What is a peg word

I’m really pumped to be able to share this Peg-Word System with you.

Before we begin I want to say I’ve always enjoyed watching the expressions of amazement on people’s faces when they see how quickly they can remember a long list of items without repeating them over and over again. This gives me pleasure. And though I won’t get to see your expression, I trust the accomplishment will bring a smile to your face too. ENJOY!

Peg-Word System Components

So What Exactly Are Peg-Words?

It’s best explained with an analogy…

Peg-Words Are Memorized In Lists

The words that make up a peg-list are designed in a way that will make them easy to remember (more on this in a moment). Once you’ve memorized the peg-list, you can use it for the rest of your life.

«Number Shape» Images

I’ve created a list of suggested «Number-Shape» Images for your convenience. Feel free to come up with your own if you wish. Just make sure the image you choose has the same general «shape» as the number.

Please take out a piece of paper and make a list numbered 1-10. Next to each number write your chosen “Number-Shape» Image. In fact, if you draw it, that would be even better! Don’t worry about what the drawing looks like. It’s the process of drawing that helps cement the image in your mind.

Here is a list of random items. Let’s link each of these items to our «Number-Shape» Pegs. We’ll link the first item to our first peg, the second item to our second peg, and so on.

Memorizing The Item List

Recalling The Item List

Exercise

«Number-Rhyme» Images

Please take out a piece of paper and make a list numbered 1-10. Next to each number write your chosen “Number-Rhyme» Image. Again, if you draw it, that would be even better!

Before I give you the BONUS I promised above, let’s take a quick look at «Word Substitution…»

Word Substitution 

HERE IS YOUR BONUS

Let’s use the following list of words to see how it works. (I’ll walk you through a couple of examples and you can get some practice by finishing the rest).

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The pegword method is a simple memory technique for remembering lists of information.

I’m talking about lists filled with:

• Vocabulary
• Study keywords
• Names (people, countries, foods)
• To-do list items
• Historical dates
• Medical or legal terminology
• Computer programming documentation
• … and anything that can be organized into a list

There are a few variations to this technique. We’ll discuss 4 of them on this page.

But first, this is important:

Each pegword system involves three easy stages:

1) Setting up and remembering the system

2) Encoding new information with the system

3) Recalling the information by triggering the system

In the first stage, people learn a standard set of peg words. These “pegs” can be number-rhyme pairs or letters of the alphabet.

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

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Click Here For This Special Free Offer.

The Many Types of Peg System

There are different types of peg systems you can choose from. All of them use the same method: the use of a concrete object to represent each number. What’s different is how you choose the object.

We can divide these approaches into the following categories:

1. The rhyming method
2. The meaning method
3. The alphabet method
4. The look-alike method

Let’s talk about the rhyming pegs first:

1. The Number Rhyme Peg System

Some people call this approach “the One is a Gun” technique. Many people using this approach have a pre-memorized list like this:

• One is a gun
• Two is a shoe
• Three is a bee
• Four is a door
• Five is a hive
• Six is drum sticks
• Seven is Evan
• Eight is a gate
• Nine is wine
• Ten is a hen

As you can see, when using rhyming, you create pegs that rhyme with a number to create a pre-memorized list.

In the next stage, memorizers visualize the information they want to remember and mentally link it with the rhyming word.

A High Precision Tutorial On How To Make The Links

Ideally, you don’t make your associations in the void of your mind.

Instead, I suggest you create them in a well-formed Memory Palace.

For example, if you have previously committed “two is a shoe” to memory, you can set a rule that every Magnetic Station in a Memory Palace features that shoe.

Then, when you meet a group of people and the second person tells you her name is Rose, you can instantly see a rose growing out of the shoe.

Of course, Rose gets special treatment in your Memory Palace after you’ve shot Paul McCartney in the chest on the first station of your Memory Palace.

This will help you remember that someone new goes by the name Paul. On station three, you use the its peg to interact with an image for the next name, and so forth. This scenario is just one example, and very powerful when memorizing names at meetings or other events.

Powerful, isn‘t it?

It gets even better if you’re interested in number systems, but for now, let’s press on.

The Scientific Term For This Kind Of Mnemonic

Some researchers of memory and learning call the product of linking one word to another a composite image or picture.

In today’s example with Rose, I have brought together the peg, the given name and a part of a Memory Palace.

This process creates a singular, mental image that is easy to recall later – especially because I naturally made the image strange, vibrant and drew upon all the Magnetic Modes while creating it.

