Howdy.

My last post reminded me of a few things I’ve picked up about the brain that I want to share with you. In particular, the way our brain learns a language.

See, there are two main parts of our gray matter that learn to speak, and they do it in very different ways.

First there’s the “conscious” way. You know, the usual stuff like language lessons, repetition, note-taking and a kind of deliberate, focused learning.

Then there’s the other way… which happens at a different level, in the part of the brain that babies use to learn a language. This part is much more unconscious and is the part that is active when babies babble – busily making sounds that are a little bit like English (or Italian, or Swahili) but not recognizable. Gradually though, these babblings do become words, without any real effort by the baby.

My friend who learned Italian through audio programs was, without realizing it, using BOTH parts of her brain (maybe that’s why she learned it so fast!). When she listened to her Italian audio classes, she activated her “conscious” or “adult” part of her brain. She studied verbs, repeated words, looked things up in dictionaries and generally did everything she could think of to be able to read off a real Italian menu.

On the other hand, when she listened to podcasts of Italian radio, she engaged the other, “baby,” part of her brain (think subconscious mind). She often caught herself mumbling along with the talkshow callers – not in Italian, just using noise that sounded a bit like Italian.

Perhaps you’ve experienced something like this yourself… when you realized you are singing along to a song on the radio without ever sitting down to learn it “properly.”

When you are in this kind of distracted state (like when you’re pushing a vacuum around the house or out jogging, and not thinking about anything in particular), a brain scan would show a different kind of wave pattern. It is almost a meditative state and is a powerful place to be if you want to learn something new. When you are in this state, whatever you are listening to, whether an audio self help program, the news, or an ad, can speak directly to your unconscious, without needing to fight its way past the “Gatekeeper” that is your conscious mind.

Learning to use this kind of state in your downtime (even a few minutes waiting in the doctor’s office will do), or to meditate, opens you up to huge possibilities because such is the power of the subconscious mind.

Worth thinking about isn’t it? I’d like your comments on this, if you’ve got a minute.

Ciao!

Taylor

P.S. If you appreciate the effectiveness of self help audio, or you’re open to the idea of improving aspects of your life this way, you will be glad to see what I have in store for you.