The ABC of Suggestopedia

RCHITECT In Suggestopedia, the teacher is the architect of a highly stimulating, but psychologically safe, environment where students constantly surprise themselves by what they have been able to remember and use creatively. Material is assimilated before it is analysed, much in the way that children naturally take in new situations. The emphasis is on the learning process: results - which are usually two to three times as fast as in conventional approaches - are regarded as "side effects" of a proper learning process. In fact, all language acquisition on this course will be part and parcel of learning how to learn.

RAIN-FRIENDLY In Suggestopedia, learning activities are managed in a very special way. Much key information is sneaked in through "the back door" of students' consciousness by an extremely simple ploy: the teacher specifically designs activities that force learners to focus their conscious attention on less important, extraneous input at the same time as they are obliged to unconsciously make use of essential knowledge. This "sidetracking" process ensures that key information is directed to the long-term memory, which soaks up peripheral perceptions, stocks them as vaporous intuitive impressions for four days and lets them seep into consciousness like a drip feed. This process tries to replicate real life and allow the brain to do what it does best: decode complex patterns in order to ensure survival.

HAINS OF ASSOCIATION In Suggestopedia, all knowledge is woven into unforgettable chains of association and courses are designed so that students are constantly surprising themselves with their own newly discovered capacities.

EPTH Suggestopedia was created by Bulgarian doctor and psychiatrist Dr. Georgi Lozanov. It is a system that redefines the speed and depth at which learning is possible, and believes that the more satisfying and enjoyable an experience is, the more thoroughly it will be remembered.

SSENCE The essence of the Suggestopedic approach is the attention paid to detail, since it is the details - especially the invisible ones - that will shape the attitude of a learner to the subject matter and fashion his or her self-image as a learner. This, in turn, will result in greater or lesser confidence and receptivity.

LOW STATE Suggestopedia is a teaching approach which activates the reserve capacities of the unconscious mind. It enables most students to learn three times as fast as before, largely because they feel safe, are highly stimulated and find themselves in a 'flow state'. This highly desirable form of concentration eliminates almost all outside interference and learning seems to take place through instant osmosis. This 'flow state' seems to come about most easily when students are given tasks that require about 120% of their normal maximum capacity.

ROWTH Suggestopedia is a dynamic and innovative teaching method that stems from a new vision of learning. Based on the most recent research on how our brains and memories work, this approach organizes material in special ways that the mind can remember spontaneously and then integrates this into what the learner already knows.

IGHLY-STIMULATING Suggestopedia is a teaching approach built on the above - and other related - principles. It begins by creating as safe an emotional environment as possible, where learners are unconditionally supported and are, therefore, unafraid of taking chances. It presents learners with quick successions of highly stimulating and artistic activities that appeal to all the senses, thus teaching in a multi-modal, matrix-like way. The same knowledge, coming to learners through a variety of different channels, "mutually" reinforces itself.