Today, I would like to invite you to connect with this fabulous machine that is your brain, to tame it to use it better, and to take full advantage of its potential in your French learning!
A better understanding of how the brain works when it learns definitely helps put in place the best strategies to get a fast and long-lasting result!
I will firstly share 3 tips to help you to learn new information. Secondly, you will discover the winning combo to strengthen neural connections and therefore memorize! Moreover, along with the blog post, I will share with you my coach’s advice.
Three tips to learn new information
Our 3 tips for learning new information are: be focused, cultivate dopamine, and activate your networks.
1-Be focused!
To learn new information: new neural connections must be created.
And to create new neural connections you need to: be focused, put attention, and be concentrated during the learning process.
The brain has a limited number of neuronal resources: what configuration allows or prevents me from concentrating and therefore using these resources optimally?
To promote attention and enable the brain to correctly process all new information, you should reduce sources of distraction.
Sources of distraction can be divided into two categories: external and internal.
External factors: noise, place, people, telephone…
Internal factors: fatigue, stress, preoccupation, hunger…
Let me share with you the analysis of my own attention at work :
– elements that short-circuit attention: hunger, tiredness, boredom, phone next to me, lack of interest in a task or subject
– elements that promote attention: silence or relaxing music, being comfortably installed, no phone
Your coach’s advice:
– Analyze the internal and external elements that short-circuit and/or favor your attention.
– Make sure you work on your French particularly when the environment (intern/extern) allows you to focus.
– Avoid multi-tasking
2- Take dopamine shots!
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that allows communication within the nervous system. It promotes the creation of new brain connections. So the creation of the number of connections depends on the level of dopamine.
Dopamine is definitely essential in the learning process.
Bringing something new to your French learning path is an excellent ways to increase dopamine.
Your coach’s advice :
– Vary the types of activities around French and make learning as enjoyable as possible by adapting it to you and your preferences.
3-Work like a spider!
The brain organizes information in the form of a network: all information is linked together like a big spider’s web.
We all have an incredible amount of information already stored in our brains.
It is efficient to connect what we are learning to things already stored in our brain (memories, information, knowledge, strategies, images, sounds…).
Your coach’s advice:
Making connections between the language we are learning and the other languages we already speak can be a good strategy to stimulate language acquisition.
How to strengthen neuronal connections?
Why is it important to strengthen connections?
The stronger a connection is, the faster our brain will access the information, and so the more it will work on automatic pilot (we want to be able to speak French without thinking!!!).
That is to say, it is important to strengthen the connections we have just created.
To do this, here is a winning combo = repetition + practice + exposure.
1- Repetition
To avoid the information pass into oblivion, it is necessary to multiply the contacts with the new information.
There are many ways to “repeat” information. Choose the techniques that you like, and that work best for you.
For example, here is a non-exhaustive list of what you can do : make a list, create a mind map, make a chart, read aloud, record yourself, write…
2- Practice
It is important to put what you learn into practice.
By appropriating new knowledge and linking it to real and personal contexts, you will boost your long-term memory.
You will have excellent results if you practice the language with a range of activities that you enjoy doing.
In other words, put the new knowledge into context and use it in a communication way.
Your Coach’s advice:
Remember to space out training and repetition: spaced learning is the best for long-term memory.
3- Exposure :
In addition, ongoing exposure to language (in all its forms and any context) is good for maintaining connections.
Go ahead, be a “French addict”: wake up in French, eat in French, sleep in French!
I am sharing here the link to a podcast for French learners to help you increase your exposure to French.
To conclude, I hope that you are now excited to team up with your brain to learn French in an effective way!
