Why You Were Wrong About Rote Learning – StoryLearning

Today I'm pleased to feature Philip Seifi, in which he discusses a memory technique that has a bit of a bad rep… rote learning. SkiptoprimarynavigationSkiptomaincontentSkiptoprimarysidebarSkiptofooterBlogWhyYouWereWrongAboutRoteLearningbyOllyRichardsIfIcouldwaveamagicwandandsolveonelanguagelearningproblemforpeople,doyouknowwhatitwouldbe?Memory.Learningandmemorisingvocabularyinaforeignlanguagemakessomepeopleteartheirhairout.Itdrivesotherstotears.And, naturally, there'snoonesolutionthatworksforeveryone.SotodayI'mpleasedtofeatureaguestpostfrom PhilipSeifi,inwhichhediscussesamemorytechniquethathasabitofabadrep… rotelearning.Infact,thesuggestionshemakesinthispostaresimilartowhatIteachinmyStoryLearningcourses,whichyoucantryfreehere.PhilipispartoftheteamatFluentPanda,alanguagelearninggamewithanimpressivemission!Readtotheendofthepostformoreon theexcitingstuffthatthey'reuptoatthemoment.Overyouyou,Philip!Ifyou’restrugglingtomakeprogresslearningalanguage,itcouldbebecauseyou’reoverlookingmyfavouritelanguage-learninghack:rotelearning.ButIdon’tmeanthekindofrotelearningyoudoatschool…rereadingthesamegrammarpointsoverandoveragain,burningmidnightoiloverseeminglyendlesscolumnsofverbconjugations.Ifanything,theapproachI‘llteachyouismorereminiscentofrecitingpoems—somethingyourparentsprobablystillremember,butyou’vemostlikelyneverexperiencedgiventhebacklashagainstbothimpracticalknowledgeandrotelearninginoureducationalsystem.HerearefivestepsthatIusetomemoriseapassageoftextinaforeignlanguage.Itreallydoesn’tmatterwhatkindoftextitis,aslongasit’ssomethingwhichyouthinkhassomeelementoflinguisticutility,beitthegrammarused,vocabulary,orjustthatyoureallylikeit.1.ChooseTheRightContentFirst,findagoodtextthatfitsthefollowingcriteria:nolongerthanafewparagraphscomeswithanaudiorecordingonasubjectyoufindfascinatingchallenging,butnottoohardFindingtextsofthislengthreallyisn’ttoodifficult.Itendtogotonewswebsitesforradiostations,whichtendtohaveatranscriptofanyaudiothattheyputout.Or,ifyouhaveafavouritepassagefromabook,orblog,orotherwisethatdoesn’thaveaudio,thenwhynotsubmitittoRhinospike,andletnativespeakersdothehardwork?2.Listen,Listen,ListenListentotherecordingofyourchosentextatleasthalfadozentimes.Don’ttrytorememberanyofitjustyetorworryaboutnewgrammarandvocabularytoomuch.Simplylistentoitagain,andagain,andagain—noticingchangesinintonationandothersmalldetailsthatinitiallyflewoveryourhead.Atthisstageitreallyisn’taboutlearning,butratherassimilatingyoureartothetonalityandpaceoftherecording.You’llbesurprisedbyhowmuchyou’llunderstandbytheendofthisexercise,evenifyoudidn’tgetanyofthemeaningonfirstplay-through,letalonethe20th.Ican’tstressthisenough–youshouldnottrytounderstandanyofwhatyouhearatthisstage!Useyourbrainenergytoabsorbandenjoy,andyou’llbesurprisedabouthowre-focusingyourenergiesawayfromtryingtounderstandwhatyouhearmeansthatdifferentpartsofyourbraingettoworktobuildapictureofwhatyou’relisteningtothatyouneverthoughtpossible!3.ReadAndClarifyOnceyou’velistenedforafewtimes,nowit’stimetorefertotheoriginaltext.Gothroughit,andunderlinewhatyouknowalready.Trysayingthisoutloudafewtimes.Inevitably,therewillbepassagesthatyoudon’tquiteunderstand.Atthisstage,it’sagoodideatotakethetraditionalapproachandreachforthenearestdictionary,andtryandgetatleastabasicunderstandingofthetext.Evenifthereareexpressionsthatyoustilldon’tunderstand,ortherearegrammaticalnuancesthatarebeyondyou,it’sstillabsolutelyfinetomoveontothenextstage.Onceyou’vegonethroughthetext,trylisteningthroughthetextagainandreallyfocusonmatingwhatyou’relisteningtowithwhatyouseebeforeyou.4.CommitItToMemoryNowcomesthetimetolearnthepassagebyheart.Afterlisteningtoitsomanytimes,you’llprobablyalreadyrememberlargechunksofthetext,soitshouldn’ttakeyoutoolong.Evenifyoudon’thavetheindividualwordsdown,thepacing,cadences,andpronunciationshouldcomemuchquickerthanifyoucametothisrecordingcold.Youcantryrememberingindividualsentences,thenmoveontofullparagraphs,untilyoumemorisethewholepassage.Whenmemorising,Iliketogoforthe‘overshooting’approach.Thatistosaythatifyouwanttoremembertheexpression‘thequickbrownfox’,tryinsteadmemorising‘thequickbrownfoxjumpsoverthelazydog’.Byexpendingmoreenergyonthelongersentence,you’lllikelybydefaultcommitthesmallersectiontomemorywithoutthinkingaboutitsomuch.5.GoForPerfectionYou’llnoticethatuptonowI’venotaskedyoutopaymuchattentiontothelittledetails.Thisapproachcanonlyworkwhenyourmindisnotfocusedonachievingjustonegoal.Thatsaid,whenyougettothestagethatthemajorityofthetextiscommittedtomemory,it’simportanttomakesurethatyoudon’tfallintobadhabits.Breakthetextdown(sometimesgoingfromtheend,backwardscanhelptodothis),andconcentrateoneverysinglenuanceofthelanguage,makingsurethatwhatyou’vememorisedistherealthing,andnotsomefuzzyapproximation.Makesuretospeakloudandclear,mimickingthepronunciationandintonationofthenativenarratorascloselyasyoucanatthisfinalstage.WhyRoteLearningWorksWondersThekeytolearnforeignlanguagesfastistwo-fold.First,youmustcombinedifferentactivitiestosavetime&remainmotivated.Second,youmustmaintaintherightbalancebetweendifferentaspectsofthelanguage.Concentratetoomuchonoutput,andyou’llsoonfindyourselfusingthesameexpressionsandvocabularyineveryconversation.Listentotoomuchmusic,andyou’llriskfallingbehindinspellingandgrammar.Evenifyourgoalistolearnonlyconversationallanguage,itisagoodideatomaintainareasonablebalanceacrosstheboard.Themethoddescribedaboveforcesyoutoworkonyourlistening,readingandspeaking,teachesyouvocabulary,grammar,styleandpronunciation,allaspartofonesingleproject.AlotliketheStoryLearning®method! Anotherhugebenefitofthisapproachisthateachoftheseprojectsmakefornaturalmini-goalsonyourwaytofluency,andunderstandingthetextsintheendservesasanaturalreward.Ofcourse,ifyoufeellikeit,you’rewelcometorewardyourselfwithanadditionalcookieattheendofeachstretch!Giveitago,evenifjustonce.Seehowitworksforyou,andletusknowinthecomments!ThanksPhilip!Ifyoulikedthispost,please checkoutPhilip'snewapp,FluentPanda.Whatisitexactly?Iaskedhim…“I'vebuilttheappbasedonallofmythinkingaboutamethodologythatfocusesonnumerousaspectsofalanguageinoneholisticapproach,ratherthanseparately.”That'sthekindofappweneedmoreof!They'recurrentlyinthemidstofaKickstartercampaign,withonlyafewdaysleft,soifyou'dliketobackthem,pleaseclickheretolearnmore!Image:sandymanasePrimarySidebar