Developing your conversational flow: Why cramming will not help you speak more easily!

Does your conversational flow feel choppy because you keep forgetting words you thought you had learnt ?

Today, you are going to understand better:

• Why cramming words and overstudying will not help you speak better. 
• Why visualising and observing will make a massive difference to your instant recall.
• How you can do this yourself and enjoy more confident conversations.

Why long term memory is more efficient than short term memory to learn.

Oui! When you learn something in a last minute like for an exam, you’ll remember and will likely have a great mark. However, in a few months or year, you may know remember anything about the subject! So, non, it’s not a good idea to use your short term memory if you want to remember for the rest of your life…

Imagine there’s a natural catastrophe and the victims need a shelter. Therefore, organisations build something fast to offer a kind of house. It’s effective because they have a place where to sleep but it can crumble easily after. On the other hand, if you want a strong house, you want to build it bit by bit and make sure it will last for years to come.

The same happens with your memory. Do you want to secure your learning in your head? Learn bit by bit with chunks of information. And USE them - a LOT!

Indeed, your brain is powerful but it’s not a machine. It’s just like you. It requires energy and is limited in retention. Nonetheless, some fantastic long term memory strengthening techniques exist. You are going to learn them today…

Visualising enhance memorisation.

Did you know that before learning something, you can prepare yourself in order to boost? For instance, before reading a book, you can have a look at the chapters to grasp the main ideas. That way, you’ll read in a more practical way.

When you learn an instrument, you can visualise the music sheet before you actually play it.

Concerning your French, you should do the same to put yourself in the context. After all, all words in any language share the same image. We simply change the word and the pronunciation. Indeed, an apple is an apple, the fruit with some seeds inside and other characteristics.  But, you’ll say and write it differently based on the language: “pomme” (French), “manzana” (Spanish), “Apfel” (German), “ringo” (Japanese) etc.

Basically, you know the name of the object or concept in your native language that you can visualise. Now, your job is to learn the pronunciation and the spelling. Therefore, think about the new word in your head… like “porte”.  

Connect visualisation and action.

At this stage, you are aware how important visualisation is. Let’s add a layer. This time, picture yourself doing something with this new word. In case of the French word “porte”, you could do things like opening and closing it or repairing it or painting it etc.

Whenever, you do something with the word, the easier it gets to memorise. Why? Because you make it your own, just like when you come up with your own examples. This new word, visualisation, you in it …. speak to yourself. Context is key. That explains why you put yourself in an imaginary situation: you’ll remember more easily and be abe to recall on demand in that spontaneous conversation you want. 

Visualise yourself in action and talk.

After having visualised it, you could add more of your learning skills. By the way, note that, the more details you add to your image, the better like the colour, the material, the shape…

Now, we are going to discover the kinesthetic approach. This concept implies that you are active as a student. Indeed, you have a physical participation. It’s when you touch things, you move…Going back to our word “porte”, if you actually open and close a door and at the same time you repeat the word, you’ll be adding another dimension to your learning - strengthening those brain cells and making it easier to recall in different situations. 

Picture yourself in a real situation.

Let’s stretch what you have just learned. You have just seen that doing something and saying the word will reinforce its retention. Once you get accustomed to the word, you could use it in a context so it is embedded in a real natural conversation.

With our word “porte”, imagine you want to buy a new door and you go to a D.I.Y shop. Surely, you’ll use this word a lot! You could be specific with the description of the door you are looking for:

• Pardon, je cherche une porte blanche pour ma maison.” >>> Excuse-me, I’m looking for a white door for my house”.

Whenever a new word naturally goes into a sentence, this word isn’t new anymore. Now, you use it fluently and are capable of creating flawless sentences with it. Bravo!

How visualisation is so powerful for your memory.

As you can see, with powerful memorisation techniques, you are able to learn many words (and more) and increase this retention. Maybe in the beginning, you could remember 10 words per day, then 15, then 20… Don’t forget that your memory is like a muscle. The more you use your brain, the more effective it gets. 

This visualisation technique has been proven and international memory expert Dominic O’Brian wrote a book about the subject. Besides, he has personally used it to win the world memory competition 8 times!

There are somehow 3 steps when it comes to learn a new word: first it’s to put it into your brain, then it’s to make sure it stays as much as possible inside. Finally - solidifying your learning should help with instant recall in diiferent, spontaneous situations. 

How can you guarantee that it will stick in your brain? Facile! You use it as much as possible in real conversations.

Visualisation to memorise: step by step.

Let’s recap. How do you learn a new word effectively? Here are the steps:

1. Observe your new word
2. Pronounce it out loud
3. Add physical movement to the learning
4. Apply your new word in a conversation
5. Put a reminder on your object to recall this but only in a note form.
6. Put that reminder somewhere away
7. Touch it and pronounce it
8. In your next conversation, use it!

The best way to check if this method works for you is to give it a try. 

 Observe, visualise and memorise to develop your conversation flow.

In conclusion, putting too much information into your brain won’t help. You could remember for a short amount of time. Instead, start practicing powerful long term memory techniques like visualisation.

Not only do you need to memorise your new word, but you also should retain it as much time as possible.

By observing and visualising a new word, you will get an instant recall because you already have the image in your brain. Your “only” job is to associate this image to the new spelling and pronunciation.

So, tell me, how do you learn your new French words? Each student has their own learning styles. What works best for you?