Have you tried using your mind palace? It really does work if you do it right!

Give me an example of something you need to remember and I'll try and help.

Alright so, Sherlock, I need to remember how to do fractions! I.E 1/2 + 1/8! What do you do?

Thanks kazza... I'll try to do the notepad thing. I have a lot of revision from september-now...  and then some! Gosh i hate math! I'm alright for most subjects... expect math!!!!!! (which is strange because sceicne is my best subject!) =(

Last edited by Young Sherlock Holmes (April 22, 2012 1:21 pm)

In theory, at least, you are REVISING things you have already learnt and are not learning them for the first time- I say this because sometimes I learnt things for the first time rather than revising them on more than one occasion.
Different people also have different styles of learning- you may have had this mentioned at school. What works,for one person does not necessarily work for another.
Some useful tips: make shortened notes of the main points/ things you need to remember. From these shortened notes make cards- you buy small filing cards which are ideal to make key points based on your shortened notes. You can also make these on post-it notes,and stick these to the wall around your bed etc. so you see them all the time and especially when you first wake up, which i find is when the brain can be most receptive. It can also be very helpful to make topic webs on paper- for each topic make branches with the key points linked (I'm not describing this very well, sorry). For some subjects you can also record information on a dictaphone to play back, this is really  useful for languages. Another helpful thing with languages such as German is to note nouns into a book with Der words at the front, Die words in the middle and Das words at the back- that way you can think which part of the book you wrote them in to help you remember. Practising answers is really important but you should be getting this at school. If you are a person who remembers things well by sound then speak out the answers as well as writing them down. If you have a mostly visual memory than capitalise on that by using visual cues. Mnemonics also help: where you use the initial letters of things to help remember them with owrds attached e.g. EGBDF in music rememberred by Every Good Boy Deserves Football. To be honest the more ways you use to try and get things into to your memory the better.

Don't revise right up to when you go to bed, you won 't be able to sleep if you do. Sleep is important because it helps your brain sort things out. Do you ever find that sometimes if you cannot remember something you want to in the day you can suddenly remember it in the middle of the night, or even, strangely later when you aren't even consciously thinking about it.


More generally: revise for relatively short periods of time e.g. 20-30 minutes at a time and then have a short break. During this time and before revising it helps to do some physical stretches etc. playing music whilst revising reinforces your short term memory but isn't great for things you want to retain over a longer period of time (so ok the night before an exam). Don't sit there for ours and hours on end revising! You will just overload your brain, probably give yourself a headache and go stale!

Yes I know it is one form of memory enhancement; it's called Ioci.
What I meant was most people will associate the process with Sherlock, as that is how they learned about it. So like it or not people will have Sherlock cluttering the hallways of their palace, as it were.
It's a different way of thinking for most people & it actually does not work for all people; it depends on what kind of thought processes naturally occur in their minds.

Young SH, you are going to have to work out HOW you remember things in everyday life. That is not an easy thing to do because you will be self analysing. From there you can decide which way is best for you.

your example of fractions - I'll tell you how I teach fractions. It'd take till September to ask you the questions directly & wait for an answer so I will just give you the typical conversation I would have:

me: Would you like to make a chocolate milkshake?
you:yes
me:ok here we are a glass of milk and a piece of chocolate, make it for me
you:I can't with that
me:why not?
you:because the chocolate is a hard piece and it doesn't mix into the milk. It would just be a glass of milk with a lump of chocolate
me:Hmm, well we've been told it can be done & this is all they have given us to do it with. What needs to change?
you:Well the chocolate will need to be melted I guess.
me:Oh, will it still be chocolate?
you:yes of course. It will just be liquid just like the milk
me: ah you worked that out pretty easily.
you: well it makes sense, if they are both in the same form you can add them together easily

BINGO! (so we make the milkshake and all is fine in the world)

me: Ok, so back to the maths question. 1/2 + 1/8. Hmm, so that bottom number is telling us what form this number is in huh?
you: yes, we have one of 2 pieces (1/2) and one of eight pieces (1/8) and we have to put them together
me: so really they are numbers in two different forms huh?
you: omg, like the chocolate & the milk !?
me: seems that way huh. So what did we do to make that milkshake?
you: put them both in the same form.
me: well how can we do that? an eighth is really much smaller than a half.
you: yeah well you'd get 4 eighths in one half.
me: how can we say that 'mathematically' though?
you: well you would want that bottom number to be in the same form for both numbers so 1/2 would equal 4/8 so now the bottom numbers of both are eights So if we multiplied the bottom number AND the top number (because that keeps it balanced) until we get a number we want ( a form we want) then we would write this:
1 / 2 = 1x4 / 2x4  = 4 / 8
me: and then the half is in the same form as the eighth!
you: yes so 1/2 + 1/8 = 4/8 + 1/8 = 5/8!

So I guess using that example, you might try the chocolate milkshake as being a symbol for fractions.


I hope that wasn't too confusing for you. But as I said it is just one way; everyone's minds work differently. I couldn't clutter up space with hedgehogs & things. The mental walk method is too congested for me.

e.g. EGBDF in music rememberred by Every Good Boy Deserves Football.

That made me laugh; we were always taught Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit!
Funny how different countries have a different emphasis on things.

Sorry, resume normal transmission now.

For maths, you have to practice and learn the pattern. That way what you do will be an automatism and you won't ask yourself what to do every time.
Keep in mind that fractions are simple and you always have to do the same thing each time. In fact, maths are simple when you know the correct formula and practice it. The trick Kazza gives you is a good one.
Remember that to add or subtract fractions, the bottom numbers must be the same number. Then in 1/2 + 1/8, how 2 can = 8 ? Well, 2 x 4 = 8, so you need 4 times 1/2 -> 4 x 1/2 = 4x1/4x2 = 4/8. 4/8 + 1/8 = (4+1)/8 = 5/8. If your bottom numbers have nothing in common, like 3 and 4, what you have to do is : 1/3 + 1/4 = ?, 3x4 = 12, 4x (1/3) + 3x (1/4) = ?, 4x1/4x3 + 3x1/3x4 = ?, 4/12 + 3/12 = 7/12.
1/a + 1/b = b x 1/a + a x 1/b is the formula for fractions and can resolve any situations.

I hope it's not confusing !

Listen to Kazza and Davina YSH - they speak the truth!

Mind palaces and other mental techniques are great for Summer holidays and free time, school though gives you priceless knowledge from professional educators and shouldn't be dismissed as its a privilege many children in this world don't have access to.

If you want to be ahead of the game for your level; look up learning outcomes, exam techniques, keywords and syntax, memorise formulas and mnemonics and most importantly listen to what your teacher tells you and do the work they ask of you to the best of your ability.

Being like Sherlock isn't an act, it's a lifelong process which starts with a well rounded basic education. The discipline to make the most from it is what you need to focus on.

If there ever will be a non-fictional Sherlock soon he'll most likely be from outside of the UK. Those children are who you are competing with - not Chavvy MciPhone from down the street.

Best of luck on your exams!

-m0r