Ben Crowder

This morning after my scripture study I wrote the Welsh numbers (0-10) on an index card, along with the mutation chart. And during breakfast I memorized the numbers (and started reading Death Comes for the Archbishop, which is the book we’re reading in my ward book club that my roommate and I are starting up), then continued by memorizing the mutation chart (p->b->mh->ph, etc.) on my walk up to campus.

Two things: first, memorizing is getting easier as I get older. Isn’t that against the law of entropy? :) Before my mission I used to have to really work at it to get stuff to stick, but now I just say it over a couple times in my head and voila, there it is. For example, last night before bed I opened a Spanish dictionary and memorized “oler,” “olvidar,” and “ombrigo,” and then opened my American Heritage dictionary and picked up “brogue” (a thick accent) and “demesne” (basically the same thing as “domain”). When I woke up this morning, the words were all as clear in my head as if I’d memorized them thirty seconds before. I’m not sure exactly how this retroaging thing works, but it’s cool. :)

Second, I feel more productive when I use those normally “empty” bits of time (when walking to and fro, for example, or waiting for class to start). But at the same time I don’t want to use then all up, because quiet is important and that’s also when a lot of my ideas come. It’s a balance. Everything’s a balance. Except for my bank account, which is a bit lopsided. ~sigh~

[tags]Welsh, Spanish, memorization[/tags]