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Do you have a hard time remembering numbers? 

bulletPhone numbers
bulletZip codes
bulletDates
bulletCredit card numbers
bulletPIN numbers
bulletPhysical and mathematical constants. This technique has been used to memorize Pi to 5000 places.
bullet...

Then 2Know can help - a lot! 

2Know is based on a mnemonic system that has proven its effectiveness over hundreds of years.  The system transforms meaningless numerical strings into words and phrases. In the system, each numeral, 0-9, is represented by a consonant sound. These sounds are used to form words that can be more easily remembered than the raw numbers.

The system is not computer based.  But it sure is easier coming up with meaningful words and phrases using the 2Know program and its large multilingual phonetic dictionaries.

And the price is right: Nada, nothing, zip. But if you want to send bags of money, I will not object

* The flags are of countries with the largest population for each language. No political statement is intended by their placement.

 

The Phonetic System/Major System

The Phonetic System is not new.  It has been around in one form or another since the 1600s.  The version presented here is based on the one found in the highly recommended book

"Your Memory: How It Works & How to Improve It" by Kenneth L. Higbee

Here are the phonetic equivalents of the digits 0-9 that are the heart of the Phonetic System:

Digit

Sound

 Examples

Remember

0

z, s, soft c

 ace, size, use, yes

z for zero

1

t, th, d

 tie, the, do, it

t has one down stroke

2

n

 noah, any, new, one

n has two down strokes

3

m

 ma, home, me, aim

  m has three down strokes

4

r

 ray, our, here, your

last sound in four

5

l

 oil, lay, whole, law

Roman numeral for 50 is L

6

  j, sh, ch, soft g 

 jay, wash, shoe, wage

reversed j looks like a 6

7

k, q, hard c, hard g

 key, guy, queue, cow

k is made of two 7's

8

f, v

 fee, wave, via, half

script f resembles an 8

9

  p, b

 pie, bay, pay, abbey

reversed p is a 9

Table 1. Phonetic Equivalents


 The name of this program, '2Know', is derived from the fact that 'know' is the phonetic equivalent of '2'.

Remember, it is the sounds that are important, not the letters.
* If repeated letters make only one sound, as 'ss' in tissue, it translates to a single digit.
* Silent consonants, such as the 'c' in tack, are not represented by a digit.
* Vowels don't count
* 'x' is usually  pronounced as 'ks' as in axiom(703)

Regional accents and individual pronunciation can make for ambiguous translations. For example 'conch' could be translated as either 726 or 727. It is your decision which to use - just be consistent.

How Does 2Know Help?

You supply the numbers, 2Know supplies the words.

Simply type in the number and 2Know presents candidate words that can be used to form phrases representing the number.Simply type in the number and 2Know presents candidate words that can be used to form phrases representing the number.


 Fig. 1: Converting 70395 to 'accuse maybe lie'.
      It also converts to 'example'.


A helpful hint will appear if you pause the mouse over the button, dialog box,  or table in question. 

Here is the short version on how to convert numbers to words:

bullet Enter the number in the edit box at the top of the form and hit the enter key or click the 'Convert' button.
bullet Select conversion order, Left, Right, or Any Point.
bullet Scroll through the candidates and select one by clicking on it.
bullet Select a suffix, prefix or common word from the 'Add to Word' table by clicking on it.
bullet Continue until the number is fully converted.
bullet 'Selected' Words can be deselected by clicking on them.
bullet Click "Copy" to copy the finished phrase to the clipboard for subsequent pasting.
  

To convert words to numbers:

bullet Click the 'Lookup' button. The Lookup  form will appear.
bullet Enter the number in the edit box at the top of the form and hit the enter key or click the 'Convert' button..
bullet If more than one number appears, select the one you want and the click the 'Copy' button to copy the word and its numeric equivalent to the clipboard. 

 

Links 

 
http://Got2Know.net/2Know
Main web page for this program. Check here for the latest version, news and affiliated programs.

http://placevaluenumbers.com/home.htm
This neat website by Prof. Allan Krill has lots of examples, word games and puzzles.

http://www.thememorypage.net
Lots of links to memory websites.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TIM.htm
Has a great listing of tools for improving your memory with examples for learning foreign languages, names and numbers.

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/Memory/
Charles Cave's website is a good source for  memory techniques, books, software, training and memory courses. Charles also links to other memory websites

http://www.memoryelixir.com/mnemonics.html
"Dr. Wilson's Memory Elixir".  Mnemonic history, examples, and Dr Wilson's remarkable feats of memory.

http://www.paul-raedle.de/vtrain/home.htm
This is off topic but it is such a terrific program, I just had to list it. This is a flash card program on steroids. Highly recommended.

http://improve-your-memory-now.com/
Ken Boyd's well designed site that covers memorizing  names, phone numbers, foreign languages, events, lists, speeches, and much more.

http://www.memory-improvement-guide.com/
Provides tips on how to improve your memory and easily memorize numbers, words, tasks, names, faces of people and how to take your memory to the next level.

http://www.memoryschool.com/
Mark Channon, creator of BBC1's Monkhouses Memory Masters (1995) and ranked 3rd in the world as a Grand Master of Memory in the 1995 World Memory Championships, offers an on-line memory improvement course. 

 

Books

Your Memory:  How It works and How to Improve It, by Prof. Kenneth L. Higbee  (Paperback)
This excellent book gives a detailed  description of the "Phonic System".  It goes into much more detail than I have, deals with ambiguities, and has many examples.  In addition it discusses how memory works and other mnemonic systems.

The Memory Book by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas. This, and other books by these authors, are very popular.  It does not go into as much theory as Higbee's.  It is a lighter read and has examples of many memory systems.

Click for more links and books:         

DownLoad

To learn more, Download 2Know and take it for a test drive.

Acknowledgements

2Know would not have been possible without the help of the following:

English edition:  Prof. Allan Krill, Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Department, Lancaster University Computing Department 

German edition: Stefan Breuer, Jens Plasger, Prof. Hans Volek, Prof. John Wells, Markus Zmija, Universität Bonn - Institut für Kommunikationsforschung und Phonetik, Universität Leipzig Institut für Informatik

French Edition:  Alexis Lemaire, Université de Bourgogne & C.N.R.S, Université Rene Descartes

German web pages were translated by Jens Plasger.

French web pages were translated by Alexis Lemaire.

Blind user features: J. Garcia 

 

Contact Information

Postal address

2Know

510 Bergen Street

Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

USA

 

Electronic mail

support@Got2Know.net

 


   
 
 

 

 

Send mail to  support@Got2Know.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: January 20, 2004