I was reading...

[fajrdrako]

An interesting item about memory and language.

I suppose it would be the same in languages other than English?

Comments

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

I'm running out the door, but yes, it does. Can I come back to this later?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, please do.

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

I think it's less of a case is "stating things in the imperfective helps you remember the steps better!" but explaining what you did in the step would make a better impression than just that you did the step. Teaching helps you learn the subject better, kind of thing.

I do think that the cultural aspects embedded into the language is an interesting thing to consider. We were discussing in class the odd choice of using "thereof" in the King James Bible, as there was ambiguity what exactly to use for the third person non-gendered possessive so the author commettiee decided to skip the whole thing and work around it. Shakespeare just used whatever the hell he wanted and used "it" where we today would use "it's".

So there may be bits of cultural hindbrain used for the memory task, but using what they recommend just sounds like a shiny new way to use I-statements.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes; I think the consciousness of the process is the important aid to the memory.

I like the way Shakespeare talked - because however he used the language, he tended to be very clear. If only we all had that knack!

(Yeah, I know, there was only one Shakespeare.)