I am wondering where the but is in what you have said above. Thinking and speaking are power twins. I have no idea why I am so fond of that phrase… anyway back to the point. I lectured on this last night and I have discovered that often talking, speaking and for me visual imagery are three of the most powerful things you can use. However, learning them may take time… and appropriating might require effort. What you are saying, if I understand it is what I would think as learning how you learn and applying that. That’s smart. It is shorter because you have uncovered a process!

I often tell my students… don’t come to the lectures if they don’t help you learn. Work out how you learn and pattern your studies after that. I learn in multiple ways through different media… so sitting down listening to a lecturer babble on for 2 hours very rarely works for me unless I am seriously engaged!

Thanks Alan … it’s in the morning over here so I hope this makes sense.

Often the work does itself when we’re not looking!

Nobody ever tought me how to think, and I never sat down to do my thinking exercises. And the most important factor in my becoming fluent in French is not taught in schools or found in books. What thinking and speaking have in common is that there is far more to them than we are aware of. You have to stand back sometimes and let the process run its course: sometimes, less is more.

The secret I discovered: don’t try to put it into words!

Let words and, more importantly, phrases come to you; reflect upon them briefly; neither accept nor reject them.

Now, really, when you’re ready… What do you think? What do you want to say?

You are spot on. I have found that I have the same trouble… you are right… if you want something you have to work hard!

Often we delude ourselves that we are unique, special, etc. We may have some advantages, but at the end if you want to learn something, u must work hard.

Robert