Sunday, January 19, 2014

BEING ABLE TO READ IS BEING ABLE TO LIVE



For thousands of years, human beings have realized that they need to communicate to get their needs. One way of communicating is language. 

People use different kinds of language, in various methods. Starting from the simplest one, using body gestures or making certain meaningless sounds accompanied by gestures or conveying in a meaningful utterances. How did they learn about the signs, the spelling, the sound, the spread of the language? Amazingly, people even could find the meaning of their language in other languages! The world travelers were to whom people indebted the most for the fast and vast spreading of a language. In acquiring new language which is not our mother-tongue, there are vocabulary items to learn and remember. That deals with our brain.


Brain is a part of our body acting like a library, as I wrote earlier. As living things, our brain will age as aging is a part of life, but there are plenty of things you can try to help keep your memory sharp.

1. Get Up and Go

Exercise regularly. It's one of the best things you can do to help prevent age-related memory loss. Moving boosts blood flow to your brain and helps nerve cells in the part of brain that controls your memory.

2. Eat Right for Your Brain

One of the best diets for your brain is also good for your heart, says aging specialist Tiffany Hughes, PhD. She is a research assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.
"We know that if your heart's not healthy and it's not pumping blood and oxygen to your brain, that can have a negative effect on your brain health," she says. So, load up on vegetables and fruits.        

3. Work Your Mind

Whether it's crossword puzzles or Sudoku, computer games or mahjong, exercising your brain keeps it working, says Amy R. Ehrlich, MD. She is associate chief of geriatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in New York.
"I encourage people to find new activities that are stimulating, that engage them, that keep them using different parts of their mind than they used when they were working," she says.

4. Be Social

Try to be part of your community. It gets you engaged in conversations and activities, and keeps you thinking, talking, laughing, and planning -- all important ways to keep your mind nimble.


Reading extensively can eventually generate our memory and help us to be up-to-date in every angle in life. Language is an angle and language is part of culture of a country. If you want to learn a language you also should learn the culture. In terms of English, we can learn about a Royal tea party along with the language, or playing BINGO and find out what is the origin of the bingo the dog. Everything is connected. So, whether we have deliberate vocabulary learning and learning from reading, it doesn't matter. What does matter the most then? It is how we present them and know how much to be taken, not too little not too much. But, how much is too much? How interesting a presentation could be? Those are for other posts.



Thanks for reading.

Sincerely.



3 comments:

  1. Hi Bu Endah,

    Thank you for writing. It seems to me that the writing is not yet complete. I have a striong feeling that you want to write more. I will be waiting then :-)

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is.
      Still have exams to check. Another 3 classes.
      Wait up.

      Delete
  2. Kia ora Bu Endah, You finally managed to finish scoring your students exams. Congrats.

    I am interested in one of the ideas you suggested in your blog post. It goes: "Language is an angle and language is part of culture of a country. If you want to learn a language you also should learn the culture." In relation to your ideas, some people are afraid of teaching English (and or other languages) in Indonesia because they are afraid that our children (students) will lose their own cultural identity because learning English and its culture. That is why there is an issue that English is not taught anymore in Elementary schools. Do you agree with those people? I am looking forward to hearing from you and also other participants.

    Cheers,

    ReplyDelete