Meet the Albanian who holds the world memory record

Idriz Zogaj, an Albanian from Kosovo who lives in Sweden, has been involved in the sport of memory for years.

The World Memory Championship has been held since 1991, Idrizi has been participating in it since 2004.

He graduated in physical engineering, but is mostly known as an expert in memory techniques.

He represented Sweden at the World Memory Championships where he won numerous awards.

Zogaj gave us some tips on how to improve memory and through a conversation with him we got to know more about this interesting character.

 -Mr. Idrizi, how did you come into contact with this type of sport?

I started in 2004. It was the time when I wanted to learn a foreign language, a new language, and while I was looking for books to learn the language, I came across a publication that was about lessons to strengthen memory. There I said, okay, to learn a foreign language you need to know how to memorize it.

In that book I accidentally stumbled upon the last chapter, where it said that if you master these techniques, you can participate in the world championships and compete there.

I surprised myself that, in the span of a few weeks, I managed to pass several levels at once. And so, in the same year, I participated for the first time in the great memory competition, where representatives from 30 countries of the world took part.

-For all those who don't know, what is memory sport?

It is a sport like any other. In this case you have to learn techniques and memorize letters, numbers, words, dates, names, anything that you will put in your brain.

Things that the brain does not understand, that are abstract for it, you cannot remember, in these moments you have to visualize the information, simplify it.

For example, you can compare a certain number with a certain character, because then you manage to memorize it.

- You told us that you also give lessons. Who are your students?

Yes, there are, from children to important personalities, including businessmen. They learn the techniques and then practice them. They are surprised when they get results and are angry with themselves that they didn't know before.

For example in my team in Sweden, I have the best in the world, Jonas von Essen, he won the world cup. I am the author of several books, books for adults and books for children, where you can find lessons on memory techniques. You decide whether you will remember it or not.

-Do these techniques help students learn more?

Yes, one of the links to competing in the championship is to remember historical dates, and the world record is someone who memorized 132 historical dates in five minutes. That is, what you learn for a year, you can learn in 5 minutes. This applies to students of history and not only to them.

-More specifically, how is this done?

The first is to connect the information. A word, a figure connects to another. We memorize numbers a lot, but to memorize the number you have to compare it to a picture. All dates just need to be visualized. We give a number the appearance of a figure, otherwise it does not remember.

- How does stress affect memory loss?

It affects a lot. Stress damages the brain. If a person is constantly accompanied by stress, he is hit directly in the memory, so he should be careful. And this is an ideal moment to practice memory.

You should also lead a healthy life. You must have a normal sleep pattern. You should sleep at least 7 to 8 hours in 24 hours. You must eat well, because if your body is not well, then neither is your mind. When we are stressed we also forget more easily.

- What pleasure does this type of sport give you?

Yes, it's kind of like going to the gym and doing an exercise, at the end you say; I did this to you. Brain training should be part of school, it should be part of the curriculum.

'Confession Room' exclusive column of VoxNews.

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