Minnesreferat

Minnesreferat is a Swedish term for a written summary produced from memory, usually after receiving information orally or after reading a text. The word combines minne (memory) and referat (summary or report). It is intended to capture the essential points recalled by the writer rather than to reproduce the source verbatim.

The concept is commonly used in education as an exercise to test and train listening and reading comprehension, recall, and synthesis. Students may be asked to produce a minnesreferat after attending a lecture, participating in a seminar, or completing a reading assignment. In professional contexts, it may be used to document an oral briefing or interview when a full transcript is impractical or unnecessary.

Writing a minnesreferat typically involves reconstructing the main arguments, conclusions, key facts, dates, and names from memory and presenting them in a concise, coherent form. It should indicate elements that are certain and those that are uncertain, and note any gaps or ambiguities. Because it is memory-based, it is not a verbatim transcription, and details may be approximate. Memory bias can influence what is remembered and how it is presented.

Compared with a referat, which is usually prepared from notes, recordings, or the original text, a minnesreferat relies on recall. The form is used as a learning tool and as a linguistic exercise in Swedish language education, illustrating how information is processed and paraphrased from memory.