It's a safe bet that you have heard about short-term memory (a.k.a. working memory).
But have you ever considered it a potential source of problems with knowledge acquisition?
Personally, it took me a long time to see it that way. We all know and have heard about not multitasking and about avoiding distractions when we try to do something productive.
But as it turns out these are merely a part of the bigger picture. But first thing is first - capacity of working memory is often described using Miller's number. Basically, it means that you can memorize 7 (give or take 2) bits of information.
What's more the duration of short-term memory seems to be anything from 20 seconds up to 40-50 minutes, depending on the kind of information and the way of encoding?
Let's try to imagine a process of memorization in some picturesque way.
A funnel might be the capacity of our working memory, while donuts are bits of information we want to absorb. Let's say that the information is stored when a donut passes through the neck of the funnel.
So what might go wrong?
What narrows the neck of the donut funnel?
In other words - what decreases the capacity of working memory? Well-known culprits are:
Lack of sleep
We all have met some guy (once or twice) who say "I swear man, I can pull a couple of all-nighters without any problem" But then you look at him and it turns out that he's having a feverish conversation with a chair.
Depending on the study, a week of sleeping 4-5 hours per night seems to be an equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.1%. In the meantime, your brain burns through the sugar stored in your body making you crave all the sugary goodies.
Did I mention that the first parts of the brain which fall victim to sleep deprivation are the ones responsible for higher order thinking? Because who really needs abstract thinking when you barely stand on your feet!
Remedy: try to get at least seven hours of sleep per night
Lack of exercise
Shortly - many studies have proved that exercise stimulates new brain cell growth, increases connections between cells, and improves attention span.
Remedy: run fatty, run!
Improper nutrition
Your brain is a powerful and formidable machine which needs its fuel to function properly. And let's be honest - you know that McDonald won't cut it.
Remedy: in order to keep your brain well-oiled and ensure the formation of new brain cells feed your brain with proteins, Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B, folate, zinc and drink much water.
Stress
Stress triggers the Flight-or-Fight response. As a result, your body releases hormones like adrenalin or cortisol.
You know the feeling - your heart rate increases, your hands get all sweaty, you feel the surge of anxiety mixed with energy. And the thing is that, of course, such a reaction is completely natural. The problem appears when you face chronic stress.
As a result, you may fall victim to obesity, depression, ulcers, sexual dysfunction.
Remedy: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Remember to do something to unwind every day. Get a massage, play with your kids, feed the pigeons - whatever floats your boat.
Multitasking
In today's world, it's considered normal to multitask at work or at home. Many people take great pride in doing many things at the same time, or in switching from one task to another. It saddens me greatly.
Cognitive costs of such a behavior are really huge. That's not a big deal when you don't work on anything productive at the moment. But if you really want to be productiveand achieve some goal, you should learn how to focus on just one thing in any given moment.
Such an approach helps to tune out all the distractions and get the most out of your time. And don't be one of those people who say "BS, I know how to multitask productively". You can't.
Remedy: turn off your mobile-phone! Buy ear-plugs (this is my method) and find some quiet place to work on your project(s).
How to widen the neck of the donut funnel?
Trying to stuff 20 or 50 donuts through the narrow neck of the funnel would be plain crazy. Logic tells us that we should do something to widen the neck of the funnel.
So how can we do it?
Well, there are temporary solutions like medication and electrical brain stimulations but I guess they are a bit risky. More permanent solutions cover two things:
Mnemonics
Let me quote you results from one of the latest studies concerning working memory (it can be found here):
Crystallized intelligence (Gc) is thought to reflect skills acquired through knowledge and experience and is related to verbal ability, language development1, and academic success. [...] While previous studies have indicated that gains in intelligence are due to improvements in test-taking skills, this study demonstrates that it is possible to improve crystallized skills through working memory training.
Such a training concentrates mainly on mnemonics. It is important to know that memory uses them to trigger various physiological responses.
Depending on the techniques you use, mnemonicsmight include tastes, touch, emotions (fear, love, anxiety, pleasure), images, sounds, etc. All together they help you to remember better.
What's more, since all the images created with help of mnemonics are placed in different locations, it's much easier to "widen" the neck of our donut funnel and increase the amount of information you acquire.
Chunking
The second method which can help us with widening the neck of the donut funnel is called "chunking". The essence of this method is to break up strings of information into units, or chunks if you will. It simplifies such a string and makes it easier to memorize.
Example:
424862365935636235861
It seems impossible to memorize it quickly. But let's try to slice this string into smaller 3-digit strings.
424 862 365 935 636 235 861
Now let's imagine that these numbers express how far you were able to throw a rotten herring. You started with a decent throw of 424 m then it got better. And so on.
If you are a sports fan you might try to use 4-digit chunks and treat them as the time needed to run a 400 m. Be creative and come with some other way of breaking up this string!
Conclusion
The main takeaway is that you can improve your working memory by either unburdening it or by training it. As always - it's not easy and takes dedication. But once you take the first step in the right direction it gets only better.
Think ahead and imagine how much you can change and achieve in your life if you only improve your memory. And don't put it off. Choose the first strategy which you want to implement and start using it!.
I'll leave with a great talk about working memory. Enjoy!
I wonder if you're like me when it comes to tracking your progress?
I used to hate it passionately. I mean, how much geekier can you get? And all these vain people scrupulously jotting down their weight. Pathetic!
And then, one day, I decided to buy myself scales. I joyously stepped on them to see that I hit 100 kg mark. WHAT?! I came to my senses around that time and started tracking, not only my weight but my learning progress as well.
Can you imagine a runner who runs around and one day shouts out: "I'm gonna win a marathon"! And then an older man standing nearby strikes a conversation, something along these lines: - "That's amazing! So what's your best time so far?" + "Best? Uhmm, dunno, really. I guess it's not that important to me." - "Have you ever run a marathon before?!" + "I'm not sure. But once I ran so long that my feet hurt and I had an ouchie."
That would be weird, right? And yet, a lot of us do it. The question is: Why?
Why You Should Track Your Progress in Language Learning - Habituation
Not only is it a cool word, but also one of the most critical (and frequent) processes that occur in our lives!
Habituation is a form of learning in which an organism decreases or ceases to respond to a stimulus after repeated presentations.[1] Essentially, the organism learns to stop responding to a stimulus that is no longer biologically relevant. For example, organisms may habituate to repeated sudden loud noises when they learn these have no consequence. The Almighty Wikipedia
And therein lies the rub. We get used to our current skills level. And that's why we NEED tracking. The best part is that it does not need to be sophisticated to be effective.
At the bare minimum, it should be able to show you if you're moving in the right direction or moving at all. The chance is that you're spinning your wheels knee-deep in a turd ocean of self-admiration!
6 Ways To Track Your Progress In Language Learning
My idea of tracking my progress is quite tightly connected to the core language competencies: reading, writing, listening, vocabulary, grammar, and speaking.
Of course, to start tracking anything, you need a place to note your progress. Remember, it doesn't have to be high-tech. You can use a notebook, Google spreadsheet, Excel, or Calc (Open Office).
TRACKING VOCABULARY
I assume that you already use Anki. If you don't, download it immediately (unless you use some other spatial repetition program).
ANKI makes tracking your progress easy. The first important piece of information for us is the number of words you've covered so far.
If you see that within a month you've moved from 406 to 700, it's a clear sign that you're on the right path.
The second thing worth tracking is the recall rate (especially correct mature).
This piece of information tells us how well you remember the information you learn. If it's alarmingly low (below 40-50%), it's a signal that you should seriously consider improving your learning techniques.
TRACKING READING
Usually, we either read e-books (e-articles) or paper ones. In my opinion, you should track the medium which you use more frequently. When it comes to reading, a good tracking criterion is to note down the number of pages you've read.
TRACKING LISTENING
It doesn't matter whether you listen to podcasts, music, or watch TV-series. Tally it up and enter the data.
If you write mostly online, start counting how many words you have written (use Word Count Tool). Otherwise, start counting the number of pages you've written.
TRACKING SPEAKING
It's not the easiest thing to track. I've never done it as I prefer tracking words. But if you know that speaking is your absolute priority - go for it. Check when the Skype conversation or a meeting with your friend starts and when it finishes, and sum up the total number of hours.
If you put effort into your learning, I'm sure that after just a few weeks, you'll be amazed to see what you've accomplished so far!
TRACKING GRAMMAR
It sounds daunting, and I agree. But for me, it comes naturally. As I've written before, preparing the outline of grammar is something that should be done before you start learning a language on your own.
Once you have it, start crossing out the grammar topics which you've covered or just put a date next to them. It shows how much further grammatically you should get to achieve a certain level.
You can admire your hard work at any time. Open Excel and take a look at yourself, you sexy, hard-working beast! And that helps you stay focused.
3) instant feedback
You see when you slack off or that your learning methods need a change. The data don't lie! Also, it helps you see patterns in your learning.
4) you don't focus on the negative
It's a sad fact, but we tend to focus on negative things in life. Your successes stop giving you joy after a couple of days. We lose sight of our achievements. Your language log will keep on reminding you about them!
Track Your Progress In Language Learning - Summary
Tracking is a powerful tool in language learning. It would be a shame not to take advantage of it. Of course, you don't have to go over the top. It's enough that you start tracking elements that are the most important to you.
So go ahead and let me know how it works for you!
Done reading? Time to learn!
Reading articles online is a great way to expand your knowledge. However, the sad thing is that after barely 1 day, we tend to forget most of the things we have read.
I am on the mission to change it. I have created over 9 flashcards that you can download to truly learn information from this article. It’s enough to download ANKI, and you’re good to go. This way, you will be able to speed up your learning in a more impactful way.
Never enough time. There is never enough time to get in shape or learn a language. Or even when there is time, you don't seem to make much of the progress.
It doesn't seem normal.
And it isn't. There is a good chance you have contracted something I call "fluffoholism". It's a terrible ailment.
Fluffoholicsare individuals who are very busy doing silly and insignificant activities. As a result, they either feel inadequate for not making progress or make some progress but can't find time for anything else in their lives.
Of course, the truth is that we are all fluffoholicsto some degree. The person who would concentrate only on relevant tasks would seem like an absolute genius to us mere mortals.
Let's get it over with. My name is Bartosz, and I'm a recovering fluffoholic. This is what I have learned.
Work Hard and Smart - 3 Categories Of Activities
I like to categorize activities in the following way:
1. Low-intensity activities
It is a counterpart of lying in a cozy bed under a wool blanket with a mug of hot chocolate while your spouse scratches your head.
These are the tasks we tend to do the most. The "feel good" activities — the fluff which masks the real work. Usually, they have very little to do with making any progress.
Many industries prosper around these activities. It's the apparent honey pot for the naive and lazy.
"Learn how to pick up a girl without washing yourself"
"Learn in your sleep"
"Lose weight by eating Tacos and marshmallows".
Duolingo - the Lazy Way to Learn Languages
In the world of language learning, it's Duolingo. I get a lot of messages like this: "I have been using Duolingo for x months, and I completed all the levels, but when I talk to native speakers, they don't seem to understand me. Oh, also, when I read, I don't understand most of the things."
Go figure.
Sure, it's motivating. And it's a pleasant past-time to have. But it isn't nearly as effective as a lot of other activities. Like speaking, for instance. Other, almost evergreen and legendary language learning methods which allow an individual to achieve fluency include:
"Learning by listening"
"Learning by playing computer games"
"Learning by watching TV"
How to tell if I am doing low-intensity activities?
Typically, you can do them for hours without any particular signs of fatigue. That's all you need to know. If you feel like "that was fun," it's not the real work. It also means that you spend 5-10 x more time than people who do activities from the third category and get comparable results.
2. Moderate-intensity activities
It is a counterpart of getting out of bed and sitting down at the desk.
These activities require some energy from you, but they are not that tiring. It's running 5 km when you already know that you can run ten if you want to. You still need to put your shoes on. You still need to go out and sweat. But in the end, the overall progress is not so significant.
In the world of language learning, it's a B2 level. You can talk and express yourself relatively fluently.
You can read most of the articles you want. So you do. And you note down some words. But not too many because you're already quite good.
How to tell if I am doing moderate-intensity activities?
Usually, you feel that you have to push yourself a bit to start. But once you do, it's not that bad. Signs of fatigue tend to appear after 1-2 hours.
3. High-Intensity Activities (i.e., the Real Work.)
It is a counterpart of being mauled by a bear and teabagged by the seven muses at the same time.
It's when you'd rather have a colonoscopy instead of carrying on with what you're doing right now. The absolute opposite of "if it's not broken, don't fix it" approach. It's the "there is always something broken, and I'll find it" philosophy. It feels terrible. But it delivers incredible results.
How to tell if I am doing high-intensity activities?
After you finish learning, you're sobbing softly and want somebody to hug you. And you feel damn proud. I like to think that it is our small Everest which we should climb daily.
