Merri and I love tracking the publishing success of our friends and those who attend our seminars and courses so we were happy to get this note from our friend, Jerelle Kraus.
Gary, Here is the first book review I’ve written (about Columbus)—today in USA Today.
We were especially tickled to see this publishing success because Jerelle is a believer in whole brain thinking and how it helps us learn new things… again and again. The trick is to learn many new things but not the same lessons again and again. This means we need every tactic we can muster to be smarter.
This is one reason why graphic and musical forms are important to learning.
We can see below how some of the most important publications recognize this fact in excerpts from Jerelle’s book, “All the Art that’s Fit to Print (and Some That Wasn’t)” who was a delegate at our most recent Super Thinking plus Spanish course.
Jerelle is an award-winning New York Times art director whose thirty-year tenure includes a record thirteen years at Op-Ed.
She’s also been an art director at Time & the art director of Ramparts Magazine & of Francis Ford Coppola’s City magazine.
Jerelle wrote in her book: In 1970, the New York Times launched the world’s first Op-Ed page, a groundbreaking phenomenon that transformed journalism and-by providing a platform for anyone with an opinion-0p-Ed prefigured, by decades, the Internet’s blogosphere. Not only did the new page’s nonstaff bylines shatter tradition, but its pictures Cover were revolutionary. Unlike anything ever seen in a newspaper, Op- Ed art became a fertile, globally influential idiom that reached beyond narrative for metaphor and changed the very purpose and potential of illustration.
Once I began this book, I approached a literary agent. “It’s about Times Op-Ed,” I told him. “Great,” he said. “I’ve been reading it for twenty years.” It gives the story of the page, I explained, from the vantage point of its art. “Are you telling me,” he responded “there are cartoons on the Op-Ed page?” Beyond the fact that these drawings aren’t cartoons, his reaction spotlighted the need to document Op-Ed’s history in order to underscore that while the texts reach the brain’s logical left lobe, the art links direction to the cerebrum’s right hemisphere, which processes intuitively, visually, and subliminally.
We refer to the holistic right lobe when we say, “Do you get the picture?” So powerful are graphics that even if we say only “That’s cute; there’s a picture on the page,” the image registers in our brain. The impact of visuals isn’t lost on Times editors, who are the trustees of the paper’s standards.
Here is why graphics and music can be so important to learning.
In general the left and right sides of the brain process data in different ways. Most people process incoming signals using a dominant side. This habit causes the learner to lose the whole. Learning is improved when both sides of the brain participate in a balanced manner so the learner sees a bigger more whole picture.
The left half of the brain takes care of the linear portion of data mining processing from part to whole. The left takes pieces, lines them up, and arranges them in a logical order. Using this process, the left brain helps draw conclusions. The left brain processes in sequence. This is the part of the mind that is used to make lists, create schedules and conduct daily planning.
This part of the brain connects the dots.
The right brain works more holistically processing from the whole into pieces.
The right brain sees the picture and creates the dots!
The right brain sees the whole picture, not details. Right brain work gets done in seemingly random ways without having listed priorities.
Benefits of Whole Brain Activity
Activities that integrate the right and left brain improve learning. For example painting… playing music stimulate the whole brain.
Juggling can stimulate a tactile right brain response.
In each of these activities, learning begins as a left brain, logical, analytical, and narrowly focused exercise.
You look at musical notes and think about which fingers to move. You look at the canvas and think about what to paint or draw.
Once you have practiced, the brain moves into right brained mode thinking, the side that is more intuitive and holistic. When this happens, the practice becomes automatic and relaxing. Some call it a moving meditation. The left and right movement across the body literally changes our focus from left to right and back again.
Research has shown that there is a direct relationship between hand-eye coordination and the ability to read and write.
Music and art, of course, have long been used. Now some schools are even teaching juggling as a way to enhance academic learning. The eye crosses midline and the movement improves concentration, encourages sequencing, and increases tracking.
Research has shown that anyone can benefit from integrating the brain hemispheres because it is never too late to grow dendrites or connective cells in the brain. Nerve cells are stimulated by new input which in turn builds a richer brain structure. New learning creates a reserve of dense connections partially protecting us from cell loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers say that the brain benefits the most from learning that which is “exotic and unusual”.
If you do not have a right brain activity, look for one that you consider fun.
Whole Brain thinking can improve learning and if you find an activity that you find exotic unusual and fun…
Excerpts from a 2010 interview article in the Washington Post “Why fun is important in learning by Valerie Strauss supports this fact and says: Is there any evidence to back up the notion that learning can and should be fun, or is this a deviation of our Protestant and Puritan heritage that declares that fun is the work of the devil and so anything worthwhile cannot be also fun?
Brain research suggests that fun is not just beneficial to learning but, by many reports, required for authentic learning and long-term memory.
Neurologist and educator Judy Willis’s book “Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom Teacher” (ASCD, 2006) is one of many that have highlighted the learning benefits of fun. Here are just a few excerpts:
The truth is that when the joy and comfort are scrubbed from the classroom and replaced with homogeneity, and when spontaneity is replaced with conformity, students’ brains are distanced from effective information processing and long-term memory storage.
