Aids to Memory/Section VIII

​

It was stated in the opening section that "there was a time when" the child "knew nothing—not even the alphabet, that great introduction to all learning." A few words on the popular method of teaching the A B C may not be unacceptable. The English alphabet—if we consider only the printed forms—consists of twenty-six letters, expressed by forty-five different signs. The only letters which have the same character, whether capitals or not, are c, o, s, v, w, x, and z. The other nineteen letters have each two forms. Some of these are nearly identical, as B, b, K, k; others quite distinct, as A; a, D d, G, g. The common process is for the teacher to point to each of these letters in order, and make the child name it. Until he can repeat the whole of the twenty-six letters seriatim, he is said not to know his alphabet, and therefore to be unprepared to begin reading. What a sad mistake is this, even at the very starting-point of education! No wonder that his after studies are so illogically conducted.

Let us examine the subject carefully. First, as to the order of the letters. For what purpose does a child learn the alphabet? To be able to read, it may be replied. But if he is taught that Z is the first letter and A the last, that purpose would not be overthrown. The words of a language are not dependent on alphabetical order. Even if the present order were a natural one—which it certainly is not, for vowels, consonants, and identical sounds are violently separated—the only use we could make of it would be in the classification of words for reference. The order of the ​letters, then, can be taught the pupil at any convenient time, but should not be imposed as a necessary pre-liminary to reading. We know it is difficult for an educated adult to retain a long series of familiar ideas in the mind—at all events by natural memory—and therefore it is not strange that an uneducated child should find the retention of twenty-six unfamiliar ideas in arbitrary order almost impossible. The same amount of labour which is devoted to teaching the alphabet in the common way might, if applied to the art of reading, produce far greater results in half the time. Moreover, the mental training thus given would enable the pupil to acquire the order afterwards in one or two lessons.

The names of the English letters are very unsatisfactory, because, in some cases, they convey no idea of the sounds they represent. The letters especially noticeable are h, w, and y, used as consonants. Besides these anomalies, we have independent sounds formed by two letters, as th, ch, sh, &c., the pronunciation of which has no relation to the nomenclature. So also with the combinations of vowels. We therefore recommend that the alphabet should be taught on phonetic principles, and similar sounds grouped together. The arrangement of our alphabet of figures may be successfully followed, and the letters called te, de, ne, me, re, le, ye, he, jay, ge, ke, cay, gay, que, fe, ve, we, pe, be, es, ce, ze, eks. C and G, having each two sounds, are repeated twice, and have the proper suggestive vowels of each sound attached. The vowels, diphthongs, tripthongs, and double consonants can be taught in the same way, and the pupil will insensibly acquire a power to read correctly. The common nomenclature and order can then be learned by the pupil when he is so far advanced in reading that it will not be prejudicial to his progress.

The forms of the letters are, as we have seen, forty-five in number. The small letters should be first learned, because they occur oftener than the others. Reading lessons should then be given in which there ​are no capital letters. Very often, when a child knows his capitals—which are generally taught him first—teachers wonder why he cannot distinguish the letters in a simple reading lesson. They forget that the actual signs he has learned are few and far between. When he can read the small letters without hesitation, the capitals should be taught, followed by exercises printed entirely in capitals. Thus he will be prepared to begin a regular course of elementary reading, without the disheartening failures inseparable from the ordinary system.

Can a child be taught, on mnemonical principles, instantly to name a letter on seeing the character? If so, and the name of the letter is suggestive of the sound, the first great educational difficulty will be surmounted, and Mnemonics will have achieved the first of a series of triumphs. Association, assimilation, and localisation, are all applicable to the subject, and affect the mind of the child as well as the adult. The writer is now engaged in some interesting experiments in elementary education, the result of which will be embodied in "Mnemonics for Junior Scholars," already referred to.

In order to learn a foreign alphabet, assimilate the forms of the letters, if possible, into imaginary objects associated with the names of the letters, and then located. Thus, to remember the Greek letter Delta, locate in any fourth place a triangle, with which some one had dealt a blow. If no object can be thought of, imagine the character to be drawn on the local place, which will answer the same purpose. The name can then be independently located, and an indirect association thus made. Shorthand alphabets may be mastered by a similar process, as well as the problems of Euclid and other geometrical studies. Musical notes may be learned by investing each with a suggestive power of association. The greatest difficulty experienced in teaching the elements of music—especially the pianoforte, &c.—arises from the pupil's inability to name the notes at sight. The alphabetical nomencla​ture is mostly used, and C, D, E, F, G, A, B, are non-associative ideas. Words, then, should be adopted of which these letters are the initials, and then connected with the position of the notes. Suppose the pupil to be seated at the pianoforte or organ, and waiting to be taught, first of all, the keys of the instrument. Every group of two black keys contains about it three white ones, which represent the notes C, D, E. The two black keys are suggestive of a railway-line, therefore we assimilate C, D, E, into "Constant Delays Exasperate." Every group of three black keys contains about it four white ones, representing F, G, A, B. The three black keys suggest to us a wicket, and our assimilation for F, G, A, B, is "Friendly Game At Ball." The pupil can soon touch immediately any key desired, but does not know the written notes on the piece of music. It is pointed out that the music is written on five regular lines and four regular spaces, and that very often additional lines and spaces are used above and below, for higher and lower notes. Beginning with the Treble Clef, it is shown that, after two ledger lines, either at the top or bottom of the stave, the same order again begins which is found in the regular stave. Reading the notes downwards, we observe that these two ledger lines and three ledger spaces have the same notes above as they have below. Therefore we have only to learn the notes of the regular stave, and those about two ledger lines, to be able to read and play the Treble Clef at sight without the possibility of mistake.

