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Are you struggling to understand all of the bilingualism advantages people keep talking about?
Are you jealous of people already learning their third (or even fourth) language? Does bilingualism seem like something that’s simply out of reach? Do you feel as if you’re being held back by some invisible force to meet your goals in language learning?
Oftentimes we are crippled by our misconceptions of learning another language.
Worse, a lot of people don’t know just how beneficial bilingualism is for the human brain.
As a result, people blindly believe they’re just not smart enough.
Worse, they think that mass marketed learning methods “won’t,” or “don’t” work. That’s a big problem, especially if we’ve hit a wall with our learning journey. We tend to blame the techniques without looking at our strategies for using them.
The Biggest Problems Language Learners Face
We may falsely believe we just don’t have the time to dedicate to learning a language, “It’s too late to start,” or we know we’ll never have the opportunity for immersion learning, so we simply give up.
My guest today on Magnetic Memory Method Podcast is Bartosz Czekala from Universe of Memory.
As a multi-linguist, language teacher, and someone with a background in computer science, econometrics, and legal translation, Bartosz is also strikes me as world class mnemonist. With Polish as his native language, he learned Swedish in only four months, and speaks seven additional languages.
The Ultimate Bilingualism Advantages Await
To share his knowledge, Bartosz’ website pairs memory techniques with learning systems to help you master language learning in fun and creative ways.
Today we run the gamut of the journey of learning another language, from common barrier to success to the methods for guaranteed results and the pros and cons of various learning techniques. We explore the relationship of memory to language studies and the science behind it all.
If you’re looking for a real, unfiltered conversation about language learning, struggling to come to terms with “Is it for me?” this is the podcast for you.
In sum: it is possible to learn a foreign language. You just need to equip yourself with the right tools.
Just press play now to learn about:
- The effect of diet and sleep on memory, specifically fasting and sleep deprivation
- The correlation between focus and concentration and eating habits
- The impact of the sun on overall mental health
- How results are possible with every memory method, but not always optimal
- The impracticality of apps for language learning
- The biggest issues with textbooks and word frequency
- The argument for spaced repetition and its usage for learning another language
- The importance of being a “scientist” in your own mind
- The benefits of context and meaning to learning foreign language vocabulary
- Passive exposure versus active learning
- How knowing multiple languages fortifies the health of your brain’s neural networks, lessen the forgetting curve, and maybe even give you an incredible career
- Pros and cons of immersion and proxemics for language learning
- The differences in language learning in adolescence versus adulthood
Further Resources on the Web, This Podcast, and the MMM Blog:
Bartosz’s Universe of Memory
How to Learn Faster and Rediscover the Joy of Learning
The Science of Language Learning: How Learning a Language Affects Us
How to Learn and Memorize the Vocabulary of Any Language
The Freedom Journal For Language Learning
Teach Yourself (MMM Podcast Interview with Olly Richards)
Stoic Secrets for Using Memory Techniques with Language Learning
4 Responses
This was an amazing discussion! I hope you both schedule another one soon! I was mostly engaged in the discussion of MP’s and SRS strategies to increase our foreign language acquisition. But now, I want to find out more about plant toxins! Thanks so much!
Thanks for checking this one out, Peggy. The plant toxins are indeed a fascinating topic, as are the elimination and rotation diets each person can use to weed them out on an n=1 basis. Stay tuned for more on that soon! 🙂
I sometimes forget words when I am talking with my countrymen in Spanish because being in the USA, English is required in the schools and businesses.
Teachers and students will be happy with no more than 3 corrections per paper. Something to check out is: grade of plants toxicity.
The deskilling you mention is interesting, Maricela. How severe is it?
Thanks for mentioning the grade of plant toxicity. Will look into it.