Here at Dua Coach, we are using the latest learning techniques to help you achieve your desired goals, you can use some of them or all of them to increase your learning pace.
We use established techniques that you can find in many memory books, and throw in a couple of new ones which are tailored to the rhythmic quality of the Quran, we mix in technology too, and instead of eating the whole of the cake, using our algorithm which breaks down your lesson to word level, we will email you up to 3 times a day, a smaller slice of the cake that you find tasty and that you can digest easily.
Our Top 10 techniques to memorize Quran
1. Bite Size
Question: How do you eat an elephant? Answer : One bite at a time.
When trying to memorise a Sura of the Quran for the first time, it could be overwhelming to see your task as a whole. When you break it down into manageable pieces, you no doubt see a different picture. Chunking as it is also known, is a standard technique, and psychologists say that your short term memory can only hold up to 5 to 9 items. Which is a vital statistic to know when you are learning a large Sura. At Dua Coach, we have done all the hard work for you and chunked every Dua and Quran down to a word by word level. So now you have the ability to be emailed even just one word a day if you so wish, or if you just want to read the Quran in your language we can send you 10 lines a day. You choose the pace that you are comfortable holding in your short term memory.
2. Repetition
This is an age old technique used in many schools, and people still use it from many cultures because it does work. Repetition is also known as rote learning, and the best way to use rote is with rhythm and tempo as kids do with nursery rhymes. Allah has made the Quran easy to learn, as with proper tajweed and its content, it has both rhythm and tempo. To help with repetition, our email server will send you up to 3 emails a day. To achieve two things, firstly, to prompt you to learn your lesson and secondly to actually deliver your lesson. You can configure Dua Coach to send you the same lesson even for a number of days. Please don't underestimate the power of repetition which moves information from your short term memory into your long term memory.
3. Audio
Another technique in the art of memorisation is to use as many of your senses as possible at the same time. Reading, listening and writing down the verse that you are learning will aid the synapses in your brain to make stronger connections, and thus retain it in your brain for longer and make recollection easier. Which is why we include a link to the Audio of the verse you are learning, and also include the translation and transliteration. (Please note we currently only have audio for the Quran)
4. Feel the Audio
How can you feel the audio you might ask. When listening to a new verse of the Quran, you should put it on loop, which our audio is set to do. So Just as if you see a blurred image become sharper, you slowly see the picture from a blur then eventually you see it with clarity. This is what you will experience with the new piece of audio. When we say feel the audio, on the first five or six times you listen to it, don't focus on the individual words, only the sound. We recommend you to even just hum what you hear until you are familiar with the verse, which leads onto the next technique.
5. Familiarity
As mentioned above, become very familiar with the audio. In addition, repetition breeds familiarity. Know the Quran Transliteration, understand the context and learn the tajweed rules. Try and do some of these, knowing the verse more intimately will grow your love for the verse and you certainly won't forget it.
6. Count the syllables
If you are particularly stuck on a word, then break the word down even further into syllables. Firstly count the number of syllables so that your mind is expecting 3 syllables for example, and then continue to repeat. There are ways of linking the syllables together with mnemonics which I will cover in another post, but that should be enough to start you off.
7. Release the crutch
Relying on these techniques will take you so far, use these as a crutch. Just like a baby uses the sofa to help him stand, don't be afraid to fly solo and let go once you have the verse in your memory. Sometimes you can rely on them so much that the verse won't flow so well when you recite.
8. Group learning
We, at Dua Coach understand this technique and feel that group and individual support and encouragement is a necessary part of the learning process. Which is why on the site, we have comments boards, friends lists, and especially useful is the study buddy feature. Dua Coach searches its database to find you a compatible study buddy who is the same gender as you unless they are also in your friends list. We encourage you to support each other and be responsible for each other's progress. You should contact each other every day through the site for both progress and encouragement. Even if there is no reply from your study buddy, this is still support, and maintenance for your own progress.
9. Inspiration
We display your friend's history for inspiration to you of what they have achieved, we also display your progress against your chosen study buddy to keep you motivated.
10. Incentives
On the Dua Coach site, we currently give you points for every Dua or Quran that you learn, and set you up on a leader board to incentivise you against your friends. This technique, again is an age old one for motivation in your learning. We are currently developing different ways to spend your points, so keep collecting.