3 ms·

I also struggle a lot with the limitations I have, frustrated at being so slow and stupid. I've also relied on flashcards as an augmentation, but I've started t

I also struggle a lot with the limitations I have, frustrated at being so slow and stupid. I've also relied on flashcards as an augmentation, but I've started to question its value. For language we're already wired to pick up on it without tools like flashcards. As I think back, like most people (I assume) I learned English through watching TV without subtitles, and reading online. I didn't speak much (if at all) until I was about 20. By then I was pretty much fluent, just from TV and the internet, no flashcards nor lots of output (like conversations) needed. Ironically, I'm in the process of building a language learning tool, but it's aimed at bringing interesting native content (TV) down to a level where a lower intermediate learner can enjoy and learn from it. Anyway, my hope is that the difference in performance between me and those more naturually "gifted" is in how they use the neurons they have, maybe there's a way for me to find a better way to use what I have. I think the key to this is spatial as well as social reasoning and memory. We're already wired to excel at these things. I can barely remember the formula for cross entropy loss, but I remember the layout and details of that coffee shop I frequented 10 years ago in a different country without much effort. Jeff Hawkins talking about thought through reference frames and movement in his book on the brain really indicates to me that taking the effort to encode our knowledge spatially, i.e. finding the right representation, rather than trying to beat it into our heads with spaced repetition is a bette rway. I've also noticed that when I can tie ideas to a face, a person, I'm more likely to remember them. I think a good way for me to remember science and math is to learn the history of the subject, like who invented/discovered what in what order, where (possibly) and why, i.e. what's the story behind it all. I don't like mnemonics, because they're basically garbage encodings. They make it possible to retrieve a memory, very slowly, but don't encode things in a way such that you can reason over them. It's the difference between one-hot encoding a word in NLP vs a semantic word embedding.

ivraatiems 5y ago
I think you are onto something quite important. There's a ton of work being done right now on the psychology and cognitive mechanisms underlying learning. Part of the difference, it seems to me, is not just that you encode spatial information differently - it's also that you have no option but to use your spatial memory, and it's working all the time. It gets flexed naturally in a way that the part of your brain that memorizes a formula doesn't unless you have no choice but to exercise it very frequently, or possess a truly unusual brain. Put another way - I have terrible visuospatial skills, but I still am able to navigate the world and manage fine because I have no choice. I had to learn to do visuospatial tasks in order to function, so, I can do them, and I do them constantly with low error rates. The muscle isn't naturally as strong as other peoples', but it's exercised enough to not make a functional difference. This is where the idea of "mind palaces" come from - maybe such a visualization would help you.
netizen-936824 5y ago
I'm a bit confused. Did you not speak at all, to any human, until your 20s? Or is English a second language? Because the way this is phrased, I imagine you, somehow, growing up isolated in a cabin in the woods with internet. How does a baby feed itself?
- catlikesshrimp 5y ago
  You are right about the wording. So I asumed English is not his first language. Another post by him supports this idea: "I live in arguably one of the best countries for raising kids, with 18 months parental leave, free preschool, higher education, retirement homes for aging parents, health care, and just a child-friendly work environment overall (even dads are expected to be gone for at least a few months), and it's STILL super hard to raise a child" He learned English by watching TV, which is something I couldn't have done. To GP: you are not stupid!
  - netizen-936824 5y ago
    Correct! Most native English speakers don't know a second language at all, I wouldn't consider the poster stupid in the least
dv35z 5y ago
Interested in hearing about your app. I am building an app which uses high frequency words gathered from a body of text (eg TV subtitles), and allows a student to learn them using simple example sentences, synthetic audio, & spaced repetition. The goal is to learn a language subconsciously while taking a walk, doing the dishes, sleeping, etc. If you’re interested in chatting about your project, or language learning apps, my contact info is in my HN profile.

ivraatiems 5y ago

I think you are onto something quite important. There's a ton of work being done right now on the psychology and cognitive mechanisms underlying learning. Part of the difference, it seems to me, is not just that you encode spatial information differently - it's also that you have no option but to use your spatial memory, and it's working all the time. It gets flexed naturally in a way that the part of your brain that memorizes a formula doesn't unless you have no choice but to exercise it very frequently, or possess a truly unusual brain. Put another way - I have terrible visuospatial skills, but I still am able to navigate the world and manage fine because I have no choice. I had to learn to do visuospatial tasks in order to function, so, I can do them, and I do them constantly with low error rates. The muscle isn't naturally as strong as other peoples', but it's exercised enough to not make a functional difference. This is where the idea of "mind palaces" come from - maybe such a visualization would help you.

netizen-936824 5y ago

I'm a bit confused. Did you not speak at all, to any human, until your 20s? Or is English a second language? Because the way this is phrased, I imagine you, somehow, growing up isolated in a cabin in the woods with internet. How does a baby feed itself?

catlikesshrimp 5y ago
You are right about the wording. So I asumed English is not his first language. Another post by him supports this idea: "I live in arguably one of the best countries for raising kids, with 18 months parental leave, free preschool, higher education, retirement homes for aging parents, health care, and just a child-friendly work environment overall (even dads are expected to be gone for at least a few months), and it's STILL super hard to raise a child" He learned English by watching TV, which is something I couldn't have done. To GP: you are not stupid!
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  Correct! Most native English speakers don't know a second language at all, I wouldn't consider the poster stupid in the least

dv35z 5y ago

Interested in hearing about your app. I am building an app which uses high frequency words gathered from a body of text (eg TV subtitles), and allows a student to learn them using simple example sentences, synthetic audio, & spaced repetition. The goal is to learn a language subconsciously while taking a walk, doing the dishes, sleeping, etc. If you’re interested in chatting about your project, or language learning apps, my contact info is in my HN profile.