Man wins Spanish Scrabble tournament(among other titles) without even speaking Spanish

[Chock Full o Nuts]

The brain is a crazy thing. Is he reading, sounding out in his mind phonetically to memorize? Or is he 'flipping pages in his mind' from one hell of a photographic memory?

I have a damn good photo memory I must say, but something like that? Never gonna happen.

Scrabble genius wins Spanish Scrabble title—without speaking Spanish

Nigel Richards from New Zealand has won Scrabble titles around the world, including in France, despite not speaking the language.

www.newsweek.com

Competing in Granada, Spain, in November, Richards triumphed in his first-ever Spanish Scrabble tournament, losing just one game out of 24.

Richards, who holds five English-language world titles, spent a year memorizing the Spanish Scrabble word list to prepare.

Richards' strategy relies on his remarkable memory rather than linguistic skills. Scrabble rules require players to know valid word combinations but not their meanings. Fagerlund explained that Richards memorizes word lists as visual patterns.

Exactly how though? Is he 'seeing a picture' in his head? Has he memorized a string of letter, then a space, then a string of letters.. rinse and repeat? Lotta words!

Always been amazed by savants and such. On a whole other level from most of us.

 

[Jessie C]

I have a photographic memory too, but this is truly amazing! Had to be the ability to memorize the Spanish Scrabble word list that did it for him. Wasn't even aware there was such a thing as a Scrabble word list in any language....who knew?

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

I have a photographic memory too, but this is truly amazing! Had to be the ability to memorize the Spanish Scrabble word list that did it for him. Wasn't even aware there was such a thing as a Scrabble word list in any language....who knew?

I do know there is an approved list. A quick look seems to point to over 80k words in Spanish.

Not speaking a language, but being able to spell words you don't understand the meaning of on a whim is foreign. Upbringing equates what one speaks, hears and reads to understanding the word, and how to spell it.

To not have a clue what you are saying, but being able to spell it? Different level.

I'll have people contact me after a time about work, and say 'how the hell you remember that?' I just do, years later. Some visual imprint.

But this? I have no idea what the hell you're talking about?

.

 

[Jessie C]

I do know there is an approved list. A quick look seems to point to over 80k words in Spanish.

Not speaking a language, but being able to spell words you don't understand the meaning of on a whim is foreign. Upbringing equates what one speaks, hears and reads to understanding the word, and how to spell it.

To not have a clue what you are saying, but being able to spell it? Different level.

I'll have people contact me after a time about work, and say 'how the hell you remember that?' I just do, years later. Some visual imprint.

But this? I have no idea what the hell you're talking about?

.

I would imagine there is a pattern that emerges when memorizing foreign words; especially Spanish, which is so similar to so many other languages- the use of a's and e's and o's that become patternistic- just going by my own ability to remember stuff, like you, years later that no one else can recall. Give me a year to memorize words and if I set my mind to it, I could do it. So could you. I would at least hope to be fluent after doing that for a year, because for me, I would have to know exactly how to use these words, rather than just knowing how to spell them!

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

I would imagine there is a pattern that emerges when memorizing foreign words; especially Spanish, which is so similar to so many other languages- the use of a's and e's and o's that become patternistic- just going by my own ability to remember stuff, like you, years later that no one else can recall. Give me a year to memorize words and if I set my mind to it, I could do it. So could you. I would at least hope to be fluent after doing that for a year, because for me, I would have to know exactly how to use these words, rather than just knowing how to spell them!

Well yes, many inferred meanings without even knowing the language.
Importante! I don't know what your-a-sayin', but I see that red exclamation point in the triangle!

Suppose you could learn upon reading and picking up patterns, and you would naturally gather a bit.

But yeah, may as well learn the language by then. Though is this just a memory thing?

I took a year of study hal.., I mean nap tim..., I mean German! I remember how to count.