To put the process more simply, information like Rose‘s name gets ‘pegged’ to certain images. And as you‘ve seen, my preference is to also “peg” information to a Memory Palace at the same time. Everything is co-created in one fell swoop, as much as possible.

Why There’s No Need To Follow The Order

Here’s a very cool feature of this technique:

It is not dependent on retrieving the items you memorized in sequence.

For example, if you want Rose, you don’t have to start with the first piece of information and work your way through the whole sequence. You can access her name or any item on the list simply by thinking of the number rhyme.

To achieve this flexibility, initially, all you have to do is to prepare a list of peg words that can be easily retrieved and link them with other items.

How To Memorize Your Pegs

If you’re using the number-rhyme system, it‘s really quite easy. Rhyming does most of the work.

As a pro tip, always make each object specific.

For example, I don‘t use an abstract gun, but a very specific gun from the movie Videodrome.

For 2, I don’t use just any old shoe. I use my favorite shoes from when I was a kid. (They had velcro pockets for holding coins.)

In each case, try to make each rhyme you choose concrete and specific. For 3 is a bee, I use Jerry Seinfeld from The Bee Movie. For 7, I use my friend Evan instead of something abstract like heaven.

It might take you a few minutes, or even a few hours over a weekend to land on the most specific option possible. It will be worth the effort!

If you’re struggling, you can adopt the Mind Mapping examples here for creating your imagery too. There’s always a way!

How To Mix Your Pegs With The Major System

This method is useful for many things beyond remembering names, shopping lists and errands on your to-do list.

You can use it for remembering new concepts, foreign language vocabulary, ideas, dates, potentially for verse numbers and anything you organize in a linear manner, but that doesn’t necessarily require linear recall.

To remember a date like 1789, you use would use the Major Method or the Dominic System to create images for these numbers.

Then you would link the images to one of your pegs. If assigned to your sixth peg and you are using drum sticks, you might have Tucker Max (17) pounding on a viper (89) with the drum sticks.

Because I focus on specificity, it’s not just any drum sticks, but the sticks used by the Green Day drummer. It’s not just any viper, but Cobra Commander from GI Joe.

I‘m giving you my specific mnemonic examples for a simple reason:

Making the images concrete and based on real things that have been interesting or important to me in life is part of what helps the memory techniques work better and faster.

You might never have heard of Green Day or played with GI Joe toys. But surely there is a drummer you find interesting and an appropriate image you can use for each of the digits from 00 to 99.

It’s really not rocket science. The peg word system just takes a small amount of focus and time after completing a memory course.

2. The Meaning Method

In the meaning method, you create pegs that help you recall the sound and meaning of the words you want to recall later.

For example, to remember the word ‘exploration’ with the rhyming pair (one is a gun), you can visualize ex-cops with guns patrolling an area where oil exploration is taking place.

Take the word “quadrangle,” to give you an additional example.

The most immediate and obvious association is a quad bike. Since a quadrangle has four sides and a quad bike has four wheels, it generally works to cover both sound and meaning.

This approach to pegword mnemonics becomes incredibly streamlined the more you practice. It’s great for language learning, medicine, law, philosophy and any learning area rich with semantic meaning. This method is best used with a Memory Palace.

There is another type of widely used peg system. It uses alphabet letters as pegs.

Let’s check it out:

3. The Alphabet Pegword Method

Although this technique is essentially a variation on the Number/Rhyme method, it gives you more pegs. You can use it to remember longer lists of items in a specific order.

True, it takes more time to learn than a number-based technique, but rest assured that some people love this approach so much, they have multiple alphabet lists. And having more than one list is one of the core teachings in M.A. Kohain’s underground memory improvement book, Mnemotechnics: The Art and Science of Memory Techniques.

How to Use the Alphabet Method

In this technique, you will associate objects or people based on each letter of the alphabet. Later, you will link these alphabet associations with information you want to memorize.

