Study Immediately Before Retiring & Immediately Upon Waking

by Dan
(Woodhaven, N.Y.)

I've found that dedicating the last conscious moments of your day to studying and also studying the same exact material upon waking the following morning can really help your retention of the subject. Prepare for your bedtime a little earlier than normal and take whatever language learning media you are using to bed with you. Decide upon a certain chapter or portion and read, listen to or watch it at least twice (whatever fits into 1/2 to 1 hour). Then close the book, turn-off the CD or DVD as well as the lights and go to sleep. DO NOT READ, LISTEN TO OR WATCH ANYTHING ELSE! Just go to sleep. The next morning when you wake immediately study the same material. You will find that without any distractions after your study session the night before and before your morning session you will begin to retain more of the material. This method has been a big help to me in learning Spanish and I hope that it can help you in whatever language you are trying to master.