Memory Techniques For Learning A Hard Language Like Basque

How To Memorize Even The Most Difficult Words In The World Using World Class Memory Techniques Hey everybody, this is Daniel Welsch. And I’m here today as a special guest host for the Magnetic Memory Method podcast. Anthony invited me to do the podcast today about using memory techniques for Basque and it’s a great pleasure and enormous honor for me to do so, also in Spanish in a general way: https://youtu.be/g9iH-GYthKw I’ve been following Anthony’s work for about a year and I’ve been corresponding with him for nearly the same length of time and he’s been a great inspiration to me, not only in my memorizing ventures but also in my own work as a teacher and writer here in Madrid, the beautiful capital of Spain. So when he offered me the chance to do an episode of the Magnetic Memory Method podcast on memory techniques, of course I jumped at it… So first I’m going to tell you a bit about my language learning journey. And then I’m going to tell you how I became acquainted with Doctor Metivier and his work with memory techniques. And finally, I’m going to take you through one of my Memory Palaces to show you exactly how I memorized some very difficult material from a language that’s like no other language in existence. Now…  A little bit about me. Aprende Más Inglés You probably don’t know me, because most of the work I do is in Spanish. But I have my own website called Aprende Más Inglés, which you can find at aprendemasingles.com. There I teach English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation—and now, learning memory techniques and how to be a more effective student and person in general. You might want to know a bit about me. Well, I was born in the US, specifically in Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the middle of the Sonoran Desert a couple of hours from the Mexican border. Filling In Blanks On Worksheets Has Never Been One of My Passions In school I learned Spanish but never took it too seriously. After that I ended up working in a kitchen with some guys from Mexico and found that speaking languages was a lot more fun than learning them in school. Filling in blanks on worksheets has never been one of my passions. When I was 21 I moved to Madrid, Spain, which is kind of a long story, and ended up, one way or another, teaching English. And at the same time I was learning more and more Spanish. I was doing it organically, for the most part. I had some free Spanish classes, which I barely ever went to. And the rest of the time I was walking around, talking to people, reading the newspaper, watching TV, things like that. At the same time, at work I was teaching English. And I was kind of startled by how ineffective language learning in Spain was. Of course, back in the US it wasn’t any better, but in Spain learning English is just hugely important for a lot of people. Now that Spain is in the European Union and with the massive amount of international business and tourism that goes on, almost everybody needs to learn English. It should almost be a strategic objective for all of Spain, to get the general level of English up to the level where they could compete with any country in Europe. But unfortunately, the system wasn’t very effective at actually creating bilingual Spaniards. And after a few years I started to discover why. But we’ll get back to that… Couldn't Speak, Or Even Worse, Refused To Speak While I was teaching, I had a website where I was writing about grammar and vocabulary. And in the meantime, my Spanish was getting better and better. I eventually got the highest level diploma in Spanish offered by the Instituto Cervantes, which is an international organization that teaches Spanish like the British Council teaches English. And the thing about it was that I never felt like learning Spanish was a chore or an effort. I did the minimum possible in school, and later learned working in a kitchen with some guys from Mexico. And my Spanish really took off when I moved to Madrid and discovered tha...