Please note how I am applying the rule of specificity to each of these examples:

A – Apple laptop (the one I‘m typing this article on)

B – Batman (Michael Keaton version)

C – Chocolate (My favorite kind)

D – Dracula (As played by Bela Lugosi)

E – Elephant (Edgar, who you may have seen on my YouTube channel)

F – Fish (I use Kami the fish)

G – Goat (I think of The Jesus Lizard album by this name)

H – House (The movie by this name and its poster)

I – Igloo (specifically the one Pingu built)

J – Jelly (as in the band, Green Jelly)

K – Kangaroo (Hippety Hopper from the Warner Bros. cartoons)

L – Lantern (from Green Lantern)

M – Mouse (Mickey Mouse)

N – Nose (as seen on Michelangelo‘s David)

O – Orange (A Clockwork Orange)

P – Pan (Peter Pan)

Q – Queen (The rock band)

R – Rat (Splinter from Ninja Turtles)

S – Shore (as in Pauley Shore)

T – Turkey (the country on a map)

U – Umbrella (in the hands of Chauncey Gardiner)

V – Van (the one from A-Team)

W – Wagon (Stagecoach, starring John Wayne)

X – Xylophone (I loved the one I had as a kid)

Y – Yarn (my mom knits)

Z  – Zed (from Pulp Fiction)

Once you have associated your images with the letters, you will then peg them to the items you wish to remember. Suppose you have to remember the following list of 10 gift items.

1. A watch
2. A DVD of the TV show “Friends”
3. Camera
4. A shoulder bag
5. A scarf
6. Perfume
7. A tennis racket
8. A pen
9. A tea set
10. A dress

Next, you will mentally link these items with the images that represent the letters of the alphabet. I suggest you follow the order of letters. For example, the numeric equivalent of the alphabet, a, is 1; b is 2; c is 3, and so on.

Read the list and link them with the images described above, ideally in a Memory Palace. Notice how I am making each example dramatic, dynamic and either exaggerate through action or strange.

10 Mnemonic Examples For The Alphabet System

1. A – Apple laptop: A watch: Think of Steve Jobs smashing your favorite watch (or a very expensive one) with a laptop.
2. B – Batman: Imagine this iconic superhero using A DVD of the TV show “Friends” as a replacement weapon to his Batarang.
3. C – Chocolate: Camera: Human-shaped chocolates are dancing seductively during a photo shoot. The camera nearly melts because it‘s so shy.
4. D – Dracula: A shoulder bag: Dracula tries to suck blood from a shoulder bag.
5. E – Elephant: A scarf: An elephant chewing on a scarf as if it were hay.
6. F – Fish: Perfume: The fish is using the perfume like pepper spray to keep a shark away.
7. G – Goat: A tennis racket: The Jesus Lizard album “Goat” enters a tennis court and interrupts the game. The tennis racket tries to scare it away by blasting it with music.
8. H – House: A pen: You use a pen to sign the lease to your dream house… Except it‘s a haunted hose and eats the pen!
9. I – Igloo: A tea set: You are enjoying a cup of warm tea with your family inside an igloo as Pingu crashes into it.
10. J – (Green Jelly): A dress: The singer of this band spoils a dress you are about to buy by spreading it with a huge jelly stain.

Recalling the items is easy.

Just bring back the image you associated with each letter. With a bit of practice, you will become a pro.

Remember: You always have multiple chances to recall the target information:

1) You have both image you associated with the letter of the alphabet

2) You have the image for the letter of the alphabet

3) You have the interaction between the two taking place in a Memory Palace

4. The Look-Alike Method

Now, before we conclude, you might be wondering…

Where the heck does this clever memory technique come from?

The Number Shape Peg System
(Origins of the Peg Word System?)

Some people attribute the first peg system to Henry Herdson. He wrote instructions on mnemonics and memory back in the mid-1600s. In Ars Memoriae (1651), Herdson suggested linking each digit from 0-9 with an object that resembles the number.

Examples Of The Number Shape Peg System

For example:

1 = candle

2 = duck

3 = mustache

4 = sailboat, and so on.

Herdson’s images don’t sound very specific.

But even if Herdson didn’t use the Magnetic Memory Method, I suggest that you do.

For example, I think of a candle I had burning when I nearly accidentally burned down the house. This specificity makes everything stronger when I use the candle to memorize numbers.

You can find more number image examples in the Magnetic Memory Method Course How to Memorize Math, Numbers, Simple Arithmetic and Equations.

00-99 Pegword Examples

My favorite tool when it comes to the peg word system is using the Major System to create words for all the two digits from 00-99.

