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Speaker 1: So how's your memory? Do you have a memory like

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a sieve or maybe your memory is more like an elephant.

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Some people have a short memory, and some people have

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a photographic memory. Let's check it out.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All righty, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight oh six.

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How's your memory? The word memory in English is interesting

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because it has a number of meanings and uses. For example,

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if you are into computers, you might know that memory

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is part of the computer hardware. And by the way,

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in that case, the word memory is not countable. Right,

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my computer has a lot of memory. But the word

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memory also means those little pictures in your mind of

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something that happened in your life. And in that case,

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the word memory becomes accountable noun like I have some

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great memories from my high school days. Maybe you sit

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around with your friends from school and talk about your memories.

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For today's podcast English Lesson, we're going to take the

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word memory to the next level and talk about five

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idioms and phrases that use the word memory, like if

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you're the kind of person that can easily remember things,

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then you would probably say you have a good memory.

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On the other hand, if you're a person like me,

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for example, that finds it hard to remember things, then

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you might say that you have a bad memory. But

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there's a more colorful way to describe both of those situations.

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If you don't have a good memory, you can say

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that you have a memory like a sieve. A sieve

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is what you use in the kitchen to drain the

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water after boiling pasta or for washing veggies. A lot

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of what you put in the sieve comes right out.

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So with that image, when you have a memory like

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a sieve, it means you have a bad memory or

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you forget things easily, like I'm sorry, I forgot your birthday.

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I have a memory like a sieve. You can't trust

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Jack to remember anything important. He's got a memory like

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a sieve. If you can easily remember things, then you

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have a memory like an elephant. Yeah, an elephant. It

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seems that elephants are known for their strong memory, like

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when it comes to recognizing other elements, remembering places they've been,

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and even recalling specific events or experiences. There have been

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many stories and studies showing how elephants can remember human

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faces and locations, sometimes even after years or long distances.

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My friend Paul has a memory like an elephant. He

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remembers everything from our school days, and Tommy well, he

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never forgets anyone's birthday. He has a memory like an elephant.

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In a similar way, when you have a photographic memory,

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it means that you have the ability to remember things

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in great detail, like a photograph. One of my classmates

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in college never really study for exams. She had a

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photographic memory. Lucky her. I wish I had a photographic memory.

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I tend to forget things in great detail. Another way

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to express that idea is to say that someone can

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do something from memory. When you do something from memory,

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you can do that task without needing to look at

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any notes or instructions. I've cooked pasta sauce so many times.

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I don't need to look at the recipe or check

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a list of ingredients. I just do it from memory.

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So having a memory like an elephant, or having a

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photographic memory, or having a memory like a sief talks

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about your brain's ability to remember things, but in some

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say situations. You can train your body to physically remember things,

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and when you do that, we call it having muscle memory.

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When you have muscle memory, you have the ability to

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perform a task or do something automatically because you've done

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it many times before. It's not about remembering something consciously,

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it's about the body remembering the action. We often use

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the term muscle memory when we talk about sports, like

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when you look at an outstanding athlete, their body knows

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just what to do to kick or throw a ball.

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Like even though I haven't ridden a bike in ears,

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my muscle memory kicked in and I started writing like

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I never stopped. It's the same with musicians. After years

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of playing the piano, Billy has muscle memory, so he

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can play a lot of songs without looking at the

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sheet music. Keep in mind, the best way to remember

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English like this and any other word or phrase in English,

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is to take that word or phrase, write it in

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a sentence that's true for you or true in your world,

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and then memorize your sentences and check this out. You

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can get more practice using your English when you join

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my podcast Learner's Study Group. There you can make new friends.

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Join us for live group lessons every week where we

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practice these podcast lessons together. Plus you get access to

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the PDF, transcript and audio download for every Happy English

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podcast in the past and in the future. And on

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top of that, each episode has exercises where you can

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practice this English point with speaking and listening checked by me.

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To learn more, just visit Myhappy English dot com and

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choose podcasts lesson eighth six. Remember learning another language is

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not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here to

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help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast was brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for Happy

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