The highest-level executive thinking, making of connections, and “aha” moments are more likely to occur in an atmosphere of “exuberant discovery,” where students of all ages retain that kindergarten enthusiasm of embracing each day with the joy of learning.
So fun actually seems to promote learning. It increases dopamine, endorphins, and oxygen!
The human brain and body respond positively to laughter with the release of endorphin, epinephrine (adrenaline), and dopamine, and with increased breathing volume (more oxygen). When a lesson starts with humor, there is more alerting, and the subsequent information is attached to the positive emotional event as an event or flashbulb memory.
Look for and engage in a right brain activity that is fun… you’ll become smarter and enjoy life more. In this rapidly changing world, smart and learning fast are really important to us all.
Jerelle’s success is proof of the pudding that whole brain thinking works.
Learn how to have success self publishing
Gary
Learn Spanish in Three Days
Why You Can Learn Spanish in Three Days
You can learn Spanish in a day, or a week, month or any time frame that works for you.I’m Gary Scott. Over fifty years ago I started a business that has helped hundreds of thousands of subscribers learn about investing in Hong Kong (1960s and 1970s), Switzerland, London, Isle of Man (1970s and 1980s) and across Europe. My wife Merri and I took thousands on investing tours to these countries.
In the 1990s we began taking investors to Panama, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. That’s when we realized an incredible need for an easy, super fast way to learn Spanish. Our delegates were business people with hard schedules and tight deadlines. They did not have months, or even weeks to learn a second language.
Plus, even though these delegates were successful international business people, most did not have degrees in grammar. When it came to sentence structure, punctuation rules, parts of speech, morphology and especially derivation of verbs, they were at a loss. They wanted good basic ways to communicate in Spanish that worked and sounded eloquent, right now, without having to become educated in grammar.
Fortunately there is a scientific method of learning (called Super Learning) that was created and refined by a Soviet educational master, Georgi Lozanov. Lozanov transformed the entire Soviet Union’s educational system to such a degree that this third world nation beat the USA into space.
My wife Merri was lucky to be one of a handful of students outside the Soviet Union who were taught this system by Lozanov himself in the early 1970s. She practiced this unique and remarkable form of education for decades so we used it to create a Super Spanish course that has helped thousands of subscribers learn Spanish in three days and less.
This course is now available online.
Merri teaching a Super Spanish course in Florida.
Does it sound impossible to learn Spanish in three days? Yes, it is impossible when you try to learn Spanish in the old, traditional way, but the scientific Super Learning method of learning… proven and described in numerous best selling books creates educational jumps by making education natural, easy and fun. This course works because it is education without stress!
How The Course Works
The first tactic is to use Baroque music to create Relaxed Concentration in the learning process. At least three best selling books, “Superlearning”, the “Mozart Effect” and “Superlearning 2000” have revealed insights about how to learn and think more powerfully based on systems drawn from the Soviet educational master, Dr. Georgi Lozanov.
You gain six valuable ONLINE Baroque Relaxed Concentration Sessions in the online course that is delivered via the internet.
The second tactic uses 17 unique lessons to provide Spanish fluency in a short time. Let me prove to you how this tactic works by teaching you hundreds of Spanish words in less than 30 seconds.
Here is the proof.
“Most words in English that end in ION are almost identical, just pronounced differently.
For example action is accion.
Education-educacion.
Manipulation- manipulacion, etc.”
There you have it. How long did it take you to read these four sentences?
Ask yourself. “How many words do you know that end in ION”.
You now know all these Spanish words that you will never forget.
How long would it have taken you to memorize all those words? How soon would you have forgotten them?
The next lesson teaches how to pronounce each of the nouns.
The third lesson teaches almost as many verbs, almost as quickly.
The fourth lesson shows how to avoid conjugating verbs by sticking with the infinitive (far easier than it sounds). This simple lesson leaves a person sounding like a Spanish professor without ever conjugating a verb.
Lesson five shows how to sound infinitely polite and yet get almost anything desired in Spanish.
Lesson six gives valuable connectors and the seventh lesson triples the Spanish capacity with three words for “yesterday,” “now” and “tomorrow”.
In an incredibly short time you feel comfortable speaking Spanish.
Plus the system is Impro-Dynamic. This means your Spanish keeps getting better even though you do not seem to be studying… practicing… or speaking Spanish.
I was amazed by this as I traveled back and forth from the USA to Ecuador. The longer I was away from Ecuador… the better my Spanish became. My second language was automatically improving. The self improving feature comes because you learn to create Spanish sentences rather than remember them.
The portion of the brain that creates is more powerful than the portion that recalls. When your mind creates something… it owns it! You do not have to remember .
During the course you learn 4005 Spanish words that you already know. This eliminates the need to memorize 99% of Spanish words.
You then learn how to create Spanish sentences from these words.
