Learning with Minimal Effort...
The other day, Edwin remarked upon learning languages the hard way, then cast doubts on some of the minimal effort approaches, including sleep learning. He's right, of course. But I wish he weren't. But there's a secondary issue that comes up with effortless learning: it's not always so effortless.
As a student of hypnosis, I was curious what the alternative, hypnopaedia, would have to offer. So I've been reading about sleep learning. It's true, of course, that we hear and react to things in our sleep. A mother will wake when her baby cries. And most of us awaken when the alarm clock goes off. Yet we don't awaken for the even louder train that goes by every night at midnight, or the sound of the next door neighbor's teenager pulling in at 1 a.m. On the other hand, we do integrate some of that information into dreams. So, then, can you learn in your sleep?
As a general rule, we don't remember our dreams. But things that come up later may spur us to remember them. Slipping foreign language into your dreamland might hold some potential for reinforcement, then, but I think you'll probably have to start with study in your waking hours. Alas.
That said, I've been a bit under the weather, so when I lie down, I've been putting on Berlitz Think and Talk cassettes, just to see what happens. I'm under the impression that when I drift off, I'm not learning much if anything - though sleep learning advocates advise to keep it simple and repetitive, which this isn't. On the other hand, it feels perfectly natural to wake up to people speaking simplified Italian.
Tonight, I've put some other foreign language stuff onto an MP3 player. We'll see if it sticks.
My advice: It seems unlikely that putting on a CD when you go to sleep and hoping for the best is the way to learn a foreign language. But to take advantage of your time drifting off to sleep from theta to delta - meditating on the day gone by to actual sleep - it wouldn't hurt to make a bit of simple foreign language the last thing you hear before you hit your first deep sleep. Just keep it simple, since you're in a receiving, not processing, state. In other words, if you've already got an MP3 player, it won't hurt anything to listen and it will quite possibly even help. But to take full advantage of the fun and excitement of learning a new language, you probably ought to try it while you're awake!
As a student of hypnosis, I was curious what the alternative, hypnopaedia, would have to offer. So I've been reading about sleep learning. It's true, of course, that we hear and react to things in our sleep. A mother will wake when her baby cries. And most of us awaken when the alarm clock goes off. Yet we don't awaken for the even louder train that goes by every night at midnight, or the sound of the next door neighbor's teenager pulling in at 1 a.m. On the other hand, we do integrate some of that information into dreams. So, then, can you learn in your sleep?
As a general rule, we don't remember our dreams. But things that come up later may spur us to remember them. Slipping foreign language into your dreamland might hold some potential for reinforcement, then, but I think you'll probably have to start with study in your waking hours. Alas.
That said, I've been a bit under the weather, so when I lie down, I've been putting on Berlitz Think and Talk cassettes, just to see what happens. I'm under the impression that when I drift off, I'm not learning much if anything - though sleep learning advocates advise to keep it simple and repetitive, which this isn't. On the other hand, it feels perfectly natural to wake up to people speaking simplified Italian.
Tonight, I've put some other foreign language stuff onto an MP3 player. We'll see if it sticks.
My advice: It seems unlikely that putting on a CD when you go to sleep and hoping for the best is the way to learn a foreign language. But to take advantage of your time drifting off to sleep from theta to delta - meditating on the day gone by to actual sleep - it wouldn't hurt to make a bit of simple foreign language the last thing you hear before you hit your first deep sleep. Just keep it simple, since you're in a receiving, not processing, state. In other words, if you've already got an MP3 player, it won't hurt anything to listen and it will quite possibly even help. But to take full advantage of the fun and excitement of learning a new language, you probably ought to try it while you're awake!
3 Comments:
Geoff, thanks for referencing my post.
I don't believe in sleep-learning. But then I am no expert in the field of sleep-learning, so I could be wrong.
I have been listening to podcasts and audio clips before I go to sleep every night for the past half a year or so. I do that only because it is the only time I can catch up listening to the materials.
They usually put me to sleep. I don't remember if I have ever dreamt in my target language, and I probably have. I just cannot remember.
As a believer of 'focus-on-input' theory, even if I have dreamt in my target language and remember the dream, there will be of not much use to me, because these are not authentic input materials.
I think we better use the sleep time to rest our brains, and use them for more conscious language learning while we are awake.
Edwin,
I'm always willing to try something new, especially if it's easy! But I'm inclined to agree that awake learning trumps sleep learning. That said, what you're doing - listening right before sleep - is just about right. It assures that your language learning will be the last input you take in before nighttime processing starts. Just be sure, since you'll be drifting through theta into delta, to keep the material simple. It's a time for absorption, not active engagement, of whatever you're listening to.
This is also why it's a good idea to write affirmations before going to sleep - it increases the chance your dreams and nighttime mullings will be on what you want to do, not what you're preoccupied with but perhaps not looking forward to for the next day.
I've never heard of this before. It sounds interesting enough to try and hopefully it works because I am always looking for ways to optimize my time. I can see where the repetitive hearing would work better. It's something I'm going to have to experiment with.
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