“Mnemonic entertainment” is generally described as an instructional methodology that conveys mnemonic-based learning content via entertainment practices. Or conversely, it can be envisioned as a form of entertainment unto itself, that embeds mnemonic learning content.
NOMENCLATURE
The term “mnemonic entertainment” was first coined in 2014 by Chris Cotter, the CEO of “GLU” (Global Learning Universe, Inc.) GLU’s early research created mnemonic lexicons between languages, followed by their first entertainment product: “The Mandarin Show” in 2020. This app employs a late night talk show format as a vehicle for comedy sketches, songs and parodies that mnemonically link English words with their Mandarin counterparts.
HISTORY
Mnemonics have been used ever since formal educational instruction began, i.e: thousands of years ago, as a means to circumvent the use of repetitive memorization to recall a distinct body of facts, such as specific words in foreign languages. Indeed, any area of knowledge where memorization is required, including the sciences, history, law and social studies can realize some benefit from mnemonics. The first documented use of the so-called “method of loci” or “memory palace” technique was by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The word “mnemonic” comes from the ancient Greek word for memory: “mneme.”
LIMITATIONS
Conventional use of mnemonics has generally been limited to those links that are within easy conceptual grasp. As far as we know, no field of inquiry has ever been completely converted to mnemonic linkage. In a landmark study released by The Association of Pyschological Science in 2013, mnemonic learning strategies were found overall to be of “low utility” compared to the standard use of rote memorization. One of the main explanations offered for the failure of mnemonic techniques appeared to be that participants in the study found that creating individual complex memory systems was fine for mnemonic practitioners like Aristotle and Plato but too much work for mere mortals, when one compared it to simply memorizing the required data.
LANGUAGE USE
In languages, individuals have often found links that naturally occur to them and they have applied them with positive effect. These mental links generally outlast rotely memorized data. However, as in other fields of knowledge, mnemonic links typically apply to only a tiny percentage of data, not enough words that would be required for fluency in a language.
QUESTIONS
Mnemonic entertainment proffers the question: “What if there were no need to create a complex mnemonic linkage system to learn languages?” What if one already existed… for every language? And what if these systems were based on commonly shared experiences? And finally, what if this learning process was itself, a form of entertainment?
THE INITIAL BREAKTHROUGH
In 1998, Chris Cotter, a CEO and Creative Director for a Maryland ad agency, was on his way to China for an adoption. He had planned to learn Mandarin through conventional means available at the time, such as books, tapes and tutoring. Unfortunately, he found that Chinese words were so puzzling and “foreign” sounding to him, that the process of acquiring them was, in his words: “like memorizing random numbers in a phone book.” So he developed a system of simple, logical connections between each Mandarin word and its meaning in English. It wasn’t until seventeen years later, on an island vacation that he realized that his system of mnemonic logic was unique compared to all of the language apps that had been developed since then, such as Rosetta Stone, Duolingo and Babbel. At this point he decided to launch a company to develop a marketable mnemonic entertainment system. It would be based on his methods that made words from one language mentally “stick” to another language. “GLU” or Global Learning Universe was formed.
THE GLU MNEMONIC METHODOLOGY
Based on five years of research, Global Learning Universe developed dozens of proprietary mnemonic strategies to optimally link specific words from one language to another. But before GLU applied these methods, they began with a thorough “de-coding” to evaluate the structural patterns unique to the lexicons of each language.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The unique mnemonic methods originated by GLU’s research have recently been converted into an A.I. assisted process dedicated to both de-coding the target languages and to assigning optimal mnemonic linkage. This process provides GLU with the capacity to develop and legally register a unique, optimal, mnemonic language lexicon between every major language in the world. These proprietary mnemonic language lexicons are then licensed and developed as the basis for mnemonic entertainment products.
EXAMPLE OF MNEMONIC ENTERTAINMENT
To link the Mandarin Chinese word “wo” (which means “me” in English) a mnemonic entertainment system might refer to the most famous author of English entertainment, William Shakespeare, and a performance of his most quoted line: “Woe is me.” Thus, mnemonically speaking, “WO” is “ME.”
THE FUTURE OF MNEMONIC ENTERTAINMENT
The first licensed entertainment product: “The Mandarin Show” is in the form of a late night talk show, using sequential mnemonic videos of comedy sketches, guests, gags, music, etc.
Other licensed applications are in development. These include sequential mnemonic plot-driven entertainment in the form of feature films, binge-worthy episodic mnemonic entertainment, and interactive mnemonic virtual reality games, all based on GLU’s original mnemonic lexicons.
The industry of mnemonic entertainment has arrived. And while it is still in its infancy, with the first product in this category launched in 2019, it may eventually replace many standard instructional platforms. In any event, mnemonic entertainment will continue to evolve and to systematically blur the line between entertainment and education.