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BulletproofMemory Lesson 1

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102 views3 pages

BulletproofMemory Lesson 1

Uploaded by

Katia Leliakh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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How to “Bulletproof” your memory!

Bulletproof Memory Mini-course Day 1

“I’d like to think I can improve my memory,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“But the truth is… my memory just isn’t very good...”

“I’m a bit of a lost cause.”

Sound familiar?

You’ve probably heard stuff like this before… or ever said it yourself!

But here’s the thing…

However you currently feel about your memory, your mind, or your “natural” ability to learn
foreign languages, you CAN and WILL develop the ability to effortlessly remember new
vocabulary in ANY language.

Not only that, but you can learn to easily recall that vocabulary ON DEMAND, so your
conversations flow better and you’re rarely lost for words.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Well, you’re going to learn exactly how to do this over the course of three emails. (You’re
reading #1 right now!)

Before we start, though, I have one demand:

You need to be open to the idea that a better memory is possible.

Many people are not. (Such as the guy I quoted at the start of this email. Most of my
conversations about memory go exactly like that, and it’s a problem!)

Many people have become used to the idea that their memory is "a lost cause”, and that their
language learning is doomed to mediocrity.

If you’ve thought that before… things are about to change.

Ready?

Good.

(Before we get started, please star this email, or mark it as important… we don’t want you to
miss the rest of the course, or the emails to end up in your spam folder!)

But first, you need to learn one of the KEY principles of memory in language learning, that can
save you hours, months, and years of your life, and a lot of frustration...

Copyright 2016 - I Will Teach You a Language


What Are You Going To Memorize?
The first step to a successful memory in language learning is choosing what to learn, and what
not to learn in the first place.

Let me explain, using English as an example...


• There are 1,025,109 words in the English language (estimate from 2014)
• The most frequent 10,000 words in English cover 97.2% of all words
• The most frequent 1,000 in English cover 85.5% of all words
Think about this for a minute.

Out of over 1 million words in English, you only need 1,000 of them in order to cover 85% of
everything that’s spoken!

Given that most foreign languages follow a similar pattern, what does this mean for you and your
language learning?

That’s right!

If you’re not careful, you can spend all your time learning words you’ll never need!

On the flip side, if you learn the right words there’s a clear shortcut!

This means that you have to be very selective about the words you choose to learn.

With a finite amount of time in the day, it’s up to you to choose…


• Learn useful words, or
• Learn words you’ll never need
Makes sense, right?

EXAMPLE
Let’s say you’re learning French, because you want to retire to a village in the South of France.

You’re still a relative beginner.


1. You’re working your way through a popular French textbook, and in one particular
chapter of the book, you learn 10 words you might need to go through airport security in
French.
2. Later that week, you attend a language event, and you meet a friendly French man, who
lets you practice your French with him. As you get to know each other, you encounter 10
words you didn’t know. (You write them down afterwards, in case you forget!)
The next day, you have a choice…
• Do you learn your textbook vocabulary about airport security?
• Or do you learn the words from the conversation?
The answer should be obvious.
• You will likely never need to speak French in airport security
• Therefore, that vocabulary will be very “low value”
• Meanwhile, the words from the conversation will almost certainly come up again -
probably in your next chat!
• Therefore, learning them will immediately help you speak French better
Despite this, most people simply work through their textbook, one chapter after another, blindly
trying to learn everything they encounter.

This is not smart learning.

Copyright 2016 - I Will Teach You a Language


Smart Learning vs Hard Learning
This is how two people, with exactly the same amount of free time, can get vastly different results
in their language learning.

It’s about smart learning, not hard learning.

The tricky bit can be to decide which words to learn.

After all, just because a word is in your textbook, it doesn’t mean you need to learn it!

(I recently picked up a beginners Spanish book, and it spent an entire chapter listing obscure
body parts that only a doctor would need to know!)

So, one of my most effective memory strategies for learning foreign languages quickly, is to think
very hard about what I will spend my time learning.

This means I don’t waste my time, and everything I work hard to memorize will be immediately
useful to me in conversation.

By doing things this way, for every new word you learn, your ability to speak the language
improves at the same time. (And I’m guessing that’s what you want!)
Now, how do you choose which words to learn?
1. As you go about your language study, you’ll come across hundreds of new words
2. Your job is to look at everything and think: “Which words and phrases are going to be
most useful for me?”
3. Think: “Am I likely to need this in conversation this week?”
4. Be ruthless about choosing only those words you answer "Yes!" to
5. Remember, just because it’s in your textbook, course, or lesson, it doesn’t mean you
should spend time and effort learning it right now
Can you see how this is a big deal?
By developing this sense of what to memorize, you immediately become a faster, more efficient
language learner.

ACTION POINT: When you sit down to study your target language today, look over all the new
words you come across, and ask yourself critically which ones would be truly useful for you to
learn.

(Hint: This is as much about the words you don’t choose, as the ones you do!)

Tomorrow’s Lesson
In tomorrow’s Bulletproof Memory lesson, you’re going to learn:

• The simple mental trick you can use to commit new words to memory for life
• What you need to do immediately after discovering a new word
• Two kinds of difficult words, and how to memorize them instantly

See you in day 2!

Olly

P.S. Before you go - what’s your biggest struggle with memory in language learning? Can you go
back and reply to my email and let me know? (A couple of sentences is fine!)

Copyright 2016 - I Will Teach You a Language

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