspapers, German magazines and understand the lyrics of German music. You can go to the theatre and see German plays and you can enjoy German films without the subtitles. You, like me, can do this. Give me 5 hours and I will give you the ability to learn and memorize all the German vocabulary you could ever desire.