Learning 3 languages in a Month: Day 2 Japanese

My original plan to use articles from the BBC has actually failed in a way. This is because, despite how many languages the BBC website has, it does not have Japanese nor Italian. As a result, I'm having to look for articles from other sources.

Japanese will be a great deal more difficult for me than Spanish given my lack of exposure to it. I can understand a few phrases here and there thanks to watching several Studio Ghibli films with the subtitles on. However, reading it is an entirely different story, and I imagine learning the language (I'm going to be focusing on the phonetic portion of the language) will be VERY challenging. Unlike the languages with a latin root, I won't be able to rely on my knowledge of the roman alphabet.

So in order to be able to read it, I would also have to learn a whole new alphabet.

Following the advice of a native speaker, I began by learning Hiragana, part of the phonetic alphabet of Japanese. t is a sister form to Katakana.

 How Hiragana works

Having the "Hiragana base characters" helped me understand how it was structured.

• The column determines the first syllable- with the phi-symbol denoting a lack of first syllable
• The row determines the second syllable. They are basically vowels.
• Example:  The sound of "Na" would be な. While the sound of "Ni" would be に. Together the sound "Nani" is written as
  なに (which means "what" in Japanese).

I have a bit of a monumental task, as in order to read Japanese, i'll have to not only be able to recognize a whole new alphabet, but also have to learn how it is spoken.

In order to memorize the alphabet, My plan is to begin by recognizing the available sounds: a, i, e, u, o. And the modifiers, k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w, and the rest. From there, i'll have to simply grind it out.

I'll probably try to utilize a sort of mnemonic visualization technique to better retain the symbol's appearance. But i'm still uncertain of which one at this point; I'll experiment.

Update: 

I've fully memorized the 46 Hiragana characters, though I can't really recommend my method, as it did take about 5 hours to perform.

Essentially I tackled the Hiragana 5 one row at a time. I had a few steps I considered with every set though

1. I always began by writing out each 5 characters
2. I looked at each character and tried to associate the sound it made with something. For instance the symbol for the sound "a" reminded me a bit of an @ symbol. As such, in my mind I would associate the two ideas, which would help me recall it later on.
3. I tried to take note of general patterns that occurred. For example, how "Ru" and "Ro" look very similar, and how "ki", "sa", and "chi" were similar. As well as "ke", "ha" and "ho". 
4. After finishing a new group of five, I would review the past sets that I already learned in order to practice and cement it in my head.
5. I also tried to make words and phrases when I could, writing out "Mu Sa Shi", or "Wa Ta Shi", "Su Ki Ya Ki" and "Ko Ni Chi Wa". The use of these helped me recall how the hiragana were written more than I expected the to.
6. I reviewed using flash cards- I would display the sounds and then write out the character, essentially training myself to be able to write on command.

Next Step: Grammar

I plan to use a similar method that I am employing for Spanish.

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Learning 3 Languages in a Month- Day 1 Spanish

For the first day of the project, I've decided to start with the language I'm most familiar with: Spanish.

To start, I picked up an article from the spanish BBC website, and planned my steps:

The article in question

To begin, I wanted to have this project be steeped in practicality, so I would judge my success by whether or not I could comprehend what was being said in the article. Additionally, I intended to focus more on the "structure of the words" first, rather than worrying about vocabulary with the verbs and nouns.

So my first step was to eliminate the words in the article that looked like nouns and verbs. This is something I probably wouldn't be able to do if I didn't have SOME understanding of Spanish. I'll probably have to develop a new method when approaching Italian and Japanese.  I went though and crossed out the words that I recognized as nouns and verbs (some were easy with "el presidente", and others were a bit more questionable).

I made a lot of mistakes (obvious ones) but its meant to be rough anyways

From there, I began to look up the meaning of each of the conjunctions. My hope was that I would get a very rough structure of the sentences. I was hoping there wasn't too many strange grammatical changes.

I compiled a list of grammar just from the first paragraph

"Y": and
que: that, than
que (accent): what
desde: from
desde que: Since
en: in
de: of
han: have
sido: was
han sido: have been
del: of
pais: parents
del pais: the country
mas (accent): more
durante: during
cualquier: any
otra: other

Roughly the first paragraph would say:

"and its since obama.....en...of.. of two...have been...the country,  more than during any other ....in..."

