Can a person really learn a language while sleeping?
This is a question worth investigating because many believe that it is impossible to do it. But think about this..
People say sometimes that what comes into one ear just goes out of the other. Is this really true? Not for certain.
People today watch television for hours and sometimes all day long without interruption. Some even play music while sleeping and then remember tunes. Why is this?
Some studies suggest that although the brain is supposedly resting or cut off, it is still possible for a person to learn (studies with Harvard, ScienceDaily ). These studies refer to what is called "sleep learning" (see here).
Sometimes while asleep, many people sense things and are still slightly alert to their surroundings. This is sometimes the case for example if the tv is lefted on all night long or music is playing. Sometimes a person will wake up and then "recall" words or even expressions that were aired on tv. This proves then that not everything that goes into one ear comes out of the other, something sticks to the brain.
Applying this same prinicipal, it seems logical that a person CAN learn a language in their sleep. Of course, how much will probably depend on many other factors yet to be determined. However, by reviewing the studies mentioned above by Harvard & ScienceDaily you will see that it is still possible to learn many words or even expression while asleep.
What You Can Do To Learn
Just like a mother who sings to her unborn child in the womb, you can also listen to music or audios tapes of your targeted language while you sleep. If you listen to perhaps the sames audios each and everyday, the brain will grab and digest more bits and pieces of the language overtime. Now, of course this is not the best method nor the fastest way to learn a language, however, this is a little somthing that you can do to help you to learn more of your goal language with time.
See Why You Should Not Be Afraid to Make Mistakes When Learning a Language!
One of the biggest errors that many commit in the beginning while learning a language is to never forget that it's totally okay to make mistakes. Ask yourself...Isn't sometimes the mistakes that really help us to appreciate and remember things for the long haul? Let me illustrate...
I have spoken often about the importance of word pronounciation with languages and how this can affect how messages are relayed to others. However, in the same token when you make mistakes even when speaking, it could convert into a very funny experience for you that you never forget. In fact, I think that there is absolutely nothing at all wrong with having a little fun while learning a language.
Personal Experiences:
I have spoken often about the importance of word pronounciation with languages and how this can affect how messages are relayed to others. However, in the same token when you make mistakes even when speaking, it could convert into a very funny experience for you that you never forget. In fact, I think that there is absolutely nothing at all wrong with having a little fun while learning a language.
Personal Experiences:
A friend told me once in Spanish years ago (2001) when I was learning that she wanted to buy some huevos (eggs) at the store for breakfast. When I heard it I thought she meant that she wanted to buy juegos (games) being they sounded sorta close. Obviously as the conversartion progresses I couldn't realize why she want to buy "juegos" for breakfast when finally I realized that I understood wrong.
Or another time I wanted to tell some friends in Spanish that I was jogging and tripped over a "bump" on the road. A "bump" in the road in Spanish can be "una loma", or "un tope".. However, what I said is that I tripped over a "chichón " (bump on the head) and everybody started laughing because obviously it was really funny to hear that. Once I understood my mistake and bad choice of a word, I never forgot that particular experience. In fact, to this day, sometimes just hearing these words will make me laugh.
The lesson? It's okay to make mistakes when learning a language and especially with those that are willing to help and correct you along the way.
What Is The Absolute Fastest Way To Learn A Language?
Have you ever wondered why mere kids can learn how to sing complete songs even if they don't know how to read yet? This is something that I see just about everyday. The reason why is simple. Kids just like adults learn things that they really want to learn by having constant exposure to it. The same is true to learn a language.
Many say that traveling to a country where the people speak your targeted language is the absolute fastest way to learn a language. Well, it is true that you will get constant exposure all day long to a language by living in the country. You could probably learn a language at very excelerated rate because now you are forced to learn a language versus sticking to a schedule or sticking to a specific schedule.
But is it really practical to travel to a country to learn a language? Is it really the fastest way to learn a language? It is the fastest way in my opinion, however, not the most practical way. Why? Well, for the obvious. Most people can't afford to get up and go to a country for an unlimited or undetermined amount of time with this goal in mind. Unless you are already rich and have no need to come back to a job or simply don't have enough funds saved up, then this option to travel might not be the best route to go.
Although highly effective, and probably the absolute fastest way to learn a language, this step will involve for most lots of planification and determination to realized this goal. It makes me think of a nurse who wanted to learn Spanish to better assist Spanish-speaking clients here in the states. She traveled to Mexico with the goal of staying for 8 weeks. Now keep in mind that she did have some limited study of the language prior to moving to Mexico. After her trip, she returned with a far greater knowledge of the Spanish language and spoke it very fluently. Now this experience I must say it not typical. This is not to guarantee nor suggest to readers that traveling to a country for "8 weeks" or for any specific time in mind will make you fluent or more proficient in that language. The key with any goal in mind is to really apply yourself constantly.
