Music and languages a personal experience

If you want to learn something do not study it over and over, practice retrieving the information. If you want to learn a word list do not look at the word list, have someone ask you question from the word list. Use flashcards to learn the list, but passive listening is not the most effective way to learn.

A study at Washington University in St. Louis has confirmed this. After 150 years of memory study it appears that the way to improve your memory is by testing and retesting but studying and restudying.

Therefore, poor test takers take note: intelligence, judgement, understanding has less to do with test scores that your simply ability to retrieve information. You want to memorizes something or commit a word list to memory, simply do flash cards or test and test yourself and you will have it in your memory.

To strengthen your memory: every night before you go to bed replay your day in your imagination in reverse. That is start with the last thing you did before you started the exercises (this memory excersises could be as you are laying in bed). Then imagine in great detail the second to last thing you did. Do this until you are at the start of your day when you woke up. If you do this every night your memory will improve. In fact you will be finding your mind subconsciously taking snap shots or mental pictures through out your day. You will be bringing more of your brain online and your memory will improve in a natural not a techniquey way. 

Studies are showing that there is a strong direct correlation between people who use their imagination and memory function.  This connection is especially true with imagination use and memory in latter life.  People who do not use their imagination in a free dreamy way, seem to experience a decline in memory in later life.  The dreamers, not necessarily.  So if you want find and think of new ways to keep your memory sharp, use your imagination

I had a brain lesion about 16 years ago.  The word lesion is really a general medical jargon word.  What I had was basically bleeding in the brain from capillary telangiectasia or a cavernous malformation. The result was I had memory and brain processing problems. I still functioned at a rather high cognitive level, however, in addition to horrible daily pain, I had trouble with my working memory and other things. The cause of this brain lesion was never known, but I suspect it was something like a birthmark, something incidental that became symptomatic though a series of of events. The lesion was serious because of it was located in my brain.

Brain rehabilitation

I followed a standard rehabilitation of my memory, working at a local university that did studies on brain lesions and brain rehabilitation. These were cognitive drills and exercises with students who studied my progress. These helped, and were precise and targeted; however, I made a huge breakthrough when I started to play computer games. The real world was too complex for me, at that juncture. Too many variables. However, computer games were a place I could do similar cognitive drills like I did at the university, however, on the computer in the santuary of my flat.

Brain rehabilitation software

Actually I first I started with software that was specific to memory improvement and brain rehabilitation. But latter I realized that the brain functions as a whole. When I started to play complex games, even which could be said to focus on other specific skills than I needed, my brain was stimulated. My brain improved as a whole. Thus was the start of the ’computer game obsession time’ in my life. I played everything until the wee hours of the morning, from memory and puzzle games, to quick reflex and strategy games. I remember when I beat the game Civilization at the highest level, something that few people can do, I felt I could conquer the world and my brain rehabilitation was over.

Computer games and my brain

Computer games and computers are wonderful tools for your brain to interact with. Computer games are eons more complex and stimulating, than the simple rehabilitation lessons I had at the University, minus the pretty students testing me. The designers of computer games designed the games to be plugged into the pleasure centers of your brain.

My testament to the benefit of computer games on your brain

I am convinced anyone can change and improve their brain, whether you have had a brain lesion or not. The brain by design is malleable. I do not have to read a study about it out wait until some PhD or expert tells me so, I have experienced it for myself.

From computer games to language learning software

After my conquest of computer games as manifest by my repeated victories on the game Civilization and other similar games, I moved to more normal and perhaps useful pursuits for brain stimulation like learning languages. It was from my progress with computer games, I  got inspiration to create a computer software program for learning languages. Instead of sitting in a classroom or reading a book, you could interact in a multimedia computer format and learn languages.

Brain lesion

I am no expert on brain lesions, however, if anyone is in a similar situation, you can write me and I can tell you what helped for me. Now I am fine, perhaps better than I ever have been. Thank God.

Learning with flashcards is I think the best way to learn vocabulary, and perhaps a language. I based my software program on it. Many articles will give you very abstract or general advice on how to learn a language fast. Or they will tell you 100 techniques for learning a language and when you finish you are back where you started. My best technique for learning a language is flashcards. If you learn words and phrases with flashcards you will learn a language fast.

Why flashcards are so good for learning a language fast

Flashcards are good if you want to learn a language fast because they train your brain to recall vocabulary, phrases and even grammar. Most language problems are recall problems, that is once you see what you learn something you can not remember it until you see it again. Then you say ‘aha’ that is right. It was in your memory all along. It is the act of recalling over and over again that helps you remember a word or phrase.

Language is a reflex and flashcards reinforce this reflex

To speak a language well and fast your recall needs to be instantaneous. This is what flashcards reinforce. The reflex of recalling words and phrases. Now I do not have some Ivory tower article at my finger tips or some psychologist to back me up on this, this is based on what I know has help me learn languages fast. It is simple and it works. so if you want to know how to learn a language and before you read 100 other ‘experts’ on language learning, take it from someone who learns languages, take this one technique for learning languages, flashcards, and use it. Create flashcards on index cards or check out my programs.