It's difficult to work hard and smart
I know that I should write every day to publish articles regularly. But I fail. Because they are never good enough, they are never inspiring enough.
I have read somewhere that the average time for writing an article is about 5 hours. It depresses me. It makes me feel like a failure. And I know I should come up with ideas daily. About three years ago, I read on the blog of James Altucher about the concept of becoming the idea machine.
The concept is simple - if you try to come up with ten ideas per day, in 6 months, your life should change significantly. Three years down the road, I'm still struggling to come up with ten ideas once every 3-4 days.
It's disheartening, and it makes me feel like crap. But now and then, I manage to come up with great ideas. And my face lightens up when I send them to others. And I'm pretty sure their faces light up as well as these ideas change their lives. And that's what it's all about.
Remember - If you do not push, you are not practicing.
High-intensity Activities In Language Learning
One of the notoriously difficult activities in language learning is speaking.
On an A1-A2 level, stringing more than a few words feels like a crucifixion.
On a B1-B2 level, the challenge is to learn enough words (while improving your grammar) to be able to express yourself quite fluently.
On a C1-C2 level, the challenge is to continually substitute the words you already know with dozens of other synonyms. It's where you have to start saying "atrocity" instead of "that ugly thing," or "marvelous" instead of "great." (see The Word Substitution Technique)
It's damn easy to play with Duolingo or Memrise for 1 hour. It's much harder to open your mouth and start saying something.
Exemplary Results of Regular Conversation with Yourself
I like to highlight my students as an example. If they want to learn with me, they have to accept one condition - they have to bet with me. Each day, from Monday to Friday, I have to get a 10-minute recording of them talking to themselves.
It's only 10 minutes. And yet, after three weeks, their level changes drastically. It's almost unbelievable. The side effect is that they probably hate me, but, oh well - it works!
How to Fix Your Learning Plan to Work Hard and Smart
It's a deceptively simple recipe. But it's hard to implement.
1. Define High-Intensity Activities in Your Domain
You can do it on your own or ask someone much better than you in a given domain. But the truth is that very often you already know what the problem is and what you should be doing.
It's a task which you are always postponing. It's a task which you can't do for more than a few minutes without having to distract yourself with a mobile phone or other distractors.
2. Start Doing Them at the Cost of Other (i.e., Low- and Medium-Intensity) Activities
Start small. You don't have to do it for more than 20 minutes daily. Break this time into smaller chunks if you have to. With time, as you toughen up, the overall time spent on practice should be extended.
Remember - High-Intensity Activities Change with Time
You have to be aware that high-intensity activities change with time. They morph into medium- or low-intensity activities. What once was a nightmare can become a breeze with enough time. You should keep it in mind and adjust your learning strategies as you progress.
How to Work Hard and Smart - Summary
Being able to work hard and smart is not about perfectionism or turning into a workaholic. It's about using whatever time you have to in the most efficient way. The critical step is identifying high-intensity activities in your target domain and executing them daily with relentless consistency.
It won't be pleasant, but the results will speak for themselves. After all, if you decide to spend time to do something, make it count.
An added benefit is that once you learn how to work hard and smart, this skill that will benefit you all your life.
Done reading? Time to learn!
Reading articles online is a great way to expand your knowledge. However, the sad thing is that after barely 1 day, we tend to forget most of the things we have read.
I am on the mission to change it. I have created over 18 flashcards that you can download to truly learn information from this article. It’s enough to download ANKI, and you’re good to go. This way, you will be able to speed up your learning in a more impactful way.
If you ask almost anyone, he will tell you this – “Building durable habits is damn hard”.
I find it really fascinating!
We have literally dozens of automated routines which we carry out throughout the day.
You wake up – you brush your teeth.
You hear your mobile buzzing – you reach for it to check a new text message.
You pass the confectionery, start drooling, run inside and shove your head into the nearest cake.
Yet, just a few of them are truly positive and life-changing.
I mean, it is understandable if you really think about it.
Our default mode is energy conservation.
My brain, your brain, every brain is the same.
It doesn’t give a flying f* about coming up with new ideas or creating new learning systems.
You have to trick it into doing it.
What Habits Really Are
Once again – your brain couldn’t be bothered less to learn Swahili or another language which you don’t have any contact with. That requires energy. And energy is in short supply.
Basically, any new activity which you take up is very energy-consuming.
There are no established, efficient neural networks which are able to diminish the energy costs.
Because this is exactly how you should start thinking about habits.
Habits are simply neural pathways. The more you strain them, the thicker they become. If they become thick enough, carrying out a giving activity goes into an autopilot mode.
It’s true for any kind of activity. Lick your foot every time you have a glass of water and soon enough you will find yourself doing it in the most unusual places.
How To Build Durable Habits
One of the frameworks which I teach my students is this (interested in other super-effective ways of creating habits? – click here):
0) Be brutally honest with yourself
1) Decrease activation energy of an activity
2) Remove / minimize distractions
3) Set goals at the absolute minimal level
4) Tie a new habit to the preexisting routine / habit
Let’s see how these elements come together.
Be Brutally Honest With Yourself
Although it is not really a part of the framework, it is definitely a prerequisite.
You know that feeling when a person close to you regularly does something stupid?
You try to beg, plead and bargain to prevent him from doing it.
You appeal to his common sense. All in vain.
Usually, you get lackluster, “sure, I think I will try it”, in return.
Which, of course, is just another way of saying, “no way in hell I am doing that”.
But it’s easy to notice such a headstrong attitude in others.
But what about you and me?
Isn’t that just the typical the-pot-calling-the-cattle-black attitude?
It is. It always is.
We are masters of rationalizations.
Warlocks of bullshit excuses.
I know I am.
I consider myself very good at creating habits.
Still, every now and then I discover that I am feeding myself beautifully packed lies and excuses.
Example?
My writing. In last 3 months, I wrote 3 articles
3 articles. This is a joke.
And the joke is definitely on me.
I have tried to justify it in dozens of ways.
And they all sound so right.
“I would like to write more but I …
have to concentrate on my learning
on my composing
go out more often and meet people
concentrate on reading more
concentrate on my company
don’t have enough time.
The list goes on and on.
I feel sick when I just look at it.
Only recently did I grab the hammer of truth and tear down this wall of mendacity.
In the last few weeks, I have been writing at least 4-5 times per week.
And it feels great!
How did I do it?
I followed my own advice!
It doesn’t matter what problem you have. The following framework should help you solve it. As long as you are honest, that is.
It’s also worth mentioning that some of them require some planning in advance.
But you know – it’s well worth it.
Decrease Activation Energy Of An Activity
Would you jump 5 times right now if you wanted to, or if there was some reward involved?
No doubt you would.
And one of the reasons why it would be so easy is the low activation energy of this activity.
The activation energy is the energy you need to start carrying out a given activity. The lower the energy, the easier it is to start doing it.
But how does it exactly work?
Imagine that you live on the fifth floor and you would like to start running 4 times per week.
There is just one problem – your running shoes are in the basement.
Would you go up and down the stairs 4 times per week just to have a run?
Highly unlikely.
That’s why, your first task is to eliminate superfluous obstacles which prevent you from taking up your desired activity.
Would you like to read a book in your target language 4 times per week?
Great. Then always keep it handy.
Would you like to listen to songs in your target language every day?
Great, then download a truckload of songs on your mobile.
It’s much easier to play them if they are just one click away.
Remove Distractions
Decreasing the activation energy of your future habits is a good start.
But it is not enough.
You also have to make sure that you either eliminate all the distractions or increase their activation energy.
I know. It sounds very basic and you have heard about it 3472 times before.
But this time, don’t just nod and do the things the old way.
This time, be a bit more strategic.
Plan ahead the plan of actions.
Distractions usually fall into one of 3 categories:
1) Technological distractions
The main culprits which pull you away from your work are mobile phones and the internet.
Shock, surprise, and astonishment! I know. It was hard to envision.
Turn off your mobile phone.
Block the time-devouring websitesor temporarily disconnect your internet.
If it happens that you zone out and suddenly find yourself looking at the writing:
“Check your internet connection”
You will know that you tried to visit Facebook or other websites of this kind.
2) People
It always sounds wrong and cold but, anyway, here it is: people should also be classified and treated as distractions.
I know you love your wife/girlfriend very much but if she can’t help but interrupt you every couple of minutes, you should have a talk with her.
Negotiate some distraction-free time so you can learn peacefully.
3) Environment
It is definitely good to learn in as many places as it is possible – it is beneficial for your memory, after all.
Just make sure that they aren’t too noisy so you concentrate on the task at hand.
How Effective Is Increasing of The Activation Energy?
I get it – you probably still have some doubts.
Is increasing the activation energy of activities really that effective?
Can it really help me eliminate the pesky habits?
Walking one-third of a mile longer from home to the nearest tobacco shop to buy cigarettes was associated with increased odds that smokers would quit the habit in an analysis of data in Finnish studies, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Another great example of increasing activation energy to get rid of the unwanted behaviors is … donating organs.
Here is the excerpt from Money – Master The Game by Tony Robbins:
If you are in Germany, there’s about a one-in-eight chance you’ll donate your organs—about 12% of the population does. Whereas in Austria, Germany’s next-door neighbor, 99% of people donate their organs. In Sweden, 89% donate, but in Denmark, the rate is only 4%. What gives? Why such a disparity?
If you expect to hear some Jedi mind tricks which are used to manipulate the minds of Swedish and Austrian citizens, think again!
The secret lies in the wording on the form.
In countries with the lowest donor rates, like Denmark, there is a small box that says, “Check here if you want to participate in the organ donor program.” In countries with the highest rates, like Sweden, the form says, “Check here if you don’t want to participate in the organ donor program.”
That’s the secret! Nobody likes to check boxes. It’s not that we don’t want to donate our organs. That little bit of inertia makes all the difference in the world!
I hope you are convinced by now!
Let’s move on!
Set goals at the absolute minimal level
Being ambitious is good. No, it’s great!
But here is the uncomfortable truth which we all have to face – we suck at predicting pretty much anything.
We can’t reliably fathom how much time we will spend doing something.
We have no idea how much money we will spend the next month.
And we are terrible at predicting how difficult our goals are.
Example?
At the turn of each year, the flock of uber motivated people hit the gym.
Goal?
Work out at least 2…, no! 4 Times per week!
It doesn’t matter that the last time they worked out was about 4 years ago.
There is simply no time to f*ck around!
Of course, after about 1-3 months, depending on their motivation, they run out of steam.
Going to the gym becomes a thing of the past.
It happens to the best of us.
But why exactly?
Setting goals is, without any doubt, useful.
But goal-oriented productivity has one, gigantic flaw – It rarely acknowledges that you and I are human beings.
You have bad days. Days when just a mere thought of doing anything productive revolts you.
So you come back from work.
Instead of starting your language learning session, you put on your I-am-a-lazy-and-disgusting-slob pants and start watching The Game of Thrones with a bag of chips.
And, needless to say, you feel like “sh*t”.
Repeat the above scenario a couple of times and you will find yourself ditching any budding habit.
Even though I have nothing against SMART goals, I don’t believe that the productivity based on ambitious goals will get you far.
The most effective learners rely on systems.
Systems, on the other hand, are built of habits.
In order to create a durable habit, you should start with being consistent. And there is no easier way to become consistent than choosing absolutely minimal goals.
How To Choose Your Minimal Goal
What I would suggest is:
1) Choose the frequency of your habit 2) Carefully examine your resistance to a potential intensity of your soon-to-be habit
Do you know that overwhelming feeling of resistance when you think about some very ambitious goals?
That’s your brain saying, “Nah, thanks. We need energy – let’s pulverize some chocolate pretzels and snort them!”.
It’s really easy to evoke this feeling. Test it yourself!
Imagine that your goal is to run 4 km 5 times per week.
Or learn 150 new words every day.
Try to analyze incoming feelings and thoughts.
If these activities are beyond your current reach, you will experience the overall feeling of anxiety. The more ambitious the goal, the more resistance you feel.
That’s why, first of all, you should concentrate on being consistent in order to create durable habits
The rest will come.
Here are some practical examples.
1) I want to learn a foreign language regularly
Depending on your current needs, you may choose one of the following goals:
Read one page of a book of your choice per day.
Learn 3 new words per day.
Listen to 5 minutes of radio.
If you feel the slightest prickle of anxiety, lower the bar even more.
2) If you want to run 3 times per week
Put on your shoes and walk at least 300 m away from your home.
Don’t run. Just walk
If you still feel like running after covering this distance – go for it. If not, just call it a day. You did your job for today.
How Minimal Goals Turn Into Durable Habits
As you can see, these are not ambitious goals.
You don’t set a bar. You basically put it on the damn ground.
That’s why your brain is really ok with it.
After all, such activities require almost no energy – hence the lack of resistance.
