My memory for names is abysmal if I just hear it, but if I see a name written down, then I can remember it as well as most people. It's terrible if I'm introduc

My memory for names is abysmal if I just hear it, but if I see a name written down, then I can remember it as well as most people. It's terrible if I'm introduced to people as their name goes into my ear and I almost instantly forget it, even if it's repeated. Once I see it, though, I'm usually very good. I had a similar issue with learning French at school - we had a teacher that would just speak the language and get us to repeat it. That was just terrible for me as I had no idea what was going on as I had difficulty learning it despite being very academically gifted. After about 6 months or so, the teacher started using textbooks too and once I could read the words it all became so much easier for me as I could visualise how to pronounce the words etc.