How the Major System Works
The Major System is a 300-year-old technique that converts numbers into consonant sounds. You use those sounds to form words, and words become pictures you can remember.
The Big Idea
Here's how it works in three steps:
Now 42 isn't an abstract number anymore — it's a rainstorm you can see, hear, and feel. Your brain loves this.
Why Consonant Sounds?
The system uses consonant sounds (not vowels) for a clever reason: vowels are "free" — you can add any vowels you want to make words.
For example, the number 12 gives you the sounds T (1) and N (2). You could turn that into any of these words:
All of these work for 12 because the consonant sounds (T-N) are the same. The vowels don't count.
The Key Rules
⚠️ Important to Remember
- 1.Only consonant sounds matter — vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are ignored
- 2.W, H, and Y don't count — they're "helper" sounds
- 3.It's about sounds, not spelling — "phone" = F-N (not P-H-O-N-E)
- 4.Silent letters don't count — "knight" = N-T (the K is silent)
- 5.Double letters = one sound — "butter" = B-T-R (one T sound)
What You'll Learn Next
There are exactly 10 digit-sound mappings to learn — one for each digit 0-9. That's it. Once you know these 10 mappings, you can convert any number into words.
We're going to learn them gradually over the next few lessons, taking time to really internalize each one. Don't worry about memorizing a big table — we'll build up slowly.
🎯 The Learning Plan
- Lesson 3: Digits 0, 1, and 2
- Lesson 4: Digits 3, 4, and 5
- Lesson 5: Digits 6, 7, 8, and 9
- Lesson 6: Full review and speed drills
By breaking it into chunks, you'll actually remember the mappings instead of just reading a table and forgetting it.
Ready to learn your first three digits?