Learn Spanish while you sleep. Sounds interesting, right? The idea that you can learn entirely new information while sleeping has been discredited repeatedly over the last couple of years. In the year 1955, the first studies took place about sleeping learning. Since then, almost all the studies have shown that it doesn’t work to learning new information. However, this sleep learning method can help you reinforce the data you already have in your brain.
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Thus, it is essential when it comes to remembering language features like building vocabulary. Now let’s talk about the ten keys to learn the Spanish language while you sleep in the following sections.
Learn Spanish While You Sleep – A Detailed Overview:
Here we’ve discussed 10 keys considering issues to learn Spanish while you sleep. Check out this post with some remarkable research finding to boost your Spanish learning process using the sleep learning technique. So, keep reading with your full attention until the end to sharpen your learning curve.
1. The sleep study and the sleep cycle:
To grasp why you can’t learn a new language while sleeping, it is essential to know how the sleep cycle works. There are two main stages in sleeping while your body goes to sleep every time. One stage is the Rapid Eye Movement, which is known as REM in short. Likewise, another is Non-Rapid Eye Movement, which is known as NonReM in short.
The sleep study and the sleep cycle.
Moreover, again NonRem is divided into four stages. In the REM stage, you dream, and where your brain decodes the things you have learned, lived and experienced through the day. In NonRem’s four stages, sleep has a specific purpose, and we will not explain them here because it would be too much. Thus, when you fall asleep, your brain is going through different stages.
It will go from Stage 1, then Stage 2, then Stage 3, Stage 4, and then REM stage. We call these different stages a Sleep Cycle. Moreover, each cycle lasts around one hour and a half. Once the cycle complete, it starts again, getting lighter over the night. So, we all go through around four dreams per night because each dream has cycles that fit into an 8 hours sleep duration.
Sometimes we remember just one dream because we woke up during the REM phase. So, we only remember the last dream that our brain was experiencing. As you already know, that same REM stage is where your brain decodes the vital information stored from that day. The brain doesn’t take new information, but it remembers what already exists in our brain.
2. How subliminal Spanish learning works:
Let’s assume that you can learn a language while sleeping. Suppose you get a CD in Spanish that repeatedly plays “Juan es und hombre grande y Fuerte,” and you listen to it over and over every night in sleep. As per this hypothetical situation, it makes sense that you could use that sentence in the future because you have learned that.
How subliminal Spanish learning works.
However, the questions arise here. Do you think you’d be able to understand what the said sentence means? And you would be able to apply the adjective “Fuerte” if you want to express that the coffee contains a strong flavor “un Sabor Fuerte”? Definitely, the answer is no, even if we assume that it is possible to learn while we sleep.
The reason is that learning would work only for simple information that doesn’t require active thinking. Likewise, if you want to use “Fuerte” as an adjective for anything, then you should know that this word is a measure of strength. Moreover, it can be applied in non-literal sentences like “Este café está Fuerte” o “Que Fuerte lo que me estás contando.”
However, you wouldn’t know all that. So, the only thing you have been listening through the night is “Juan es un hombre grande y Fuerte.” Therefore, unless you know a guy called Juan, who is quite big and strong, you will not use that exact sentence at all. Moreover, it explains that learning is a multidisciplinary activity. Likewise, it has listening, speaking, writing, grammar, fluency, vocabulary, pronunciation, slang, and so on.
So, there are many different mental processes involved in the idea of learning a whole new language while sleeping is entirely absurd. So, now you know how the sleeping cycle works and how the mental process for learning work.
3. The “Dutch Words” study:
A Swiss biopsychologist, Björn Rasch, and his scientists’ team from the Swiss National Science Foundation suggested this study. In this research, they asked 60 German-speaking students to learn some Dutch words they had never seen earlier. Then half of the group were allowed to go to sleep, and the words were played in the background to them while sleeping.
The “Dutch Words” study.
The other half of the group also listen to the terms, but they were kept awake. In this study, after several hours, both groups had to take a test about Dutch words. The result suggested that those who had listened to the Dutch words while sleeping were much better at recalling the words in the trial. The research also considered that awake participants didn’t perform well simply because they could not sleep.
