How can you memorize the US states?

Answer 1

When you have a long list like this, the best thing to do is to split it up. When you're talking about countries, cities, and other geographical landmarks, you can use a map to help!

Divide the country up into regions - you might use Northeast States, Southeast States, Middle States, Northwest States, and Southwest States. If you have not already learned the names of the states, you might memorize those first - see related question for tips on memorizing the names of the states.

For each region, write down the names of the states and their capital cities. Now, find something that will connect the capital to the state in your mind. Things that are silly or that rhyme are easier to remember.

For example, to remember that Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas or AR, you might think of a "rock-ar" chair sitting on a porch!
Learn a song about the states and capitals. I always find that helpful. Or you could always make one up yourself!

Answer 2

The best way to learn any list is to make a mnemonic for it -- or in plain English, use the first letter of each word and make a Silly Sentence or rhyme out of them.

Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

Vermont

New Jersey

New York

Pennsylvania

You can arrange the letters in any order, but let's go with this one, from the Wikipedia article.

Pick the first letters: C M M N R V N N P

Make a Silly Sentence: Clearly My Mother Never Reacts Very Normally Next (to) Paul's.

You can make any sort of sentence you want - the trick is to remind yourself of the first letter of each state so you can remember them

Answer 3

To memorize a list of names (like states), you can use several different memory tricks. # Put the list into alphabetical order, then learn all the A words first, then do the B words, etc. Learn just a few states at a time, then gradually you will learn them all. # Make groups or sections. Divide the information into several groups. With the states, you can divide them into Northwest US, Northeast US, Northern US, Middle Atlantic US, Middle US, Middle Pacific US, Southwest US, Southeast US, and Southern US. Work on one section at a time and memorize the terms or names in each section. # Sing it. Make a list of all the states - whatever way you want to divide it up - and sing the words to the tune of a song you know. Think this sounds weird? How'd you learn your alphabet? You sang it to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," didn't you? # With geography, one really good way is to use a map. This way, you can have a mental image of each state - what shape it is, where it fits with the other states, where it is inside the country, what bodies of water or other features is it close to - mental images help you remember things better. In all cases, the way to memorize a long list is to do a little bit at a time and work your way up to the whole thing.

Answer 4

In 2009, there are 257 countries in the world. You're going to have a job memorizing them. The best way is to use a map and break the world down into areas. Continents would be an easy way to divide them up!

For each section, you can use two good memory tricks to remember the country names. The first is making a vivid mental image - learn how to match the shape of the country or where it is on the map with its name. Make some flash cards with the country drawn on one side and the name on the other side. Quiz yourself or have someone else quiz you until you can remember them.

The second way to help you memorize all the countries in a section is to write the names of each country down the side of your paper with one name on each line. Now, take the first letter of each country - you will be making a "silly sentence" by making new words to remind you of the country names. Make a new word which starts with the same letter as the country name - try to make a really funny sentence that will stick in your mind and remind you of all the names in that area.

Answer 5

The best way to learn the presidents is to memorize the President's Song:

The American Presidents

by Genevieve Madeline Ryan

America's president number one,

Founding Father Washington.

John Adams, second president,

The very first White House resident.

Thomas Jefferson, number three,

Doubled the size of our country.

Then James Madison, number four,

Led us through the English war.

James Monroe is number five,

His Monroe Doctrine still survives.

Another Adams, John Quincy,

Rose to the sixth presidency.

Seven, Andrew Jackson,

Was a frontier common man.

Number eight, Van Buren,

First president born an "American."

Harrison, nine, passed away,

One month after Inaugural Day.

President Tyler, number ten,

Ended the war with the Indians.

James K. Polk, eleven,

Looked to western expansion.

Taylor, twelve, of the army,

Nicknamed "Rough and Ready."

Thirteen, Fillmore, in his eyes,

Best for all was a compromise.

Fourteen, Franklin Pierce is here,

The Civil War is drawing near.

James Buchanan, fifteen,

The one bach'lor we've ever seen.

Sixteen, Lincoln, "Honest Abe,"

Signed the law that freed the slaves.

Seventeen, Andrew Johnson,

Started Reconstruction.

Eighteen, Union General Grant,

Had led his troops with good judgment.

Nineteen, President R.B. Hayes,

Pursued the South in many ways.

Garfield, number twenty,

Killed while in his presidency.

Chester Arthur, twenty one,

Sought reform and got it done.

Grover Cleveland, twenty two,

Remember him 'cause he's not through.

Twenty three, Harrison, comes again,

It's William's grandson, Benjamin.

Grover Cleveland, twenty four,

Ran for the White House, elected once more.

Here's McKinley, twenty five,

The Twentieth Century had arrived.

Teddy Roosevelt, twenty six,

"Speak softly and carry a big stick!"

Twenty seven, Taft we see,

Biggest man in the presidency.

Woodrow Wilson, twenty eight,

Thought a League of Nations was great.

Twenty nine, Harding, Post-World War One,

"Normalcy" promised to everyone.

Calvin Coolidge, thirty,

Taught one and all frugality.

Herbert Hoover, thirty one,

Oh no! The Depression had begun.

Franklin Roosevelt, thirty two,

With his "New Deal" the country grew.

Harry Truman, thirty three,

Won with atomic energy.

Eisenhower, thirty four,

Commanded in the Second World War.

Thirty five, John Kennedy,

Assassinated in sixty three.

Thirty six, Johnson, Lyndon B.,

He declared a "War on Poverty."

Thirty seven, Nixon went far,

Opening China and the U.S.S.R.

Gerald R. Ford, thirty eight,

Moved the nation forward past Watergate.

Thirty nine, with all his might,

Carter fought for human rights.

Reagan, forty, from the West,

Taught the world that freedom's best.

Bush, forty one, showed solid form,

Freed a nation in "Desert Storm."

Forty two, Bill Clinton,

President through the Millennium.

George W. Bush, number forty three,

Strengthened Homeland Security.

First to be elected of African descent,

Obama our Forty-Fourth President.

Pg. 3

Answer 6

This is a list of 50 words. The best way to memorize a large list is to break it down into smaller lists and memorize each one of those separately.

With the American states, one good way to learn them is by looking at a map. Divide the country up into regions however you want to - some good examples would be Northeast States, Southeast States, North-central States, South-central States, Northwest States, and Southwest States.

Make a list of all the states in each region, then memorize the smaller lists. When it's time to repeat all 50 states, just think about your map and you'll remember all of the smaller lists!

Another way is to write the names of the states in each region in some sort of order - you'll see why the order is not important for this memory trick in a second! Take the first letter of each state - now you are going to make a Silly Sentence using these letters. Make up a new word using that letter which you will fit into a Silly Sentence - the idea here is just to remind you of the first letters of each state in your smaller lists!

Here's an example: Southeastern States are: North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

Your letters are N, S, T, G, A, F, L, M, A, and K - you can arrange them any way you want!

Here's the Silly Sentence I made to help me remember these states:

Nobody Stays To Glance At Fred London's Mullet And Knickers!

That's funny enough to remember, and it will help to be sure I get all of the states listed.

Answer 7

Mnemonics

Memory Palace

Story links

Answer 8

Try making songs.

If that doesn't work, do it in segments.

Learn the western area, then the MMidwest, then New England, and so on.