Emotions play a huge role in the way our brains store knowledge.

Ever wondered why you can remember some things like they were yesterday and others disappear into a memory void?

What if you could make emotions work for you in your language learning?

What if there were some very simple tricks for making knowledge stick?

Here are some tricks for helping with just that.

Emotionally Charged

Our brains are wired to remember emotional events.

Think back to any past experience involving elation or distress. A car accident. Weddings. Arguments. Breakups.

You’ll find that you can remember a huge amount of detail that would normally be lost to us. Details stand out in technicolour; bright and vivid. This is because our brains consider these events ‘important’.

Our brain wants to remember important events. The details concerning great upheavals or copious amounts of joy are by their very nature worth remembering.

So how can you use this ‘feature’ in your learning?

When you need to learn something new, try and add emotional meaning to whatever it is you are trying to learn.

Dig up those feelings and trick your brain into thinking this new information is relevant. Listen to music that carries emotional weight. Go somewhere that brings back fond memories.

These are all things you can do to add emotional flavour to your study, but ultimately, it will be subjective and only you can figure out what will work.

Good Luck!