Qu'est-ce que le Major System ?

Important — pour toutes les langues

Le Major System est base sur la phonetique anglaise. Les mots que vous apprenez sont toujours en anglais, quelle que soit la langue dans laquelle vous utilisez ce site. Si vous etudiez en suedois, chinois, russe ou toute autre langue, vous utilisez toujours la liste de mots anglais. Vous n'avez pas besoin d'etre bilingue — il suffit de reconnaitre environ 100 mots anglais simples et evocateurs. La plupart des gens les apprennent en une seule session.

Sujets connexes
Pi E Phi
The idea in one sentence
Map each digit to a consonant sound.
Build a word. Make it vivid. Never forget.
3 = M · 1 = T · 4 = R → MoToR → picture a spinning motor

The Major System converts numbers into words by mapping each digit 0–9 to one or more consonant sounds. Vowels cost nothing — use them freely to complete real words. Each word becomes a vivid image. Images chain into scenes. Scenes are impossible to forget.

The 10 rules — tap any digit

Tap a digit to see its memory hook

Silent fillers: Vowels (a e i o u), H, W, and Y carry no digit at all. Use them freely to build natural words from any consonant sequence. WHiTe = 1. HoNeY = 2. WoMaN = 32.
Same digit, different letters

Each digit covers a family of sounds. The word uses whichever letter from the family sounds most natural. Both are equally correct.

💣
Bomb
B is silent at end only B·M counts
93
B + M
🪮
Comb
B is silent at end only K·M counts
73
K + M
⚰️
Tomb
B is silent at end only T·M counts
13
T + M
🛣️
Road
D is the sound, not T same digit 1
41
R + D
🦆
Duck
D not T both are digit 1
17
D + K

The system is over 300 years old and refined by memory champions ever since. Modern competitive memorisers use it to encode thousands of digits of pi, entire decks of cards, and long sequences of random numbers. The principle never changes: a vivid, concrete image is far easier to recall than an abstract digit.

Pi to 10 digits — five pairs, five images
3 · 1 · 4 · 1 · 5 · 9 · 2 · 6 · 5 · 3
🧤
31
Mitt
M + T
🛣️
41
Road
R + D
💋
59
Lip
L + P
🌮
26
Nacho
N + CH
🍋
53
Lime
L + M
Your scene

A mitt slides down a road, lands on a giant lip, leaves a notch in it, then gets squeezed like a lime.

Five images, one absurd scene, one ten-digit block of pi permanently encoded. That is the system.

How to use this on MemorisePi
1
Learn the rules first
Spend 10 minutes with the 10-rule table above until the digit–sound mapping feels natural. You do not need to memorise it perfectly — it clicks with use.
2
See each number alongside its word and emoji. Go through the 00s, then the 10s, one group at a time. Say the word out loud while looking at the number.
3
See the number only. Recall the word from memory. Flip to check. Repeat any you missed. Once you can go through a group without errors, move to the next.
4
Now play the pi game. As you tap through each six-digit group, the three-image story fires with your fingers. Shape and story reinforce each other from every tap.
Study all 100 →Test yourself →Full word list →How to memorise pi →Play pi →

The Major System is a mnemonic technique dating to the 17th century. The 100-word list, diagrams, and this guide are by Christoffer De Geer. The Major Pincode System (pairing this word list with numpad muscle memory) was devised by Christoffer in 2024.