Painting Memory Method Introduction

The secret to  successful speed reading is not to read thoroughly.

             The best  trick to quick memorization is to try to forget.

Remembering a large amount of information is like painting. You have to look at a wall as a unit and keep painting again and again in several layers so that the wall eventually becomes even and beautiful. The Painting Memory Method applies the concept of painting to quick memorization. It is a method for quick memorization and speed reading「for large amount of information, using all parts of the brain and in a multi-level rotational manner」. It utilizes the instinctive imagery association of the right brain as well as the analytical and comprehension practice of the left brain, together with a switching way of revision which makes use of a large amount of information that repeats several times in multiple layers, in order to achieve the miraculous multiplication effect for a whole-brain learning.

Theory of the Painting Memory Method

The Painting Memory Method is based on a principle of quick memorization of words. It combines speed reading with a large amount of rotational revision in order to achieve the purpose of quick memorization. It hopes to quickly convert word memorization to long-term memory by speed reading of texts in a particular area, using color stimulation and practicing of instantaneous perception (achieved by quick movement of the eye balls, expanding the vision, word flashing in a fixed position, word flashing in a random position and simultaneous display of several words) as well as multiple sensory stimulation.

When you memorize a word for the first time, it is like brushing one layer of paint on the surface of the brain and starting to input the information into the brain memory. If there are words that you forget in this layer, you still can brush the second layer of paint to make up for it.

This stage is like archiving the knowledge into your memory, a characteristic of which is that you will remember some while forgetting some. At this point, you have to rely on switching learning methods in even more layers to convert the knowledge into long-term memory.

Color-assisted learning

We can use colors to strengthen our attention. For example, green / blue / light blue colors belong to the cool color system. They can make your mind and body relax, leading the brain to be in a α brain wave stage which helps increase your attention on the current image. Red / orange / yellow colors belong to the warm color system which can easily cause enthusiasm and large change in the eye muscles. They can stimulate quick movement of your eye balls during the word flashing process.

Practicing to expand the vision

The word flashing practice in a random position allows the vocabulary to appear dynamically at any positions on the screen. The visual stimulation from the words moving around is very sharp, which can help the learners to be more focused while reciting and stimulate more visual potentials of the retina as well as strengthen the eye muscle activity.

Multi-sensory stimulation

During the learning process, the more multi-sensory stimulation you get, the more parts of the brain can be active, which in turn can improve your memory. For example, the random position word flashing process not only can practice your vision ability, but also increase your comprehensive perception’s response speed if integrated with other multi-sensory stimulation such as finger movement, listening and reciting. Because the visionary, auditory and kinesthetic senses are all used, it can increase the intensity and breadth of you short-term memory and quickly convert remnant memories of words into mid-term memory.

During the answering process, the brain is in a retrospective process. The brain potential will be stimulated and it will search for recent remnant memories automatically. If you answer correctly, the next test question will automatically appear. If you answer incorrectly, the automatic correction will appear on the screen as the correct answer will immediately pop up and the pronunciation sound of the word will be played. With the multi-sensory effects of the vision and audio, the Amygdala will naturally be stimulated, deepening the " " impression " of the word in the Hippocampus.

α brain wave and the memory

You need to be in a α brain wave stage in order to be successful in speed reading and quick memorization. Under this condition, the brain energy and oxygen are in full power, automatically allowing you to focus. The first tip of the Painting Memory Method is: " You must learn to forget. Don’t ever try to memorize. " Simply put, forgetting is the first step to quick memorization! During quick memorization, the more you want to memorize, the worse the outcome is and the more difficult it is to memorize. This is the same principle for quick memorization. Do not try to recall the previous word while you are in a quick memorization process. Your mind must try to forget it. Instead, you will remember these words unconsciously.

Suggestions for learning with the Painting Memory Method

Before entering the practicing course for word memorization under the Painting Memory Method, beginners should try to practice their instant perception ability using 10 words at a time. You can choose to do speed reading along with the human pronunciation, setting the reading speed at around 3 seconds per word for your memorization and limiting the speed reading practice with random position word flashing at three times. Then you can enter the test mode. The Painting Memory Method is based on a large amount of memorization. Therefore, the scope of your study should be at 500 words. (People with high qualification can use 1000 words as a unit.) Do not go back to revise unless you have reached 500 words.

Comparing this to painting a large wall, if you want to finish painting at once by re-painting all little corners again and again, this kind of practice not only has low efficiency, but will also surely lead to a bad result. There is a common phenomenon while we memorize words. That is, we probably can remember 10 words in 10 minutes, but we definitely cannot remember 100 or more words continuously in 100 minutes. Remembering words one by one is just like wanting to finish painting all at once. It not only can cause mental burnout, but also violates the basic principle of quick memorization.

The core spirit of the Painting Memory Method is to switch the learning modes in multiple layers. It allows a limited amount of forgetting while remembering a large amount of information. This is like brushing the first layer of memorization paint on your brain surface. If anything is missing, you still can make up for it in the second layer. So on and so forth. We would like to add two points of professional advice here specifically:

The ultimate goal of speed reading is to use your eyes to read. Therefore, when you have reached a certain level of proficiency, please disable the human pronunciation function in order to allow you to read faster at a word flashing speed.
The first step to quick memorization is to forget! During quick memorization, the more you want to memorize, the worse the outcome is. The reason is that it can cause the sympathetic nervous system to be excited as well as lack of oxygen in the brain, making memorization more difficult. As a result, learning not to try too hard to memorize is the key to the Painting Memory Method.

Learn from your errors

When you have completed the scope of reading, you can review the words again conveniently using the score card. Here, the words that you just answered incorrectly are clearly marked. The colors are used to intensify your memorization. If you like, you can press all the words to listen to their pronunciation:

After the learning loop mentioned above, you will have received sensory stimulation several dozen times for each word. 80-90% of the words within the scope will actually convert from short-term memory to long-term memory in your brain. You will be surprised that when you enter the next scope, you will feel that the previously set speed for word flashing becomes slower and slower. The number of learned words will gradually increase to 15 words or more.

Moreover, it will be enough for you to practice word flashing in a random position only once. This reflects your increased ability to memorize using the Painting Memory Method. The longer you have practiced with this system, the stronger your ability to read and remember quickly will be. As you progress, each of you will definitely be able to quickly memorize 400-500 words per hour.