Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Say it 18 times

Want to learn your A&P terminology quickly and easily?  In a recent post, I told you that one way to do that is to work on six new words every day.  My friend Jane, the foreign language professor, gave me another tip to help learn new terminology: say each new term out loud at least 18 times.

Apparently, there's evidence suggesting that to "own" a new word, you have to say it out loud at least 18 times.  The vocalization, along with the repetition, apparently help to reinforce memories in the various language areas in your brain.  Which means that you can recall and use the terms easily.

I know that seems silly . . . even childish.  But think about it.  Silly as it may seem, isn't it worth reducing your study time and improving your knowledge quickly?


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2 comments:

Jeff said...

Do you have a reference to the study on "own" a new word? I have looked for it but have not been able to find it.

Thanks!

Kevin Patton said...

Thanks for the question bravo. I didn't cite a study in my post, I was summarizing a conversation with a colleague who teaches foreign languages, who was speaking from her experience. I'll try to see if she was thinking of a specific study.

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