This blog is for me to organise my thoughts on the why and how of a new potential project – memorise new words and learn the Macquarie Dictionary.
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Ok, why memorise a dictionary?
I’ve been considering for a while not just to memorise new words but a whole dictionary.
Learning the contents of an entire dictionary is one idea I have picked up and put back down a few times (a bit like a long and wordy book : )
And now I feel it’s a good side goal to start in 2023.
Why I want to memorise more than just a few new words
- I’m getting older- Im 45 and getting closer to 50 with every day. I want to remain sharp. And I want to be able to pick the right word that expresses what I am thinking.
- Im dyslexic and have not always had the confidence needed to voice my thoughts (my story is shared in my TedX if you are curious). So there is a lot of confidence to gain knowing I can properly use and spell all the words I know.
- I want a meaty challenge, and while its great to memorise new words in any amount a whole dictionary feels next level.
- And I love to learn, so upsizing my vocabulary is enticing. I feel the more words I have at my disposal the more likely it is I’ll be able to comprehend new information from others and describe, clarify and communicate my own thinking.
I think I’ll use the Macquarie Compact Dictionary my husband bought me a few years back. After all it says “To Anastasia, A little thing to remember me by.” Cute. And he is a bit of a walking dictionary so it suits.
How will I remember a whole dictionary?
I will put the words in memory palaces. You can read more about memory palaces in this blog. Yes, there will be a lot of them. It’s likely I will try to choose palaces based on logic for ease of recall. For example, all the A words will be in Adelaide – I was born there so places I know there seem like an obvious choice. I also want to know the page number each word is on – because if I’m already learning it then why not. With a small tweak to the palace this should not be too hard. I’ll describe this in later blogs.
The rest of the how? I’ll work it out as I go and keep you posted!.
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