The study was made again using EEG (electroencephalographic) measurements of the sleeping students and revealed increased parietal lobe activity. This brain part is vital in processing language, and the asleep group had an empirical advantage to learn new words.
4. To Learn Spanish while you sleep and the Mozart Effect:
French researcher Alfred Tomatis introduced the “Mozart effect” in his 1991 book Pourquoi Mozart? Means Why Mozart? He felt that listening to Mozart’s music promoted the development of the brain and healing. However, this book didn’t present any scientifically proof of the Mozart theory. So, in 1993 some researchers investigate the effect of listening to music by Mozart to learn Spanish while you sleep.
To learn Spanish while you sleep and the Mozart Effect.
Moreover, the magazine Nature published the research results. They divided the experiment participants into three groups for the experiment to conduct the same test. The first group would listen to Sonata for Two Pianos in D major by Mozart during the trial. However, the second group would follow some verbal relaxation instructions, and the third group would remain in silence.
The research revealed that a temporary enhancement of the mental abilities of the group that listened to Mozart. However, it was only temporary, and no student had effects extending beyond the 15-minute duration while testing. In 2007, the German Government reviewed the scientific literature regarding the Mozart Effect and published it.
Likewise, they concluded that listening to Mozart doesn’t make anyone smarter. Later, in 2010, some psychologists from the University of Vienna reviewed over 40 research studies that measured the Mozart Effect. Moreover, they conclude that the mental improvement shown by the Mozart Effect could not be replicated, and it’s not possible to confirm that external stimulus could affect to learn Spanish while you sleep.
Thus, this technique doesn’t provide any magical solutions. In Latin, “Repetitio mater studiorum est” means “Repetition is the mother of learning. ” No confusion memorizing anything to make it stick in the long term memory required repeating the information many times. However, repetition can be an active process or a passive process.
5. The power-nap will improve Spanish learning while you sleep:
As we already mentioned, how learning works and how the sleeping cycles work, including dream phases. Moreover, we have highlighted that it is on the REM stage, where our brain decodes whatever it has learned during that day. Likewise, we go through several REM stages during the night. Therefore, what about if we use that information to learn faster and boost our language learning carve?
The power-nap will improve Spanish learning while you sleep.
Let’s imagine that you are trying to learn something in Russian, and right after you have been practicing it, you take a nap. It’s just a quick short nap that lasts one sleep cycle so that you can get into the REM stage. Thus, it reinforces that exact thing you have been trying to remember and make your language learning process easier and faster. Would it work? The answer is yes, and it would work.
We have seen one particular study around word learning, and napping showed that children who were encouraged to sleep shortly after lasting new words. The researchers suggest that they retained their newly acquired knowledge significantly better than other children who remained awake after learning new words.
The finding of this study indicates that the effect of sleep on declarative and implicit memory in infants and Children is mounting and especially the influence of sleep on word learning. Research shows that both napping and overnight sleep appear to strengthen children’s memory for new words.
Similarly, regular exposure to new words coupled with typical sleep phases is likely to integrate new words into children’s lexicons. Therefore, you can use the power of naps to improve your language and to learn Spanish while you sleep.
6. Can you learn Spanish while sleeping?
The answer to the above question is no more confusing. Because at this point, you already know the fact. So, we can’t learn completely new information. It would help if you used sleeping learning only the information you already have stored in your brain.
Can you learn Spanish while sleeping?
Remember that sleep learning is a passive learning process, so it will only work for simple memorization processes like vocabulary or pronunciation. Thus, you can’t learn any grammar, fluency, slang, composition, etc., using this method.
7. How to learn Spanish in your sleep:
Students might ask, what will you do to improve your language learning faster? Experts answer that as follows. First, you have to learn the words and build vocabulary before actively. Likewise, spend around 20 to 40 minutes learning the words, using them in sentences, and search for their synonyms. Then, make a recording of yourself speaking out the words aloud.
How to learn Spanish in your sleep.
You can do this only in the single language you are trying to learn, or you can do the same for the pair in both languages—for instance, your native one and the one you want to know. So, if you’re going to learn the name of capitals in Italian, for example, you can record yourself repeating “Londra, Parici, Roma, and so on.
