MSI Press Blog

  From  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star ATTENTION/AWARNESS Awareness/attention is critical to memory -- of anything. If you did not see something, you cannot remember it. If you saw something but did not notice details, you cannot remember it. If you did notice some details in passing but did not pay particular attention to them, you cannot remember them. Awareness and attention are key to remembering words, grammars, and other linguistic phenomena needed to be a successful language learner. The better you become at being aware of the right things and paying enough attention to them to stuff them into your memory, the faster you will acquire a new language. Let's take a look at some examples. Words Rather than trying to remember a word as a whole, try paying attention to components of the word. How many syllables are there? What does the word sound like? What are the pieces of the word (the root, prefix, suffix)? Is there anything else unique about the

  From  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star How Memory Works (simplified) If you know how memory works, you can learn faster because you commit information to memory--and it stays there better.  The stages of memory, briefly and simplistically, are attention awareness repetition/rehearsal (for short-term storage) m anipulation of information (in working memory, in preparation for moving it to long-term memory use, recall/retrieval, and re-storage to make information impervious to loss (long-term memory). Test this process out. You will have to do it over time. 1.      Find 5-10 words (open the dictionary and blindly pick, if you like) in either English or your foreign language that you do not know. Figure out what those words mean. Do that first on your own by using some of the techniques listed above. Then, ascertain your accuracy by asking someone or looking up the meaning in the dictionary or online. You have now accomplished the awareness step of memory. 2.

  From  Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star Chemicals I once had a student who appeared unable to retain anything she was taught. Trying to figure out the cause, I gave her a series of learning styles test, which had odd results. I called her into my office and told her, “Either you answered the questions very strangely, or you have a storm in your head.” “I have a storm in my head,” she said, which was not the response I expected. It turns out that she had been given some incorrect prescription medicine that had caused some temporary damage. With her permission, I spoke to her doctor, who told me that the medicine had caused damage to short-term memory that would, over time, dissipate. With some support from the doctor, we were able to move beyond her temporary impairment. Chemicals can impede language learning, where possible they should be avoided. Here are some chemicals you may not be thinking about: some allergy medications nicotine too much alcoho