And this is where the gist of this method lies.
You should choose your goals so that they don’t trigger “No way in hell” response.
But am I really suggesting that you only do these tiny things throughout the day?
Of course not.
I love pushing the boundaries.
800 words per day? Hell yeah!
Getting headaches because of overlearning? Yes, please.
The thing is that the secret about doing anything regularly is showing up.
You have to let your neural networks strengthen enough so you don’t have to even think about doing something anymore.
Because this one day break is not a separate point in time, nor is it an unconnected incident. It actually affects the person you are trying to become.
Here is the amazing thing about being consistent – you build your endurance over time.
Even if you do as little as learning 3 words per day. Even if you run just 60 meters.
After some time, you get used to the intensity of your actions. And with the same amount of effort you can actually learn 6 words. And then 10. And then 50!
I still remember vividly the feeling of terror I felt when I thought about learning 20 words per day! It seemed like an impossible thing to do.
Many years have passed and these days, I consider myself lazy if I do less than 40-50 words per day.
Here is the quote to ponder:
“‘We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training” – Archilochus
I will repeat once again. We suck at predicting almost everything.
Most of the time you might be convinced that you will perform some action. However, when push comes to the shove you fall flat like a hockey puck.
But if you do just a tiny bit day by day, you will create the system.
And make no mistake – having a learning system based on habits makes you a truly unstoppable human being.
Why?
Because systems are, most of the time, immune to any internal and external obstacles.
Years ago when I used to spend a lot of time at work.
You know the scenario. 10 hours at work, 2-hour commute.
You come home angry because the public transport sucks and a bunch of semi-retarded teenagers were blasting music through their mobile phones.
What’s fascinating is that even then, I grabbed a quick bite and started poring over books.
I didn’t really think about it. It was an impulse.
As if a little geek inside me was telling me to do it.
It’s admirable but it’s not as difficult as you might think. It’s just a habit.
The one which took some time, of course. The habit nonetheless.
In fact, according to a Duke University study, 45 percent of a person’s behavior stems from habit alone. And it’s difficult to change a habit if you don’t even think about it any more! – The Coaching Habit – Michael Bungay Stanier
The beautiful part of forming durable habits is that you actually learn to love whatever you do. The habit actually becomes a part of your self-concept!
Tie a new habit to preexisting routine/habit
Here is not so complicated logical loop:
Building a habit takes some time. And until a given activity becomes a habit, it’s not automatic. And if it’s not automatic, there is no certainty that you will remember to do it.
The solution?
Tie your new habit to preexisting routines.
Of course, you can try to rely on your willpower but such a strategy is rarely successful.
You don’t want to drive yourself to the point of decision fatigue.
Example?
Let’s say that you drink a cup of tea when you go back from work.
It might be a trigger for your new habit.
Learn a couple of words every time you grab your cup of tea. In no time, you will discover that learning new vocabulary has become an indispensable part of your tea-drinking ritual.
Once you get used to learning new words every day, you can expand this mini-habit and tie it to other routines.
Although most of the time it won’t be necessary. Usually, after a couple of weeks, you will discover that your mini-habit turned into a durable habit!
You might actually start feeling anxious when you can’t indulge yourself in performing a habit of your choice!
What is better for learning new words — writing or speaking?. It is one of the questions that come up frequently in different language-related discussions.
I have seen many different answers to this question. Some were quite right, some plain wrong. That’s why I decided to show you a memory-based/science-based answer to this question.
Let’s dive right in!
Writing or Speaking — Why Both Are Great
I don’t want to be this terrible host who welcomes you with a creepy toothless smile and spits on your back as you walk in. I want you to feel comfy and cozy! That’s why I would like to begin on a positive note — both writing and speaking are great learning methods.
There are many reasons for that, but let’s start with the three, which can be deemed as the most important.
1. The Production effect
The “production effect” was initially reported by Hopkins and Edwards in 1972. Unfortunately, for many, many years, it has escaped the attention of the scientific world.
The production effect indicates the improved recall for any information which is produced actively compared to the one which is just heard or read silently.
2. Deep processing (aka The levels-of-processing effect)
This phenomenon was identified by Fergus I. M. Craik and Robert S. Lockhart in 1972,
The levels-of-processing effect suggests that information is better recalled when it has been actively and effortfully processed.
In other words, deeper levels of analysis produce more elaborate, longer-lasting, and stronger memory traces than shallow levels of analysis. Depth of processing falls on a shallow to deep continuum. Shallow processing (e.g., processing based on phonemic and orthographic components) leads to a fragile memory trace that is susceptible to rapid decay. Conversely, deep processing (e.g., semantic processing) results in a more durable memory trace. — Source.
In the world of language learning, creating sentences is one of the most meaningful ways of achieving deep processing of words. That’s one of many reasons why I am againstusing mnemonics in language learning (in most cases).
3. The reticular activating system (RAS)
Another cool advantage of both writing and speaking is that they activate a part of the brain called the reticular activating system (RAS).
Why is it important? Let me explain.
Even though the RAS is a small part of a brain, it plays a vital role — it’s the filter of information that is let into the conscious mind
Every second of every day, it tirelessly scours through the tons of information provided by your sensory organs to choose the relevant one. Without the RAS, you would be continuously flooded with excessive amounts of information, which would virtually overload your brain and impede thinking.
Fortunately, that doesn’t happen as the reticular activating system helps your brain capture what matters most to you and what is relevant to you based on your values, needs, interests, and goals.
As you can see, both speaking and writing help put the words you use at the forefront of your mind.
Additional Benefit of Writing in Language Learning
The previously mentioned benefits are undoubtedly great. However, let’s dive into some other advantages which are more specific to writing.
Writing is a great learning method for advanced students
Many people, once they move past the B1 level, tend to get stuck at the so-called intermediate plateaus. They use the same old grammar constructions, the same trite expressions, and speech patterns.
It’s tough to get out of this rut unless
you consume the staggering amount of input
start making an effort to use new grammar constructions/words
Speaking with others, more often than not, requires keeping a conversation alive. You have to think “on your feet” to express your thoughts as quickly and precisely as you only can — if you flounder or stall too long, you might be able to notice a silent agony on your interlocutor’s face.
Writing, however, gives you all the time in the world to jigger your words into something resembling an elegant thought as opposed to the typical intellectuals' slurry.
If you puke a little bit in your mouth every time you hear yourself saying, “The movie was nice because actors were nice and it’s good that it was nice,” you know what I mean.
Memory Benefits of Writing in Language Learning
Some research suggests that writing seems to tickle the RAS, and memory centers in your brain a tad harder than speaking. Here are results of one of such studies
“The results show that on the immediate post-test, the Sentence-writing group performed the best, followed by Gap-fill, Comprehension-only, and Control. On the delayed post-test, the Sentence writing and Gap-fill groups equally outperformed the two other groups.” –ScienceDaily.
However, as you will soon discover, it’s only a half-truth.
As a side note, experiments that I have conducted regarding the efficiency of writing vs. speaking show almost no difference between those two.
Interestingly, most findings of research papers concern longhand writing, not typing. That causes people to believe that the latter is an inferior method.
“When participants were given an opportunity to study with their notes before the final assessment, once again those who took longhand notes outperformed laptop participants. Because longhand notes contain students’ own words and handwriting, they may serve as more effective memory cues by recreating the context (e.g., thought processes, emotions, conclusions) as well as content (e.g., individual facts) from the original learning session.”
On the surface, it might seem true. After all, the cognitive and physical effort needed to write manually is bigger than the one required for typing.
Most of these studies, however, measure the effectiveness of writing/typing under pressure – the said study took place during lectures. It doesn’t have much to do with the organized process of composing an e-mail or an essay at home.
The extra time you have for deliberation and a coherent formulation of your thoughts should equalize (more or less) any potential difference between writing manually and typing.
That’s why you shouldn’t feel pressure to choose just one of them to reap memory benefits. Choose the one you feel most comfortable with.
Disadvantages of Writing in Language Learning
As with every method, there are some potential problems you might run into.
1. Not Everyone Needs to Write
I would dare say that the vast majority of the population of almost any country in the world doesn’t write that much.
Why would they?
If your job is not strictly connected with this skill, you might not find it useful.
2. You Need to Learn a New Writing System
If learning a new language system takes you half the time you needed to speak and understand your target language, it’s understandable that you might be reluctant to do so.
Writing — Recommendations for Language Learners
Best suited for
advanced learners (B1-C2) level
anyone who likes (or needs) to write
Other benefits of speaking
1. Speaking is repetitive
When you write, the fruits of your labor are limited only by your imagination. You can contemplate different word combinations, weave brilliant thoughts.
However, when you speak, you have to be quick. You have to rely mostly on the automated speech patterns and words which are already activated well in your brain.
That’s why most of the things we say every day, even in our native tongue, are very far from being full of imagination. The point isn’t to unleash your inner Shakespeare but to get the point across.
For the same reason, sentences produced by native speakers are also simpler!
2. Speaking is more natural than writing
The world in which people would use the sophisticated language, which previously could be only found in books, would be a hilarious place!
“Alas, the chains of palpitating agony fell on my little toe as I rammed it into the mighty oakiness of a cupboard!”.
Compared with, “I f*** hit my toe against a cupboard.”
The truth is that we usually speak in a much less formal, less structured way. We do not always use full sentences and correct grammar. The vocabulary that we use is more familiar and may include slang. We usually speak spontaneously, without preparation, so we have to make up what we say as we go.
That’s why if your goal is being able to communicate, speaking should be your default language learning strategy, at least until you get to a B2 level.
Memory Benefits of Speaking in Language Learning
1. It involves many sensory channels (i.e. it’s great for your memory)
Speaking is a vibrant, sensory experience. It activates almost all sensory organs and thus creates more stable memories.
In one of the studies about the production effect, we can read that:
Many varieties of production can enhance memory. There is a production advantage for handwriting, for typing, and even for spelling, although none of these is as large as for speaking (Forrin, MacLeod, & Ozubko, 2012).
So what about some studies which say that writing is better for our memory than speaking? Well, they might be some truth in it:
As you can see, most of the benefits of writing usually disappear upon finishing this activity.
2. It is more time-efficient than writing
As I have mentioned earlier, even though some research suggests that writing gives your memory some boost, this fact loses its importance once we factor in how much output we can produce with writing compared with speaking.
Here are the results of one of the studies which considered this seemingly irrelevant fact.
The written group produced almost 75% less language than the spoken group did in the time available. This complements previous research discussed in section 3.6 which found more opportunities for language learning in the spoken mode compared to the written mode (e.g., Brown, Sagers, & Laporte, 1999).
Disadvantages of speaking in language learning
1. It Requires a Relatively Good Activation of Your Target Language
Even though I am a big proponent of learning a language via speaking, there is just one small hiccup. If you want to chat with foreigners, the command of your target language should already be good.
What would be the easiest way of circumventing this problem?
If you want to increase your oral output without having to speak with native speakers, you can start talking with yourself (learn more about here and here).
If you don’t receive feedback regularly, consider yourself at the high risk of consolidating dozens of small and big language mistakes. You don’t need teachers or tutors for that. However, you do need to create feedback loops.
Speaking — Recommendations for Language Learners
Best suited for
anyone who learns to communicate
Relatively-well suited for
anyone who learns to consume media in his target language
Even if you only learn a language to watch media in your target language, you should still spend some time learning how to speak. It will help you to understand language much quicker due to your improved mastery of grammar and vocabulary and their interrelations, which will, in turn, increase your language comprehension.
It is one of the cases where you get two for the price of one.
Writing or Speaking — The winner is …
All in all, my opinion is that for most people out there, speaking is the superior learning method as it allows you to practice what probably matters to you the most — being able to communicate.
What’s more, writing offers almost no benefits memory-wise compare to speaking.
Having that said, you should remember that the ultimate answer might be more complicated for you. Some learn a language to write, some to watch movies and some to talk. Choose your goal and choose your preferred learning method accordingly.
Question for you:
What is your preferred way of using a language — speaking or writing? And why?
Done reading? Time to learn!
Reading articles online is a great way to expand your knowledge. However, the sad thing is that after barely 1 day, we tend to forget most of the things we have read.
I am on the mission to change it. I have created over 21 flashcards that you can download to truly learn information from this article. It’s enough to download ANKI, and you’re good to go. This way, you will be able to speed up your learning in a more impactful way.
I’m sure that you know many ways to improve memory and IQ. Learn a language, usemnemonics, get enough sleep, exercise and blah, blah, blah.
But what if they are too boring? You’re a descendant of great explorers after all!
Where’s the adventure?! Where is the madness chasing away the shadows of conservatism? What if the method for the perfect memory is licking your knee while wearing a helmet filled with cottage cheese?!
I guess we will have to wait a bit for the final answer. But find comfort in the fact that scientists are relentlessly looking for out-of-the-box ways to boost your memory.