Not especially helpful. At this point, I'm considering doing a translation of the English grammatical terms, just so I can recognize them when they come up. But first, I decide to take the first paragraph without the crossed out words and see if I could make sense of them:

"And its since obama illego a la white house in enero of 2009, alrededor of two million of indocumentados  have been expulsados the country, more than during any other presidency in the history of the north american nacion."

After putting in the verbs and nouns in, the grammar started to help make more sense. I could even begin to guess what what going on:

Since obama "illego" (probably entered) the white house in "enero" (probably a month, most likely january) of 2009. Alredador (this term denotes an amount, like "many" or "all") of two million indocumentados (likely immigrants without papers/documents) have been expulsados (looks like the word "expelled") from the country. More than any other presidency in the history of the north american nation. 

I looked up the terms:

illego: came
enero: january
Alredador: around
indocumentados: undocumented (duh)
expulsados: expelled

Not too bad, if I say so myself

Plan

After the little attempt of today, I've decided to compile a list of "grammar" terms that denoted things like the relation of nouns to one another, and the placement of things. Its going to be split into two sections:

1. The first section is purely meant to be a list of terms that help string words together- showing their relation to one another. These include things like articles "a, the", conjunctions such as "and, but, because, however", as well as others.
2. The second section of the list will be terms that help determine things like "time" and "place" in terms of relation. So for instance "before, since, after" are words that determine "WHEN" things happened in respect to another event. Complimentary, terms like "underneath, inside, above, around, and between" determine the position of things in respect to another.

The reason is because I feel that these are central and core to a language, and really help determine the way in which we communicate. There was a famous philosopher (probably Kant, its always Kant) who noted that we must put things in terms of a "space" and a "time" in order to fully comprehend it. If this is true, then all languages must be able to communicate space and time. Thus, why not pick up on the ways it conveys it now?

In the meantime, I will look for a potentially exhaustive list of the spanish articles, conjunctions, and pronouns, as well as descriptors of time and place. If I can't find it, i'll make one myself.

Edit: found a nice site for grammar here

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Learning 3 Languages in a Month

For a long time now, I've wanted to expand my language base and become truly "Multi-lingual", while at the same time experimenting with my mnemonic technique skillset. Essentially, I intend to discover the best way for me to reach a certain degree of language proficiency in a short amount of time.

The Goal

An example of an article in Spanish off the BBC

For this initial experiment, the goal is:

"To be able to read an article written in the language". 

For this experiment, I'll be using articles posted on the BBC, which is supposedly meant to be internationally accessible.

The Languages

The three languages I will initially be dealing with are:

• Spanish (Mexican varient)
• Japanese
• Italian

At the moment, I have some proficiency in Spanish, and some understanding of Japanese. However, I have very little exposure to Italian.

How to will I go about this?

This really is the question, and I am actually not certain of the best approach. But I have a few things in mind while going into this:

1. Don't focus on memorizing vocabulary: While vocabulary shows proficiency in a language, it isn't necessarily the most important thing to know when trying to understand what is being said. Heck, I still run into words in english that I don't recognize all the time, but am often able to intuit what it means.
2. Start with the grammar: I'm referring to the conjunctions like "and, but, because", as well as other grammatical terms. We use these to construct ALL our sentences, so getting a good grasp of it early is important.
3. Don't anchor the new language to one you already know: Has anyone ever asked you "do you think in English?" It alludes to the idea that your understanding of other languages is rooted in your mother language. As a result, you'll often find that you'll have to formulate your thoughts in english first, before translating them into the native language. Its necessary at times, but not ideal. For vocabulary, you might be better off rooting them in images.
4. Immerse yourself in it: The quickest way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it- whether by being forced to use it, or by constantly using it.
5. Learn the melodic way of speaking- The way people speak in other languages is quite melodic. You can improve your accent by essentially singing the lines.

Let's get to it.

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Learning about the Mind through studying Mnemonics (Part 2)

This is the second part of an article, I highly suggest you read the first part before continuing with this segment. You can find the article here.

In part 1, we were introduced to the idea that our brains are much like a little attic, and have limited capacity to remember things. Only by grouping and packaging ideas together into clusters, were we able to hold a large amount of things in our mind at one time.

So basically, the concept of "clustering" a core component to our ability to think about more complex topics and ideas. It allows us to hold more things in our short-term memory at one point in time.

