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Watch "How Rhythm works in Language, Music & Rapping" (9min‣
Watch "Why language-learners can't comprehend fast native speech" (6min)‣
Watch "How to Fix Your Hearing" (8min)‣
Watch (Practice Tutorial) "How to sync your mind and body with syllable rhythm" (13min)‣
PracticeSelect a native speaker audio, then progress your way up to syncing your mind, lips and fingers with the syllables. Once you are in full sync, record a loom video of your performing a level 4 activity, then share the recording link to the #practice channel. If you can't achieve level 4 (lips and fingers), then submit for level 2 (lips only) or level 3 (fingers only).
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Level 1: Sync your mind- Prep: Ready a "continuous" audio, take a deep belly breath to relax your mind, then press play.
- With eyes closed, filter your attention to ONLY the rhythm of the syllables (ignoring phonemes, words or meaning), and allow the syllable rhythm to imprint your mind.
- When the audio stops, keep your eyes closed and continue looping the audio in your mind for at least 8 repetitions.
- When you feel the audio has imprinted, use the gapped version to practice looping during the gaps.
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Level 2: Sync your lips- Once your mind is in sync, go back to the "continuous" audio.
- Close your eyes, then take a deep breath from the belly to relax your mind.
- Open your eyes to press play, then immediately close them again.
- Repeat the syllable "ba" in perfect sync with the syllables of the audio.
- When the audio stops, keep your eyes closed, and continue to repeat the rhythm out loud for at least 8 more repetitions.
- If you feel your lips haven't synced yet, repeat steps 2-5. If you feel it has, move onto the next step
- Select the "gapped" version of the audio
- Close your eyes, then take a deep breath from the belly to relax your mind.
- Open your eyes to press play, then immediately close them again.
- Repeat the syllable "ba" in perfect sync with the syllables of the audio.
- During the gap, keep the rhythm going with your "ba" syllables.
- When the audio stops, keep your eyes closed, and continue repeating the "ba" for at least 8 more repetitions.
- Repeat steps 7-12 until you are confident your lips are perfectly in sync with the syllable rhythm.
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Level 3: Sync your fingers- Once your mind and lips are in sync, go back to the "continuous" audio.
- Close your eyes, then take a deep breath from the belly to relax your mind.
- Open your eyes to press play, then immediately close them again.
- Tap your fingers against your chest in perfect sync with the syllables of the audio.
- When the audio stops, keep your eyes closed, and continue to tap the rhythm out loud for at least 8 more repetitions.
- If you feel your fingers haven't synced yet, repeat steps 2-5. If you feel they have, move onto the next step.
- Select the "gapped" version of the audio.
- Close your eyes, then take a deep breath from the belly to relax your mind.
- Open your eyes to press play, then immediately close them again.
- Tap your fingers against your chest in perfect sync with the syllables of the audio.
- During the gap, keep the rhythm going with your finger taps.
- When the audio stops, keep your eyes closed, and continue tapping for at least 8 more repetitions.
- Repeat steps 7-12 until you are confident your fingers are perfectly in sync with the syllable rhythm.
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Level 4: Sync your lips AND fingers- Once your mind and lips are in sync, go back to the "continuous" audio.
- Close your eyes, then take a deep breath from the belly to relax your mind.
- Open your eyes to press play, then immediately close them again.
- Articulate "ba" AND tap your fingers against your chest in perfect sync with the syllables of the audio.
- When the audio stops, keep your eyes closed, and continue to repeat "ba" while tapping the rhythm out loud for at least 8 more repetitions.
- If you feel your lips and fingers haven't synced yet, repeat steps 2-5. If you feel they have, move onto the next step.
- Select the "gapped" version of the audio.
- Close your eyes, then take a deep breath from the belly to relax your mind.
- Open your eyes to press play, then immediately close them again.
- Say "ba" and tap your fingers against your chest in perfect sync with the syllables of the audio.
- During the gap, keep the rhythm going with your "ba"s and finger taps.
- When the audio stops, keep your eyes closed, and continue for at least 8 more repetitions.
- Repeat steps 7-12 until you are confident your fingers and lips are perfectly in sync with the syllable rhythm.
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Recordings tips:
- Be sure to use the "Gapped Audio" so we can hear you solo
- Don't use headphones - let the speakers play so your mic can capture both the native speaker audio and you.
- Don't forget to repeat 4 more times after the audio ends.
- You can submit for either lips, fingers, or lips AND fingers - but you can only choose one version for points on that particular audio.
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10 points for every Loom recording posted to #practice
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Watch (Apply Tutorial) "How to Listen ONLY for syllables in natural speech" (10min)‣
Shadowing with Syllable timingFind a youtube video of people speaking and practice listening ONLY to the syllables. Set a timer for 5 minutes for a single "Focus Session". When the Focus Session ends, send a report to #apply.
Note: Be sure to spend some time in the #practice activity before you attempt this, in order to feel what it's like to listen only for syllables.
- Find a youtube video of people speaking your target language for longer than 5 minutes (I recommend "Easy Languages")
- Select a playback speed (.50, .75, 1, or even higher speed)
- Set a timer for 5 minutes.
- Press play, and close your eyes.
- Do NOT try to listen for words or meaning. Instead, focus on "catching" or "grasping" all the syllables with your mind.
- When the timer goes off, report the following to the apply channel:
- Link to video,
- Playback speed
- Estimated percentage of syllables "caught"
- Mental Effort rating (1-effortless, 10-extremely effortful)
- Any other reflections or noticings.
5 points for each Focus Session (5 minutes) reported in #apply