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  • Okay, so take the bus here, then, the train. Get a ticket -- hi. James, from EngVid. Ever

  • tried finding a place or going to a new country, looking at the subway or transportation maps

  • to get from one place to another? If you look at those things, they're called maps, right?

  • It will tell you what the city looks like, where you can get a bus at what time. But

  • basically, it tells you what something looks like, and it gives you a picture of it. And

  • it may not be an exact picture, but it's generally a picture you can work with. One you can go,

  • "Okay, I'm here, and I want to get here, and that's how I'll do it." Maps are very effective

  • and very efficient, right? Now, "effective" means they get the job done, and "efficient",

  • they do it in a quick way. Why am I talking about maps? In many of the videos I do, you'll

  • see what I call mind maps. I may not have called them mind maps, but that's what they

  • are. A "mind map" is a device or a tool that we use to help us understand something and

  • memorize it. I primarily -- and "primarily" means "mostly" -- use it for vocabulary, but

  • you could use it for grammar; you could use it for learning an entire topic in a foreign

  • language, and in this case, it's English. What I want to do today is explain what it

  • is. For those students who have a problem thinking it's different or confusing, I want

  • to break it down or break it into smaller parts so you can see it, understand it, and

  • then use it yourself in studying English. You like that? Let's go to the board.

  • I'm looking for Mr. E. And here he is. You are here. He's here on a map, but I don't

  • know where, and I want to get to there. So I'm going to use this to help me figure out

  • where he is. And we're going to use mind maps now to learn how to work with our English.

  • The first thing you have to understand about a mind map is -- think about getting engaged.

  • [Sings] I know. That's the theme from Star Wars, the Death Star. That's how I look at

  • marriage. Sorry, ladies. I'm just joking. But "engage" means to bring things together.

  • When we use mind maps, we use them to take all these thoughts we have in our heads which

  • can be very confusing, and we want to organize them and make it a nice way to follow like

  • a highway, right? A road you drive through. We're going to organize so you know exactly

  • where to drive and it's nice and smooth.

  • So the mind map helps you because it takes you -- it takes what's in your head, and it

  • shows you, "This is what I know. This is what I understand. And I'm going to put it on a

  • paper so I can put it out there and know what's inside my head." And once it's outside of

  • my head, I can start moving it. Because sometimes, when information is in your head, it's confusing.

  • It just moves all around. And we want to make it nice and straight and easy to look at.

  • A mind map helps with that, with organization.

  • In a second I'm going to explain -- because this is a simple mind map -- but I'm actually

  • using a mind map to explain my maps. Woo! Woo! Okay. So we want to -- it helps us think

  • through, but it also helps us engage. Because it's my information, I'm putting it down,

  • I'm engaged, which means I'm part of the process, like "engagement", "part of". And I'm working

  • through it, okay? So you take it out of your head, put it down, and you're engaged. This

  • also helps with memory. And you're going to see me keep mentioning memory again and again.

  • Because part of what I promised is you will learn the language -- the new vocabulary when

  • you use this -- you can learn language and remember it permanently. Well, this is the

  • first part of helping with that memory -- getting it out of your head, on paper, helps you with

  • repetition. Looking at what you know because if you know it, it's in your memory already.

  • Next. So it helps you understand what you know and then organize the work. What's point 2?

  • Well, once you take it out and you put it on the mind map in another point, you have,

  • well these branches are the first part you see are the big ones: engage, key, memory,

  • colour. These points usually tell us what is important, what I must know about the subject

  • or the first thing that comes to my head. And I put that down. These are the key points

  • -- or in English, what's important -- that I must focus on, okay? So it makes it easy.

  • So instead of a book -- the EngVid book. Don't forget to get your copy of it. Remember? EngVid.

  • Okay. I'm joking. But it tells us what I need to really study. So I don't need to look at

  • the whole book. I can look at maybe the five pages or the five words I need. So this is

  • key points. Give me the word I need to unlock the door to my memory, right? And this helps

  • me engage further. What's important?