There’s a fair amount nuance that goes into developing a system like this, and it’s all covered in the MMM Masterclass. For you convenience, here are mine (keep in note that I sometimes have several Magnetic Images for each number):

00 = Thomas Szasz
01 = Tragedy Mask
02 = Sun
03 = Sam
04 = Sartre
05 = Sal (from a movie)
06 = Sash
07 = Oliver Sacks
08 = Shiva
09 = Brad Zupp
10 = Don’t Tase Me Bro
11 = Toad
12 = Tin Tin
13 = Hoover Dam
14 = Tire (Michelin Man)
15 = Tail
16 = Dish
17 = Tucker Max
18 = TV
19 = Tape
20 = Nose
21 = Nut
22 = Nun
23 = Vietnam vet
24 = Narr (the German word for “fool”)
25 = Neil
26 = John Nash
27 = Nick Nolte
28 = Navy officer
29 = Jack Napier
30 = Mouse (Mickey)
31 = Mad Magazine mascot
32 = Man in black (Johnny Cash)
33 = Mime
34 =  Mare
35 = Mailman
36 = Match (boxing match with Mike Tyson)
37 = Mack the Knife
38 = Max Maven
39 = Mop
40 = Rice (Condoleezza)
41 = Rat
42 = Ran (the samurai movie)
43 = Ram (Dodge truck)
44 = Roar (MGM lion)
45 = Rail
46 = Rashomon
47 = Rick
48 = Rover
49 = Rap band
50 = Lasso
51 = Latte
52 = Lion
53 = Lamb
54 = Lyre
55 = Lily
56 = Leash
57 = Loch Ness Monster
58 = Liv
59 = Lopez (Jennifer)
60 = Chucky Cheese
61 = Cheetah
62 = Chin
63 = Jim
64 = Jar
65 = Jail
66 = Josh
67 = Chucky
68 = Jeeves
69 = Jeep
70 = Cassie
71 = Cat
72 = Can
73 = Camera
74 = Car
75 = Cale (John)
76 = Cash
77 = Cake
78 = Cave
79 = Cape
80 = Phaser
81 = Fat
82 = Fan
83 = Farm
84 = Fire
85 = Foil
86 = Fish
87 = Fake (Orson Welles from a movie with this word in the title)
88 = Fife
89 = Viper
90 = Pease
91 = Pat
92 = Peter Pan
93 = Pam
94 = Pear
95 = Pail
96 = Patch
97 = Puck
98 = Pavel
99 = Pope

With each of these selections, I’ve taken time to make them specific rather than generic. For example, I use the generic word “pear” for 94, but push deep into my memory to find a specific pear-related memory. I came up with a memory of some fake fruit (long story).

All that matters is that you use images that are specific as possible, ideally ones connected to the memory of your life.

And if you feel like you don’t remember enough of your life to make each image specific enough, try these autobiographical memory exercises:

3 Ways To Practice The Pegword Method

Now that you know how to create a system of Magnetic Images using pegword mnemonics, you might be wondering how to practice this powerful memory technique.

Here are 3 ways:

1. Create some index cards for yourself.

You could draw shapes on them or do an entire 00-99 PAO. Shuffle the cards and test yourself. If you’re using an alphabet list, you’d need just 26 cards with each letter of the alphabet. Whatever you’re using, soon you’ll know them all by heart.

2. Software. 

The International Association of Memory provides free memory training software.

I usually select “National Standard” and either vocabulary or numbers.

For numbers, I use the 00=99 PAO. For example, if the number string I’m given is 873028348, I will imagine Orson Welles in a fistfight with Mickey Mouse. The sun will leap from his head and burn up in the sun. Orwell’s Animal Farm will then try to escape from the Rover (a technology in The Prisoner TV series).

For words, you can rapidly draw from your alphabet list. For example, if you get a word like “atom,” you instantly have an apple from your list to work from.
It can be a bit counterintuitive at first, but the more you practice, you’ll find it’s fun, easy and you’ll rapidly grow your skills. You’ll improve your crystal and fluid intelligence too.

3. Everyday Life

We encounter numbers and words each and every day.

If someone introduces themselves, use your alphabet list to encode their name. If you hear a time or a price, use your 00-99 to draw upon an association that helps you remember the numbers.

It really is that easy and soon it will become a second-nature habit that you love.

How Will You Use The Pegword Method?

As you can see, there are a lot of ways you can make pegs. You could use your favorite superheroes and then turn their bodies into Memory Palaces.

For example, Batman could be segmented into his head, shoulders, arms and legs.You could even have Batman interact with each and every image from your 00-99.