Just take a look at this bizarre list!
1. Clench your right fist
Picture by: Robbie Veldwijk
Pretty weird, isn’t it? Scientists from Montclair State University established that a group of volunteers who clenched their right fists while acquiring new material and then clenched their left fist when recalling that material remembered more than control groups who didn’t clench their fists at all.
2. Hold Your Urine
You’ve heard me right. Next time when you have to go wee-wee, hold your horses. It seems that holding your urine improves decision making before choosing an immediate or a delayed financial reward.
The research was appreciated all around the world – a Dutch scientist conducting this study, Mirjam Tusk, was actually awarded IgNobel.
3. Spend a Few Minutes Looking At Trees
Picture by: Andreas Krappweis
If you are not a nature-loving and tree-hugging hippie you might want to reconsider – staring at a photo of trees or a brisk walk in the woods can improve your memory and attention performance by 20%.
4. Think Aloud
A study with 30 younger and 31 older adults showed that thinking aloud boosts the performance of older adults on a short form of the Raven’s Matrices (Bors & Stokes, 1998, Educational and Psychological Measurement, 58, p. 382) but did not affect other tasks.
In the replication experiment, 30 older adults (mean age = 73.0) performed the Raven’s Matrices and three other tasks to replicate and extend the findings of the initial study. Once again older adults performed significantly better only on the Raven’s Matrices while thinking aloud. Performance gains on this task were substantial (d = 0.73 and 0.92 in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively), corresponding to a fluid intelligence increase of nearly one standard deviation.
Source: “How to Gain Eleven IQ Points in Ten Minutes: Thinking Aloud Improves Raven’s Matrices Performance in Older Adults” from Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, Volume 17, Issue 2 March 2010, pages 191 – 204
5. Sniff Rosemary
Picture by: Hagit Berkovich
One study revealed that memory in healthy adults could be improved by the aroma of rosemary essential oil. People in a rosemary-scented room performed better when it comes to remembering events and being aware of the need to complete tasks at particular times (McCready & Moss, 2013).
6. Wear Red
You must admit, there is something intensive about this color. Russell Hill and Robert Barton, two researchers at the University of Durham, have systematically analyzed all the matchups of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
In 2008 they conducted the analysis of the teams of England’s Premier League from 1947 to 2003 which brought similar results.
The theory has it triggers feelings of dominance among the players wearing that color while having a threatening effect on the opponents.
7. Eat Cocoa Flavanols
It seems an antioxidant in chocolate appears to improve some memory skills that people lose with age.
Participants with the memory of a typical 60-year-old improved to that of a 30 or 40-year-old after only three months.
They drank a mixture high in antioxidants called cocoa flavanols for three months and performed better on a memory test in comparison with people who drank a low-flavanol mixture.
But before you start smearing chocolate all over your body with a manic look on your face read this:
To consume the high-flavanol group’s daily dose of epicatechin (one of flavanoids), 138 milligrams, would take eating at least 300 grams of dark chocolate a day — about seven average-sized bars. Or possibly about 100 grams of baking chocolate or unsweetened cocoa powder, but concentrations vary widely depending on the processing. Milk chocolate has most epicatechin processed out of it.
So I guess we will have to wait till some new product is created. Shame.
8. Chew Gum
Doing it might increase your recall by 20% on a short test due to improved blood flow to the brain. Additionally, it helps you to stay more focused on a task. On the other hand, it increases your chances of beings socially isolated if you can’t help but smack your lips!
9. Eat Walnuts
Picture by: Adrian van Leen
Why? Well, walnut? (shut up, I AM hilarious!), The research showed a significant improvement in learning skills, memory, reducing anxiety and motor development in mice fed a walnut-rich diet.
Scientists suggest that “the high antioxidant content of walnuts may have a contributing factor in protecting the mouse brain from the degeneration typically seen in Alzheimer’s disease.”
10. Ignore Stereotypes
That’s one is pretty ironic – if you remind older people of stereotypes about age and memory, they will perform worse in tests (Hess et al., 2003). One can only wonder if this phenomenon has the same effect on blondes. Anyway – ignore stereotypes and you’re good to go.
Why don’t you give them a try? Just don’t use them all at the same time. That might be awkward.
Are you going to use any of these methods? Let me know!
I don't like waiting. It's not that I can't be patient - quite often, I don't see the point. Especially in the world of language learning, the typical response to any question seems to be, "it will come with time" or "you will learn it subconsciously."
It's especially true for grammar.
If we exclude just a handful of enthusiasts, we can say that learning is one of the least favorite activities of most language learners. It's a big, dark, and ugly maze. You have to learn how to handle it. Otherwise, it will chew you up and spit you out. And then crap on your face while you are sobbing pitifully.
The collective knowledge has it that you need plenty of time to learn your way around it. You have to fumble about in the dark until you finally crawl out of it. The whole process takes a heavy toll on the language learner's motivation.
But it doesn't have to be like that. The entire process can be accelerated at least several times, thanks to the deep learning (a.k.a. the deliberate practice).
It's the methodology that has been used by the world's top performers for over three decades. It can help you break grammar into easily digestible chunks. In other words, deep learning provides you with a step-by-step blueprint to master grammar of any language. It can replace any teacher if you know how to use it.
But let's start with the basics.
Master Grammar of Any Language with Deliberate Practice
Problems With Typical Approach To Learning Grammar
1. Feedback Is Not (Always) Enough
Try to imagine your average lesson. Not even group lessons - those are ineffective (though enjoyable for some). I mean 1-1 lessons.
Have you ever noticed that even though you often get feedback from your teacher, you still keep on making the same mistakes?
Here is why.
Learning almost always takes place in a chaotic and cluttered environment. At any given moment, there are dozens of dozens of pieces of information fighting for your attention. During your typical lessons, your teacher might correct you dozens of times. "Wrong pronunciation, wrong conjugation, wrong (...)".
You are getting bitch slapped to a pulp by the feedback.
The problem is too much information. If you get too many pieces of information, it's challenging to choose the ones which you should concentrate on — the ones which you will try to act upon.
In other words, to geek it up a bit:
The information overload which may hinder the integration of the new information into long-term memory. - source
"Why not correct a student about just one aspect of the language?", you might think. This thought sounds tempting. And let's be honest - yes, if you correct just one or two things, students will start correcting those mistakes much quicker. But there is a massive downside to this. If you don't make a student aware of other mistakes he makes, he optimistically assumes that they are not there!
That's even worse! By the time you get through previous grammar aspects, your student will already have consolidated dozens of other mistakes!
It's like the grammar-hydra! Eliminate one mistake, and ten others take its place!
2. Passive Learning Is Not Efficient
Passive learning (i.e., reading and writing) won't help either unless you invest significant amounts of time. So yes, it is possible to acquire decent grammar this way. However, if you want to learn many languages, it gets harder and harder to keep up with this input-heavy schedule.
But most of the time, seeing or hearing correctly composed sentences won't make you utter the correct ones on your own. (read more aboutpassive learning here)
Unless you think that reading about surgical procedures makes you a skilled surgeon. In that case - I rest my case. What you have to remember is that the deep understanding of most of the skills comes from using them. You won't just wake up one day and suddenly start spewing beautiful sentences left and right.
3. The difficulty of Acquiring Rare Grammar Constructions
While it might not be a big deal for some, it is annoying for me. Some grammar constructions occur very rarely. So rarely that learning them through context seems almost absurd.
How long would I have to read to learn some of them? How many hundreds (thousands) of sentences would I have to read to find one or two written in, say, past perfect continuous? Crapload. That's how many.
But if I can replace all these hours of reading and listening with just 2-3 hours of the deliberate practice, why wouldn't I?
What Is Deep Learning (a.k.a. Deliberate Practice)?
Before I move on and show you how you can use it to improve your language learning skills, let's try to define what deep learning is:
Deliberate practice is a highly structured activity engaged in with the specific goal of improving performance. - source
Some common characteristics of deep learning include:
it gives you a specific goal
it requires your full attention
it's energy-devouring and exhausting but not time-consuming
it gives you feedback
Words, words, words! But what does it all REALLY mean?
1. You need a specific goal
Choose a grammar construction you have problems with, and which is useful at the same time. For the sake of this article, I will use the declination of German definite articles. They are the stuff of nightmares for many and thus the perfect choice.
But that's not over. There is one more thing which you have to remember about this goal.
If you can't commit a given piece of grammar to your memory, it means that it's too big.
Why?
Because the availability of working memory is crucial for implementing expectancy-based strategic actions.
If you fry your working memory, you can forget about effective learning. The most straightforward test possible you can run to check whether this condition is met is to try to reproduce the information you have just memorized. If you can do it without the excessive number of groans, then you are all set.
For the article, let's assume that I want to master the Akkusativ form for "der," "die," and "das." Let's leave plural for some other time.
A quick sanity check confirms that I can comfortably reproduce the declination of the said forms.
2. it requires your full attention
As my beloved Hungarian proverb puts it:
“If you have one ass you can’t sit on two horses” .
You can't do two things at once without sucking at both of them. If you think that you can, then you are delusional.
But what does devoting your full attention mean? It means just one thing.
You should only pay attention to the correct use of the given piece of grammar. If you make some other mistakes along the way - so be it.
"But doesn't it mean that I will start consolidating some other grammar mistakes?". That's a fair question, but no - you won't. The reason is painfully simple.
If you devote your full attention to using one grammar construction correctly, you won't even notice other mistakes. It is how our attention works.
Here is a great video that exemplifies this phenomenon.
Have you seen that one already? Watch that one know.
These videos have a very sobering effect on all the people who claim to possess superior concentration power. And they prove one thing - it's hard to consolidate something you don't see.
3. It's energy-devouring and exhausting but not time-consuming
I am not going to lie to you. Deliberate practice is tedious and tiring. And that's bad news because, in the era of modern technologies, everything must be fun and hip. However, if you want to achieve results quickly, I am sure that's a trade-off you are willing to make.
In a nutshell, you build awareness of a given grammar construction by creating dozens upon dozens of sentences with it. It is what Barbara Oakley, a professor of engineering at Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, wrote in one of her articles:
"What I had done in learning Russian was to emphasize not just understanding of the language, but fluency. Fluency of something whole like a language requires a kind of familiarity that only repeated and varied interaction with the parts can develop.
Where my language classmates had often been content to concentrate on simply understanding Russian they heard or read, I instead tried to gain an internalized, deep-rooted fluency with the words and language structure. I wouldn’t just be satisfied to know that понимать meant “to understand.”
I’d practice with the verb—putting it through its paces by conjugating it repeatedly with all sorts of tenses, and then moving on to putting it into sentences, and then finally to understanding not only when to use this form of the verb, but also when not to use it. I practiced recalling all these aspects and variations quickly.
After all, through practice, you can understand and translate dozens—even thousands— of words in another language.
But if you aren’t fluent, when someone throws a bunch of words at you quickly, as with normal speaking (which always sounds horrifically fast when you’re learning a new language), you have no idea what they’re actually saying, even though technically you understand all the component words and structure. And you certainly can’t speak quickly enough yourself for native speakers to find it enjoyable to listen to you." - source
So how should you correctly practice deep learning?
What I usually recommend is to create at least 100 sentences with the given grammar construction within the next 5-7 days. But as always - the more, the better.
Make sure that every sentence is different from the previous one and that YOU are the one who comes up with these sentences.
Here are some examples:
Ich habe den grossen Hund gehabt.
Er hat mir das schöne Haus gekauft.
Wir stellen den Teller auf den Tisch.
And so on. Rinse and repeat.
You have to become a grim grammar executioner. You might not enjoy your job, but you know it has to be done. The great thing about this kind of practice is that you don't need any fancy tools. A piece of paper will do.
Below you can find the worksheet I use to teach this concept to my students. It looks like this:
If you want to master grammar of any language asap, it will help you get there,
4. It gives you feedback
In the perfect world, there is always someone who can provide you with feedback. However, if you stick to the rules mentioned above, you should be able to produce grammatically correct sentences without any, or with minimal, supervision.
It's only logical - if you try to do just one thing correctly, it won't take long before you are fully aware that the construction you are using is applied appropriately.
You are better at monitoring your progress than you think.
Research has showed that individuals are able to monitor, control and regulate their behaviors in learning contexts, but all depends on the resources and the pedagogical approach used by the educators (Agina et al., 2011)
How to Master Grammar of Any Language with Deliberate Practice - a Quick Summary
1
Choose a small chunk of grammar
2
Create at least 100 sentences with it
3
Make sure that you can use it well enough
4
Move on to another grammar construction
Benefits of Deliberate Practice
I like to look at every field of knowledge, as one might look at the deep lake. It seems enigmatic and sinister. You want to cross it, but you don't know how. It's the same feeling most people get when they see monstrous grammar books. Helplessness, fear, and doubt peek at you from every page of the book.
