If you have been keeping up with the excellent series of posts Gareth has been writing on 4 muscles you never knew you had you’ll know that here at Bitesized we’re all about increasing your capacity to learn a language as much as the actual learning itself.  While we’re on the theme of muscles I thought I would briefly expand on a comment by Ursula relating to the muscles in your mouth.

Repeatedly exercising the muscles in your mouth by speaking out loud is a vitally important element of learning a language.   “No kidding” you say, but it is important to remind ourselves now and then about the mechanics behind this so its full importance is understood.  Speaking the language that you learn repeatedly establishes words not just in your regular memory but also establishes patterns in your muscle memory, that is, your mouth muscles will recognise the pattern in the words you are saying and will pronounce them more fluently the more often you say them.

Muscle memory is described by the indefatigable contributors to Wikipedia as “a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task; eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort.”  This is as applicable in language learning as it is in sports, music or any of the other repetitive processes we may engage in.  It goes without saying the more you do something the easier it becomes.

So the golden rules for language muscle memory are:

1. If you are reading new vocabulary or a section of text make sure you read it out loud to maximise the benefit you will receive  - try not to kid yourself reading quietly to yourself is far less effective overall.  If you’re in public and don’t want people to hear you at very least mouth the words silently.
2. Whenever you come across a common phrase or saying, specifically repeat it out loud several times (the more the better).  Just as the 100 most important words to use are important to focus on, making sure you have established muscle memory on key phrases will see a disproportionate boost to your fluency.
3. If you overhear a native speaker speaking, try and repeat something they have said (it doesn’t matter what they have said) while it is fresh in your mind you will be able to mimic them more closely and establish a good habit.
4. If you have developed bad habits in speaking (i.e. poor pronunciation or mumbling) consciously try to break them through muscle memory re-training.  Get a native speaker to record the phrase(s) to your phone or iPod, and then listen and repeat them consistently until you have broken your habit.
5. Finally, make sure you use the language whenever you can.  Read signs out loud as you pass by, order from your waiter in the language you are learning, sing along to foreign language songs.  The key is repetition and mimicry, keep focussing on correct pronunciation and eventually it will become second nature.

Have a great weekend all!

Simon