Here, the word `strategy' means a sequence of thoughts and
actions that occur before a certain behavior that enable you
to accomplish that behavior. We have strategies for
everything, and learning is no exception. Sometimes we
develop cumbersome strategies with unnecessary, extra steps
that slow us down and frustrate us. Other times, our
strategies are missing steps and this can cause us to make
mistakes.
The question is: what is the difference between the strategy
that successful learners use as compared to those of
unsuccessful learners. Once you pinpoint this, you can help
the unsuccessful learner make the appropriate changes. Have
him go through the new strategy steps slowly and
methodically, over and over again, until he does them in one
smooth progression. Don't just tell students what they
should be doing: do it with them at their pace until
they can do it.
As an example, let's take gemora learning. In my
experience, many people who have a difficult time reading and
understanding gemora are missing steps in their
strategy. One of the most common mistakes is trying to
explain the text as they are reading it for the first time.
Another is trying to translate word by word. These will
almost always result in misinterpreting the text. Or, as we
say, getting the wrong pshat.
I use a method of correcting this which has helped a lot of
people become proficient in correctly reading the
gemora. Essentially, this is the strategy that
successful learners use. The only difference is that
successful learners unconsciously run through these steps,
very rapidly. When I teach this strategy, I have learners go
through the steps slowly and methodically. As it becomes more
and more familiar, they run through them more quickly until
it becomes their natural strategy.
This, essentially, is how we learn to do almost anything. At
first, you go through the steps slowly and methodically. You
need to concentrate on what you are doing, to ensure that you
are doing every step correctly and in the right sequence.
Then, as you practice, it becomes progressively more familiar
and you need to pay less attention to what you're doing.
Finally, you reach a stage where it becomes second nature and
you run through the steps automatically, paying little
conscious attention to what you're doing.
To illustrate: recall the awkwardness you felt when you first
learned how to write, type, swim or drive a car? Then recall
how those feelings of awkwardness started going away as you
became more familiar with these skills. Finally, think how
smoothly it went when these skills became second nature.
We already mentioned what unsuccessful learners do. What,
then, are the steps that one must go through to read and
understand gemora? In other words, what is the
strategy that successful learners use?
First you have to phrase the gemora. Without
knowing where the phrases begin and end, you cannot
understand what is being said. [Ed. Women can relate this to
reading Rashi and commentaries.] I have the students read
over the text, instructing them not to translate yet.
Depending on their level, I will either show them where the
phrase ends or let them figure it out. At this point, I work
exclusively on reading. I tell them to read until the end of
the phrase or idea. (This could be the question, proof or the
answer etc.) I help them with the pronunciation. By the time
we have finished this stage, they can correctly read the
section and feel a sense of accomplishment over this. Even
though I told them not to translate, they have already
begun mentally translating without realizing it.
The next step is translation. Now that they have a
sense of how the words are grouped, it is possible to
translate. I instruct them to read the phrase and translate
it. This is instead of their ineffective method of
translating word by word. If they do not know individual
words, I define them. It is more important that they can
translate phrases and this I have them do. We repeat
this process two or three times until it flows smoothly and
then move on to the next phrase until we have covered the
piece they read in step one.
The last step is explanation. Here we take the
translated piece and make sense out of it. Think of this as
`polishing' or `smoothing out' the translation. I tell them,
"Now read and explain the gemora."
Then we move on to the next piece and repeat these three
steps. I find that this process works most effectively if you
do it every day, several days in a row for 30-45 minutes per
session. The student should begin to notice improvement by
the third day, which usually gives him the motivation to
follow through.
As students get more familiar with it, you can tell them that
they can practice it on their own until it becomes second
nature. Have them check back with you two or three times a
week for the next couple of weeks.
Once again, the goal is that it should become their habitual
way of approaching gemora. Intensive practice will do
this. Successful learners naturally do these three steps in
one quick smooth progression without thinking about them
consciously.
I have found this method to be successful with both native
English and native Hebrew speakers and with different age
groups.
[Shlomo Kory is a Neuro-Linguistic Program instructor. For
more information: 02-5373690; 051-985225;
info@nlpjerusalem.com]
