Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer PR books in a foreign language

Is there anybody out there who is having the same reservation like I do about PRing in a foreign language even though you feel fairly confident when you use the language the old-fashioned way either reading/ writing/ speaking?

My results when trying to feel English books are rather poor. There is an argument in my head going on which doesn't really progress so I'd appreciate some new input:

Opinion one: Language and communication is not just words. It's the indications that certain words IMPLY that convey meaning. If you don't learn/ live the language as a child you are missing billions of associations that are usually triggered when you are reading in your own language, which means you are also not getting the "feeling picture" from a book.

Opinion 2: Maybe the other than conscious mind simply evaluates clusters of words on the page, never mind the structure/ grammar. And as long as you know those core meanings you should get the picture. For example if you have: werewolf, fright, race, claws ... it is bound to make your heart rate go up.

(Leaves the question whether or not one can feel irony/ sarcasm - Pete?)

The point of it all is: How do I convince myself that I can do it? I know practise, practise. Still, anybody with encouraging experiences? Someone who feels at ease PRing no matter the language?

Happyday

Happyday,
Your command of English is excellent!

You're concerned over nothing....trust yourself. If you know the English words-- irony/sarcasm, then you'll only find yourself getting more proficient in English & the feel for it.

The other than conscious mind is proving to be capable of more things one could ever imagine. Whether one knows the language or not, think about this. I know i picked up a book i'd never read b/f & stopped at 3 key spots. How does that kind of thing happen? I didn't know anything about that book & i've only read a N.Barr book once b/f, so i'm not really familiar w/ her style. I can't see any difference for your situation w/ English.

Good Luck!

Remember the line from Bach's "Illusions."

Argue for your limitations and sure enough they are yours.

Thank you both, your replies give me the right push to just go ahead with it. I have a few holidays waiting for me and I prepared myself with a good supply of easy reading stuff destined to make my dreams ever so interesting.

Hello all,

what would you do if you wanted to PR a foreign language which is completely different from English like Chinese, Arab or Japanese?
Say, that you learn the language as an adult while being in the country where the language is spoken. You start out being completely lost. You can't read a menu, can't ask for the way, have no idea where they sell what because you can't read. There isn't even an alphabet. Everything is different. It takes you three month to build your first sentence and it takes a year for phrases to make sense, to finally click. You are persistent and finally have a good command of that language, you even use it daily in your work. But you panic as soon as you see a text written, even though you Know you can read that, because you did it before. You carry around that feeling from when you started: Being completely lost, if you want the meaning of THAT it'll take you hours to decipher.

Now you are working in that country, you need to read: business reports, magazines and specialists book. You are well equiped with paraliminals and more or less familiar with the PR technique. What babysteps would you take to apply that here? How would you measure success? Would you first try to push your normal reading speed and leave the PRing aside?

Oh, and let's set a time limit per day. You are determined - so let's say you have 1 hour in the evening to do anything to get that going (that includes tape sessions). Ok, maybe plus half an hour in the morning if you are really, really into this. Say, you give yourself a month to get rid of the panic, you want to be able to see At A Glance what this written thing is about. You want to be able to identify keywords quickly
and you want to have confidence that PRing works in that language, too.

Can't wait to hear your ideas.

I spent two weeks in Japan a few years back. I had PhotoRead a dozen books before I left the States and PhotoRead books to learn Kanji when I was there.

By the end of the vacation I was recognizing items on menus, street signs, train station signs, and so much more.

Immerse yourself. Play. And PhotoRead everything you can.

Wow, I wish I'd known PR 10 years ago, could have saved me endless agonizing practising those Kanjis. Thank you for the encouragement.

Actually I had already one good experience: once I had to write a report in Japanese an idiomatic expression came to me out of the blue which was perfect for what I was trying to say. I had photoread (just photofocus) the dictionary a couple of days before.

Imagining that this is only a glimpse of wonders to come puts a grin all over my face.

Thank you

Happyday