Mini-Quiz

What is the largest shopping center you are familiar with? Name: City:

What (card) game are you good at playing?

Which of the following four statements applies to you?

• I am allowed/supposed to/must regularly or frequently study and would like to make the learning process easier for myself. □ Yes □ No
• I want to help loved ones (family, friends, colleagues) who are affected by question 1 to learn more efficiently and easily. □ Yes □ No
• I am engaged in teaching and therefore want to know more about learning. □ Yes □ No
• I train people who teach, so I am interested in this book. □ Yes □ No

If you answered "Yes" to at least one question, then you are in the right place. The goal is to dramatically simplify the learning process. By this, we do not mean memory tricks to forcefully retain something not understood, but rather the moral of the story (above):

Just as the duck must learn in a way that suits ducks to become a good duck (for example, to swim excellently), so must humans learn in a way that suits humans.

Humans need to learn in a way that aligns with how our brains work—this is why I speak of brain-friendly methods.

If we manage to learn in a brain-friendly way, it will become as easy for us as swimming is for a duck and climbing is for a squirrel. Otherwise, it becomes "hard."

When it becomes "hard" (because it goes against the way our brain works!), several things happen:

• We FEEL BAD.
• We feel STUPID.
• We begin to BELIEVE we are incapable (well, as incapable as a duck at climbing!).
• We get BORED.
• We lose the DESIRE that all children have for learning because learning is crucial for survival (and everything crucial for survival is also enjoyable).
• We GIVE UP, which means we start feeling bad even before we start (see above)...

Result: We become unable to qualify for the complex working world.

Do you want to break this vicious circle as a learner? Do you want to help others break it? Then this book was written for you!