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Viewing What? You Can Learn a Foreign Language in your Sleep?What? You Can Learn a Foreign Language in your Sleep?
By Kathy Steinemann
Yes - you can unleash the hidden power of your mind during sleep to help learn a foreign language - or any other subject. The average person utilizes less than of 10% of the brain's capacity. What is happening with the other 90-plus%? Did you know that approximately 100 common words form about 50% of the speech in most languages? The vast majority of everyday speech is comprised of less than 1000 common words. If you were to determine those words and learn them, you would make a giant leap towards mastery of any language. A list of only 1000 words shouldn't be a formidable task! Perform internet searches like: - 1000 most common words German - 1000 most common words French - 1000 most common words Spanish - 1000 most common words Portuguese - 1000 most common words Russian - 1000 most common words Swedish You will locate many excellent internet sites with vocabulary lists and audio files. There are even websites with complete audio CDs, flashcard software, crossword puzzle generators, and other language-learning materials. You can use these materials to custom-design your own 'sleep-learning' lessons. But remember: sleep learning is not a completely passive activity. Language is much more than a conglomeration of sounds. It is a harmonious integration of vocabulary, spelling, and grammar that utilizes brain, eyes, ear and mouth. The best way to advance quickly with sleep learning is to spend a few minutes before bedtime reading and reviewing the material you will be hearing as you doze. Use a single recording (no more than 100 words) that plays repeatedly. Ensure that the volume is just loud enough so that you can hear it. Loud volume settings may disturb your sleep or damage your ears. Nod off to dreamland while you listen, and first thing in the morning spend a few more minutes reviewing the same vocabulary once again. Some individuals respond to this method of learning extremely well. Others complain of poor quality sleep. Experiment with volume levels. If you are using earphones or earbuds, listen to a bedside CD-player instead. (If you are sharing the bedroom, this might not be feasible.) Another approach: try sleeping for an hour less than usual during the night, and then take a nap during the day using the same review-sleep-review technique. Once you have mastered rudimentary vocabulary, you may want to tackle more ambitious projects like MP3 e-books. Make sure that you review printed copies of recordings the same way you did with your vocabulary lists. The eye-mind-ear connection is important! Consider purchasing a self-hypnosis CD that you can play prior to the language audio. There are many programs available that have been designed to relax you and render your mind receptive to the learning process. An internet search for 'self hypnosis' will pinpoint numerous websites offering CDs and books. There are even some that will allow you to create your own personalized downloadable MP3 hypnosis recordings in a male or female voice. We spend about one-third of every day sleeping. Why not utilize that time for more than snoring and dreaming! (c) Copyright Kathy Steinemann: This article is free to publish only if this copyright notice, the byline, and the author's note below (with active links) are included. About the Author: Kathy Steinemann is a busy webmaster and author who enjoys writing German-English stories in parallel translation. She works behind the scenes at several websites, including A-Language-Guide dot com. Article Source: A Language Guide - http://www.a-language-guide.com More free articles: 1st Rate Articles - 1stRateArticles.com |
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