Throughout the course you learn how to pronounce the sentences you create.
When the course ends… the mind keeps working… and creating… so next time you begin to speak Spanish you’ll be surprised . You improve even though you have not actively worked on your lingual skill.
Due to the difficulty of getting groups together to learn this valuable technique, we created an online program for subscribers to use the Super Spanish course at home. The normal three day in person course fee is $499 ($749 for a couple).
The ONLINE course is available at the highly reduced price of $149, but in this special offer we are knocking another $70 from the price so you can start now for only $79.
The ONLINE course has our, full satisfaction or money back, guarantee. Try Super Spanish for 60 days. If not fully satisfied, simply let us know for a full refund.
Learn Spanish online $79 - using coupon code SPANISH70 at checkout to immediately save $70 off the regular price of $149.
Here are some testimonials from the course.
Here are a few quotes from delegates of the course.
One delegate from St. Louis wrote: Hi Gary, Just ended forty-five years in dentistry last week, and I’m on to a new career. What is my new career? Still formulating, but the eye -opening,mind expanding Super-Spanish course last weekend in St. Louis surely shows me the opportunity exists to expand my horizons.
Besides having a lot of nice people to learn our new language; the methods Merri and you developed proved to be just what you said they would be. We all and I in particular relaxed our way to new learning. I feel so very comfortable with the basis of my new language skills that I know I will be spitting out great Spanish sentences by the time I reach Ecuador in October. Last year I spent six weeks in Ecuador and now I plan on conversing with the people.
Today’s excerpt of your newsletter really hit home. You do what you say you will. There are no surprises or hidden sales tricks. The only tricks are beneficial to our learning. Thank you for a wonderful experience that I was quite unable to grasp how you would pull it off. You did, however, and I look forward to other courses that you offer, and I have absolutely no doubt they also will work beneficially. Best regards, Denis Molloy.
Another wrote about the Super Spanish course: Buenos Dias, here is a testimonial for Super Thinking-Super Spanish. Please feel free to use all or part in promotions for the course. In addition, you may give my email address to any prospect “on the fence” about enrolling. Yesterday, in Cotacachi, Ecuador, I finished Super Spanish. I had high expectations for the course and they were exceeded.
After three days, I can speak Spanish in complete sentences. In simple conversations, such as buying groceries or ordering a meal, I can make myself understood. I think that’s incredible!
Although I am far from the competence level of a native speaker, I feel I’ve taken a giant step forward in learning Spanish so that I can experience the people and culture of Ecuador. The foregoing benefits would have more than justified the time and money I invested in Super Spanish. And learning some Spanish was not the most important benefit I got from the course.
Prior to leaving the USA, I had felt for some time that the pace of life there was unhealthy for me (and for most people) and I did nothing about it.
I’ve thought about the pace issue during the course. One of the key elements Merri Scott designed into Super Spanish is placing the student in the optimal state for learning. In class, the past three days, I’ve been re-introduced to guided journeys and introduced to the calming effects of Baroque music (www.sundaybaroque.org). What a blessing! I’m inclined to make one or both a daily part of my life. Rob Christi. Cotacachi, Ecuador
Another attendee from a course wrote: “I took this incredible class a few weeks ago, and I would like to tell anyone that is interested, that it is an amazing three days of learning with lots of laughs included. You leave everyday wanting to learn more and are so excited to do so.
“Other Spanish classes and tutoring made us feel like it would take forever to get to the point where we could put it into practice, but this method gave us a more fluent use for everyday life almost immediately AND the confidence to use it. It is a fantastic way to show people how much they know and give confidence to learn and use Spanish creating a momentum.
“They made learning Spanish easy and fun in a very relaxed, comfortable atmosphere. I would definitely recommend this course. Even if you know some Spanish, this helps make it easier because of the less stress that no verb conjugations gives you. This gives you more confidence in yourself to try and speak it more.
“I liked how simply the course was organized and the positive attitude about learning. Thank you so much for helping me to learn Spanish!” Nadine Taylor
The ONLINE Super Spanish course has our, full satisfaction or money back, guarantee. Try Super Spanish for 60 days. If not fully satisfied, simply let us know for a full refund.
The course is available at the highly reduced price of $149, but in this special offer we are knocking another $70 from the price so you can start now for only $79.
Learn Spanish online $79 - using coupon code SPANISH70 at checkout to immediately save $70 off the regular price of $149.
Still not sure?
Take just ten minutes to let me prove to you that this super fast way to gain the basics can let you can communicate in Spanish in an incredibly short time.
Gary
Click here for FREE Super Spanish video.
The ONLINE Super Spanish course has our, full satisfaction or money back, guarantee. Try Super Spanish for 60 days. If not fully satisfied, simply let us know for a full refund.
The course is available at the highly reduced price of $149, but in this special offer we are knocking another $70 from the price so you can start now for only $79.
Learn Spanish online $79 - using coupon code SPANISH70 at checkout to immediately save $70 off the regular price of $149.
