How does the Major System work?

Digit Letter 0 s, z 1 t, d, th 2 n 3 m 4 r 5 l 6 j, ch, sh 7 c, k, g, q, ck 8 v, f, ph 9 p, b

This mnemonic system is based on the substitution of sounds with digits. With this technique you can represent words by numeric sequences. Since remembering words is far more easy than numbers, this system can be used to easily remember numerical sequences, like telephone numbers or year dates. For the number you want to remember you find corresponding words which you turn into a catchy story. The made up story should be very unusual so it sticks.

To get the numerical representation of a word you have to follow a few rules. You should be very good at remembering those rules, so you can translate your story quickly back into the actual numbers. This task should not be underestimated!

Consonants get substituted by the table.

Vowels and the letters w, h, y and x are ignored.

Double letters are disregarded. So ss equals 0.

Let's do an example with the word Satellite to demonstrate how the Major System works:

S atellite S = 0 0 S a tellite Vowel, ignored. 0 Sa t ellite t = 1 0 1 Sat e llite Vowel, ignored. 01 Sate ll ite ll = 5, no double letter 01 5 Satell i te Vowel, ignored. 015 Satelli t e t = 1 015 1 Satellit e Vowel, ignored. 0151

The complete Major Code for Satellite is 0151.

To remember the sounds of the substituions have a look at the following sentence. When you apply the Major System code to it you go from zero to nine and have a nice way to remember the sounds & digits in the right order.

This handy trick was created by Adam Beggs from Hertford, UK.