Moreover, you can focus on just one word for a while and then change to another one or mix them up. Like “Londra, Londra, Londra” Vs. “Londra, Parici, Roma…”. Remember, It doesn’t make any difference how often you say them and following which order. What matters is you should avoid any other stimulus.
8. Why Learn Spanish While You Sleep?
You can save time by listening to Spanish vocabulary in your sleep. Using this method, you can cut down on the time it takes to study your regular study time. As listening to Spanish in your sleep can improve your memory retention of vocabularies. Moreover, you can also save energy by learning Spanish while you’re sleeping. Using this technique, you can make learning the words a little easier.
Why Learn Spanish While You Sleep?
So, you would not have to put in quite as much work as it usually takes. Additionally, learning Spanish in your sleeping time requires no effort at all. Likewise, you don’t have to make a lot of effort to learn actively. However, all you have to do is play audio before you sleep and continue listening while you sleep. Moreover, if you find it doesn’t work correctly, there is no need to worry about it.
Because you don’t require to put in any effort to learn Spanish while you sleep, you should not feel wrong about this as there is no valid reason, and you won’t. Right? Remember, we all have been there. So relax and concentrate on your learning goal and keep practicing to progress gradually.
It’s widespread that the night before an exam, you’re stressed out, and the fear of failing the test becomes overloaded in your head. Moreover, we all think, wouldn’t it be very nice to go to bed and press the play button to learn the whole syllabus overnight? Well, don’t be unrealistic as you can’t learn in one night what should usually take months to memorize. That’s common sense.
Understandably, that’s terrible news for all of you out there who recognized as a pathological procrastinator.
9. What’s prohibited when you learn Spanish while you sleep:
It’s crucial to know how to utilize sleep learning properly to get the expected results. Moreover, it would help if you also kept in mind that what is not to do while you are in sleep learning mode. Let’s figure out those issues. It is strictly forbidden to play sounds, long phrases, background music, and similar things while using sleeping learning techniques.
What’s prohibited when you learn Spanish while you sleep.
Suppose you want to learn the capitals, then why you want to record yourself saying, “the capital of France in Italian is Parici?” That’s too much to process for your unconscious brain. So, it would help if you stuck to the words. This is why most of the materials you can find on the Internet don’t work correctly.
Similarly, you will often find these super elaborated audios with sounds, effects, and well-designed sentences for your learning. Therefore, you should avoid all those unnecessary things and focus on only what you want to remember.
10. Useful tips to learn Spanish while you sleep:
There are worth mentionable tips to learn Spanish while slapping, and they will guide you towards success. The Sonner you go to your bed after learning the words in your study time, the better it will work in your learning process. So, the best way to practice with the vocabulary is the closest to bedtime as possible. Then, play the audio before you go to sleep.
Useful tips to learn Spanish while you sleep.
There’s no reason to have the audio playing for the whole night. The best sleep learning period is until 30 to 40 minutes after getting asleep because your brain will only be getting the external stimulus in the first stages of sleep. Afterward, nothing will reach your brain, and it will be worthless to do so. Thus, the best option is to prepare one-hour long audios for the learning practice.
Even if it takes a while for you to get asleep, you will be sure you’ll be covering your first stage of sleep that way. Keep in mind that you should hear the same audio for several days without any break.
Likewise, 4 to 5 days would be the best option in this case. Moreover, if you change the words every night, they won’t do that much frequently. It is normal to hear the same CD for one week to ensure you are getting better outcomes.
Summary:
It is better to follow this technique correctly, and you will start experiencing that those words are more comfortable to recall on your daily use of the language. However, keep in mind that it’s not a trick to learn the Spanish language in a short time, like 30 days. Instead, learning the Spanish language, Italian or Russian, or any other language requires hard work and dedication.
However, you can learn it quicker and in a better way, using this method. Thus, now you know how you can learn Spanish while you sleep, and it can help boost your learning process to successfully achieve your learning goal.
Let’s know your feedback. Was this information useful for you? Have you ever tried slapping learning earlier? We would love to hear from you. So, please feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
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