Make use of memory aids. Memory aids, such as mnemonics, help you remember information better. They work because you link new information to knowledge that is already stored in your memory. Often you remember them better if you come up with them yourself, but there are also already good well-known mnemonics. These are, for example, 't kofschip (to know if a word ends with a d or t) or the TV-TAS (all the Wadden Islands). Ask your teacher about it. Did you know that you can find a whole bunch of well-known mnemonics at https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezelsbruggetje? Two other types of memory aids that have proven to work well in research are: 1. Method of loci ('the memory palace'): the idea that you imagine a route or room that you know very well. Then you link the information you need to remember to certain places or objects you encounter along the way. The Method of Loci is especially effective for learning facts and words (see image (Dresler, et al., 2017)). 2. Keyword method: with this method, you create a mental image of a word or a related word. This is effective because visualizing something helps with remembering it. When words are difficult to visualize, such as religion, it can help to think of something that is easy to visualize and has an association with the word to be learned, such as church in this case. This method is especially useful when you need to learn words from another language.
Amiryousefi, M., & Ketabi, S. (2011). Mnemonic instruction: A way to boost vocabulary learning and recall. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(1), 178.
Campos, A., Amor, A., & González, M. A. (2004). The importance of the keyword-generation method in keyword mnemonics. Experimental Psychology, 51(2), 125-131.
Dresler, M., Shirer, W. R., Konrad, B. N., Müller, N. C. J., Wagner, I. C., Fernández, G., Greicius, M. D. (2017). Mnemonic Training Reshapes Brain Networks to Support Superior Memory. Neuron, 93(5), 1227–1235.e6. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2017.02.003
Legge, E. L., Madan, C. R., Ng, E. T., & Caplan, J. B. (2012). Building a memory palace in minutes: Equivalent memory performance using virtual versus conventional environments with the Method of Loci. Acta psychologica, 141(3), 380-390.
McCabe, J. A. (2015). Location, location, location! Demonstrating the mnemonic benefit of the method of loci. Teaching of Psychology, 42(2), 169-173.