Psychological tricks to help you learn English by tricking your brain

How to learn English with the help of hypnosis or in just a month, we will not succeed. But we will tell you what features of the psyche can be used to effectively and quickly learn English. These techniques will not harm your mental health, but will make it easier to learn new vocabulary and grammar of a foreign language, writes Englex.

1. The effect of the "yellow marker", or the effect of isolation

This psychological phenomenon lies in the fact that we remember well an object that stands out from the background of others. For example, when you walk down the street, dozens of people pass by. In the evening, you are unlikely to remember passers-by in ordinary outfits, but you will not forget a girl in an acid-colored dress or a guy with a mohawk on his head.

By the way, this method is actively used by the media to manipulate our consciousness. In this way, insignificant events are sometimes blown up to unprecedented proportions with the help of interesting reports, impressive photographs, etc. This is usually done to divert our attention from some more important topic.

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How to use: Let's say you have a word that you can't remember, like comb. Try to “introduce” it into a selection of contrasting words: make yourself a list of 9 words on the topic “food” (or any other topic not related to beauty), and write comb as the last. Now learn these ten words in the way you are used to. You will see that the “contrasting” word comb was remembered first and firmly entrenched in memory. So you can learn all the words that you often meet, but cannot remember.

2. Audience effect

This psychological effect is different for everyone. For example, some work quietly in a separate office, where no one is watching them, where there is no “audience”. Others, on the contrary, are activated when they are in the same room with colleagues and the boss. That is, in fact, they work in full view of the audience.

How to use: To begin with, determine whether the presence of people nearby motivates you or, on the contrary, you are shy of them. Based on this, choose the most productive way to learn English. Let's say if you like the spirit of competition, go study English in group courses. If the presence of third-party observers is embarrassing, study individually with a teacher or on your own.

3. The effect of charisma, or the effect of Dr. Fox

This is a very interesting phenomenon that is often used by salespeople, sales managers, marketers and other people who want to sell you something. The effect is that the charisma of the person who tells you something is much more important than WHAT he tells. That is, a charming seller can easily sell you a carpet, even if you came for sausage.

How to use: Carefully "screen out" all the information about learning English that comes to you. For several years now, we have seen a tendency for skilled speakers to confidently sell a dubious product: a super method for learning 999 words in 30 minutes, an English course "for the imbeciles", etc. These people speak so interestingly that you just want to buy another "super pill" from problems with English” and resolve all issues. At this moment, we need to remember the effect of Dr. Fox and think about whether it is worth believing beautiful speeches.

4. Effect of authorship, or effect of generation

This psychological feature is best manifested in adults. It consists in the fact that a person best of all remembers the material that he himself invented. For example, if you write an essay, you will remember it better than reading someone else's text. And all because in the process of creating an essay, your brain was actively working and the information was deposited in your memory.

How to use: This effect can be used when learning new words or grammar structures. For example, you need to learn 7 new words. Make up a story with them, and you will remember them well. Learned the would rather construction — make up 10 examples of your own using this construction. In both cases, it is desirable that both the story and the examples concern you.

5. Effect of unfinished action, or Zeigarnik effect

This phenomenon is that we remember incomplete actions better than completed ones. That is, if you didn’t do something to the end and you were distracted, after a while you will perfectly remember what you were doing. If you brought the matter to the end and only then switched to the next task, after a while the memory will erase the memories of the first case. That is why at school and university all our knowledge disappeared immediately after the exam.

How to use: In order for the information not to be forgotten, it is necessary that it remains relevant for you. That is, you cannot stop learning English, even if you have reached the desired level. For example, keep watching movies and TV shows to learn modern vocabulary from there, read books in English so as not to forget how English sentences are built correctly, etc.

6. Law of interest

We think it is difficult to argue with this law: we easily remember what we are interested in. For example, we forget to buy bread, but we can tell the content of our favorite series, even if we are awakened in the middle of the night.

How to use: Only you can make English interesting. To do this, choose such methods of studying it that you enjoy. Let's say learn English through movies and TV shows, games and songs.

7. The law of beginning and end, or the law of retroactive and proactive inhibition

According to this law, when studying any material, we remember the first and last blocks of information best of all. The fact is that each subsequent block of information worsens the perception of the previous block, and at the same time, each previous block worsens the perception of the next one. For example, if you read some text in which there are no bright unusual events, then you will best remember its beginning and end.

The Stirlitz method is based on these laws. This is the name of the manipulation technique when you present the most important information at the very beginning and end of the conversation. For example, if you ask the waiter to recommend some dishes to you, then in most cases stop at the first and last. Be careful: some restaurateurs are well aware of this law and force waiters to name stale dishes first and last in order to sell them to guests faster.

How to use: First, you can separate blocks of information so that they do not follow one after another. For example, learn 10 new words in the morning, as soon as you wake up, the first information that enters the brain will be well remembered. It is also effective to study something before going to bed: the last block of information received that day will be stored in memory.

Secondly, you can arrange your independent English lesson so that the most important exercises are at the beginning and at the end.

8. The paradox of choice

Surely all of you have heard about this psychological phenomenon: the wider the range, the more difficult it is to make a choice. For example, you came to a cafe and decided to order dessert. You open the menu hoping to quickly find your favorite cheesecake and ... you see 29 types of this delicacy. And next to it modestly sheltered a simple and time-tested "Napoleon". Psychologists say that in most cases you will choose "Napoleon" and do not want to understand the numerous varieties of cheesecakes.

