French on Fridays: Learn in Your Sleep

Want to optimize your learning? Go to sleep. That's what John Medina suggests in Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School.

I particularly love how Medina discusses differences in sleep patterns. Some of us are larks, some of us owls, and others a mix. If you're a lark, your best learning and working time will be in the morning. By nine o'clock p.m. you're going to want to turn in for the night (and forget about joining a late-night study group).

Owls, on the other hand, begin to heat up around 6 p.m. Bedtime before 3 a.m. is unappealing. Flex people like me can manage morning and night fairly equally (though we are generally up for a 2 p.m. nap :). For me, it's catch as catch can. If I feel inspired to study, I should. Though it couldn't hurt to study in the evening, since dreams might solidify learning.

These days, I try to study French at both ends of the day. A morning dip into my French text (hey, I just finished French One! :) and an evening dip into a French children's book or poem. French music is my mid-day companion.

This week, I thought it quite fitting to compose a little poem based on the French saying, "Who has a good neighbor, has a good morning." I do think that the neighbor might be better or worse depending on how he's honoring his particular sleep patterns.


Qui a, Who Has

Qui a bon
voisin, who has
a good neighbor,
qui a bon matin,
has a good morning.

Qui a bon matin,
may, after nibbling
raisins and cinnamon,
coffee and cream,
be that sweet neighbor

who brings your
sweet morning in.

For more on sleep and learning, check out Brain Rules: sleep.

Apricot Peach Tea (doesn't keep me up at night) photo, by L.L. Barkat.

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Want to participate in French on Fridays, but don't know French? Type any English word here and get a translation into French. Include your word in a poem or vignette. Or just write about anything French (music, history, art, food, family stories). We're flexible. If you feel comfortable doing so, link back here in your post. That way we have a meeting place.