There’s a place where you learn best. There’s a place where you get your best ideas. And there’s a place that gives you the most energy.
Do you know where these places are for you?
If you don’t know them, it’s worth searching. I know exactly where my high performance zones are.
I have a magic zone for ideas.
It’s the weirdest thing. I get my best ideas in the shower. There is something about the effect of flowing water that also helps ideas flow.
And when it comes time to writing my Spanish lessons, the morning is best for me. That’s what I do everyday at 6:00am.
For other tasks I just have to move.
When I edit my audio lessons, I can’t sit still. I just have to stand up and walk while I listen. It somehow gets me in the right state of mind to empathize with a Spanish beginner. That way, I know my lessons flow and get people speaking without any road blocks.
Yet, when I am learning for myself, I love learning in the car.
I learned so much crossing the border from Mexico to the USA. The Tijuana/San Ysidro border crossing is brutal. There are 24 crossing lanes and it’s not uncommon to have 10 000 cars lined up. An hour stuck in the car waiting is generally considered a short wait
(A few times the crossing was action packed, when the Border Patrol drew their guns on drug traffickers. But, that’s excitement I can live without.)
For me those 60 minutes in a car weren’t boring at all. Instead of just sitting there, I would practice learning languages with audio lessons.
Now my commute/learning time is shorter. I have 12 minutes twice a day before and after I drop my daughter off to school. It’s awesome learning time. Right now I am learning more Italian and loving it.
Those two sessions of 12 minutes are only a little bit of time. Yet, they add up to 2 hours a week. And that’s enough to learn a lot. With the same amount of time you could get by in Spanish after just a few months. And in a year you’ll amaze your amigos with how well you speak their language.
So, find your best learning place, time and position. Look for times and places that make learning fun. And turn dead time into learning time that you enjoy.
The audio lessons in Synergy Spanish are a perfect way to turn downtime, like driving or doing chores, into super effective time. As one of my students said “I don’t even notice the traffic in Los Angeles while driving home.” While the rest of the world is listening to mindless drivel on the radio or just zoning out, why not gain new skills and start communicating in Spanish?
Saludos
Marcus
