SPI114 Analytical Skills... Focus (seriously)

Sometimes I'm amazed at the way my brain works. COMPLETELY sidetracked today, not feeling like working at all, I accidentally stumbled on information that coincides with what I'm supposed to be teaching...

Last week we discussed memorization techniques. Given a list, how do you memorize the information? Flashcards, chunking, visually, anagrams, some you just repeated the information over and over again, either way.. you have a method and it works for you.

We've talked about this before, as interpreters, you'll have to use your memorization skills repeatedly. You'll have to access your short term memory to remember what has been said, process the message into another language, then repeat it. During the process of converting this message you have to access your long term memory for the vocabulary.

One of the things we haven't discussed is "Focus." (that made me laugh too!) As an interpreter, your ability to "tune out" extra noises is almost as important as your memorization skills. Think about it... you're interpreting for someone bleeding excessively from everywhere in the emergency room... You are surrounded by total chaos, yet you have to concentrate on the situation in front of you. Losing track of the conversation because people around you are missing limbs or eyes or bleeding or screaming... could mean the death of your client. 

SINCE we all know that I am "Focus Deficient" I'm going to share a few articles on Improving your Focus.
It seems the easiest way to "test" your "Focus" skills will be to throw some distractions your way next week.

Article 1: 5 ways to Improve your Focus

Article 2: 8 ways to Improve your Focus and Control your Attention

Article 3: 12 Tips to Improve Your Focus

We'll watch 4 videos:
1. 2 in English and 2 in Spanish. I'll try my hardest to keep the videos short.
2. You'll need to relay what you heard in the videos. An opportunity to practice note-taking skills.
3. We'll discuss how much you of the video you were able to understand.
4. We'll discuss the distractions. Could you "tune" them out? Are some distractions easier to block out?
5. Did language have any effect on the experiment?

Ciao,
MLMoore