To the contrary,
yes you can.
I know you can.

Did you expect to get this without trying really hard? (this, for those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about.)
We don’t come by anything valuable without effort.

But we’ve learned a thing or two that makes it a bit easier… You probably have too, and I’d love to hear about it. (We’re here to help each other, right?) So here are a few things that help me tremendously. (translation, habits without which it becomes impossible for me to memorize more than a phrase or two.)

1. Don’t panic.
If you’re working on verse 5 or 6, you’re fine! The schedule is a guide. And some people will find it more effective to memorize tortoise style, rather than hare style (no, not hair.) with a bunch of review. 

2. Engage multiple senses
Hear, see, speak out loud. Hear, see, speak out loud. Speak, hear, read. Hear your own speaking, while reading. Hear someone else reading, while speaking. The more different ways, the more neuropathways. The more pathways, the better.

3. Engage multiple systems
Think, speak, move! Muscle memory is sometimes easier to come by than abstract memory. I attach hand motions to abstract concepts to make them concrete. Then the gesture can actually remind you of the word… So, for words like “former…before…after…many days hence” I picture time as moving from left to right, and gesture accordingly. Other words like “seen…speaking,” “spoken…beheld…looked,” “taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.” are even easier. Invent your own sign language. 🙂 Just move your hands.
Lists, same thing. Jerusalem is always on my left, Judea next, (all Judea– gesture the “all” too) Samaria off to the right a bit, and the uttermost part of the earth is… far flung. 🙂
Oh, and one more thing: Don’t sit down. Seriously.

3. I repeat: Listen.
Can’t stress this enough. The Bible we listen to is free. So free, in fact, if any of you have not already procured it, I will email the first 3 chapters to you right this minute. Seriously. [then the next three, then the next three] Please(!!!) drop me an email… [seannebblett[at]gmail.com]
Even if you’re not an auditory learner, I promise you everything you hear (and everything you will ever hear) is stored in your brain forever. If you’ve listened to a chapter 20 times before it’s time to memorize it, you’ll find most of it recognizable. (Translation, start listening to Acts 2 a couple times a day. by the time you get there you’ll be glad you did.)

As a bonus, the mind is particularly adept at capturing conversations through the ear… And Acts is full of conversations. Have you noticed it’s easier to remember what the characters are actually saying that what is said about them?

4. Memorize out loud. (This is why it’s handy to have more than one person doing it in your house. :))

Ok. What have I missed?

p.s. If any of you are still having trouble with the calendar, revisit the original post and use the links I added specifically for Google Calendar.