And no, that's no exaggeration, it's entirely possible and in this video I'm going to show you exactly how!

這不誇張，這絕對是可能實現的，而我就要在這支影片中教你如何做到！

So I don't think I've ever talked about this before, but in my spare time, in addition to making these silly videos, I actually teach Chinese, no surprise there.

我想我之前沒跟你們說過但在我空閒的時候，我除了做這些搞笑影片之外我事實上也在教中文，不要太驚訝。

Now one of the biggest problems I find with my students is vocabulary retention, right? So, they'll cram some vocabulary or grammar one week, but a few more weeks go by and they've seemingly completely forgotten everything they learned.

我發現我學生有的一個最大的問題就是記單詞，他們會一整個禮拜都在死記硬背一些單詞或文法書，但是幾個禮拜之後就好像完全忘光了。

And this probably describes how you've learned things in school as well, right?

而這也很可能是你在學校學習的狀況，對吧？

Now why is this?

那現在為什麼要談這個？

Well it turns out that unless you are actually using the vocabulary that you learn, the brain simply says, "Hey, I don't need this vocabulary anymore given that I haven't heard it in a while, let me throw it in the trash."

結果是除非你有真的在使用你學的字彙，否則大腦就會說：「嘿我大概用不到這個詞了，因為很久沒聽到了，那我就把它丟到垃圾桶囉。」

And that actually makes sense, right?

這挺有道理的對吧？

So, the brain has evolved over billions of years to be as efficient as possible, and why is your brain going to waste memory cells on stuff you're not actually using?

我們的大腦已經演化了幾十億年，就為了要盡可能讓它更有效率，所以為什麼你的大腦要浪費記憶體去記住用不到的東西？

However, it turns out there's actually a scientifically proven way to hack the way the brain forgets to ensure that you can remember whatever you want forever. Right?

不過，確實有個經過科學證實能解開大腦忘記東西的方法以確保大腦能記住所學的東西。對吧？

So way back in 1885, the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus found out through numerous studies that have since been verified many times over about the forgetting curve, which is that the brain forgets things in an exponential way.

1885 年一位德國心理學家 Hermann Ebbinghaus 在許多研究中發現多次被證實的遺忘曲線，也就是大腦會以指數的趨勢忘記事物。

So, as time goes on, you lose memories faster and faster.

隨著時間過去，你會越忘越快。

But, here's a cool thing, once you are given a reminder of the material after a little bit of time, the curve kind of restarts and starts to get flatter.

但很酷的是，一旦過一段時間你有被提醒，遺忘曲線就會開始趨緩。

Meaning that after your first reminder it's going to take you longer to forget the material.

也就是你第一次被提醒之後你就會花越久的時間才會忘記。

And repeat this several times over and over and the curves keep getting flatter, and at some point they basically become completely flat and enter your memory permanently.

重複幾次，曲線就會越來越平緩，然後在某個時間點基本上就會完全變平然後就會永久存入大腦記憶體。

Now, the magic of this process is that it's extremely time efficient.

而這過程的魔法就在於非常省時。

So, whereas the first and second review might need to be next to each other by only a couple of days, your fourth and fifth review are separated by like two months.

所以儘管第一第二次的複習需要間隔幾天，但是第三第四次的複習只需要間隔兩個月。

So rather than spending all that time cramming the night before a test only to forget the material in a week, you could instead spread that exact same time over several months and yet remember that material for far longer.

所以與其考前一整晚死記硬背，但一個星期後卻忘光光，不如把這些時間分攤在幾個月內，這樣就可以記得更久。

So you might be thinking this is great and all but these charts seem really complicated! How the heck do I do this?

所以你可能會想說很棒啊，但是這些圖表看起來也太複雜了！我到底要怎麼辦到？

Well that's exactly what we have computers for!

這個嘛，這也就是電腦要拿來幹嘛用的！

So my longtime subscribers will know that I talk a lot about Anki on this show, which is a free program that implements precisely this spaced repetition system.

一些訂閱我的頻道比較久的人知道我經常在節目上談到 Anki，這是一套植入間隔重複系統的免費程式。

But there's other software too, right, like Memrise, which is a web-based platform that has lots of premade courses that unlike most textbooks, are based around the principles of spaced repetition.

但也有其他軟體，像是 Memrise，有許多預製課程，不像大多數教材，他們是遵照間隔重複的原則。

And one other thing I think is worth mentioning is that spaced repetition, as good as it is, is actually just an imitation of the natural language learning process.

另外一件值得提的事是雖然間隔重複很好，但其實它是模仿自然語言的學習過程。

So, for example you're a native speaker of English you probably know the meaning of the word "jacuzzi" despite not having heard it in a long time, most likely. You may have heard it a bunch of times one summer vacation and now you don't need to hear it that often for the meaning to be reinforced.

舉例來說，如果你是英文母語者，你會知道 jacuzzi 的意思是什麼，儘管你很久沒聽到這個詞，但是在某個暑假你聽到很多次，所以你現在不需要經常聽它來強化對這個詞的印象。

So, eventually once you get into the advanced phases of language learning, learning by osmosis from native level media or conversation, that is effectively your spaced repetition, and you no longer need programs like Anki or Memrise.

所以最後你進到學習語言的進階階段，透過一些母語程度的媒體或對話來做滲透學習，這就是你間隔重複的有效方式，因此你就不需要像是 Anki 或 Memrise 這類的軟體了。

So let me know in the comments how you've used spaced repetition to reach your own language learning goals!

那就在下面留言告訴我你是如何利用間隔重複來達到你語言學習目標吧！

And thanks everyone for watching and if you liked this video please subscribe 'cuz I've got more like this and I'll see you next week!

謝謝大家觀看，如果你喜歡這支影片的話請記得訂閱，下禮拜見！