Hi, James.
I teach English as a profession and in doing this there are a lot of times I have students
that I notice I don't think they're getting the most out of their English.
So this one is dedicated to students and helping them learn.
Today I want to teach you how to be more effective in getting information or learning from your
English lessons.
Now, most of your teachers are really, really good.
It's just like life.
You've got some good, some bad.
So if you think the teachers are good, you might say, "Why am I learning?"
Well, it's not your fault.
It's probably not your teacher's fault, but there are ways of learning.
My philosophy is if you're not laughing, you're not learning.
It doesn't mean you have to be on the floor, but it does mean that a sense of humor makes
things interesting.
The key here is interest.
If something is interesting, you remember it.
Remember the last party you were at?
Remember that cute girl?
She smiled at you.
Or that cute boy?
Or if you're a guy, that cute boy and that cute girl.
Who knows?
Who cares?
But it was interesting.
It was interesting, so you remember it.
One of the most effective things to do is find a teacher that you find interesting.
At least you will pay attention and the information will stick.
Now, here's another thing.
Okay.
You're not going to like this, but here's the truth about education.
You got to repeat.
Yes.
Many students think, and I love it, I see it all the time, they come in, they sit down,
they smile at me, I smile at them, then they went, "Boom."
They wait for the information to go inside their head and then grow.
It doesn't work that way.
Work is required.
First, it's got to be interesting, then you have to work.
What you work at, you remember.
I'll give you a little play.
What goes inside your head?
Now, remember, the first thing is make it interesting, okay?
When you work on something, your brain, you have neurons, okay?
I'll draw them like little brains, okay?
When you learn something, one brain sends a chemical to another brain cell, your neurons,
and they go, "Hey, we just learned something."
Okay?
But this communication or connection is very weak.
So the first time you learn something, this is basically what happens.
So, so what?
This is important.
This is good.
It means the brain has actually picked something up.
So the next step is, uh-oh, here we go, review, and that's usually in the form of, yeah, homework.
You know that homework you get all the time?
Yeah, it's kind of important because if in the 24 to 48 hour, you review or do homework,
these connections get strong.
So your memory is actually increased a little bit.
That means when you need to get the information, you have a greater ability to bring it back.
That's why in class, when you do your homework, the teacher has a question, you go, "I remember
that."
That's right.
You did the homework.
You reviewed.
So now we've gone to second stage.
Connections are stronger.
Well, if you want to make that almost go into long-term memory, you want to remember for
a long time, uh-oh, I make that face because you've got to do something again, you've got
to review it by the end of the week.
So within five to seven days, okay, you have to review it.
Here's the magic.
When you do that, these two brains go, "Ooh, this is a lot of work," and they actually,
they bring in another neuron.
That makes it long-term.
That means in a week, two weeks, three weeks, you'll remember what you learned.
And here's the bad news.
That usually comes in the form of a test.
Yeah, all those tests they're giving you, there's a reason for it.
Why am I telling you all of this, you might say.
Well, I've always felt that when students understand what they're doing, they tend to
perform it or do better at it.
You now know, first of all, make class interesting.
One way to make class interesting is to ask questions.
Ask them of the teacher.
Ask them of your fellow students.
This way, you're connected with the classroom.
It's interesting.
Your brain will pay attention.
Next step, make sure you review.
That means do the homework you're assigned, also use the information, okay?
Number one, remember, make it interesting.
Be a part of the class.
Ask questions in the class.
Always ask your teachers.
You're paying for them.
Talk to them.
Talk to fellow students.
If you feel like you belong, you'll be interested in what's going on.
Number two, what was the second one I said?
Do your homework.
I don't know how many students don't do homework and then say, "I don't remember anything."
I go, "That's your problem, not mine," all right?
Do your homework.
Also, review the work.
Best thing to do, do 50% of the homework while you're in school, wait a few hours, do the
other 50% at home.
The reason for this is this, when you get home, because there's been time in between,
you'll try and remember, and things you don't remember, you can ask your teacher tomorrow.
That helps with the reviewing process, right?
Review your work.
And the third step, within five to seven days, even if the teacher doesn't give you a test,
test yourself.
Take some of the homework you did, get a blank sheet, and then redo it.
See how much you remember.
It's not the test that's important, it's the reviewing.
Because you're going over it, you're forcing your brain to work on it again.
That goes into long-term memory.
When that happens, you'll remember weeks from now and months.
Now, if you want to always remember, well, I can't promise, always, here's what you do.
In two or three weeks, review the information.
You'll find months from now, you'll remember it like it was yesterday.
Now, I hope this has been helpful for you.
I find when I teach my students this, the ones who do it learn twice as fast as the
regular students.
I can't promise miracles, but I do promise if you do the work, you'll get the results.
Now, if you want to learn any more about English, okay, come with me.
Let me show you.
I want you to remember it, so I'm going to repeat it three times.
No, I'm kidding.
You've got enough.
But you understand basic pattern.
At the end of this video, you'll notice that the blue screen will come on, it'll list the
things you should do and when you should do them, and I'll make a bet with you.
If you try this for one week, I bet you'll notice, well, actually, let's say two weeks,
your attention or your ability to remember will be heightened, made greater.
In fact, I'm willing to bet a free lesson, but you can only collect it if you go to www.engvid.com
and go to the free section, okay?
And you can ask me a question.
Go to the forum.
I know, a lot of talking.
You've got English to learn.
We've got other lessons.
So, here's what we're going to do, right?
We're going to go to www.engvid.com.
Go there, go to the forum, learn more English, or myself or other teachers will be happy
to teach you.
Okay?
Have a great day.
Good learning.
Take care.
You remember what I said?
Go to www.engvid.com.