There’s no end to the pegs you can create. And never forget:

Every peg can be combined with the loci method and another pegword mnemonic for maximum effect.

So what do you say? Are you ready to create some pegs and memorize information?

Yours Free: A Private Course With Cheat Sheets For Becoming A Memory Master, Starting From Scratch.

>>>

Click Here For This Special Free Offer.

The pegword method is a useful mnemonic device for learning a list of items in order, particularly when those items are concrete, visual objects rather than abstract concepts.

Without further ado, here’s how the technique works, and how to use it!

Prefer to listen? The pegword method was featured on Episode 11 of the Exam Study Expert Podcast, which you can listen to right here or in your favourite podcast app:

First up, what is a mnemonic device?

To put it simply, mnemonic devices are clever memory aids to help you remember stuff: from shopping lists to the order of operations for maths equations.

If you need to remember something, a mnemonic device can help you retain AND retrieve that info when you need it most (be it in the supermarket or exam hall!).

There are several kinds of mnemonics, and they all work best for remembering different kinds of information. You’re probably familiar with some of this list: acronyms and acrostics, method of loci (memory palace), the pegword method, chunking, songs and rhymes, and association.

Want to learn more about the mysteries of mnemonic devices and how they work? Get the low down right here with our mnemonics overview.

So, what is the pegword method?

The pegword method is a mnemonic technique based around a catchy rhyme. Using this memory technique is two-step process:

• Firstly, it relies on you knowing that 10-part rhyme of numbers and “peg words”!
• And secondly, associating those 10 parts of the rhyme with the 10 items you need to remember – essentially you “hang” your items onto the “peg” words to make them memorable!

This second step is all about creating fun visual imagery that will trigger your memory when you need it the most!

This is best illustrated with some examples, so let’s start by learning the “peg words” and rhyme for this memory system:

How to use the pegword method step 1: learning the rhyme

The first step in mastering the pegword memory system is to learn the rhyme of “pegs” thoroughly.

It’s made up of a catchy pattern of rhymes between numbers and objects as you count from one to ten (and as an added bonus, sounds like a cute children’s song!).

The ten objects associated with each number are important. They form the “pegs” you can later “hang” whatever you want to remember on:

How to use the pegword method step 2: creating memorable imagery

Got that pegword rhyme firmly in your mind? Perfect!

So, whenever you want to learn a list of items in order, you need to find a visual image to associate each item with the correspondingly numbered “peg” object.

• So the first item on your list goes with “One is a GUN”, the fourth item goes with “Four is a DOOR” … and so on

Here’s an example of the “peg words” in this memory system at work:

Imagine you are trying to remember a shoppping list of apples, milk and eggs (sounds like cake on the horizon!). Take both the “peg” object and your item and combine them into one silly mental picture:

1. An apple being shot out of a gun and splattering on the wall
2. A carton of milk held in a shoe
3. A load of eggs growing like fruit on a tree

Here’s what each image might look like in your mind:

And so on, for all the items on your list, up to ten in total. Handy!

Then whenever you want to remember your list, simply run through the pegword method rhyme and picture those crazy images of your items “hung” on the “peg” objects from the rhyme!

Does the pegword memory system work?

There is some evidence that the pegword mnemonic technique can effectively enhance recall for some materials. Especially if you’re trying to remember concrete nouns.

In fact, the pegword method has been used in scientific studies that test the usefulness of mnemonics in learning complex biochemistry systems like the Krebs cycle (learn more about Krebs cycle mnemonics here!).

There are a number of drawbacks, though:

1. Trying to remember too many pegword lists at once may cause you to get confused between the lists. (Psychologists call this “interference”).
2. This mnemonic technique isn’t much good for remembering abstract concepts, or nouns that are not very visually distinct.
   • It might be hard to learn a list of pharmaceutical drugs or mountains using this method, because your visual image for each item on the list will be quite similar.
3. It’s only really good for up to ten items.
4. The evidence of the benefits over the long-term (e.g. several months, or more) is mixed.
   • You’ll almost certainly want to combine this technique with retrieval practice, which is our all-time favourite memorization technique here at Exam Study Expert!

Have fun with the pegword method, and good luck!

Loved learning about mnemonic devices for improving your memory? If so, why not explore more of our mnemonics collection: full of advice, tricks and examples perfect finding a technique that works for you:

• Mnemonics: the lowdown (find the best method for you!)
• Acrostics and acronyms (full of popular examples for students of all disciplines)
• Chunking (a memory technique we swear by at Exam Study Expert)

And finally, get more from the science of learning with my free cheat sheet for students and educators! Sign up right here:

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If you are looking for a simple yet extremely powerful way to memorize numbers, Peg Word System is the way to go. 