The following assimilations can be adopted, and are all read downwards.

Exercise 24.—Musical Notes.
NAME.	ASSIMILATION.	POSITION.
F	Fine	1st regular line.
D	Dresses	2d ditto.
B	Beget	3d ditto.
G	Great	4th ditto.
E	Expenses	5th ditto. ​
E	Eager	1st regular space.
C	Citizens	2d ditto.
A	Amass	3d ditto.
F	Fortune	4th ditto.
C	Cain	1st ledger line.
A	Abel	2d ditto.
D	Daniel	1st ledger space.
B	Believed	2d ditto.
G	God	3d ditto.

It is to be regretted that the Bass Clef is not written in the same way, as the fact that notes in the same position have different names according to the Clef they are written in, is a great stumbling-block to the learner. Little difficulty will, however, be felt if we consider the top line of the Bass Clef to equal a ledger line, and the first bottom ledger line the termination of the regular stave. It is a good plan to thicken the second line of the Bass in music for beginners, and it is then identical with the top line of the Treble. The first bottom ledger line of the Bass may then be ruled as a regular line to correspond with the bottom line of the Treble. This process can be dispensed with when facility is attained by the learner.

Scientific nomenclature is usually a hard task for the memory, but by the aid of Mnemonics its difficulties immediately vanish. The names of the elementary substances in chemistry, with their specific gravities, require only to be treated in the same way as geographical statistics. Botany, geology, mineralogy, electricity, zoology, entomology, biology, and the rest of the sciences, supply abundant materials for mnemonic practice.

Declensions and conjugations may be learned by locating the distinctive endings of the words, or by the exercise of what is called comparative memory. The latter consists in noticing general results. Thus, the singular accusative endings of the five Latin de​clensions are remembered by noticing that the first declension is am, the second and fourth um, and the third and fifth em. In conjugations of verbs, it is generally sufficient to be able to recall the first persons of any tense, as they will suggest the remaining persons.

The art of Mnemonics is not only important to scholars, teachers, students, and public speakers, but it is in many respects useful to business men. This is easily proved if we consider that "the same principle which can be applied to historical facts will serve for business transactions; that which will fix the name of a hero, will secure the name of a customer; that which will reproduce a date will recall a price, an amount, a ledger number, the hour of an appointment, or the starting of a train; that which will give a derivation will give a technicality; that which would arrange a speech will insure the remembrance of the remarks in an interview; and that which will aid in the remembrance of difficult poetry or prose will assist in the recollection of addresses, &c."

The above quotation is extracted from an essay on "The Practical Utility and General Applicability of Mnemonics," by Mr. William Stokes, and is supplemented by some appropriate verses, from which we extract the following lines:—

​The last mnemonic exercise is that of learning the almanac for 1867, so far as relates to the finding of any past, present, or future date occurring in it. As this is the principle use to which an office or pocket calendar is applied, our "Mental Almanac" will be found useful.

Exercise 25.—Mental Almanac for 1867.
MONTH.	ASSIMILATION.	FIRST SUNDAY.	ASSIMILATION.
January	Jane wary	6th	Jew.
February	Fee to Brewer	3rd	Malt.
March	March	3rd	Militia.
April	Ape's Reel	7th	Capers.
May	Maid	5th	Loving.
June	Juniper Berry	2nd	Nice.
July	Jewel lies	7th	Glittering.
August	Awful Gust	4th	Wreck.
September	Sceptre	1st	Throne.
October	Hock Toper	6th	Heaviness.
November	Novel	3rd	Mysterious.
December	Decalogue	1st	Duty.

The rules for assimilating groups of two and three figures have been already given. If we require to learn a group containing more figures than three, we must choose a phrase or sentence containing only the exact sounds, or from one with as many words as there are figures, the initial sound of each word being representative of a figure. For example, the earth's exact circumference at the equator is 24,899 miles, and its diameter 7,925 miles. Our assimilations might be "A nice run for patient people," and "Curious peep into and." In the above exercise of the "Mental Almanac" one figure is to be remembered, and we therefore select one word whose initial letter suggests it. If we had received in the street an invitation to dine with a friend at six o'clock, and had no memorandum book at hand, we should not forget the time if ​ we thought of the word "hungry." The idea of Jane wary of the Jew fixes as surely the fact that the first Sunday in January falls on the 6th. From this any other day required can be determined. The 9th of January must, of course, be Wednesday. If the date be not in the same week as the first Sanday, add a multiple of 7 in order to find the Sunday before the required date. Thus Lady Day, or 25th March, falls on Monday, because Sunday is the 3rd, and, by adding 21, the Sunday preceding is found to be the 24th. The 1st of May must be on Wednesday, because the 8th of that month is on Wednesday. The latter fact is known by Sunday being the 5th. A few minutes' practice will enable the mnemonist to stand a rigid examination on any date in the almanac. A new series of associations must, of course, be constructed for any future year.

The applications of this beautiful science are, indeed, endless. From those we have already developed the student may construct many more, and succeed in adapting the system to the remembrance of such matters not particularised in this work, as necessity or choice may put in his way.