Clustering is also not limited to numbers, in fact it is probably most prevalent within words and ideas. For instance, take this sentence:

"I tipped the waitress at my restaurant."

While it differs from culture to culture, this is basically a completely intelligible sentence to most people. The thing is, the amount of things you have to understand in order to comprehend this sentence is far exceeding the limits of our short-term memory.

Let's take the simple idea of "restaurant" for instance. For many of you, its pretty clear and obvious right? You might say: "A restaurant is a place you go, where you pay people to cook and provide you with food."

It is so commonplace that we don't realize that we have to understand several things before being able to grasp the idea of a "restaurant":

1. The idea of eating
2. The idea of food
3. The idea of money
4. The idea of a place to go
5. The concept of payment
6. The idea of cooking.
7. etc

The idea of a "restaurant" is a cluster of many ideas and thoughts, and yet we can use it and refer to it without overburdening our minds. We can also pull the list of ideas from it without much effort.

Also, this goes without mentioning "waitress" and "tipping", which are also clusters in themselves.

So we know that we obviously use clusters on a daily basis and have them. But how are they made?

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The Making of Idea Clusters

Let's demonstrate the formation of a cluster through conscious means by using a mnemonic.

Let's say we had a list of items that we had to memorize:

1. Banana
2. Trumpet
3. Shoes
4. Confuscious
5. Beer
6. Optimus Prime
7. Bicycles
8. Television
9. Socks
10. Raccoon

Take a look at this list of words. I want you to look at it, and then recite the contents of the list in the right order back to me (from memory obviously). Go ahead and try it before coming back here:

Having some trouble? It shouldn't be too surprising as every item in that list appears to be completely unrelated to every other item on that list.

But never fear, even the clusters of "Kitchens", "Football", "Star Wars" and "Space" were a collection of seemingly unrelated items to us at one point. Over time, we were able to formulate connections between all those unrelated items into a single cluster.

Despite the fact that all these concepts are essentially completely random and unrelated, we should still be able to unite and cluster them together into a single unit. We just need the glue to do so, which brings us to:

The Linking Method

The Linking Method is a mnemonic people use to memorize lists of things and their order. It uses visual imagination and absurd imagery to create memorable links between items in the list.

I first heard about the Linking method in an audiobook by Derren Brown, a famous magician/mentalist. The idea he presented was simple: link the objects together one after another as if they were links in a chain; As we keep pulling on the chain, each item will remind us of the next item, which will remind of the next one after that.

Allow me to demonstrate. We will start with the first two items on our list:

1.Banana2. Trumpet

I connect these two items together by imaging something bizarre or absurd involving the two:

I picture a banana, and imagine peeling it back. But instead of seeing the inner fruit of a banana, I instead see a trumpet.

The image is so crazy and strange that I can't help but remember it. With that, I would have connected two links. The next step would be to link the second link with the third:

2.Trumpet
3.Shoes

Again, I imagine an absurd image that involves the two items:

After the trumpet is peeled from the banana peel, I zoom in on the trumpet buttons, and imagine them fitted with crazy slippers, high heels, and tennis shoes.

This crazy and yet memorable image would help me connect the second and the third items together. I would continue this process for the third and fourth, and then the fourth and fifth, and continue likewise until I finished with the list.

Note: I personally try to imagine one item leaving hints to the next item, or even morphing and becoming another. You should try out a few methods and see what works best for you.

My disgusting Amalgamation

After I finish the list, I would begin with the first item of the list and think back on the absurd image I created. The banana would then remind me of trumpet, which would remind me of shoes, which would remind me of Confuscious, and so on.

• Banana-> Trumpet
• Trumpet-> Shoes
• Shoes->Confuscious
• etc

In the end, you would have created a sort of imaginary filmroll, with which we could come up with things like "beer", "optimus prime", and "socks" from the imaginary image of a "banana".

Go ahead and try to remember the list again. You should be better equipped for the task now.

We've in essence, created a sort of artificial cluster. Now if I mention "The list", you're very likely to be able to rattle off the contents such as "Confuscious", or "Optimus prime".

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What Does this Mean?

So what have we learned from all this? Well, we should have begun to understand that it is through the clustering of ideas that we are able to hold more complex thoughts and ideas in our head, which help us understand more complex topics.

