verbs - Present progressive tense of 覚える

I'm trying to say I remember his ex-girlfriend's name.

私は彼の元彼女の名前を覚えます。

私は彼の元彼女の名前を覚えています。

As I understand, the last sentence is in present progressive tense, i.e. an action that is ongoing. But I don't think I'm remembering his ex-girlfriend's name makes sense.

So in this case, does the first sentence mean I will remember his ex-girlfriend's name? And does the last sentence mean I remember his ex-girlfriend's name?

Answer

In Japanese, the て+いる form does not necessarily represent present-progressive (as such a concept doesn't really exist in Japanese in the first place); in many cases, it describes a resultant or enduring state. In this case, the verb is "to remember/learn," so using the て+いる form implies a "state" of having already learned something (and remembering it). The translation of the first sentence would probably be something like "I will learn his ex-girlfriend's name," while the second one could be translated as "I remember his ex-girlfriend's name" (this is what you wanted in this case).

There are definitely cases where て+いる can be translated as present-progressive, but rather than being the specified purpose or meaning of the form, it's more like that just happens to be the realization of that particular verb in that form. For a more in-depth look at what is really happening with this form, I've found this page helpful: http://homepage3.nifty.com/park/aspect.htm