LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

Why are so many educators today averse to memorization? When did committing facts, lines of poetry, or elegant ideas to memory become unfashionable? I come from a generation that learned verses, literary passages, equations, historical dates, and geography by heart —and here I stand, none the worse for wear. In fact, I maintain that we are our memory; we are what we carry in the mind. It is no accident that Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, was mother to the nine Muses. I still honor her by memorizing as much as I can, even at my age. I explore these thoughts further in my article for VivaFifty :   https://www.vivafifty.com/aprende-memoria-mente-7450/  

  Isn't this a catchy and luring title? How to boost memory! We all want to improve our retention of... what? Phone numbers, people's names, birthdays, faces, words, street names, appointments? You name it because despite all the fanfare and ballyhoo about technology, we still have to remember a person's name, and her face even, if we want to make it in business or the academic world. We must not forget our way back home, what bus line to take, to cross on green and not on red... memory, memory, memory! And now we must come down to earth with a bump and be honest with you: I have no idea how to boost memory. I do not even know what memory is, where it is, and how it works. This is painful to admit, especially because I try to memorize expressions, and words, in English and Spanish daily. I use all the tricks of the trade: mnemonic techniques, copying by hand, repeating out loud, closing my eyes and visualizing words, making lists... the works. And I have been at this for ov...

I have found the secret to language learning. Self-appointed language experts, eager to cater to humanity´s leanings toward sloth, holler from rooftops (Facebook, Instagram, Tic-Toc) that the best method is to speak and scoff at grammar and memory. Heed them not. Language-acquisition methodologies come and go but the rock-bottom foundation stays which is memory. Memorize, memorize, and memorize vocabulary, patterns, and phraseology. The human brain's memory capacity is still unknown and probably the same in everyone. Fear it not, and I urge you to join me in this crusade to bring memorization back and restore its importance, especially in language learning. It is also a keen way to keep the brain active and alive till old age.       

  Reading Irene Vallejo ´s best seller El infinito en un junco , brings Emilio Lledó ´s books to mind. Very uncanny, really. Many years ago I read Lledo´s El surco del tiempo , and I turn to this dogeared, profusely underlined volume often. Its subtitle is meditaciones sobre el mito plátonico de la escritura y la memoria . Another of Lledó´s book that has a similar theme is Los libros y la libertad , where we can read: "De mis libros, de las bibliotecas que he frecuentado, aprendí el diálogo y la libertad de pensar. Durante siglos, fueron los libros los vencedores del carácter efímero de la vida." Vallejo y Lledó have a lot in common, except that the latter is a philosopher. I recommend both. 

Unwittingly, a kind Instagram fellow-user has reminded me of my youth and my studies in English Lit, and the poetry I used to memorize. Those who learn poetry by heart belong to bygone times, to "days that are no more", but I am a pigheaded, stubborn old teacher, and insist on recommending language students to commit poetry to memory. Sooner than later this habit will stand them in good stead. William Wordsworth has a poem I have known by heart for over a century. I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud : I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A p...

This morning, at 8 o´clock, I was aroused from my slumbers by the front doorbell. It was the Fuller Brush man. He knows I am a client but not today because I am traveling to Philly, to visit the Spanish Consulate.   After packing a few personal items -I like to travel light- I set off to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Soon I could see a barn embellished with a Chew Mailpouch Tobacco , treat yourself to the best sign. I have never chewed tobacco but this sign has remained in my memory all these years, proving that if you repeat something, it sticks. Farther on I read a short message on another barn: Burma Shave, preceded by its rhyming verses in several other barns. Tired, I stop at a Howard Johnson´s restaurant for a cup of coffee and to stretch my legs. Before reaching Philadelphia I stop at a Chevron gas station to refill. Finally, I enter the city of brotherly love . End of my journey!  Recalling all those names makes me feel that the end is drawing nigh .

  I stow newspaper clippings of interest in books. Today I found one such clipping, an interview ( El Cultural , 7/24/2008) with Dr. Francisco Mora , Neuroscientist at the Universidad Complutense , where he says: "Comer menos, hacer ejercicio y memorizar todos los días retrasa el envejecimiento del cerebro." I hold that we are memory and without it we are nothing. Further, we are always memorizing, at any age, new names, new street names, appointments, things we must do or accomplish in a day... but the real memoiristic exercise, the ultimate way of getting our brain to work to acquire facts and remember them is language learning. Professor Mora does not mention this. He doesn´t mention how we can put our neurons to work acquiring vocabulary, sounds, or grammar... which is the ultimate test for memory. If you wish to improve your memory, study a new language. 

Todos hablan de la memoria y hasta escriben sobre ella. Hay quienes dice que no debemos aprender nada de memoria. Lo mejor es comprender las cosas. Y sin embargo esos mismos se saben de memoria el nombre de la calle donde viven, el nombre del padre de su novia, la fecha de nacimiento de su hijo... y por eso yo les digo que somos memoria. Y no sabemos cómo el cerebro retiene información, a la larga, a la corta, y cómo a veces nos falla... en los exámenes especialmente. No temamos aprender de memoria. En idiomas, la memoria es el pilar básico y único para aprender uno nuevo. Tenemos que aprender vocabulario de memoria: frases, sonidos, dichos, chistes, canciones... todo eso que forma la nueva lengua. Yo sugiero a mis alumnos que aprendan de memoria poesía en inglés y castellano. La capacidad posible de la memoria es desconocida. Posiblemente sea infinita. Y no nos pesa la cabeza más cuanto más aprendemos. Aprende idiomas aprendiendo de memoria. Recientemente Ana y Pablo me han s...

This article of mine in VIVAFIFTY might interest you if youn wish to learn a language and improve your memory: https://www.vivafifty.com/aprende-memoria-mente-7450/

La memoria es esencial en el aprendizaje de idiomas - en todo en la vida, en realidad. Somos memoria y a veces tememos perderla. Lee esto: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/delfan-carbonell/fear-of-memory-loss_b_11975372.html?

Memory , memoria, recuerdo: Grandpa has lost his memory , el abuelo ha perdido la memoria. I have a good memory of my stay in Scranton , tengo un buen recuerdo de mi estancia en Scranton. Recordemos la canción The Memory of your Smile. Memoir , es la autobiografía, los recuerdos escritos. I am writing my memoirs , estoy escribiendo mis memorias. Memorial , algo en recuerdo de, como recuerdo de alguien o algo. This monument is a memorial to the men who died here , este monumento es un recuerdo a los que aquí murieron. Memorial service , funeral en recuerdo del fallecido. Memorial Day , el 30 de mayo es el día en recuerdo de los caídos en las guerras estadounidenses.