Topic 3: Substitute Words and Phrases - Tutorial 3

Memorizing English Counties

For your first exercise in using the Substitute Word System, you are going to memorise the twelve largest English counties, in order of area.

There are two steps involved in memorising the list. Firstly, form a Substitute Word or Phrase to remind you of each of the county names. Secondly, apply the Link System to link those Substitute Words and Phrases together.

For each of the county names you are going to be given a Substitute Word or Phrase. If you can though, try and think up some Substitute Words or Phrases of your own for the names. Although using the suggested Substitute Words will normally work perfectly well, suggesting them to you does remove some of your Initial Awareness.

The 12 Largest English Counties

Rank	County	Area (km²)
1	North Yorkshire	8,654
2	Lincolnshire	6,975
3	Cumbria	6,767
4	Devon	6,707
5	Norfolk	5,380
6	Northumberland	5,013
7	Somerset	4,170
8	Suffolk	3,801
9	Hampshire	3,772
10	Kent	3,738
11	Essex	3,670
12	Cornwall	3,546

The Two-Step Process

Create Substitute Words: Convert each county name into a visualizable word or phrase
Apply Link System: Connect these substitute words together in a memorable chain

Building Your Memory Chain

1 North Yorkshire

Substitute: "Yorkshire pudding in the snow"

For North you might picture snow or a snowstorm. For Yorkshire you might see a giant Yorkshire pudding. So to remember North Yorkshire, you could visualise an enormous Yorkshire pudding in the snow.

2 Lincolnshire

Substitute: "Link - on - chair" → Huge chains holding a gigantic chair to the ceiling.

Use this phrase, or one you can think of yourself. Now start forming your link, by associating that phrase to your mental picture of North Yorkshire. For example, picture that huge Yorkshire Pudding in the snow coming nearer and nearer, until it lands on the chair and breaks the chains.

3 Cumbria

Substitute: "come near" or "comb beer"

A convenient Substitute Word here might be hungrier, which rhymes with CUMBRIA. Continue your link by associating hungrier to your Substitute Word or Phrase for Cumbria. For hungrier you might visualise eating the Yorkshire pudding on the chair..

Visualization Tip: Continue building your chain through all 12 counties, creating vivid, ridiculous associations between each substitute word and the next.

4-12 Continuing the Chain

The process continues with:

Devon:"heaven" → Angels standing on a gigantic chair
Norfolk: "no fork" or "north folk" → Eskimos standing on the chair
Northumberland: "no thumb hand" → Eskimos holding up hands with no thumbs
Somerset: "upper set" → false teeth in a glass of cider
Suffolk: "south folk" or "surf fork" → Hairy Ford surfing on a giant fork
Hampshire: "hamster" → Giant hamster surfing on the fork
Kent: "scent" or "bent" → Opening a curved garden gate with with a perfume bottle
Essex: "yes eggs" → Eggs with faces nodding "yes" from the can
Cornwall: "corn wall" → Packet of cornflakes growing on a wall with eggs popping out

That completes the Link. If you've made all the suggested Associations (or used your own Associations), and really seen the images in your mind, then you know the twelve largest English counties, just as you knew the ten unrelated items at the end of Tutorial 1.

Personalize Your Associations

One advantage of applying the Substitute Word System is that it forces you to think about that name, to concentrate on it as you normally would not.

Of course, there are many other Substitute Words or Phrases you could have used for the above examples. If you thought of Clotted Cream or Devon Cream Teas or Dartmoor when you thought of Devon, then picturing one of those images would have served the purpose for you.

Remember that Linking and associating are personal and individual - what you think of is usually best for you. Also, the first Substitute Word that comes to mind is normally the best to use.