Additionally, we've learned how to make artificial clusters through the linking method and imagery.

One thing to note, however, is that the linking method works for a reason: absurd and bizarre imagery appeals to our minds and is very well retained. Mnemonics only work because they take advantage of the way our minds are naturally organized. The Linking method utilizes the fact that our minds put a great importance on retaining memories that are strange and absurd.

A mnemonic known as the Method of Loci, or Memory Mansion, was utilized by the Ancient Greeks, and will be the topic for the next part.

Until then.

If you're interested in Derren Brown and his Mnemonics Podcasts, click here for his wiki, and here for his website.

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Learning about the Mind through studying Mnemonics (Part 1)

Mnemonics and the Brain Attic

"I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic..." said Sherlock Holmes, "... It is a mistake to think that the little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent."

It was back in the late 1800s that Sherlock Holmes first described the brain as a sort of attic with limited space. He described it as so small and limited that information, such as knowledge of the solar system, would clutter the room and would have to be thrown out.

Despite how dramatic the fictional Sherlock Holmes was in his insistence that his brain attic was constantly in danger of being cluttered, his vision of the mind was actually somewhat true.

A groundbreaking article by George A. Miller found that our short-term memory was able to retain approximately Seven plus or minus two clusters of information.

Really? Just 5-9 pieces of information? It seems quite odd when we think about it. After all, average people are able to easily list off over 10 movie titles, 10 book titles, and all their favorite foods without breaking a sweat. Average people can even recall 10 digit phone numbers or recite the alphabet. While memory geniuses are capable of memorizing decks of cards and entire plays quickly and without great effort.

So if our brains are really that limited? How is it that we are capable of remembering so much?

Well, one of the main reasons is because of Mnemonics. While typically the term refers to "memory aids" or "memory techniques" that are used by people to memorize large loads of information. I find that the techniques work simply because they mimic the way the brain naturally processes information.

So lets talk a little about mnemonics, and how they mimic the way our minds naturally organize and process information.

I'm going to be referring to a couple sources, the first is "Mastermind" by Maria Konnikova, the second is George A. Miller's famous piece on short term memory, and the last is from my compiled knowledge of Mnemonics and the method of Loci.

Let's get right to it

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The first thing we can note is that our memories tend to be rather limited. There have been recorded cases of people with a seemingly infinite "photographic memory", but for the large majority, our memories tend to have a breaking point.

For instance, lets say we have a series of numbers: 1, 8, 9, 4, 6, 3, 7, 5, 2, 2, 1,6

I want you to read it like this:  one, eight, nine, four, six, three, seven, five, two, two, one, six, and try to remember and recite it back.

You will most likely fail somewhere between the fifth and ninth digit. As if you had run out of space to place it.

This was essentially what was found in George Armitage Miller's article, "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two". Basically through several tests, Miller discovered that our ability to retain information in our short term memory was limited to seven plus or minus 2 spaces. So in a sense, there is a limit in how much capacity our memory has, sort of like an attic with only minimal space.

So how is it that we are able to easily remember 10 digit phone numbers when we couldn't even recall 10 numbers? Well, it is because our mind often uses a mnemonic technique without our knowledge.

There is a caveat to the Miller study. Miller notes that our short-term memory doesn't store things in their component parts, but rather in clusters. Allow me to explain with an example.

Remember our number list up there? Why don't you take every two numbers, and group them into a single unit: 1,8 will become 18; 9, 4 will become 94, and so on. Go ahead and read them as: "eighteen, ninty-four, etc"

What you'll notice is that you're probably able to remember about 5-9 pairs.

So why is that interesting? Well, we might think of 18 as something made of two different components: a "1", and a "8". But our brain doesn't think of it like that. Especially if we say it as "eighteen". This is even the case with "ninty-four", which we think of as a mix of "ninty" and "four".

This is not limited to just numbers, we have plenty of "clusters" of information all around us.:The concept of "kitchen" is packed to the brim with pots, pans, knives, food, refrigerators, and the such that are easily unpacked; the same goes for sports like "soccer", and other activities.

It's as if our brain said, "You can put seven plus or minus two things into the brain attic". But each of those things could be a large box or backpack filled to the brim with other small items. The key is knowing how to unpack it.