"How dare you think that you might ever learn all of this?!", they seem to whisper.
And it's true. Without any specific plan, mastering grammar of any language to a decent level might take ages. Deep learning provides you with such a plan.
Here are some advantages of this kind of approach:
1. It concentrates your attention
Your attention is restless and gets bored quickly. Like a small child or a merry drunk. You need to learn to tame it. And it is precisely what deliberate practice does. It focuses your attention on one thing and one thing only. It is especially important because
"Attention constrains learning to relevant dimensions of the environment, while we learn what to attend to via trial and error." - source
2. It's Time-Efficient
Concentrating your efforts on just one thing means one more thing - you save a lot of time. Don't want to wait till your butt overgrows with moss, and you look like Keith Richards? Then the deliberate practice might be right up your alley.
Can I Use Deliberate Practice For Other Things Than Grammar?
Heck yeah! You can use it for almost anything - not only to master grammar of any language.
Learn how to produce two tricky sounds from your target language. - Once you learn how to pronounce them in isolation, try to pronounce them, say, 100 times in different words.
Done?
Start practicing these words in full sentences until the muscle memory is created.
Trying to improve your creativity?
Come up with 10-15 ideas (more aboutbeing creative here) for every problem you encounter. After 1-2 months, you will start noticing an enormous shift in your way of thinking. I know I did.
Master Grammar of Any Language with Deliberate Practice - Summary
Even if you wouldn't consider yourself a grammar-savvy person, the deliberate practice has the potential to accelerate your learning significantly.
It's not very complicated, but don't let the apparent simplicity of this method fool you. It's just one of the few techniques I have seen in my life, which has worked every time and with every student.
Why not try it yourself?
Question - Have you ever tried to master grammar of any language with deliberate practice? Let me know!
Not to mutilate anyone, of course, but to have his confidence, strength, KNOWLEDGE... (and it's sure as hell more interesting than being "Jeff, an IT guy.")
And we all know that no assassin would be complete without secret knowledge of poisons. With knowledge like that - who would ever tread on you?
But what does it have to do with learning?! I rush to explain.
Usefulness In Learning
There are many principles which help us to understand how to memorize more effectively. But there is one which has a key function in our lives.
USEFULNESS
Your brain discards most of the information you come into contact with. It is useless. Why would you remember some date or a name of an obscure plant?
SURVIVAL - that's what important.
And needless to say, your profession is indispensable to your survival. Cooks remember recipes better than most non-cooks. Programmers have a better memory of code than people who simply dabble in coding.
And the list goes on... But let's concentrate on USEFULNESS.
Who Would You Like To Be?
I know that you have your profession. This is what you're great at and you stick to it - fully understandable. But what if you could create a set of characters to improve your life (and your learning curve)? Just like in role-playing games (e.g. Dungeons & Dragons).
You could be anyone you want, even if just for a day!
The Power Of Belief
But does pretending to be someone you're not make some knowledge useful? Yes, it does. It does if you choose to believe that you can be that person. Our brain is the most magnificent thing in the whole universe. And it has a truly breath-taking quality.
It can't tell fiction from reality. Just look at what power of belief can do to you:
I've prepared a list of 5 popular food products which contain various poisons. Of course, such products would be lethal only in extreme situations (and large doses) so take it with a grain of salt!
cherries - contain cyanogenic glycosides
Cherry (Prunus cerasus), as well as other Prunus species such as peach (Prunus persica), plum (Prunus domestica), almond (Prunus dulcis), and apricot (Prunus armeniaca). Leaves and seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides. (Wiki)
"When the seeds of cherries are crushed, chewed, or even slightly injured, they produce prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide). Next time you are eating cherries, remember not to suck on or chew the pip" (http://listverse.com).
apples - their seeds contain cyanide
"Apple seeds are very often eaten accidentally but you would need to chew and consume a fairly high number to get sick.
There are not enough seeds in one apple to kill, but it is absolutely possible to eat enough to die. I recommend avoiding apple eating competitions!" (http://listverse.com).
"Most people are unaware that marlin has been documented to accumulate harmful levels of mercury.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency health guidelines for fish consumption indicate that any fish with a mercury level greater than 1.5 parts per million (ppm) should not be consumed in any amount.
Marlin, especially large specimens, have been found to contain mercury levels as high as 15 ppm, or 10 times the EPA limit." (Source: http://takemarlinoffthemenu.org)
Potatoes contain toxic compounds known as glycoalkaloids, of which the most prevalent are solanine and chaconine. Solanine is also found in other members of the Solanaceae plant family, which includes Atropa belladonna ("deadly nightshade") and Hyoscyamus niger ("henbane") (see entries below). The concentration of glycoalkaloid in wild potatoes suffices to produce toxic effects in humans. (Wiki)
"Potatoes (like tomatoes) contain poison in the stems and leaves – and even in the potato itself if left to turn green (the green is due to a high concentration of the glycoalkaloid poison).
Potato poisoning is rare, but it does happen from time to time. Death normally comes after a period of weakness and confusion, followed by a coma.
The majority of cases of death by potato in the last fifty years in the USA have been the result of eating green potatoes or drinking potato-leaf tea". (http://listverse.com)
Prepare "The Action Plan" - A Story That Is
We also tend to remember stories better than facts.
That's why, to remember these poisons better, we can come up with some interesting story.
Let's say that you have an imaginary enemy called Bob. And, to put it gently, you're not the biggest fan of his. Why not invite him for a fancy dinner?
Compose the aforementioned products into the meal which Bob won't ever forget. Let it be a reminder to him that nobody messes with the assassin!
Conclusion
The huge takeaway from this article is that our brain creates its own reality. If you believe it - it's true.
Sotry to be creative- come up with your secret alter egos which can help you to memorize information better from the fields of your interest. Fake it until you make it.
And remember to put your knowledge to good use! I guess to balance this article, next time I should write about being a druid and healing...!
What other poisonous food ingredients do you know?
Contrary to popular belief, not all learning leads to enlightenment and self-development. Oftentimes, lousy learning practices can lead to the contrary. Instead of acquiring in-depth and meaningful knowledge, you end up learning random and superficial pieces of information of questionable credibility.
In other words, stupid learning can turn out to be a waste of time, whereas smart learning will, unsurprisingly, make you smart. As such, it should be a priority for any self-respecting student or professional.
Unfortunately, most people learn by feel. Partly because of the undisciplined approach to knowledge acquisition and somewhat because smart learning has become a bit of a trite slogan in recent years. We all know we should do it, but hardly anyone knows what it is.
Let's tackle this topic step by step.
What is smart learning?
There are 5 key traits that characterize smart learning.
1. Optimizing your reviews
If you still haven't got the news. We have known for over 140 years that optimizing reviews allows us to slow down memory decay. About that time, a brilliant German psychologistHermann Ebbinghaus proved that we could significantly slow down memory decay by revising the learning material at the right moment.
The famous Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve depicts this phenomenon.
You would think that 140 years is plenty of time, but I assure you it's not. The concept of optimizing your reviews is still relatively unknown.Spaced Repetition Software, which allows you to revise learning material at the optimal intervals automatically, is nowhere to be found in public schools or at universities. Yes, there are exceptions, but they are few and far between.
Keep in mind that using programs like ANKI is not the ultimate solution. Yes, using it will certainly make you a better learner than about 70% of the population.
However, what makes it really effective is using it correctly, i.e., applying the right learning methods while reviewing information in ANKI. Spaced repetition algorithms are your white canvass, but you also have to know how to paint to get the best effects.
Primary sources refer to previously established scientific facts (e.g., math, physics, and chemistry textbooks) or firsthand, fundamental research that is based upon observations or experiments (e.g., research articles in journals).
(2) Secondary sources
Secondary sources or secondhand sources refer to any learning resource which loosely relates to the primary resources and/or interprets them in a certain way (e.g., interviews, YT videos, etc.).
Roles of both sources of information
Both types of sources can be very useful in learning. The first one provides you with the certainty that the information you acquire is true.
Secondary sources, on the other hand, can help you make sense out of that information.
Sometimes hearing somebody's opinion on some matter can help you connect the dots and arrive at the right conclusion.
Always prioritize primary sources
As long as you focus on relentlessly acquiring knowledge from the primary sources, you can rest assured that your expertise will keep on growing and will be of the highest quality.
The problem arises when you try to derive a big chunk of your knowledge from secondhand sources. It always means one thing — you suspend your right to have any meaningful opinion.
You scarf down any crap which people dish out. And make no mistake. There are very few people who put in time and effort to really learn something.
Most simply regurgitate different anecdotes and old wives' tales to boost their ego.
Unless you prioritize learning from the primary sources, you will never be able to tell what's true and what's not.
Trust the facts, not the experts. Way too many people have their own agenda and have no problem with profiting from the naivety and ignorance of the others.
If you want to see for yourself how wide-spread that behavior is, go ahead and look up some popular language-learning websites. You will be lucky to find even one quotation on most of them.
As Dr. Johnson so wisely observed, truth is hard to assimilate in any mind when opposed by interest. Moreover, strong feelings about issues do not usually emerge from deep understanding and knowledge.
However, it doesn't mean that you literally have to suck in everything. With all due respect to the hard-working scientific community, when I read medical or memory studies, I rarely care who has written them. I won't waste any brainpower to remember it.
Why? Because ANKI is also a browseable database! If I need to look up the authors of a certain study, I can get this information within seconds.
You should always try to separate the worthwhile from the wooly.
It won't always be obvious to establish what's relevant and what's not. Sometimes only time will tell. There were times when I started memorizing random stuff only to realize after some time that I don't need to know it by heart.
In other words, figuring out what's worth memorizing requires some trial and error, and it's heavily dependent on the depth of knowledge you want to acquire and on the conditions you will retrieve it in.
Definitely, one important criterion which can help you guide this decision process is choosing whether you want to master a certain discipline or be decent/good at it.
Personally, I wouldn't decide to learn a lot of scripts or commands by heart if I was just programming for fun. However, if you want to learn a programming language to the "native" level of familiarity, you can't be too picky. In return, that will allow you to sketch out personal utility software, scripts, and hacks rapidly.
4. Choosing the right learning strategies
Choosing the right learning strategies depends on a lot of factors. However, there are two crucial elements that you need to incorporate if you want to become a successful learner.
This is the basis of any learning success. Skipping this part makes as much sense as trying to build your house from the second floor.
Stop learning passively
The idea that we can acquire information effectively by reading or listening is as rife as antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea. Yes, you can learn this way, but this process is excruciatingly slow.
It doesn't matter how many relevant scientific studies get produced every year that show that passive learning is useless. The illusion of learning always seems to have the upper hand.
Students who engage in active learninglearn more -- but feel like they learn less -- than peers in more lecture-oriented classrooms.
When memory researcher Jennifer McCabe posed a similar question to college students, she found an overwhelming preference for the second strategy, restudying, even though this approach is known to be inferior to the recall method in this situation.
Why did the students get it wrong?
Most likely, they based their answers on their own experience. They knew that when they finished reading material over and over, they felt confident in their memory. The facts seemed clear and fresh. They popped into mind quickly and easily as the students reviewed them. This is not always so when recalling facts in a self-test—more effort is often required to bring the facts to mind, so they don’t seem as solid. From a student’s point of view, it can seem obvious which method—restudying—produces better learning. Robert Bjork refers to this as an “illusion of competence” after restudying.
The student concludes that she knows the material well based on the confident mastery she feels at that moment. And she expects that the same mastery will be there several days later when the exam takes place. But this is unlikely. The same illusion of competence is at work during cramming when the facts feel secure and firmly grasped. While that is indeed true at the time, it’s a mistake to assume that long-lasting memory strength has been created.
Illusions of competence are seductive. They can easily mislead people into misjudging the strength of their memory, and they can encourage students to adopt study methods that undermine long-term retention. The best defense is to use proven memory techniques and to be leery of making predictions about future memory strength based on how solid the memory seems right now
Here are other articles concerning passive learning:
One of the best ways of amassing impressive knowledge within a relatively short period is concentrating on what's evergreen. Even though it's not possible in every single case, I believe that this is something we all should strive for. Political leaders will change, programming languages will evolve, but physics, math, and even psychology will remain almost unchanged at their core.
Focusing on those subjects will allow you to build evergreen knowledge that can be applied almost everywhere regardless of circumstances. What's more, the more you learn, the easier it will be for you to expand your knowledge. Every discipline contains nuggets of wisdom that can be transplanted into other areas.
Most of relevant theories of learning to acknowledge that learners’ knowledge bases are the most important moderating factor influencing our ability to acquire information (e.g., Chi, De Leeuw, Chiu, & LaVancher, 1994; Graesser, Singer, & Trabasso, 1994).
In other words, the more of such knowledge you gather, the quicker you will be able to learn!