It is a very simple method that will give you an almost magical boost in your memory power.

You can use the Peg Word System to quickly memorize numbers, and then recall them back later whenever you want. There is no limit to the numbers you can memorize, and you can use this method to memorize any kind of number.

What is The Peg Word System?

The Peg Word System is a memory aid that can be used to help you remember phone numbers, account balances, coupon amounts, and any other facts that are important to you.

The Peg Word System is based on the idea that you can remember better if you can associate the items you want to remember with the words in a familiar sentence. 

READ MORE:

• How to Use Memorization Techniques to Memorize Math Formulas?

Types of Peg Word System

There are different types of Peg Word Systems, such as the following:

• Number-Rhyme Pegs
• Number-Shape Pegs
• Alphabet Pegs
• Major system
• PAO system

Not all types are used to remember numbers, we have picked the two more suitable and easy methods below.

Number-Rhyme Pegs

Each number has a unique rhyme and a unique “peg” that goes with it. The peg is the sound or word that rhymes with the number.

Here are some sample words and their rhymes for this system:

• 1 = One – Sun
• 2 = Two – Shoe
• 3 = Three – Tree
• 4 = Four – Door
• 5 = Five – Hive
• 6 = Six – Sticks
• 7 = Seven – Heaven
• 8 = Eight – Gate
• 9 = Nine – Wine
• 10 = Ten – Hen

Number-Shape Pegs

The Number-Shape peg system is similar to the Number-Rhyme system, but instead of using words that rhyme with the numbers, you use the shape of the number as the peg.

For example:

• 0 = Hula Hoop
• 1 = Candle
• 2 = Swan
• 3 = Ear
• 4 = Sailboat
• 5 = Hook
• 6 = Spoon
• 7 = Cliff
• 8 = Snowman
• 9 = Whistle
• 10 = Baseball Bat and Ball

READ MORE:

• How to Use Visualization and Association for Better Memory?

For Easier Recall, Chunk Your Number 

The mnemonic device chunking is used to aid memory. In this process, Number is grouped into different, but smaller, pieces.

As an example, you can remember a 10-digit phone number by breaking it down into three pieces: 800-612-9107 (instead of 8006129107).

It is recommended that chunks should not exceed seven units in length, and each chunk should be able to stand alone as a single bit of information.

Use Number-Shape Pegs To Memorize A Phone Number

You can use number-shape pegs to build one story, then the story will help you to remember better.

For example, a 10-digit phone number 800-612-9107, you can list different digits as below:

• 8 = Snowman
• 00 = 2 Hula Hoops
• 6 = Spoon
• 1 = Candle
• 2 = Swan 
• 9 = Whistle
• 10 = Baseball Bat and Ball
• 7 = Cliff

We can now use some of the information above to build a story.

For example, there is a snowman(8) next to the baseball field with two hula hoops(00) on his body, while holding a spoon(6) in his right hand and a candle(1) in his left hand. At this time, the swan(2) blows its whistle(9) to announce the start of the game. Soon, the player with the bat hits the center of the ball(10) and the ball flies high and far until it falls off the cliff(7).

Does this story sound a bit strange? Well, the stranger the story, the better it will stick in your mind.

When you can recall the story successfully, you can easily remember the phone number.

Use Number-Rhyme Pegs To Memorize The Birthday of A New Friend

For example, the birthday of a new friend you just met is January 3, you can list the date as below:

• 1 = One – Sun
• 3 = Three – Tree

Now picture the sun high in the sky making a large shade over a big tree, and imagining your new friend relaxing in the shade.

With this imaginary picture, you will be able to remember your friend’s birthday with ease.

How to Remember Numbers with a Memory Palace?

At this point, you can now use the above techniques to remember smaller numbers. However, if you want to remember longer numbers, it is necessary to combine them with other techniques, such as memory palaces.

What is Memory Palace Technique?

The memory palace technique is an ancient memory improvement technique used by people in ancient Greece and Rome. Basically, the technique involves using a familiar place to help you remember things.

For example, if you are trying to learn a list of words, you might create a mental picture of a house (the “palace”) in your mind and associate each word with a room in that house.

