Membar - language learning alternative to flash cards

[Membar]

good evening all 

My name is Jeff Powell, and I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce a software program I recently launched called "Membar" which was developed primarily as a language learning tool.

I developed the software as I was in the process of studying German using Duo-Lingo (a smartphone app I highly recommend!) but I wanted something which would help cement some of the German words in the course that I was struggling to commit to long-term memory.

I had tried flash cards in the past, but they never really worked for me. One method I found extremely effective was the "three sentence" method. for those who are unfamiliar with this method, you simply write down three sentences that must contain the word you are struggling with, and each sentence must be completely unconnected to the other, apart from the key word you are trying to encode to memory. Like I say, this worked really well for me, but was extremely time-consuming, and I was probably only adding 4-5 new words a day to my vocabulary using this method.

I searched around the internet for various "language learning" tools, but struggled to find anything that really suited me. It was then that I stumbled across an article that discussed memory encoding through information gathered from peripheral vision (i.e. everything you "see", but that you are not directly focussing on) and how this information is encoded in a different part of the brain to the information gathered via "central vision".

The article explained how humans are now relying more heavily than ever before on central vision. We live in a world full of smart phones and tablets and laptops, and we spend a huge proportion of our time focusing on information using central vision. This is in stark contrast to the way humans used to live, where peripheral vision was vital in ensuring you could spot danger from afar, or moving prey to be hunted.

Because most people's peripheral vision is relatively weak nowadays, it takes longer for the brain to encode memories processed from this part of vision, than it does from central vision. However, when the information is finally encoded, the memory tends to be stronger.

So I started developing a tool that would allow me to study a language using my peripheral vision, and the Membar was born!

If you're looking for an interesting alternative to using flashcards, and would like to know more about my software, or even take a free trial of the software itself (currently Windows only, I'm afraid), please feel free to visit my site and download the free trial. www.membar.co.uk

If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear them

thanks

Jeff (Membar)