Does it mean that you should try to master all the big disciplines? Of course not (unless you want to). Be picky and adjust your choices to your needs.
Whatever you do, remember this. Acquiring evergreen knowledge is an investment that will keep on giving and will never go to waste.
WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF EVERGREEN KNOWLEDGE?
1
The exact sciences (math, physics, etc.)
2
The art of persuasion
3
The science of memory and productivity
4
Popular languages
5
The basic nutritional and medical information
6
The basic financial knowledge
7
Creativity
Summary — What is smart learning and how to apply it to become a better learner?
Smart learning is a fantastic learning philosophy. I am not only its big fan, but I also practice it every single day myself.
It can be seen as the best of the worlds, i.e., productivity and the science of memory.
At its core, smart learning involves 5 key elements which, if applied correctly, can help you to learn faster and become a better learner:
1
Optimizing your reviews
2
Choosing the right learning materials
3
Knowing what you can forget
4
Choosing the right learning strategies
5
Concentrating On What’s Evergreen!
Done reading? Time to learn!
Reading articles online is a great way to expand your knowledge. However, the sad thing is that after barely 1 day, we tend to forget most of the things we have read.
I am on the mission to change it. I have created over 23flashcards that you can download to truly learn information from this article. It’s enough to download ANKI, and you’re good to go. This way, you will be able to speed up your learning in a more impactful way.
"...and that's why, children, we use Past Simple to describe finished events in the past"
I started coming back from the mental vortex. I zoned out. Not that it was any surprise. It happened in almost every language lesson at school.
"Let's take a look at the following example", a cold, sharp voice cut through the air, "yesterday Johny went to the shop."
I don't know what she said next. I didn't care. I preferred to concentrate on my physics homework.
"Why do these lessons have to be so boring", I thought, as the frustration started growing inside of me." And who the fu** is Johny?! He's no friend of mine!".
Maybe for you, it wasn't English. Maybe it was German, French or Spanish. But you REMEMBER that soul-tearing boredom of language classes, don't you?
Why Grammar Is So Boring
One of the problems with effective learning, be it languages or anything else, is that we try to learn new material in the exact form we get it. Teachers, authors of grammar books and course creators serve you some definition and expect you to understand it and (ideally) start using it right away.
But truth be told, it doesn't happen often.
You can read a definition of the use of a given tense or grammar construction. But will it really mean anything to you? Will it appeal to you?
No.
Courses and books are full of faceless and meaningless "Johnys'". But you don't care about them. But do you know who your brain cares about? You!
Anything which concerns you immediately becomes ten times more interesting! Why not use it to your advantage to become better at grammar (also check this article to memorize grammar faster)?!
Encoding - involves initial processing of information which leads to construction of its mental representation in memory
2
Storage - is the retention of encoded information in the short-term or long-term memory
3
Recall - is retrieval of stored information from memory
As you can see from the model above, in order to maximize your chances of storing and retrieving information, you have to encode it.
Ok, let's try to encode some grammar construction by personalizing it. I can't promise that my examples will appeal to you. But I hope they will give you some idea of how to do it.
Example no 1 - French verbs with "être"
In French, the auxiliary verb is either avoiror être. French verbs are classified by which auxiliary verb they take, and they use the same auxiliary verb in all compound tenses.
Most French verbs use avoir. However, there are 16 sneaky verbs which require être.
I will list only half of them.
The usual strategy is to repeat such list until you "get it". Or until you lose the will to live. Whichever comes first.
But we will try to encode it with help of some nice and personalized story.
Let's say that you're an adventurer and together with your friend you're hunting the mythical "Fluffy Monster".
I have come there – to the cave of a fluffy monster (Je suis venu ici– à la grotte d’un monstre en peluche). I have wanted to do this since I was born (Je voulais faire cela depuis que je suis né). My friend has also arrived – he didn’t stay at home (Mon ami est aussi arrivé– il n'est pas resté à la maison).
We have climbed the stairs and entered the gate (nous avons monté les escaliers et sommes entrés par la porte). We have killed the monster, reentered the gate and returnedhome (Nous avons tué le monstre et nous sommes rerentrés par la porte et sommes retournés à la maison).
The story is definitely silly but I dare you to forget it!
Example no 2 - When to use the Present Continuous tense in English
English tenses are notoriously difficult for non-native speakers.
things that are happening at the moment of speaking
2
temporary situations, when we feel something won't continue for a long time
3
annoying habits, when we want to show that something happens too often, and we don't like it. In this case, we usually use an adverb like 'always', 'forever' or 'constantly'
4
definite future arrangements (with a future time word)
5
situations which are changing (i.e. is dynamic)
Ugh. Booooring!
But if you have a spouse, maybe you will find the following monologue more appealing and memorable.
"Recently I'm working too much (2) . Am I turning into a workaholic (5)? Maybe. But I'm meeting my boss on Friday (4) and I have to have something to show for it. Now when I am thinking about it (1), it's all because of my wife ! She is always nagging me (3) - "do this", "do that" !
Example no 3 - When to use the subjunctive mood in Spanish
The subjunctive mood is used to express everything except certainty and objectivity: things like doubt, uncertainty, subjectivity, etc.
One of the best ways to get accustomed to using it is to learn a list of clauses commonly associated with the use of the subjunctive. It is quite long, so I will take the liberty of using just three of them in my example.
en caso de que ...
en cuanto ...
es aconsejable que ...
in case ...
as soon as ...
it's advisable that ...
To remember them, try to imagine that your friend turns to you with a problem - his feet hurt. He is in a lot of pain. Luckily, you know the remedy. You look him straight in the eye and say:
It's advisable that you lick your toes as soon as you come home - in case you feel lonely (es aconsejable que lamas tus dedos del pie en cuanto lleges a casa - en caso de que te sientas solo)
Give It A Try
As with everything - you will never know if something works until you try it yourself. So go ahead! Infuse some life into your learning. Make it absurd, funny and personal,
Make it MEMORABLE!
Question for you: Is there any grammar construction you have trouble remembering? How can you personalize it?
Done reading? Time to learn!
Reading articles online is a great way to expand your knowledge. However, the sad thing is that after barely 1 day, we tend to forget most of the things we have read.
I am on the mission to change it. I have created over 7 flashcards that you can download to truly learn information from this article. It’s enough to download ANKI, and you’re good to go. This way, you will be able to speed up your learning in a more impactful way.
You know it, I know it, pretty much everybody knows it.
You should try reading more in your target language.
But it's hard. It's hard to force yourself to sit down and to do it. And that's why 99% of articles suggest that you should read something which is interesting to you. And it's a really great piece of advice. Seemingly, I mean.
Why? Because sometimes, even if you're at an intermediate level, pure interest is not enough to pull you through an article. I love neuropsychology, physics, and statistics.
But reading about it with my bad French would be as fun as sticking needles in my back and pretending that I'm a hedgehog. So no, that's not the way I start reading.
So how do I do it?
Well, the article's title probably gives away a little bit about what I read. I start with things which I consider a huge waste of time. BUT only in the languages, I'm fluent in.
That's why I prey on my most primitive instincts to keep myself focused on reading. I hope that this list will help with your studies. And please don't judge me, I'm just a man!
1. COMIC BOOKS
Let's be clear about one thing - I don't consider comic books to be a waste of time! So go ahead, unleash your inner child!
Usually, the storyline and pictures make it a breeze to finish reading and keep you coming back for more! Here's the website with free comic books in 9 languages (including English): Comicbookplus.com
2. BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Because who doesn't like dragons and fluffy stuff? The biggest website with free children books is: ChildrensLibrary.org
They have books in thousands of languages! Well, not really, but definitely in over 30 languages! And here's the website with picture books: ChildrenBooksForever.com
3. SONG LYRICS
One of my favorite ways to learn. Emotions and melody create a powerful mix which makes reading really enjoyable. What's more, lyrics are usually short so they don't require a lot of attention.
Simply choose a band singing in your target language and google the title of the song + lyrics/text. It works for most of the languages. Of course for the languages which are more exotic, you might want to check the translation of "lyrics".
4. COMMENTS
Most of the time I choose to read comments on Reddit, YouTube and below some interesting articles elsewhere. Usually, they are either quite witty or interesting which makes them really appealing.
5. GOSSIP
I personally hate any kind of gossip. It sucks time and energy right out of your life. But you can't deny that as people, we're generally nosy. That's why I try to use this vice to my advantage and read gossip-related online magazines.
To find such websites try to google: "news about celebrities" or any word combination of that kind.
There. I said it! And I'm not going to explain to you why. You KNOW why. Google "erotic stories" in your target language. Nobody needs (and wants) to know...!
7. HARLEQUINS
Or any books of that kind. One of the guilty pleasures of women!
I've never tried to find such a thing but you can probably find a lot of such books and stories by googling "broken heart", "mysterious lover", etc. But hey! What do I know?
Then click "Global Top 100" and choose the country of your interest.
9. WEBSITES LIKE 9GaG.com
If you have never heard of 9gag.com I want you to know that I don't believe you!
I had been battling my addiction to this website for a long time before I had won! But that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy such websites in other languages!
All the memes and cat pictures guarantee to keep you mesmerized and basically allow you to absorb all the phrases and words effortlessly.
The similar websites for languages other than English include:
Reading confessions online is probably a modern counterpart of going through somebody's diary. To get you started, try to google the following phrases in your target language:
what's the worst thing you have done
what 's the strangest thing you did in bed
what's the stupidest thing you have ever done
what's the most embarrassing ...
my boyfriend/girlfriend cheated on me
12. COMPLAINING
In Poland, it's almost a national tradition to complain about everything, so I might be a little bit biased. Try to google the following phrases in your target language:
a list of the worst...
why I hate...
the worst...
13. SILLY WEBSITES / FORUMS
Take your pick - anything from conspiracy theories forums to camel spotting fan-clubs. The possible side effect of such reading exercises is coming to the conclusion that the human race is doomed.
What embarrassing things do you read which help you to stay focused? Let me know, so I can create the ultimate "shameless reading list"!
It's generally true that we all learn effectively in a very similar. However, we certainly react differently to bigger workloads. Some find it motivating; some find it tedious and frustrating. This difference is obvious even among my students.
Some write to me that they find flashcards so interesting that they can work for hours on end. Others start strong and find themselves more and more exhausted with every passing week. It's understandable - high learning pace always comes with the price. The prices, in this case, is increased effort.
You probably have noticed that regardless of your attitude to learning, you get really weary after some time. It might be 20 or 40 minutes, but it inevitably happens. One way to combat this, like I have suggested in one of the previous articles, is to break your learning into many sessions. However, there is one more strategy that will allow you to both increases the duration of your session and the joy you get out of it.
We can achieve all those things by manipulating your levels of dopamine. Let me explain step-by-step how it works.
What Is Dopamine?
In the brain, dopamine functions mainly as a neurotransmitter. The brain includes several distinct dopamine pathways, one of which plays a major role in the motivational component of reward-motivated behavior.
The anticipation of most types of rewards increases the level of dopamine in the brain, and many addictive drugs increase dopamine release or block its reuptake into neurons following release. The dopamine release is also necessary for Initial memory consolidation.
The most important information for us is that it's the main driver of reward learning in the brain. It makes us focused and vigilant and craving for more of any dopamine-boosting stimulus.
How Can You Increase Dopamine Levels?
Now that you roughly know what dopamine is and how it can drive your learning, it's time to answer the following question:
What can you do to boost your dopamine levels?
It's simple. Lots and lots of cocaine instead of sugar in your coffee! Lol 😄 Ok, not really. It's not a very sustainable approach. The answer is quite complex, and it envelopes many lifestyle-related things.
1. Diet
For example, low-carb diets are naturally more dopamine-based as they revolve around lots of protein-heavy products. Those products, on the other hand, contain an amino acid called Tyrosine that is a precursor to dopamine (i.e. it gets converted into it).
Carbohydrate-heavy diets bring quite the opposite effect as such products are very Tryptophane-rich. Tryptophane is also an amino-acid but, contrary to Tyrosine, it gets converted into serotonin, which then, gets converted into melatonin. I am sure that you have already heard something about this hormone. Melatonin is one of the main hormones that signal that it's time to go to sleep and thus makes us drowsy and sleepy.
In other words, to simplify things:
Low-carb diets -> more dopamine -> you're more vigilant and focused
High-carb diets- > more serotonine -> more melatonin -> you become drowsy and sleepy
There are also lots of herbs and plants that can further boost this effect, however, just temporarily. One of the best examples is coffee that releases dopamine in the prefrontal cortex.
Any kind of exercise and especially high-intensity exercise will help you to achieve the same effect (Loprinzi, P. D. (2019)). It's a good idea to interrupt your learning sessions to do some push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, or whatever else that floats your boat. Not only will you look better, but you will also boost your concentration and tickle your reward centres the right way.