In this way, the house itself will act as a tiny memory aid.

READ MORE:

• Beginner’s Guide: 4 Steps To Build a Memory Palace to Memorize Virtually Anything
• How to Memorize Presidents by Memory Palace Technique?

How to Use Memory Palace Technique to Memorize a Phone Number?

Let’s say you want to remember the phone number 800-612-9107, same as the previous example.

Step 1: Create a Memory Palace

First, decide on a location to use as your memory palace. Maybe it’s your house or your office or some other place you are very familiar with.

Next, make a list of all the places in the location that could possibly hold a phone number. For example, your house could have a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom, a study, a bathroom, a garage, and so on.

Finally, plan a path through the house.

Taking the living room as the starting point, you can then proceed to the kitchen, the study, the bedroom, the bathroom, and finally, the garage.

Step 2: Utilize the Number-Shape Pegs once more 

• 8 = Snowman
• 00 = 2 Hula Hoops
• 6 = Spoon
• 1 = Candle
• 2 = Swan 
• 9 = Whistle
• 10 = Baseball Bat and Ball
• 7 = Cliff

Step 3: Place Images in Different Places

• Living room: A Snowman(8) with two Hula Hoops(00)
• Kitchen: A Spoon(6) on the table
• Study: A Candle(1) on the desk
• Bedroom: A Swan(2) blowing a Whistle(9)
• Bathroom: Baseball Bat and Ball(10) in the bathtub
• Garage: When the garage door opens, there’s a Cliff(7)

Step 4: Repeating the path of the memory palace in your mind

By repeatedly walking this path in your mind, you can evoke the corresponding numbers.

Go to the living room and think of the Snowman(8) with two Hula Hoops(00) on his body. Next, walk to the kitchen and think of the Spoon(6) on the table. And so on.

It won’t take you more than a few attempts to remember the phone number.

For better understanding, I have used the same phone number example in the section. Expanding your memory palace, or even placing more images in each room, will allow you to retain a much larger number of numbers. 

Remember, the more you use this technique, the easier it will be to retrieve.

READ MORE:

• Active Recall and Spaced Repetition – Learn Faster with These Memory Tools

FAQ

Why is it hard to memorize numbers?

The most difficult aspect of remembering numbers is that they are abstract and intangible.

They do not have an image that you can attach to. This makes it extremely difficult to “own” the number and to evoke it from long-term memory.

What is a memory palace and how can it be used to enhance your memory?

A memory palace is a way of organizing information in a mental space.

You’ll be taking a concept or item and placing it in a location within a familiar space (your house) and then mentally walking through that space to find the concept or item.

How do you use a memory palace?

The first step is to create a memory palace – a familiar place like your house or office, where you can imagine placing objects and images in different locations. You then learn the order in which you’ve placed these items and use this to trigger your memories.

What are mnemonic methods?

These are methods that help you remember things. And they are a lot more effective than just trying to brute force the memory.

They are techniques or mnemonic strategies that enable you to commit things to memory more easily and more efficiently. You are effectively trying to make the information easier to remember. 

READ MORE:

• New! 23 Best Tips to Improve Memory Retention, Which Will Help You to Recall Information Easily

Conclusion

I hope this article helped you improve your memory. You should now be able to recall any number you want to remember with ease.

If you use these techniques and apply them properly, you will find it hard to forget any number.

READ MORE:

• How to Accelerate Learning: 13 Ways to Learn Faster

Ask Other Questions

Table of contents:

1. What is peg word method?
2. What is the example of Peg?
3. How does the PEG method work?
4. What is the first step in the numeric peg system?
5. What is an example of chunking?
6. What does each letter in pegs stand for?
7. What is the synonym of Peg?
8. What is chunking used for?
9. Why is it called peg?
10. What does P in pegs mean?
11. What does P in pegs stand for?
12. Why is a peg called a peg?
13. What does peg mean in social media?
14. What’s an example of chunking?

What is peg word method?

The pegword method is a mnemonic technique that relies on you knowing a 10-item rhyme to associate 10 numbers with 10 “peg” objects. … Then whenever you want to remember the list, run through the rhyme, recall the “peg” objects and the visual images you’ve “hung” on your pegs.

What is the example of Peg?

A Number Rhyme System is an example of a peg word system. Each number from 1 to 10 can be given a rhyming mnemonic keyword: one — gun. two — shoe.

