How to improve your English learning
According to Medina our brain responds better to certain stimuli, which improves our learning process, below I will list the most relevant for me.
Multisensory:
Medina refers that we respond better to multiple stimuli, that is to say, involving more than one of our senses at the time of learning, he gives us some examples such as when we see we have to listen, or that we can relate writing to some texture.
In that sense, when learning English we could use an audio or say words and even sentences accompanied by visual tools that are striking and related, so that we learn it more easily. Likewise, when practicing our writing, we could be playing with a moldable dough or with a sponge ball and thus relate it to when we want to remember it.
Something that has worked for me and I do to remember certain topics, which I think could work with English, is that while I am taking a class or doing a homework I light a scented candle, so when I remember the scent I will be moving to the moment and it will be easier to remember what I learned, plus I will be more relaxed by the delicious aroma of the candle.
It also occurs to me that you could listen to music or watch videos in English while following the lyrics or the subtitles in this same language, that way you would be engaging two of your senses.
The important thing is to involve more than one of our senses so that the learning stimulus is greater and our brain remembers it more naturally.
Make learning exciting:
Something that really caught my attention is that in the book they mention that "emotion attracts attention." The above makes me think that when learning English we can leave the monotony aside and start by making it more interactive or exciting, in this way something more attractive will be done and your brain will be better focused, for example through games in English or rewarding us with something at the end of the study.
Focus:
Medina says that it is better to focus instead of doing multiple tasks, in particular it is very difficult for me since I get distracted with everything or one activity leads me to another activity and that makes me postpone my study.
The author provides us with some suggestions to improve our approach, among these are choosing times to do things like check our emails, facebook and other applications, but if you are like me who can not commit to those hours, it would be better to leave the cell phone aside a while or some other distraction.
He also mentions that the environment can involve these distractions, as he had mentioned, I get distracted by everything, so I try to be in places that provide me with an environment of peace or that make me be a little quieter, for example, for my English classes since I am not close to home, what I do is go to a library to be able to be in peace and do my study or, alternatively, I go to a cafeteria, order a coffee, choose a good table and begin to concentrate.
Strengthen memory:
The author tells us that reinforcing memory helps our learning, so he explains that by doing learning strategies we can learn better, one of these is to recover memories through places, music or flavors, something I do is remember certain words in English that are difficult for me with slogans of brands, commercials, songs, series, so when I want to remember the meaning of a word I look in my mind if I have seen it somewhere and in what context, that way I relate it and I solve my doubt.
Another thing that he mentions to us is about never stopping learning new things, that is, even if we know the language, never stop being curious and keep reinforcing it.
And something that has been repeated to us, exercising and being physically well strengthens our cognitive processes, so we can exercise while listening to songs or a podcast in English, so we exercise and learn.Strengthen memory:
The author tells us that reinforcing memory helps our learning, so he explains that by doing learning strategies we can learn better, one of these is to recover memories through places, music or flavors, something I do is remember certain words in English that are difficult for me with slogans of brands, commercials, songs, series, so when I want to remember the meaning of a word I look in my mind if I have seen it somewhere and in what context, that way I relate it and I solve my doubt.
Another thing that he mentions to us is about never stopping learning new things, that is, even if we know the language, never stop being curious and keep reinforcing it.
And something that has been repeated to us, exercising and being physically well strengthens our cognitive processes, so we can exercise while listening to songs or a podcast in English, so we exercise and learn.
I hope that some of this can be of use to you and that it helps you make your English learning process easier, remember that the greatest strategy is patience.
Thanks for reading me :)