3. Novelty
All those basic tricks above will definitely help, don't get me wrong, especially if you haven't been eating well or exercising. Then the effects should be even more impressive. However, there is one more thing which I find even more useful if you have lots of reviews to do.
Tons of flashcards usually mean one thing for your brain: BORING! One thing you should know about the brain is that it's a disgusting junkie. It likes varied and exciting things. That's why social media are so addictive. One "ping" and your brain goes haywire. "Who could it be?! Have they written something nice about me?!: Hell, most of us can't even go to the toilet without a mobile phone anymore because there is nothing to do. And if that happens, we start reading product labels to keep ourselves entertained.
Now guess how exciting a 2-hour ANKI session is according to this sponge? Yep. You're right - not very. This is our bane, but interestingly, we can use this "property" of our brain to our advantage.
All we need to learn longer is to provide our brains with a little bit of Novelty. If all the flashcards look the same, even if they are pictures, our brain just shuts off after some time.
Here are some ways in which Novelty affects our brain:
How Novelty Affects Your Brain and How It Can Help You With Making Learning Sessions Longer
There is a ton of research on the role of dopamine and novelty in learning, but I will do my best to not go-over-the top. Here is a handful of studies you can read on that topic:
"The major "novelty center" of the brain--called the substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA)--might be activated by the unexpectedness of a stimulus, the emotional arousal it causes, or the need to respond behaviorally."
"Researchers have long suspected that the human brain is particularly attracted to new information and that this might be important for learning. They are now a step closer to understanding why. A region in the midbrain (substantia nigra/ventral tegmental), which is responsible for regulating our motivation and reward-processing, responds better to Novelty than to the familiar. This system also regulates levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, and could aid learning."
"We find that familiarity increased retrieval of other unrelated memories but reduced the chances for memory formation. On the other hand, Novelty enhanced the later formation of distinct memories without worrying about previous experiences."
How To Use Novelty To Make Your Learning Sessions Longer and More Enjoyable
I have been experimenting with a new approach to doing ANKI for quite some time, and I must say that even I am surprised by the results. It seems that incorporating this dopamine-centred approach can significantly boost your willingness to learn.
Doing it is very easy.
You need to interweave your "normal" flashcards with dopamine (i.e. novelty-related) flashcards.
Those dopamine-boosting flashcards should be different from flashcards in order to keep the novelty factor at a high level.
Such cards can include the following things that have already been mentioned in other units or will be mentioned in the modules to come:
Jokes
Gifs
Funny pictures
Other kinds of pictures
Snapshots from movies/TV Series
Short videos
Anecdotes
Lines from movies
Fragments of lyrics
Proverbs
Excerpts from articles/books
Those elements, ideally, should be related to your target language. However, even if not all of them are, that's ok. They will still boost your dopamine levels.
If you take a cold, hard look at those elements, you will quickly notice that NONE of them forces you to retrieve anything. That's one of the reasons why they become such a welcome distraction. Ordinary flashcards demand effortful retrieval while those remaining flashcards provide you with distraction and additional passive exposure to your target language.
Feel free to experiment with this strategy and let me know about your results.
Make Your Learning Sessions Longer and More Enjoyable by Manipulating Dopamine Levels - Summary
Dopamine is the main driver of reward learning in the brain. Its release helps us stay motivated, interested and vigilant.
The four simple ways to boost your dopamine levels are:
low-carb diets
exercise
supplements (e.g. some herbs or caffeine)
novelty
Out of all four of them, novelty can certainly give you the easiest boost. What's more, it doesn't take much to introduce this strategy into your learning plan. All you need is to interweave your normal flashcards with anything that you deem fun, funny or plain interesting.
Keep in mind that those dopamine flashcards shouldn't force you to retrieve any information effortfully. They are there as a welcome distraction. You can treat them like a friend, telling you a joke or showing some meme.
I have never had big problems with doing my reviews. Still, with this strategy, I have noticed even more motivation to go through my flashcards.
Feel free to experiment with this strategy and let me know about your results!
Done reading? Time to learn!
Reading articles online is a great way to expand your knowledge. However, the sad thing is that after barely 1 day, we tend to forget most of the things we have read.
I am on the mission to change it. I have created over 11 flashcards that you can download to truly learn information from this article. It’s enough to download ANKI, and you’re good to go. This way, you will be able to speed up your learning in a more impactful way.
Forgetting is as integral to our lives as it is disliked. It takes many forms - from the nastiest ones, i.e. neurodegenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's), to relatively innocent ones (why am I standing in front of the open refrigerator again?!)
No wonder we treat this phenomenon as our worst enemy. After all, it robs you of the fruits of your work. You have put so much work into acquiring a given skill, and after a couple of months not much is left in your head. As depressing as it all might seem, I would like to show you a different perspective.
What if forgetting is not your opponent but your ally?
Your brain is actively working to make you forget most of the things you've come into contact with. It is the most sophisticated spam filter in the world. This process allows you to focus on the most important information. In other words,
forgetting is one of the best forms of feedback.
It took me many years to understand this simple truth. It was also a turning point for me, which completely changed the memory systems I created at that time. Since, as far as I know, this concept is not widely discussed, I hope this article will be a sort of "memory awakening" for you.
What Is the Purpose of Memory?
Many people believe that the purpose of memory is to store information as accurately as possible. I think this is an erroneous perspective.
Memory serves to guide and optimize decision-making by sticking only to meaningful and valuable information.
I could describe a lot of memory processes that take place during the stage of encoding or information retrieval. Still, I think it's better to focus on a very logical and practical example.
Optimization of decision-making processes as exemplified by crossing the street
Think for a moment how much information you need to safely walk from one side of the street to the other.
While performing this activity, do you analyze:
Wind speed?
Type of surface?
The number of people in front of you?
The number of people on your sides?
The distance you have to travel?
Air humidity?
Surface moisture?
Of course not.
Too much irrelevant information is detrimental to a given decision-making process.
If you really had to take into account all this information, it would take you forever to make any decision at all. In other words, the process would not be optimal, also energy-wise.
Thus, it is much easier to focus on activities such as:
checking if there are traffic lights at the crosswalk,
making sure the light is green,
looking to your left and right (and left again).
As you can see, a handful of relevant information can be more valuable to the brain than a ton of meaningless data. However, we shouldn't forget that it doesn't make sense to remember much—quite the contrary. The trick is to combine the memorized information into meaningful scripts that can be activated in a given situation.
In the example above, a type of surface is almost certainly a useless piece of information. Nevertheless, if our decision-making process required making sure that we can do a dangerous stunt on the said surface, it would be one of the first factors that should be taken into consideration.
What Kind of Information Is Meaningful To Your Brain?
Another question we have to answer is what information the brain perceives as valuable, and what information is the equivalent of food scraps at the bottom of the dishwasher.
In simple terms, information must meet two main criteria to be considered valuable:
frequently appear in your immediate environment,
it must be related to your life, i.e. be relevant to you.
I will discuss them in more detail later in this article. At the moment, it is worth looking at how slowly we forget information when the above two criteria are met.
Almost Complete Elimination of Forgetting
Problems with research on memory
One of the big problems that plague most of the memory studies is that they are often detached from reality. The overwhelming majority of them are carried out in laboratories. I know what you are thinking. Why would that be a disadvantage?
Laboratories are artificial creations which, according to the rules of the scientific method, try to limit the number of variables that affect the tested value as much as possible. It sounds nice until we realize that our memory does not work in a vacuum. Hundreds of stimuli and information constantly flood our minds. One should not try to artificially separate them from the process of memorizing and retrieving data.
The effect is that most such studies come to conclusions that are as out of touch with reality as a team of Marvel superheroes from a nearby asylum.
What's even worse is that there are quite a few people who accept this nonsense uncritically. I often hear some strange websites or YT channels saying that "in this or that study, scientists proved (sic!) that if you imagine that you have an orange on the top of your head, your ability to remember and concentrate will increase by 15%".
I wish it were an anecdote, but the video had over 100k views and lots of positive comments at the time. In my mind's eye, I could almost see 20,000 people sitting with their eyes rolled over and the face of a constipated walrus wondering why memorizing books didn't get any easier.
Forgetting names - Bahrick's and Wittlinger's research
Bahrick is one of my favorite memory researchers. He was one of the first scientists to insist that research of this kind be carried out outside the laboratory, despite the difficulties it poses.
One of his groundbreaking works, which he did in 1975 with Wittlinger, is about remembering the names and faces of high school friends over many years. The study lasted 50 years (!!!), and it showed for many years after graduating from high school, the process of forgetting this information occurred only slightly. Although, as always, the active recall was the first to go.
You can conduct this experiment virtually. Assuming a minimum of 10 years has passed since you have graduated from high school, check if you can still remember everyone in your class? I know I certainly didn't have almost any problems with it.
How to explain the almost complete absence of forgetting over a long period?
Notice how huge the difference in retention (i.e., keeping the information in your head) is between Bahrick's and Ebbinghaus's experiment. Even after 7 years, the retention of names was higher than the retention of meaningless knowledge presented by the Ebbinghaus curve after 20 minutes.
The explanation for this phenomenon is based on many elements.
1. High frequency of repetitions
Note that the contact with first and last names in high school is extremely common, be it during the roll call or the regular socialization with your peers. What's more, almost all children are forced continuously to retrieve this knowledge. It would be difficult to get through high school only by yelling, "Hey you!"
2. Relevance of the information
Ebbinghaus tested the information decay by memorizing nonsense letter clusters. Bahrick, on the other hand, demonstrated how we absorb vital information in the real world.
It is worth mentioning that the relevance of information automatically means one more thing - emotional load. It doesn't matter if it's positive or negative. It is an inherent factor modulating your ability to remember.
The meaningfulness of the information is a very personal and individual thing. Two different people may perceive the same facts as useless or vital. It is reflected in another one of Bahrick's (1984) studies, that showed that college professors have difficulties with remembering their students' name.
Can you see that contrast? Of course, one might argue that the frequency of information, in this case, is much lower. However, in my opinion, the decisive factor here is the indifference of lecturers. Most students are as important to them as half-dried pigeon carrion on the side of the road.
Of course, we could name more factors that contributed to the almost complete absence of forgetting in the first study. However, I think that the ones mentioned above are the most important.
Forgetting as a Form of Feedback, I.e. What Information Does It Provide You With?
The example above does not seem to be fully related to subjects such as physics, foreign languages or medicine. Regardless, I hope it convinced you of one thing - the frequency and relevance of information are among the most critical factors affecting your ability to remember information.
Thus, from now on, I would like you to change your mind about the phenomenon of forgetting. Don't see it as something negative.
Treat forgetting as the best possible form of feedback.
If you can't keep information in your head, your brain is trying to subtly say, "Hey buddy! Don't even try to make me remember this string of numbers. I don't know; I don't understand, I don't care. When are we going to do something exciting like tap dancing in banana peel shoes?
Whenever you cannot recall information, you should ask yourself, "How can I modify it so that it makes more sense to my brain?"
Forgetting as a Form of Feedback - Three Main Takeaways
1. Too little interaction with the information
Consider whether you should increase the frequency of a given element. If you use programs like ANKI, it happens organically to some degree.
2. No connection between the element and your background knowledge
Your brain is a very practical sponge. If it finds no connection between an item and the rest of the information you have in mind, it considers that item to be irrelevant. Thus, this information is forgotten very quickly (see Ebbinghaus forgetting curve).
If you want to remember a given piece of information, there is nothing to prevent more than one flashcard from encoding a given word or concept.
3. Lack of the relevance of the information
The relevance of information always means one thing - emotional load. It is the basis of the so-called affective learning that is related to feelings and emotions.
If you are trying to learn information that has nothing to do with your life, it will not evoke any feelings in you either.
Think of it as a date, if your potential partner sparks as much passion in you as the thrilling acting of Kristen Stewart, will you remember it? I doubt it. You come home, douse yourself with bleach, you disinfect yourself from the inside and life goes on. For the same reason, we pay attention to items that stand out - they simply spur more emotions.
You are the one who is supposed to find the reasons why the information is relevant and meaningful.
The enormous mistake people make while learning is waiting until this magical connection between some abstract concept and real life materializes itself out of thin air. Nothing could be more wrong.
If you want to learn quickly and effectively, you have to look for such connections yourself. Think about how many thousands of practical examples of different types of concepts were shown to you at school. They ranged from history, through physics to economics. Now think how much of it honestly is still kicking around in your brain.
Effective learning is measured by the amount of effort you put into the information encoding process, not by time.
If I chew an exquisite dish for you and spit this slimy mass onto a silver tray, you won't probably find it appetizing. Your brain reacts the same to the information that someone else has digested.
Of course, finding relevance can also be a natural process. Remembering all the symptoms of diabetes doesn't seem like a significant thing. You need more room in your head for more important things like memorizing all names of all the Pokemon.