How does the PEG method work?

mnemonics. A similar technique is the peg-word system, a memory aid that involves linking words with numbers. It is utilized by creating mental associations between items to be remembered and items that are already associated with numbers (the latter is a relatively simple task, as the item-number pairs often rhyme).

What is the first step in the numeric peg system?

For example, with the rhyming Peg words, you first remember a concrete object whose name rhymes with the number (you will see this is very easy to do). For instance: one-sun, two-shoe, three-tree. Then, to memorize a list, you visually associate each item of information with the number image (e.g., sun, shoe, tree).

What is an example of chunking?

Chunking refers to the process of taking individual pieces of information and grouping them into larger units. … For example, a phone number sequence of 4-7-1-1-3-2-4 would be chunked into 471-1324.

What does each letter in pegs stand for?

PEGS. Political, Economic, Geographic, Social (social studies themes)

What is the synonym of Peg?

noun. 1. SYNONYMS. spike, pin, nail, dowel, skewer, rivet, brad, screw, bolt, hook, stick, nog, spigot.

What is chunking used for?

Chunking refers to an approach for making more efficient use of short-term memory by grouping information. Chunking breaks up long strings of information into units or chunks. The resulting chunks are easier to commit to memory than a longer uninterrupted string of information.

Why is it called peg?

For the nitpicking drinker, peg comes from “paegl”, a Danish measure, which today would be roughly 250 ml. That should knock out even the most serious of drinkers!

What does P in pegs mean?

PEGS stands for Political, Economic, Geographic, Social (social studies themes)

What does P in pegs stand for?

P.E.G.S. POLITICAL ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHIC SOCIAL. Page 1. P.E.G.S. The TEKS/SEs require that students use as the basis of analysis three perspectives: political, social, and economic.

Why is a peg called a peg?

For the nitpicking drinker, peg comes from “paegl”, a Danish measure, which today would be roughly 250 ml. That should knock out even the most serious of drinkers!

What does peg mean in social media?

peg someone phrase. Put simply, pegging is a practice in which a woman anally penetrates a man with a strap-on. In TikTok, Snapchat, or other social media, peg refers to the same thing.

What’s an example of chunking?

Chunking refers to the process of taking individual pieces of information and grouping them into larger units. … For example, a phone number sequence of 4-7-1-1-3-2-4 would be chunked into 471-1324.

2.1 • Introduction

Peg Words

Peg are useful for remembering a name given only a number or for memorizing numbered lists of items.

In the “How to Improve Your Memory” tutorial, you learned how to memorize numbers by converting them to words which can be pictured and remembered easily. This works well when you want to recall a number given something else:

Example:

Given my friend Jim, I might want to recall his phone number. But using the usual method you can’t very easily recall something given only the number. For phone numbers, this isn’t a problem, because rarely do we see a phone number on a piece of paper and we want to recall whose it is. But for other things, it might be very useful: area codes, football jersey numbers, etc.

This is where the peg word system comes in useful. It allows you to recall both a number given a name and a name given a number.

The secret is this..

Instead of coming up with an arbitrary word for a number, you use a specific word every time. When you want to remember something given only the number, you recall the specific peg word for the number, then proceed to remember what name was associated with the peg word.

The system is probably most useful for memorizing long, numbered lists.

Lists, by the way, can be memorized by “linking” words together in a long chain, like this:

Canada -> USA -> Mexico -> Belize -> Guatemala -> El Salvador

For short lists, this is actually the most desirable method. Simply form an animated picture in your mind linking the objects, and you’ve memorized the list very easily!

Example:

You might think of a can (Canada) on the sidewalk. Uncle Sam (USA) walks along and practically trips on the can. He goes to a Texaco (Mexico) gas station to call for a doctor. While he’s waiting, he feels the cool evening breeze (Belize). Etc.!

What if, though, you had a longer list? In order to remember the 15th item, you need to recall the first fourteen, which can take a while. Also, if you forget a word in the middle, the chain is broken and you’ve lost the rest!

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could memorize the list like this instead:

1. Canada    2. USA    3. Mexico    4. Belize    5. Guatemala    6. El Salvador

Now if you want to remember the fifth item, you just need to recall your peg word for the number 5, then remember the country that you associated with that word.

In this country list example, the numbers aren’t too important, but there may be instances where the number isvery important. For example, we might be memorizing the presidents of the United States, the amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the elements in the periodic table or the 50 states in order of population. In these cases, the peg word system becomes even more valuable.