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Overcoming Learning Barriers | ||
Tags: Learning Difficulty | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| DaraghM Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6086 days ago 1947 posts - 2923 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian | Message 1 of 10 19 July 2011 at 11:47am | IP Logged | ||
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Occasionally, we hit barriers in our language learning, and wonder if our strategy or specific technique is at fault. While this may be the case, I think we should also look at the larger picture, and ensure something more obvious isn't impeding the learning. Of these I would include the following,
Sleep Probably the most important aid to learning is to get a proper nights sleep. If you can't sleep, then try and get a nap. Attempting to learn a language while over tired is futile. You may have gotten away with it for exams, but it doesn't work for languages. Stress Another obvious factor which has been mentioned before. It's very difficult to retain information when your stressed. If something has you stressed, make an attempt to tackle it, so you can return to study. Physical fitness You don't need to be an athlete to learn a language, but you should try and be in reasonable health. Apart from helping sleep, it also helps concentration, stress and relaxation. I only discovered this one recently. What others would you include ? Edited by DaraghM on 19 July 2011 at 11:47am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| BrainDeadUnit Newbie United States Joined 4925 days ago 3 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch, Mandarin | Message 2 of 10 20 July 2011 at 1:45am | IP Logged | ||
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I'd say a barrier to most people is a lack of discipline. You got to pick it up and stick
to it. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Luai_lashire Diglot Senior Member United States luai-lashire.deviant Joined 5763 days ago 384 posts - 560 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto Studies: Japanese, French | Message 3 of 10 20 July 2011 at 2:00am | IP Logged | ||
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Diet. You'd be amazed the difference proper nutrition can make even if you DON'T have some kind of dietary health
problem- and if you do, then the difference becomes astronomical! I recently found out I had hypoglycemia, and WOW, the difference when I dropped most of the carbs from my diet and started eating more non-dairy protein was amazing! My head never felt so clear. Even before that, I had found that having two or three servings of vegetables in a day made a huge difference to my memory and my mood. Speaking of discovering dietary problems... Another important thing is knowing yourself. You have to know what your personal obstacles are, your personal strengths, how to motivate yourself, what makes you make the most progress, etc. And if something is "off" in your life you have to find out about it and fix it. Don't ignore potential health/mental health problems- you'll regret it later! 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5701 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 4 of 10 20 July 2011 at 3:21am | IP Logged | ||
If you have to use discipline (eg willpower) to stick to your plan you're doing something wrong. After a couple of days it should have become: Routine Routine can be very helpful if you're aware of it, and a hindrance if you aren't. One problem can be that you can't establish a routine - most likely because you're trying to do too much at once, so try reducing your workload. Another problem can be being stuck in a rut, in which case it's best to try something new. Motivation and prioritizing And with this, I don't mean using motivational quotes or imagining your goals to pump yourself up. Lack of motivation usually doesn't come from lack of positive motivation for a task, it comes from too much motivation for a different task, which forces you to decide between your two options. This decision making process costs a lot of mental effort. At a time when you already feel you're hitting an invisible barrier the motivation for your language task sinks, the decision to do it nontheless becomes even more difficult and you seem to gain even less when you do it. Apart from rest, nutrition and exercise to replenish your ressources, it is also important to reduce the attractiveness of other possible options, and increase the immediate attractiveness of your language task. To make your other options less tempting: Physically remove yourself from them, decide to do indulge yourself after you've done your language task - or, if it's a different language task, consciously decide to concentrate on your main method/language for the time being. To increase attractiveness of your main method: Smaller study units, a better study environment, helpful company, more interesting material, avoid exhausting yourself. Edited by Bao on 20 July 2011 at 3:23am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| ScottScheule Diglot Senior Member United States scheule.blogspot.com Joined 5163 days ago 645 posts - 1176 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French | Message 5 of 10 20 July 2011 at 6:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've tried a variety of diets over the years, and none have changed my mind so far as I can tell in the slightest. I'm tempted to generally write off such claims as placebo effects.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4957 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 10 20 July 2011 at 6:24pm | IP Logged | ||
I think some of thesse changes could well be due to blood sugar levels. I suffer from a condition which means I often become hypo-glyceamic (low bloodsugar). During thesse bouts I find it hard to formulate sentences in my own language, and studying with tapes become very hard. A healthy diet will stabilise peoples blood sugar levels which will improve both concentration and motivation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ScottScheule Diglot Senior Member United States scheule.blogspot.com Joined 5163 days ago 645 posts - 1176 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French | Message 7 of 10 20 July 2011 at 6:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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I should say that there are clearly exceptions where diet does have an effect on mental function. I'm just generally skeptical.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Luai_lashire Diglot Senior Member United States luai-lashire.deviant Joined 5763 days ago 384 posts - 560 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto Studies: Japanese, French | Message 8 of 10 20 July 2011 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | ||
I wasn't referring to "diets" as in "the low-carb diet" and "the all-liquid diet" and other such bullcrud. I was pretty much just saying you should be healthy and if you have specialized needs, cater to them. I've also tried eating more "brain foods" that are supposed to help with memory and other cognitive functions and never found there to be a noticeable difference, although perhaps there was an effect that just wasn't something I could easily observe, who knows. I have a feeling however that that kind of thing really only has a drastic effect on people who don't otherwise eat healthily to begin with, like someone who eats nothing but junkfood most of the time. As far as actually scientifically proven effects of diet, we do know that eating breakfast drastically improves brain functioning, for example, and the overall healthiness of your diet can affect your mood. So there are real, empirically proven benefits of good nutrition. But no, I don't think you should jump on the antioxident bandwagon or switch to eating nothing but fruit. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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