This would be a perfect time to introduce more artificial mnemonics. Take a look at this:

ROYGBIV

I'm guessing that if you have a background in art or have taken an art class you have probably come across it at one point or another. This is a mnemonic cluster for remembering the colors (and their order) of the rainbow.

R-Red
O- Orange
Y-Yellow
G-Green
B-Blue
I-Indigo
V-Violet

This is what I meant about "being able to unpack the bag". In order to utilize this mnemonic, you have to know

1. The cluster itself
2. What it pertains to (colors of the rainbow)
3. The colors of the Rainbow

Without those components you will be hard pressed to decipher the mnemonic. As far as I know, ROYGBIV means nothing in the field of biology, or in a football match. Additionally, if you don't know anything about the colors of the rainbow (don't know their names), it will be hard for you to unpack it. All you will know is that there is a color that starts with R, one that starts with O, etc.

So this part should have been a clear demonstration of mnemonics, and given a taste of how our brain utilizes them. Next time, we'll continue talking about mnemonics, and how clusters can be formed with words.

Click here for Part 2!

If you're interested in George A. Miller's article. Here is a link to the Wiki pageIf you're interested in Mastermind by Maria Konnikova (I recommend it), look here

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Learn about Context and the Deductive Process

Imagine this:

You are waiting in a hospital waiting room, just looking through the magazines and observing the other patients as they wait to be seen by the doctor. When a man who had just entered tripped and fell over the leg of one of the chairs. He stands up and begins to gesture and yell loudly at the receptionist.

Assume this is all you know. What can you tell about the man? Well, your first inclination might be to try and look at the thing that makes him stand out: his gestures and yelling. Perhaps we assume that his actions are a result of anger, and that he has a nasty temper and is one who tries to blame others for his pain and suffering. In short:

He has an Outburst -> He has a nasty temper

But can we really?

It's a principle mistake to simply isolate a particular instance or action and assume that its indicative of all actions and inclinations that the person has. To deduce a person's thoughts and actions, one must be willing to be flexible and mold their deductions around all of a person's actions rather than just boxing them in with general frames.

The goal is to be as accurate with your deductions as possible,
 not to just to put people into a general category.

So what can we do? How can we make our deductions more accurate and more flexible? The answer lies in creating another layer or filter. You can't just think outburst -> temper. You have to consider Context.

Still not fully following? Let's use the same story we had earlier, but change the context.

New Context:On the alternate universe Htrae, the standard method of conversation is through wild gesturing and yelling. Any other method is considered rude. Whispering is used in angry fits.

 As you can see, if our original story had taken place on alternate universe Htrae, rather than Earth, our deduction of Outburst-> Nasty Temper would hold no weight at all.

From this, we see that context matters greatly in determining what actions have meaning, and which do not. Additionally we see that our deductions have to be keen to the context of the scenarios.

But lets return to Earth and see what the context might be able to tell us about the man.

Granted, the outburst may be telling of a nasty temper, but that is only one interpretation. The context may tell us more: The man is in a hospital, he is entering the waiting room of a hospital, he trips over the leg of a chair, he yells at the receptionist and only at the receptionist. He is also there at that time, as well as date.

What does this tell us? To understand it, we must break it down into parts:

Add caption

1. He is in a hospital. Who goes to a hospital? Everyone? Well, WHEN do people go to hospitals? Well, either they work there, are visiting, or are sick. The vast majority of the people who visit, are sick. And given the whole of his actions, it seems plausible that the man could be sick.
2. He is entering the waiting room. Not only that, but he is headed to the receptionist and not straight into the entrance of the door. So he is probably likely to be going to talk to the receptionist.
3. He trips over the leg of a chair. Is he clumsy? Is there something wrong with his leg? Was he distracted by something? And if so, by what?
4. Why does he yell at the receptionist? Is it because of his inclination to blame his pain on others? Why just the receptionist and not the other people there?

As you can see, the actual process of deduction using context is not as simple as the fixed deduction that we are inclined to use. However, we can learn a great deal more by formulating these questions, and then answering them by observing his actions.

The process of deduction requires a great deal of preparation, observation, and flexibility. Luckily it is also something we get better at through practice and time. As far as contexts go, it also can work well with many people within the same contexts- e.g. The hospital set applies to everyone in the waiting room, including you.

With a bit of practice and a little bit of work, understanding the context can go a long way.

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