Learning

Every learning process comprises several stages: registration, encoding and retrieval.
At each stage clear scientific foundations are required.
In order to learn we must be able both to understand and to memorise, because without retention, learning cannot take place.
Let us have a closer look at the magnificent organ we call our brain.
The brain consists of two halves, each half with its own specific functions.

The left brain

The left brain is the analytic part; it compares, controls and counts. This part is fixed in time and space. Every piece of information we receive is filtered before it enters our brain. When there is a mismatch between the new data and that which is already stored in, our brain is capable of erasing the apparently erroneous data in order to keep the whole picture logical. This function distracts us when we learn new words. They do not pass the filter, seem feel strange, illogical, even bizarre, and must therefore be blocked.
Despite creating obstacles, this is the part of our brain that allows us to survive in the world outside.

The right brain

The right brain is not bound in time and space. It mirrors our dreams: we can exist simultaneously today, yesterday and tomorrow, and move here and there in the blink of an eye. Here, there is no filtering: everything enters the brain almost automatically. During early childhood, our left brain developed sufficiently to play a major role in our life. The words we heard then entered automatically and instantly into our brain, without conscious study. We acquired language spontaneously without the need for learning.
Our “western” society focuses too much on the left brain and overlooks the amazing capacities of the right.
Suggestopedia exploits the potential of the right brain, at the same time addressing the left brain to engage the synergy of both halves.

Memory

Our brain is built up of billions of neurones, each connected to the other. All kind of connections are possible. These connections between neurones are called synapses. In the synapses electrical energy is transformed into a chemical substance in order to pass an electrical impulse on to the next neurone. The electrical impulse stimulates the release from small vesicles of chemical substances called neurotransmitters, which will adhere to specific areas on the membrane of the next neurone. These areas are called neuroreceptors. Some of these neurotransmitters are familiar to the general public such as serotonin (implicated in depression), noradrenalin, acetylcholine and (specifically for memory) dopamine.

Networks

All these neurones are organized by our brain into networks. We have serotonin networks, acetylcholine networks, and dopamine networks. Each of these networks are connected with one another. We know that, even in a single network, several neurotransmitters are active simultaneously. In fact our brain consists of a network of neurones far greater in complexity than the most demanding internet search.
Memory is not located in one specific area of the brain. In fact the activation of a single network represents a memory trail. Each memory is stored as a different trail. Since all networks are interconnected, all are partially activated when a specific sector of a particular network is activated. The stronger the input, the greater the chance that surrounding networks will also be activated.

Repetition

We know from antiquity that repetition is the keystone to memorisation
In other words, the repeated activation of neurotransmittors at the synaptic level. As these processes are governed by enzymes, these enzymes need to be repeatedly activated in a short period of time in order to remain sensitive. The whole process of vesicle-releasing neurotransmitters, adhering to neuroreceptors is controlled by enzymes, which need to be stimulated repeatedly in order to remain active. It can be compared to a trail: the more people who use the trail, the more the trail remains visible and so can be transformed into a regular path - the memory path. This is not only true for the original trail but also for the surrounding (partial) trails; they become also memory paths. Five repetitions have been shown to work best.

This co-activation of surrounding networks explains why some memories are inextricably linked to others.

Coupled memories

This process is called “association”. We can exploit this characteristic to enhance recall of new words. When we learn new words within a familiar context we can recall them more readily. We make use of the fact that existing trails will facilitate the integration of new information. Retention is more efficient. It is clear that if both trails are stimulated simultaneously they are able to work synergistically.
This implies that if new words are learnt in context, then recall will be significantly greater.

Synesthisia

Our survival depends on our capacity to react quickly to threats in our surroundings. In order to achieve this, our senses are interconnected, facilitating the immediate integration of all sensory inputs and allowing us to decide at once what action should be taken. In adulthood our senses become differentiated and are manifested separately. In infancy our senses tend to be combined together. We smell colours, we hear flavours, and we taste music. In adults we label this condition “pathologic” and term it synesthesia. This apparently pathological state can be used in order to improve recall, by addressing all our senses simultaneously in order to enhance the memorisation process. Suggestopedia addresses this aspect of memory, using “associations” as language teaching device.

Suggestopedia in practice

Suggestopedia employs all the previously mentioned elements to enhance the teaching of a foreign language. The full Suggestopedic procedure comprises welcoming hospitality, guidance on the theme of the day, learning in concert, exercises and activation, mental integration and the closing ritual.

The leitmotiv of the whole process is to learn how to let go of our left brain. Hospitality and relaxation is used to improve the receptivity of the student, creating a learning path principally via the right brain.
The theme of the day is designed to activate memory trails within our brain and stimulate several senses at the same time.
Learning in concert is the climax of the whole process, where all senses are addressed simultaneously, enhanced by background classical music in the background. This enhances the receptivity of the right brain, whilst engaging the left brain via other senses (synsthesia).
This new material is presented as sentences, key-sentences, or as a dialogue or story, in order to improve recall through association.
The exercise and activation round tap into a fundamental principle of memorisation: repetition.
Mental integration is achieved by the student her/himself by plotting a mindmap of the new material. Using visio-audio-spatial activation, mnemonic anchoring is quickly and efficiently realised.
The closing ritual focuses not only on acquiring knowledge but also on the ambiance and the emotional labelling by the student (right brain) combining the more logical aspects of language (left brain).