Remembering the name of a person you just met is the kind of recommendation you can expect to find in any How To Influence People And Get Rich In 30 Days jack rag.
In prison it won’t help you get rich. But it will gain you one helluva lotta respect. At a superficial level, saying hello to a person by name is no more than a friendly gesture. However, at a deeper psychological level you are vindicating someone’s very existence and making them feel important. They cannot but warm to you in return.
The first question is how to find out a person’s name. You could ask another cat, but you will not always get the correct answer for a number of reasons. It might be a surname; it might be a special nickname; you might be intentionally told an obscene word instead; it might be the name only their mother uses. So you have to ask the person directly. “What’s your name” should be the first phrase we learn in a foreign language if we do not already know it.
The next question is how not to forget it immediately.
Firstly, you need to actually listen. Then repeat it out loud to the both of you to make sure you heard correctly and can pronounce it. At the same time, create an image in your mind.
Here is an example. Suppose he says his name is Pablo. Think Picasso. Think a painting by Picasso if you can. Go over it in your mind a few times.
Another example is Duello. Think pistols at dawn. He prefers to be called by his nickname “EO” which is the end of the word minus the ‘ll‘s. So he got shot and the elles knocked out of him.
You need to go into your cage and write it down, immediately.
A week later, you may come across the name in your notebook but not remember who it belongs to. If you are good at art, draw their face. If not, write down a few descriptive reminders in the nature of tall/bald/missing teeth/dragon tattoo. Avoid noting their hair style or color because it can change so easily.
I have acquired a reputation for being good at remembering names. This is not a boast but a liability.
Another true example. I was out in the yard when a group of 5 homies stopped me. The leader I knew and he asked, “What’s you name?” in bad English. It was the usual banter, asking me to say his name and it was the Duello I mentioned earlier.
Then he introduced his 4 road dogs and tested me on them. Four new names, not difficult ones but still a challenge. Muslim, Leonardo, Janjan and Ibu. I’m guessing most are nicknames. A memory technique I learned years back is to take the first letter of each name and make a sentence. It doesn’t always come naturally but I came up with “Me Like Jam Ice.” So I passed the test. EO made it difficult for me by getting me to repeat the names in reverse order.
So four new ‘friends’ in the space of five minutes. I don’t got problems with any homies here but know that these guys would probably help me out if I did (and remembered their names correctly).
When I noted them in my book, one description for Muslim was “not look Muslim”.
My memory is actually not that good and not improving with age. I can usually remember if I met someone before but not always. There are just too many cats here and folk come and go all the time. It is even more difficult now because most are wearing coronavirus masks.
We can apply similar techniques for learning foreign words and phrases. Worth a try. We got nothing better to do anyway.