If you've ever struggled to remember vocabulary in a foreign language, you're not alone. Forgetting words is one of the most frustrating parts of language learning.
But what if there was a technique, dating back to ancient Greece, that could help you remember words more effectively than any flashcard app?
The memory palace technique is one of the most powerful tools available to language learners. It's not new, it's not complicated, and it works remarkably well for remembering specific vocabulary.
In this post, I'll explain exactly how it works, walk you through a real example, and explore whether you can adapt the technique to suit your own learning style.
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If you prefer watching videos to reading, hit play on the video version of this post at the top of this page. Otherwise, here's what you'll discover in this post:
Table of Contents
The Ancient Origins Of The Memory Palace Technique
The story of the memory palace begins with a man called Simonides in ancient Greece.
He was performing at a banquet – reciting poetry or singing songs for a wealthy local businessman – when there was a knock on the door. Two people urgently needed to speak with him, so Simonides rushed outside.
While he was talking to these visitors, disaster struck. An earthquake hit, and the entire building collapsed, killing everyone inside. The damage was so extensive that rescuers couldn't even identify the bodies.
But Simonides was able to help. He pictured himself standing on that stage and cast his mind back through the room. He could see exactly who had been sitting where – what table they were at, how they were reclining, what they looked like.
By mentally walking around the room bit by bit, he was able to identify all of the victims.
It's a rather macabre tale, but this – so the story goes – was the foundation of using location as a memory aid.
Why Location Makes Memories Stick
The core principle is simple: instead of trying to remember a word in isolation, you place that word in your mind at a specific location.
It could be on a sofa, underneath a chair, or next to a bookshelf. The fact that you've anchored what you're trying to remember to a physical place makes it much easier to recall later.
This is the foundation of the memory palace technique.
How To Build Your First Memory Palace
To apply this as a language learner, you start with a building you know intimately. It could be your living room, your childhood school, or your workplace.
Then you identify interesting points around that space – stations, if you like. In your living room, that might be the sofa, the rug, the coffee table, and a bookshelf.
Next, take a list of words you're trying to remember in your target language and place one word at each station.
The challenge is to create a vivid mental image that links three things together: the word you're learning, what it means, and the location where you've placed it.
A Real Example With Arabic Vocabulary
Let me give you a concrete example. Say you're trying to remember the Egyptian Arabic verb يرجع (yirga'), which means “to come home.” Here's how you might use the memory palace technique.
First, you pick a station in your memory palace. Let's say it's the sofa in your living room. Now you need to create an image that connects the sofa, the meaning “to come home,” and the sound of the word.
When I thought about يرجع, the middle syllable reminded me of “row” in English. So I imagined myself on a rowing machine, placed right there on my sofa, rowing frantically to get home.
It's weird. It's a bit crazy. But that's exactly the point.
Now, whenever I want to remember how to say “to come home” in Arabic, I mentally walk through my memory palace. I get to my sofa, see myself rowing to get home, think “row… yirga',” and the word comes back to me.
The Strengths And Limitations Of This Approach
The memory palace technique is extraordinarily effective for remembering specific words. It's the most powerful memory technique I know for vocabulary retention.
However, it does have drawbacks. Creating these vivid mental images takes time and effort. You can't realistically use this method to remember everything you learn on a daily basis – it's simply not fast enough for that.
But when you have specific, stubborn words that just won't stick, this technique is invaluable.
Can You Use Objects Instead Of Rooms?
This brings me to an interesting question that came up recently from Fletcher, a reader of this blog: can you adapt this technique and use an object instead of a room?
For example, could you use a bicycle and place words on different parts – the handlebars, the bell, the saddle, the wheels?
The short answer is yes, it's absolutely possible. You can do anything you want if it works for you.
But there are two key features that make the memory palace technique effective, and you need to consider whether your adapted version preserves both of them.
The First Feature: Vivid Location
You need to be able to visualise your chosen locations clearly and intimately. With my sofa, I can picture it instantly – I know exactly what it looks like, where it sits in the room, how the light falls on it.
Can you do that with parts of a bicycle? If you have a strong, detailed mental image of a specific bike, then yes, you probably can visualise the handlebars, the wheel spokes, and the saddle distinctly enough for this to work.
The Second Feature: A Clear Path For Recall
This is where things get more challenging. The way you practise recalling words with a memory palace is by walking through it systematically.
You enter through the front door, turn left to the sofa, move to the rug, continue to the bookshelf, and so on. This mental journey is how you review and test yourself.
Can you trace a logical path through a bicycle? If you've got a word on the back wheel, then the front wheel, then the left handlebar, then the right handlebar – does that sequence make intuitive sense to you? Can you walk through it in your mind consistently?
If the answer is yes, then you've essentially got the same conditions as a traditional memory palace, and it should work just as well.
How To Test What Works For You
If you're curious about trying an adapted approach, here's what I'd suggest. Create one memory palace using something traditional like your living room, with a set of vocabulary words. Then create another one using an object like a bicycle, with a different set of words.
Use both for a couple of weeks, reviewing regularly. After that time, compare the results. Do you remember the words equally well from both? Does one method feel more natural or effective?
The beautiful thing about memory techniques is that there's no universal right answer. It's all about you, your mind, and how it works. That's the only thing that matters.
If you're already thinking creatively about how to adapt these techniques for your own learning style, that suggests you're on the right track. Trust your instincts, experiment, and see what sticks.
Memory Palace Technique FAQ
What Is The Memory Palace Technique?
The memory palace technique is a memorisation method where you link information to familiar places in your mind, such as rooms in your house.
You “place” words or ideas in specific locations and mentally walk through them to recall the information. It is often used to remember vocabulary, lists, and speeches more easily.
Is The Mind Palace A Real Technique?
Yes, the mind palace is a real and well-researched memory technique. It is also known as the method of loci and has been used for centuries to improve recall.
Studies show it can be very effective for remembering information such as vocabulary, lists, and facts.
Can You Actually Create A Memory Palace?
Yes, you can absolutely create a memory palace. It involves choosing a familiar place, like your home, and mentally placing information in specific locations.
With practice, this technique can greatly improve memory and recall, especially for vocabulary and lists.
Making The Memory Palace Technique Work For You
The memory palace technique has survived for over two thousand years because it taps into something fundamental about how human memory works.
We're naturally good at remembering places and spatial relationships – far better than we are at remembering abstract information like vocabulary lists.
By anchoring new words to vivid locations and creating memorable images, you're working with your brain rather than against it. The technique requires some initial investment of time and creativity, but the payoff is vocabulary that actually stays with you.
Whether you use a traditional room-based palace or experiment with objects and other creative variations, the principles remain the same: make it vivid, make it personal, and give yourself a clear path to walk through when you need to recall what you've learned.
The best memory technique is ultimately the one that works for your unique mind.
Olly Richards
Creator of the StoryLearning® Method
Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.
Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.
When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.
