{"id":38713,"date":"2016-02-19T21:45:01","date_gmt":"2016-02-20T05:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=38713"},"modified":"2017-08-17T13:21:07","modified_gmt":"2017-08-17T21:21:07","slug":"15-simple-brain-hacks-learn-new-language-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/15-simple-brain-hacks-learn-new-language-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Simple Brain Hacks to Learn a New Language Fast"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><\/p>\n<p>Have you ever given up on learning a new language?<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you studied Spanish at school, and as much as you wanted to become fluent you just couldn\u2019t find the time to practice. Or maybe you just felt like you were never making real progress.<\/p>\n<h3>So that time you went to Mexico, you spent the trip awkwardly stumbling through a menu or pointing vaguely and stuttering \u201c<em>b-ba\u00f1o\u201d whenever nature called.<\/em><\/h3>\n<h3><em>But it\u2019s not your fault, the way we are taught \u2013 particularly at school \u2013 is usually pretty ineffective. Fortunately, this doesn\u2019t have to be your experience with foreign languages.<\/em><\/h3>\n<h3><em>There are some simple tips and tricks to hack your brain into learning a language faster than you ever thought possible. <\/em><\/h3>\n<h3><em>So let\u2019s cut to the chase. We need to admit the real problem here. <\/em><\/h3>\n<h3><em>The problem up until this point is that your mind hasn\u2019t recognized language learning as a priority.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it has been so difficult to stick with it.<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The main thing you need to do to learn a language fast, is to trick your brain into believing that the new language is <u>important<\/u>.<\/p>\n<p>This is why immersion works so well, because <strong>when you have no option but to speak another language your brain literally sees learning that language as a survival mechanism<\/strong>. And suddenly you\u2019ll absorb everything a lot more easily.<\/p>\n<p><em>So how do we do this at home?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To trick our brain into thinking that information is important we need to use certain cognitive tricks.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few situations in which the brain better learns information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the information is absorbed with multiple senses: visual (images), auditory (sounds), kinaesthetic (feelings)<\/li>\n<li>If we perceive it to be immediately useful. First to our survival, then our basic needs, and then our wider experience<\/li>\n<li>If we have already invested (e.g. time or energy) in acquiring it<\/li>\n<li>If we are experiencing positive emotions (passion or motivation) at the time of learning<\/li>\n<li>If the information is bizarre or unusual<\/li>\n<li>If the information needs to be recalled frequently<\/li>\n<li>If we have worked harder to fill in gaps and create patterns or links<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Below I\u2019ve compiled a list of 15 ways in which you can hack your brain using the above 7 principles.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Learn sounds before words.<\/strong> Always learn the sounds of the alphabet properly before you start trying to memorize vocabulary, that way you can practice reading words you haven\u2019t heard out loud yet.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Learn the cognates<\/strong>. Cognates are words similar to those in your language \u2013 they are the easiest words to learn \u2013 there are 1000+ English-Spanish cognates, and you could learn a few hundred in a weekend.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Set measurable goals.<\/strong> There\u2019s an old saying that goes \u2018what gets tracked get achieved\u2019 and this is true with language learning. You need to measure your progress in order to not get stuck.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t \u2018study\u2019.<\/strong> Rote learning and memorization is slow and pointless. Listen and read. Speak and write. That\u2019s it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t do boring things.<\/strong> Only learn with topics that you\u2019re interested in. For example if you like sports, you can read the weekends results in your target language.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Remind yourself \u2018why\u2019.<\/strong> Before trying to learn anything, always take a second to mentally remind yourself why you are doing so \u2013 your mind needs to be conscious of the value of the exercise.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use your Kindle or iPad.<\/strong> Both Kindle and iPad have built in foreign language dictionaries and the option for vocabulary builders.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Learn Esperanto first.<\/strong> Esperanto was created to be an international language, but it never took off. However, if English is your first language, Esperanto is the easiest language to learn and acts as a bridge to help you learn dozens of others.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Start with the high frequency words.<\/strong> Try and find a list of the 500 most common words in your target language and learn these first.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t translate (often).<\/strong> Staying away from translating everything you don\u2019t know will make your brain work harder and see more long term value in investing energy in the language. You should also turn off the subtitles when watching movies, even if you don\u2019t understand much at first.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Connect new words to weird and personal images<\/strong>. For example with the Spanish word for cat \u2018gato\u2019 pronounced gah-toe. You can imagine your cat scratching your feet while you scream \u2018<em>Gah my toe<\/em>.\u2019 Strange, yep, but also memorable.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use a <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.fluentin3months.com\/memory-palace\/\"><strong>memory palace<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> This is a technique used by world memory champions that builds mental \u2018palaces\u2019 and places images in different memorized locations in your mind.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Recall, don\u2019t review.<\/strong> Reviewing things over and over is not good for long term memory \u2013 that\u2019s why we forget the tests that we crammed for. Telling your brain to retrieve information periodically lets it know that the information is important.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use intervals with flash cards.<\/strong> One month is the ideal amount of time to convert information to long term memory. Have a reminder to go back over all the lessons you have one month out from now, for a minimum of three months.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get feedback.<\/strong> If you don\u2019t have a way to get feedback where you live, you can get a digital pen pal with a site such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.italki.com\/\">italki<\/a>. Or you can upload a Youtube Video and ask for feedback (if you\u2019re really brave).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>It\u2019s time you learned that language you\u2019ve been putting off. Remember the most important thing is to relax and have fun because that\u2019s when your brain really opens up to learning.<\/p>\n<p>Have you had any success with these techniques? How have you learned languages? Let us know in the comments.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Attention Pick The Brain Readers!<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thank you for reading this post, I hope you enjoyed it!<\/p>\n<p>To show my appreciation I just want to offer you my FREE eBook guide:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.projectmonkeymind.com\/pick-the-brain-morning-mastery\">Morning Mastery: the simple 20 minute routine for long-lasting energy, laser-sharp focus, and stress free living<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you want an easy way to get more out of your mornings and start the day off right, this is exactly what you need.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.projectmonkeymind.com\/pick-the-brain-morning-mastery\">Click here<\/a> to get your copy now.<\/p>\n<p><em>Ben Fishel is a freelance writer, and the creator of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.projectmonkeymind.com\/unconcious-mental-barriers-quiz\/\">Project Monkey Mind<\/a> \u2013 a blog that delves deep into psychology, spirituality, and the mind, and offers practical wisdom for the digital age.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever given up on learning a new language?<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you studied Spanish at school, and as much as you wanted to become fluent you just couldn\u2019t find the time to practice. Or maybe you just felt like you were never making real progress. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/15-simple-brain-hacks-learn-new-language-fast\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10935,"featured_media":39140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2162],"tags":[3524,4923,4674,66,4629],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>15 Simple Brain Hacks to Learn a New Language Fast<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you ever given up on learning a new language? 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