Loci Method

I recently discovered a really cool way to memorize stuff. I learned about it in the most recent National Geographic. It is called the Loci Method and it has been used for centuries by succesfull memorizers.
According to Cicero it was developed in ancient Greece by a man named Simonides. The legend states that Simonides was at a dinner party and had to step outside for some reason. While he was outside the building collapsed and killed everyone inside of it. The bodies were unreconizable. Simonides was able to identify the bodies by going around through the building and remembering where everyone was when he left.
The method is very simple. First, you think of a place that you are very familiar with. Next, you mentally walk through it and think of distinct locations. I used my house. I started at my bedroom door and came up with loci along the route. My locations are as follows:

1. Bedroom door
2. Attic door
3. my sister Ruth's room
4. my sister Laura's room
5. The light at the top of the steps
6. the point where the banister begins on the steps
7. the front door.

Make sure that you can easily remember the route. The next step is to associate what you have to remember with the locations. I have been very succesfull with memorizing my spanish vocab words using this method. To recall the information you just mentally stroll through your route and recall what you have stored at the different loci. Give it a try, it works better than you might think.