The year was 2007 and I was in a fix.

I had tried all techniques I knew then to no avail.

I tried to read, cram, read, cram but the grade remained the same, C.

Term after term, I barely improved and I almost gave up.

You see, I was under Jomo Kenyatta Foundation scholarship.

For me to make it to the university and pursue the course of my interest, I had to get an A in KCSE.

I had to get Government’s sponsorship or a university scholarship.

English, being a compulsory subject, was now getting in the way.

I sought my English teacher’s counsel, read motivational books.

However, none bore any fruits.

Until I discovered the following and applied it to my studies, English included.

My passing in English hugely depended on how good my memory was.

How do I retain what I read without necessarily cramming it?

Therefore, I learned a few techniques and applied them to my studies.

My English grades improved drastically.

First, I scored a B- in term 2 exams, then a B+ in term 3 in Form 3.

In Form 4, term 1, I scored A- in English in our Term 1 exams.

Finally, in my 2008 KCSE, I scored an A plain in English.

What I learned about memory improvement and the techniques I applied.

Here are the memory techniques that I applied.

These techniques are the basis of any other “memory system” available out there.

They are very simple.

They are;

1. Impression.
2. Repetition.
3. Association.

Impression.

The first mandate of memory is this: get a deep, vivid, and lasting impression of the thing you wish to retain.

You have to train by persistence and practice, to concentrate under the most adverse conditions.

Thirty minutes of vivid, energetic concentration will produce greater results than hours or days of mooning about in a mental haze.

You have to practice every day under all circumstances, to concentrate in the particular subject you have in hand.

Once you learn this, you should be able to concentrate in quiet and noisy environments alike.

Once I discovered I had trouble understanding poetry and oral literature, I bought separate notebooks for each. Same for grammar.

I borrowed and read all poetry and oral literature textbooks I could lay my hands on at Kitondo High School.

I read, and hand copied copious amounts of poems, poem questions and answers in my notebooks.

I did this until I could comfortably answer any poetry or oral literature question.

The results were immediate and I was greatly satisfied.

I must admit that it was not easy to do all that reading and copying at the time.

I even doubted if the efforts would ever bear fruits.

It was not a pleasurable exercise, but the results were enough reward.

I eventually started enjoying the whole process.

It is good to note that I was only copying poems or questions that made an impression on me.

I copied only that which I considered worth remembering.

I crosschecked how poetry questions are set in examination papers.

You really have to concentrate on the subject matter at hand.

In addition, you have to get a clear, accurate impression on the content.

This means you have to read good and reputable textbooks and revision books.

To cement what you read, you can also use our power of visualization.

We are visual minded.

Eye impressions stick.

For example, we can often remember a man’s face, even though we cannot recall his name.

Therefore, when reading a poem or a story, you can try to visualize the characters and the themes.

This will help in connecting the poems content to the questions and thus the answers.

Repetition.

One of the most prestigious and largest universities in the Islamic world is Al Azhar at Cairo, Egypt.

The entrance examination requires every applicant to repeat the Quran from memory.

The Quran is about as long as the New Testament, and three days are required to recite it!

How are these students able to perform these apparently prodigious feats of memory?

By repetition.

You can memorize an almost endless amount of material if you repeat often enough.

The knowledge that is used tends to stick.

However, the mere mindless, mechanical going over a thing by rote is not enough.

Intelligent repetition, repetition done in accordance with certain well-stablished traits of the mind-that is what we must have.

Do repetition at certain regular intervals. Do not repeat everything at one sitting until you have fixed it in your mind.

Set intervals at which you will be revising your notes. During the intervals between repetitions, your sub-conscious mind will be busy making the associations more secure.

So during the exam period, always ensure you go through your notes the night before a particular paper.

Moreover, as your repeat, ensure you read different authors or textbooks on a particular topic.

Read what “Test it and Fix it’ has on poems and compare that with “Golden Tips” or “Higher Flyer series”.

Revise as many past papers as you can get your hands on.

I made sure I checked how KCSE English exams are set.

I checked all English past papers from National schools such Alliance, Mang’u etc.

I did this until I was satisfied that I could answer any English question comfortably.

I created time to revise as much as I can.

After evening preps, when other students had gone to their dormitories, I would find a well-lit corner and spend 30 more minutes revising before going to sleep.

During revision intervals, I would go to the library and read non-exam related literature and books.

These helped calm my mind and as well contributed to general knowledge. It is at this time that I came across writings about Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. Getting to know them, their life and work immensely inspired me.

Association.

This is an indispensable element in recalling.

You must form diverse and multiple associations with every fact or subject you wish to retain.

You have to think about the subjects as much as possible.

Whatever appears in the mind must be introduced; and when introduced, it is as the associate of something already there.

When you wish to associate one fact with others already in the mind, think over the new fact or subject from all angles.

Ask about it such questions as these: “Why is this so? How is this so? When is it so? Who said it so?

Come up with Mnemonics to help you remember difficult facts or figures.

Say you want to remember the first twenty elements in their perfect order. You can use their symbols to form an easy to remember mnemonic.

You can then associate the order of this mnemonic with the order of the chemical elements.

This can then be used in answering chemical related equations and questions in chemistry.

The same technique can be used to remember items in English.

Here is an example of a mnemonic

HHeLi BeB CNOF NeNa MgAL SiPS ClArKCA

Hydrogen (1)

Helium (2)

Lithium (3)

Beryllium (4)

Boron (5)

Carbon (6)

Nitrogen (7)

Oxygen (8)

Flourine (9)

Neon (10)

Sodium (11)

Magnesium (12)

Aluminum (13)

Silicon (14)

Phosphorus (15)

Sulphur (16)

Chlorine (17)

Argon (18)

Potassium (19)

Calcium (20)

You can read more about memory improvement (chapter 3) and other study techniques here, “Smart Way to Improve Your Mind and Grades.”