However, do you think that something would change in your head if your spouse were diagnosed with this disease? Without a doubt. You would immediately begin to absorb this knowledge and remember it well for a long time. This is the power of the relevance of information.
Forgetting as a Form of Feedback - Summary
Forgetting is stigmatized nowadays with a passion that characterizes naturopaths promoting coffee enemas. However, this is a short-sighted approach.
The inability to recall the information in question is nothing more than your brain, saying that it doesn't care.
Although there are many forms of feedback, hardly any of them is as valuable to adults as forgetting. After all, it does require teachers or coaches. A program such as ANKI and a bit of introspection is enough.
Forgetting is a natural spam filter that helps us separate relevant information from the noise.
What's more, the primary purpose of forgetting is to optimize decision-making processes.
Forgetting should be seen as feedback from your brain. If you can't remember a given piece of information: - it doesn't often occur enough in your direct learning environment - it is not relevant to you in any way - it probably does not evoke any emotions
Remember, it's your job to find the relevance of the information to your life. No one else can do it for you.
Done reading? Time to learn!
Reading articles online is a great way to expand your knowledge. However, the sad thing is that after barely 1 day, we tend to forget most of the things we have read.
I am on the mission to change it. I have created over 19 flashcards that you can download to truly learn information from this article. It’s enough to download ANKI, and you’re good to go. This way, you will be able to speed up your learning in a more impactful way.
How often have you wondered how the brain processes sound? After all, that is what contributes to effective listening skills. Not that often. I guess. Why would you?
I know I didn’t.
At least, until I have stumbled across the research of Dr. Emili Balaguer-Ballester and her colleague Andrew Rupp of Heidelberg from Bournemouth University’s (BU). Their goal was to answer the following question…
What Affects How We Hear?
Do we hear sounds as they are, or do our expectations about what we are going to hear instantaneously shape the way sound is processed?
Through the use of computational neuroscience models, Dr. Balaguer-Ballester and his team intend to map the way that the brain processes sound. Here is the most interesting conclusion they have come to:
“Almost 80% of connections between central and pre-cortical areas during sound processing seem to be top-down i.e. from the brain to the auditory peripheral system and not bottom-up, which is perhaps unexpected,” he explains. “As sound comes from an external stimulus, it would be fair to assume that most of our processing occurs from what we hear, but that is apparently not the case. What your brain expects to hear can be as important as the sound itself.” – Dr Balaguer-Ballester
This is backed up by the fact that it takes hundreds of milliseconds for sound to be processed along the neurons from the ear to the brain, which does not explain how we can immediately recognize the sex of a speaker or identifying a melody after just a few milliseconds
More information: “Understanding Pitch Perception as a Hierarchical Process with Top-Down Modulation.” PLoS Comput Biol 5(3): e1000301 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000301
Actually, it’s quite likely that you have already fallen victim to this phenomenon! It has happened to me dozens of time. Especially after a longer session of speaking some foreign language. I’m sure you KNOW the feeling!
Your brain switches into the “X language” mode. Suddenly, you hear some voices outside the window. Why the hell are they speaking Swedish?!!! Especially in Poland?! And why can’t I understand what they are talking about? What kind of dialect is it?!
Oh, wait. It’s not Swedish. It’s Polish. Damn you brain! Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me 60 times, I’m an idiot!
Possible Explanation Of This Phenomenon
It seems that the most plausible explanation is as follows – the brain is all about expectations and context. Have you ever noticed that when you learn something in one context, like the school, it becomes difficult to recall when that context shifts?
This is because learning depends heavily on how and where you do it: it depends on who is there, what is around you and how you learn.
It turns out that in the long-term people learn information best when they are exposed to it in different ways or different contexts. When learning is highly context-dependent, it doesn’t transfer well or stick as well over the years.
How Does It Affect Your Learning?
Picture by: Sanja Gjenero
Here are some methods I have come up with which might aid your listening: (and here are over 20 more)
1) Browse dictionary before listening
Just browse. You don’t have to learn any words nor do you have to memorize them.
If you know in the advance what the programme/audition/episode is about, pay special attention to the vocabulary which might appear there. That is pure logic – it’s unlikely that you’ll need to know the names of herbs if you intend to watch an action movie.
Of course, the best possible dictionary which you might use for this purpose is a pocket dictionary. It’s very handy and it contains the most frequently used words and sentences.
So far this technique has been working really great for me! If you test it, make sure to let me know about the results!
2) Read the transcription before listening
It’s not always possible to do so. But there are some listening materials which facilitate this approach. For example podcasts or language programmes for beginners.
You can also read lyrics of the song before listening to it. This method is much more effective than just trying to figure out what your favorite artist is singing about. It’s also so much better than the awkward muttering “mmmnaaaahh” when you forget the lyrics.
That’s also a guarantee that you won’t butcher the song with the stuff you THINK you hear (read more abouteffective listening here)
3) Read the general outline of the thing you’re going to listen to
Watching TV series in original? Read an episode description beforehand! This way, you will know (more or less) what to expect. And as you have learned so far – it’s all about what your brain expects to hear!
Just a word of warning! I’m sure you have heard many times the following piece of advice – watch movies / TV series with subtitles. This is the utter BS.
The ROTI (return on time investment) from this method is incredibly low. You’ll better off just listening to a random radio audition.
Whether you like it or not, our brains are NOT able to simultaneously follow the images, subtitles, sounds and a plot.
What’s more, following this piece of advice gives you the illusory feeling of understanding.
You usually concentrate on reading subtitles and start feeling that you understand most of the things happening on the screen. The bitter disappointment comes later when you try to re-watch the same thing without subtitles.
You have no damn idea what these funny figures on the screen babble about!
Why do I sound so sure? Because I’ve been there! Luckily, I came to my senses pretty quickly and realized that this method is, let’s not be afraid to use this word, absolutely useless.
Summary
One thing you should remember after reading this article is this:
What your brain expects to hear can be as important as the sound itself
If you want to acquire listening skills and get the most out of every minute of listening, you should always try to get familiar with the material you are going to listen to.
Do you have any other ideas how this fact might help others to improve their listening skills? Let us all know!
I love how language learners usually approach grammar. Or grammar books to be more precise! These vademecums seem to adapt the form of slimy, leprosy-ridden yet magical gnome. You know that if you rub its butt long enough, it will grant you your wish. You will be bestowed with the knowledge and wisdom of the language of your choice.
The ultimate prize sounds great. But somehow, it doesn't entice you to lay your hands on this filthy creature. Not too often anyway.
No wonder. One look at any enormous grammar book sends shivers down my spine.
Why?
Because opening a grammar book is like teleporting yourself into the middle of a language maze. It's hard to find your way out. Everything seems to be so random and chaotic.
Rules. Rules. More rules. You take a left turn, and you get punched in the stomach. You turn to your right, and you get kicked in the head. Only when you take a few steps back and leave the maze, you begin to see things differently. There are patterns. A lot of patterns. And there is one object, almost the artifact, that can grant you this kind of perspective.
The Grammar Cheat Sheet.
A Case For Grammar Cheat Sheet
It doesn't matter if you're a beginner in language learning or a mean linguistic son-of-a-gun. A grammar cheat sheet should be an indispensable part of your learning arsenal.
Before I dive into some of the main reasons why you should embrace grammar cheat sheets, I want to share with you a story about my youngest student.
I usually don't teach kids. It's a frustrating experience. I am sure that most parents can relate to! Anyway, Adrian is ten years old and a really bright kid. Although amazingly lazy.
Our first lesson revealed that his collective vocabulary amounted to about 40-70 words. After four damn years of his formal English education, he couldn't say, well, anything. Of course, he couldn't even use the words he knew in a sentence.
Not a very promising beginning, right?
However, after explaining the most basic English and writing them on his grammar cheat sheet, something seemingly impossible happened.
He got it, I didn't even expect it, but he got it!
Eleven hours into our English adventure, he is already able to build basic sentences in 4 tenses he knows. Sure, it takes him some time. The sentences are far from perfect. He still needs to resort to the grammar cheat sheet now and then. But again - 10 hours of dedicated learning beat four years of education.
I've had a chance to see more of such success stories with adults. But somehow, this story is the one that stuck with me.
6 Reasons To Create A Grammar Cheat Sheet
1) It Gives You Clarity
Grammar doesn't look half as scary when it is on one piece of paper. Just take a look at the Japanese grammar cheat sheet (don't worry if you don't know Japanese - neither do I.)
Everything is presented in a clear and transparent form. One glance at this page makes us want to learn this language!
It also helps you to concentrate on all the most critical aspects of the language. It's much easier to notice different patterns. And pattern recognition is something of tremendous value in enhancing memory, mind you!
2) It Decreases the Activation Energy
Activation energy is the initial energy needed to start acting. The more time and steps it takes to start doing something, the higher the chance you won't do it.
Lower the activation energy for habits you want to adopt and raise it for habits you want to avoid. The more we can lower or even eliminate the activation energy for our desired actions, the more we enhance our ability to jump-start positive change.
People exhibit better memory for more intensely emotional events than less intensely emotional events (…), the atypicality of extreme memories can lead people to believe those extreme moments are representative of the “set” being judged.
Repeat this ritual a sufficient number of times, and you end up with the full-blown I-f**ing-hate-grammar syndrome.
The cheat sheet is clear and straightforward and thus should encourage you to learn grammar.
4) It Promotes Learning Independence
Having just one piece of paper that provides you with essential information about the languages can help you become a more effective independent learner.
Whenever one of my students doesn't know how to create some grammar construction, I always refer them to their cheat sheets. On the surface, it might seem bizarre.
"What the hell is this dude getting money for?"
But the thing is that building a sentence is like doing puzzles. Every piece of a puzzle is a word. Grammar tells us where the given piece should be placed. That's why, after taking a look at the cheat sheet a couple of times, every student becomes intimately familiar with it.
Using the language ceases to be some voodoo magic. It becomes a logical step-by-step process of putting puzzle pieces into their rightful place.
That's also the reason why it's much easier to convince my students to talk with themselves. They don't need me so desperately anymore.
The said piece of paper can substitute a teacher to some degree!
5) It Helps You Relearn Languages
A lot of knowledge we acquire throughout our lives gets forgotten. At least this is how we commonly refer to the phenomenon of not being able to recall information. However, perhaps the more accurate word, in this case, is "inaccessible".
As it turned out, even though the volunteers showed no memory of the second language in the vocabulary test, they were able to quickly relearn and correctly identify phonemes that were spoken in the neglected language.
Psychologists Jeffrey Bowers, Sven L. Mattys, and Suzanne Gage from the University of Bristol found out in another research that:
(...) even though the volunteers showed no memory of the second language in the vocabulary test, they were able to quickly relearn and correctly identify phonemes that were spoken in the neglected language.
Maybe one day, you will be forced to take a break from language learning. Perhaps because of work, family, or general suckiness of life.
Either way, when all the bad things fade away, you will have your cheat sheet to refresh your memory quickly. It will give you an excellent general overview of the most critical parts of grammar. Psychologists Jeffrey Bowers, Sven L. Mattys, and Suzanne Gage from the University of Bristol found out in another research that:
6) It Makes You More Fluent
There is this great saying I love.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
The same goes for grammar. We are cognitive misers. We don't want to use our deposits of cognitive energy if it's unnecessary. That's why we cling to the grammar constructions we feel warm and comfortable with.
Seeing all the other constructions, which you don't use at the moment, in one place can be thought-provoking. It acts as a reminder of different possible ways to express yourself and jars you out of grammar lethargy.
Because, all in all, this is what grammar is - the scaffolding which enables us to build proper sentences. And you can't make even a ramshackle hut if all you got are some measly sticks.
The Most Important Rule For Creating a Grammar Cheat Sheet
There is just one rule you should keep in mind if you decide to create your grammar cheat.
Make it clear and concise
Your cheat sheet shouldn't be bigger than one A4 page. It should only contain all the essential grammar rules.Resist the temptation to jot down all the grammar exceptions and constructions nobody even uses.
Blah, blah. It sounds obvious. But very often, once you start creating your cheat sheet, the urge to include as much information as it is only possible sprouts uncontrollably. All so well known voice whispers, "Dude, don't forget to increase THIS rule. And THAT one as well! Screw it! Rewrite the book! Muahahaha."
The next thing you see is a 40-page behemoth. If you need more information, you can always create a second grammar cheat sheet for more advanced concepts.
However, usually, it is unnecessary. All you need are the essential rules. You will pick up the rest once you start surrounding yourself with a language (and using it).
Grammar Cheat Sheet - Summary
For reasons I am yet to grasp, grammar cheat sheets are underappreciated and underutilized tools in language learning. While it may take some time to prepare one on your own, it is usually a much better choice than buying one.
Reason? Most of the paid ones suck big time. Don't be afraid to put some time upfront. You will reap the benefits of this investment for months (or years) to come.
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