As mentioned before, it's impressive that little kids can learn and memorize complete songs in short spands of time with constant exposure and repetition of lyrics. The same can be said with the goal of learning a language. Whether you would like to travel to a country or not to learn a language, you simply have to apply yourself.
Do You Think It Is Better To Learn A Language In School Or Not?
If you are or have considered the idea of learning a language maybe you are wondering if it better to take a language course in school or learn by yourself.
Let me start off by stating that I am not here to disuade you from the idea of taking a formal course in school to learn a language. I am all for education. However, is it really better to study in school or teach yourself? What are the benefits or disadvantages of both routes?
When you learn a language in there are many benefits. One primary benefit is that you can have a teacher explain things like grammar and phonetics to you versus guessing or trying to figure it out yourself. You learn more of the history, cultures and backgrounds of the people that speak the targeted language.
However, in my opinion there are many disadvantages of learning in school than using a self-taught method. One is that typically you have to follow the pace of the school's curriculum to learn the language. This could mean taking a course over a lapse of perhaps 4 years or more. The down side of this is that for most students who have breaks between classes due to summer or springs, tend to forget things that were learned previously. Has this ever happen to you before? I am quite sure that it has happened to everybody at some point or another with a course.
When you teach yourself, you are completely in control of the time. You can study continuously with letup which avoids the possiblity of forgeting things over time. You have the ability to learn directly and faster with natives who speak your targeted language. This is good because there are far more things that you can learn with natives than you can in school. For example, with Spanish, in school most people are taught that all Spanish people are from either Mexico or Spanish. This is obviously incorrect, yet that is what is taught so many people believe this.
However, when you learn by yourself you are exposed to various others walks of life from other Spanish-speaking countries. You can learn how other Spanish speakers speak in their respective countries. It would be like learning English here in the US versus learning it in the UK or South Africa. There are simply different expressions employed that mean the same thing. By learning these new expressions you can communicate a message more effectively to your respondent. It also makes you more proficient in the language.
When you are in school, you don't have this opportunity. The teaching is quality, yet lacking this aspect in exposing students to the ENTIRE world of Spanish speaking people and cultures. You are only taught one way of speaking so the result is that your mind and ears are fine-tuned to this way of thinking. Yet, when someone else speaks the same language and uses distinct terms you are lost or won't understand.
As you can see there are many benefits and disadvantages of learning a language in school or by yourself. There are of course many other factors that have not been covered today. Yet, the decision is yours as for which route will best suit you to learn a language. Nonetheless, learning a new language is definitely worthwild and has many long lasting benefits of doing so. So don't give up in your efforts to learn a language!
Let me start off by stating that I am not here to disuade you from the idea of taking a formal course in school to learn a language. I am all for education. However, is it really better to study in school or teach yourself? What are the benefits or disadvantages of both routes?
When you learn a language in there are many benefits. One primary benefit is that you can have a teacher explain things like grammar and phonetics to you versus guessing or trying to figure it out yourself. You learn more of the history, cultures and backgrounds of the people that speak the targeted language.
However, in my opinion there are many disadvantages of learning in school than using a self-taught method. One is that typically you have to follow the pace of the school's curriculum to learn the language. This could mean taking a course over a lapse of perhaps 4 years or more. The down side of this is that for most students who have breaks between classes due to summer or springs, tend to forget things that were learned previously. Has this ever happen to you before? I am quite sure that it has happened to everybody at some point or another with a course.
When you teach yourself, you are completely in control of the time. You can study continuously with letup which avoids the possiblity of forgeting things over time. You have the ability to learn directly and faster with natives who speak your targeted language. This is good because there are far more things that you can learn with natives than you can in school. For example, with Spanish, in school most people are taught that all Spanish people are from either Mexico or Spanish. This is obviously incorrect, yet that is what is taught so many people believe this.
However, when you learn by yourself you are exposed to various others walks of life from other Spanish-speaking countries. You can learn how other Spanish speakers speak in their respective countries. It would be like learning English here in the US versus learning it in the UK or South Africa. There are simply different expressions employed that mean the same thing. By learning these new expressions you can communicate a message more effectively to your respondent. It also makes you more proficient in the language.
When you are in school, you don't have this opportunity. The teaching is quality, yet lacking this aspect in exposing students to the ENTIRE world of Spanish speaking people and cultures. You are only taught one way of speaking so the result is that your mind and ears are fine-tuned to this way of thinking. Yet, when someone else speaks the same language and uses distinct terms you are lost or won't understand.
