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Too Distracted | ||
Tags: Surroundings | Difficulty | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5840 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes  Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 9 of 15 18 July 2009 at 1:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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Sorry I was sloppy reading the first post!
Using techniques like drawing mindmaps instead of plain notes is one way to keep you sufficiently mentally engaged to prevent your mind from wandering. Half an hour of meditation helps you focus better on other things for the rest of the day. Check out samatha (Buddhist teravada) mediation which is super easy and quite efficient. Another trick is to plan your studying like you'd plan a day out on the beach, a picnic in the park etc. Get up early and pack everything you might possibly need (headache pills, mp3 player, charger, food etc). Leave your mobile phone and anything else that might serve distract you at home. Then head for the library and get a good spot in a quiet corner (not next to a busy stairway or the loos or something like that). Not somewewhere where all your mates will come by and distract you. Don't even tell them where you are. Set a timetable and go easy on yourself. Don't try for Marathon sessions. Set a goal of how much material you MUST get through before you are allowed to leave. 50 minutes is the maximum time period that you can be 100% focussed for, apparently. So you do 50 minutes, take a short break and then back. I crammed a lot of incredibly heavy texts at university in this manner. Legal texts for example are so dull that your mind starts wandering after only a minute or two. I'd say: After I finished reading to chapter X and answered all the exercises correctly I am done for the day. Stay until you've reached the days goal, regardless of how long it takes. This is discipline. If you set the bar too high, adjust the goals for the next session. I'm sure the Asian people on the forum could tell us Westerners a thing or two about SERIOUS CRAMMING. Singaporean, Hongkong and Japanese people that I know are on a whole different level when it comes to cramming. Their self discipline and study-skills are a world apart! South Korea and India are the same, I think. Rule of thumb: In your native language, you should be able to get through AT LEAST 250 pages of pure reading in a day, for example reading sociology, psychology, pol. science, philosophy, religion, theory of knowledge and the like (not heavy science). If you are reading in a foreign language, it will be half or two thirds depending on your skill level. Definitely less than in your native language. Edited by cordelia0507 on 18 July 2009 at 1:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jar-ptitsa Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5900 days ago 980 posts - 1006 votes Speaks: French*, Dutch, German | Message 10 of 15 18 July 2009 at 1:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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Music's very good for this problem. I agree that it's better to listen music without words because those words and the significance would enter in your thoughts. In my school sometimes we've strategies lessons, for example concentration, and the teacher recommend music. since about some years I've always my iPod and earphones. Before I listened Dvorák Serenade for Strings but not more because I'm fed up with it, and the music must be not sad because it would distract as well in my experience.
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| qklilx Moderator United States Joined 6188 days ago 459 posts - 477 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean Personal Language Map | Message 11 of 15 19 July 2009 at 12:13am | IP Logged | ||
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Like someone in the thread mentioned, my problem isn't outside noise. It's surprisingly quiet in my apartment now that all the kids in the place aren't in elementary school anymore. Also I guess I wasn't clear in my opening post, but I don't go for 20 minutes before losing concentration; I get around that much time during the whole hour in small chunks. I might write down a few words in a word list and find myself thinking about something completely different right after.
I've tried listening to music in the past and sometimes the music will distract me, but perhaps I should go find myself some truly ambient music that doesn't change much at all. Maybe that'll help. Also my computer is never on when I study, and the keyboard is on my bed so I have room to study. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Yukamina Senior Member Canada Joined 6266 days ago 281 posts - 332 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean, French | Message 12 of 15 19 July 2009 at 12:18am | IP Logged | ||
Wow, I can't manage that much. How long is that supposed to take? I'm a pretty slow reader. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6013 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 13 of 15 19 July 2009 at 1:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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qklilx,
We were discussing related stuff a while ago -- specifically doodling. The theory behind doodling and classical music is that they distract the part of the brain that is easily distracted. This stops it moving on to things like "what will I have for dinner tonight" which end up occupying the whole brain. So while you're doing a listening exercise, scribble little patterns in the margins of your notebook, or twiddle an elastic band between your fingers, or learn to do a few pen-tricks -- flicking and spinning a biro is a classic concentration helper. (There was a news anchor on BBC Scotland who made his pen disappear and reappear every minute for years before anyone spotted it.) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jar-ptitsa Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5900 days ago 980 posts - 1006 votes Speaks: French*, Dutch, German | Message 14 of 15 19 July 2009 at 1:31pm | IP Logged | ||
I understand this problem: often I find concentration impossible and it's depressing and nasty. But, as Cainntear wrote, classical music's good. I recommend you the second (slow) movements of concertos (piano or violin) for example Chopin, Mozart and listen them with the earphones. The music must be not loud, but sufficient for block all the other sounds, thoughts, noise. for, me it's for not listening voices, and for you maybe not your thoughts (that your thoughts interrupt your concentration). I hope it will help you. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Gilgamesh Tetraglot Senior Member England Joined 6244 days ago 452 posts - 468 votes 14 sounds Speaks: Dutch, English, German, French Studies: Polish | Message 15 of 15 20 July 2009 at 6:08pm | IP Logged | ||
Private problems? Stressful job? Unhealthy lifestyle? One thing that helps you focus is exercise. It increases the blood flow to your brain, reduces stress and anxiety... I think Professor Arguelles was right to have a physical workout after a linguistic workout every day, I think it does quite a lot for one. Edited by Gilgamesh on 02 August 2009 at 1:23pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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