How to use: A similar situation of choice constantly arises before learners of English: first you need to choose a way to master the language. And as soon as we coped with this, another choice arises before us. If you decide to study with a teacher, you must choose courses or a personal teacher. If you study on your own, you have to decide on the resources for learning, and there are hundreds of them on the Internet.

9. The effect of the choice made, or the distortion of the perception of the choice made

So, you have already made a choice, and now it is important not to fall into an interesting trap. We always zealously defend what we ourselves have chosen: shoes with uncomfortable heels (you don’t understand anything, they are so cute!), A hateful place of work (what do you mean, I have a stable income!) etc. It’s so difficult for us to refuse from old habits, things and beliefs that we ourselves spoil our lives.

How to use: We cling to our beliefs about learning English as tightly as to beautiful but uncomfortable shoes with 15 cm heels. Therefore, we suggest that you do not use this psychological effect, but fight it. If you're still keeping a three-column dictionary and cramming grammar rules by heart, read "Not books alone: ​​8 non-banal ways to learn English".

10. The principle of “first is right”, or the principle of priority

Our psyche is arranged in such a way that we most of all trust the information we received first. Even if after that we find more reliable and useful information, our brain will refuse to accept it. The fact is that it is almost impossible to immediately assess the reliability of the first information received, so we accept it as correct. And then it is very difficult to question your attitudes and change them.

How to use: Carefully consider the choice of sources of knowledge and teacher. So, an unqualified teacher or a poor-quality textbook can give you knowledge incorrectly, and this information will firmly sit in your head, and relearning is always more difficult than learning.

For example, our teachers often encounter students who pronounce clothes as /kləʊðəz/ instead of /kləʊðz/. It is very difficult to retrain them, because at school they were taught the wrong pronunciation, which was deposited in their memory.

11. Method of associations, or mnemonics

Surely you have heard about this method of learning new words. Mnemonics (or mnemonics) are used by world champions in memory - people who remember information in fantastically large volumes. This method consists in the fact that when learning a new word, you select an association to it, which helps to remember the information.

How to use: Mnemonics work differently. First, you can try to associate English words with Russian ones: owl /aʊl/ (owl) - an owl flies around the village.

Secondly, you can try visual associations: learn the word ring (ring) and imagine Frodo with the Ring of Omnipotence.

Thirdly, you can try the method of the Roman room or Cicero's chain, which was used by Julius Caesar. This technique seems a little strange, but Andy Bell, the world champion from memory, uses it, so check it out, maybe it will work for you. Take the 10 words or phrases that you need to learn, walk around your room and mentally "put" each word or phrase on some object. After that, walk around the room and try to remember where each word "lies". Then close your eyes and imagine the room mentally, try to remember all the words again - they should be well fixed in memory.

12. Effect of mechanical actions

Movement is not only life, but also a good memory. Mechanical actions activate the work of the brain, and we begin to remember information more actively. So, many schoolchildren, when studying poetry, walk around the room while pronouncing the lines to the beat of the steps. Blood circulation improves, the brain is better supplied with oxygen, and therefore the memorization process is faster.

How to use: Try walking around the room or doing some simple physical exercises when learning new words or grammatical structures. So you will improve not only knowledge, but also physical form.

This psychological trick may have a small "side effect". Some people can only remember learned information if they perform the same actions as when learning it.

13. The method of "scribbled pen"

At school and university, we were forced to write hundreds of pens. The idea of ​​the teachers was not to enrich the stationery shops, but to force both mechanical and visual memory to work at the same time.

How to use: It is not necessary to write everything in a row, as you will only overload the brain and begin to dislike us for such advice 🙂 Write down only what you can’t remember in any way: difficult words, examples of sentences with complex grammar, etc.

14. The principle of visibility

For the most part, people are visuals, so we perceive visual diagrams and tables much easier than solid text. For example, if you need to find a building, it will be much easier to do this by looking at the map than by reading the description of the road from your house to the desired point.

How to use: It is not in vain that we always advise using textbooks by English-speaking authors instead of Russian textbooks, in which the grammar is explained in a complicated way and signed for several pages. While authentic textbooks usually use short explanations, diagrams, tables to highlight the grammatical topic. Despite the lack of explanations in Russian, it is easier to understand such a manual than a textbook in your native language.

15. The principle of repetition

Repetition is not only an important principle of learning something new, but also a very cunning psychological technique widely used to manipulate our consciousness. So, repeated repetition of information makes a person unconsciously remember it and find its application. Gradually, this information seems to us no longer received from outside, but our own conviction. That is why, although we do not like advertising, we still buy yogurts with live bacteria and toothpaste with a 3D whitening effect.

How to use: Be sure to repeat the studied material. Only geniuses with a unique memory can memorize material at a glance, while ordinary people need to repeat information several times in order for it to be stored in memory for a long time.

16. The principle of "memory is not rubber"

Empirically, scientists managed to find out that our memory perfectly assimilates 7 +/- 2 units of information in one approach. That is why, despite the popularity of the “Learn 999 new words a day” methods, we see very few examples of people who actually managed to do this. And all because short-term memory is not infinite.

How to use: Learn no more than 5-9 new words a day, then they will be remembered normally and you will have time to repeat them. Go for quality of memory, not quantity.