As you can see there are many benefits and disadvantages of learning a language in school or by yourself. There are of course many other factors that have not been covered today. Yet, the decision is yours as for which route will best suit you to learn a language. Nonetheless, learning a new language is definitely worthwild and has many long lasting benefits of doing so. So don't give up in your efforts to learn a language!
3 Reasons To Learn A Language for Bilingual Job Opportunities
More and more companies are searching earnestly for individuals that are bilingual. You can't open any newspaper, or visit some online classified site and not see atleast a few bilingual job opportunities advertised. Companies are expanding rapidly and need reliable help to keep up with this demand. This is great and opens up more possible job opportunities for those that would like to expand their horizons in this economy. This is also gives you another valid reason to atleast have an interest to learn a language.
There are many benefits of learning a language for potential jobs. For starters, bilingual jobs typically offer more salary. Everybody wants more money right? Of course!
Two, you could have the opportunity of perhaps potentially traveling within the company or even working from home with them. These days companies have various branches and clients all over the world. By being bilingual, companies can now use your skills to connect with clients in various geographical areas. For example, a good friend of mine to this day who works from home has had the opportunity to travel to countries like Costa Rica, Panama, and even France being her company has clients in these respective countries and she speaks the languages.
Three, learning a language for job opportunities also gives you the opportunity to build relationships with others from various other markets who can also teach you more in your field and help you gain more experience with the language in the business world.
There are many other good benefits of taking the steps to learn a language for potential future bilingual job opportunities. As we well know there is absolutely nothing that we can do to prevent the effects & direction of this economy. However, there is something that each individual CAN do to change their personal economical situation and that is to learn a language!
There are many benefits of learning a language for potential jobs. For starters, bilingual jobs typically offer more salary. Everybody wants more money right? Of course!
Two, you could have the opportunity of perhaps potentially traveling within the company or even working from home with them. These days companies have various branches and clients all over the world. By being bilingual, companies can now use your skills to connect with clients in various geographical areas. For example, a good friend of mine to this day who works from home has had the opportunity to travel to countries like Costa Rica, Panama, and even France being her company has clients in these respective countries and she speaks the languages.
Three, learning a language for job opportunities also gives you the opportunity to build relationships with others from various other markets who can also teach you more in your field and help you gain more experience with the language in the business world.
There are many other good benefits of taking the steps to learn a language for potential future bilingual job opportunities. As we well know there is absolutely nothing that we can do to prevent the effects & direction of this economy. However, there is something that each individual CAN do to change their personal economical situation and that is to learn a language!
Language Games - Why Use Language Games To Learn A Language?
Another very effective and cool way to learn a language which is quite fun are with language games. Why use them? Well, just think about it for moment...
Everyone likes to play games of some sort. Whether it be board games or card games, they both provoke lots of participation from the parties involved. And even more so when there are competitions involved, there is even more motivation and excitment to play the game.
Well, also when you learn a language, you can also use language games. They are very effective because they employ a lot of visual and listening techniques that are not easily forgotton by learners. Interestingly, a study that images and objects are sometimes more effective in helping the brain to remember information on a longterm basis. Games achieve this very objective. Take for instance a website called "Digitaldialects.com". This site not only gives you vocabulary, but also uses games to learn numbers, colors, foods and more.
After viewing the words with the pictures, the site will then use language games to later have you checkoff or match the pictures with their names in a random format. It will then mix them up and speed up the process to help your brain to recognize and then react faster to match them up. I think this method is very good training to not only hear but also remember the spellings of given words.
So maybe this is something that you should try out to learn a language. There are many other sites with language games on the web that you could use to learn. What I will do on the next post is mention a few more of these that you can try out.
Everyone likes to play games of some sort. Whether it be board games or card games, they both provoke lots of participation from the parties involved. And even more so when there are competitions involved, there is even more motivation and excitment to play the game.
Well, also when you learn a language, you can also use language games. They are very effective because they employ a lot of visual and listening techniques that are not easily forgotton by learners. Interestingly, a study that images and objects are sometimes more effective in helping the brain to remember information on a longterm basis. Games achieve this very objective. Take for instance a website called "Digitaldialects.com". This site not only gives you vocabulary, but also uses games to learn numbers, colors, foods and more.
After viewing the words with the pictures, the site will then use language games to later have you checkoff or match the pictures with their names in a random format. It will then mix them up and speed up the process to help your brain to recognize and then react faster to match them up. I think this method is very good training to not only hear but also remember the spellings of given words.
So maybe this is something that you should try out to learn a language. There are many other sites with language games on the web that you could use to learn. What I will do on the next post is mention a few more of these that you can try out.
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