  • No. 3. This is what mind maps do. And this is what you want. It helps you get memory

  • -- a better memory. Think USB key. Because of the repetition of focus, we write it out.

  • Then, we look at the key points, okay? It helps us to focus our mind on what's important

  • and needed. It helps your memory because this is how your memory works, right? It starts

  • in the center, and then the ideas keep coming. And that's what we're doing here. And we're

  • not just putting any ideas down, we're putting key point, and they're going to things that

  • we associate. That's what helps with the memory. Here is association. "Associate", like "engage",

  • are the things that come together. For some people, they associate money with time. Other

  • people associate money with hard work. Other people associate money with love. And I'm

  • not buying that love, but I'm just saying with love. So association helps with our memory,

  • okay? Better memory.

  • And finally, it's just fun. I don't know about you, but when I make a list of information

  • and just go down the page, down the page, after a while, I forget what I'm doing. It's

  • not fun. It's mind numbing. "Mind-numbing" means it's very boring and not interesting.

  • This part of the conversation is probably mind numbing to you, and it surely is to me.

  • Just joking. But it's fun. You get to use colour, draw, use your creative side. And

  • that's what a mind map does. It takes your logical side -- think through -- with your

  • fun side, and puts them together. Because in real life, what we engage in and what we

  • enjoy doing or what we focus on, the key points of life, are alive and full of colour. And

  • a mind map brings this to you because then it helps you with your memory. My favorite

  • thing to say to students is, "Do you remember the last party you were at?" And they'll say,

  • "Yeah." And I go, "A month ago?" "Yeah." "Were you drinking?" "Yeah." "Do you remember the

  • girl in the red dress?" "Yeah." Then, I ask them, the test we did last Tuesday, what was

  • the second question?" "I have no idea." Fun versus not fun. This is what helps you, okay?

  • That's why we do mind maps. And even if you hate them, you'll think, "I remember that

  • lesson. I hate it when he did this point here with the worm at the other end --" but you

  • remember it. That's all I have to do. That's my job. Your job is to think it through to

  • make it better for you.

  • So now that we understand what this beauty is, why don't we quickly go through how to

  • make one. The first thing you'll notice is I have a center image. It's in the middle

  • of the board, not to the side. Because it's here, I can freely go anywhere. I can go up,

  • down, and around. When you start in a corner, you're stuck. And you're also telling your

  • brain, "This is how it works." It doesn't. This is a branch. A "branch" is like from

  • a tree. When you have a tree -- okay. Better to put a tree up here. Okay, this little line

  • here -- that's a branch. It connects the leaf to the tree. Okay? So when we have these branches

  • and they spread out, we're telling ourselves is, "I have this main thought, but like money,

  • sometimes money is time; it's love; it's other things. There are things that are associated.

  • And if I start in the center, I'm free to go any direction I want. I'm not limited."

  • Okay?

  • Second: colours. Colours are life. Imagine a rose. Imagine a rose with no colour. It's

  • hard isn't it? Because you made it black and white, didn't you? Right? Because we always

  • have some kind of colour, something. Even if it's black and white. We can't just imagine

  • nothing. Bringing colours -- you know, black and white is nice, but look at this. This

  • catches your eye versus this. It's almost the same. But you look at the pictures and

  • the colour. That's what I mean. It brings you -- it helps you know how you think and

  • keeps your focus there. And when you're focused, it's easier to learn.

  • Connect. These branches connect to each other saying, "Hey, look. It's not just about a

  • map. It's about my memory and how to make my memory better. It shows the connection

  • in how I think." We're all different. I don't know how you would draw it. But you would

  • draw your own map and remember it as well as -- if not better than -- what I've done.

  • All right? So we need these connections, this association to make it easier for each other.

  • Okay? Your way might be different than mine. You might not have a clown here. You might

  • have a beer. I don't know. Or a soccer ball.

  • Finally, the curved lines -- it's silly. It's a very small point. But the funny thing about

  • wavy lines is it's much more fun for our eyes to focus on -- much more interesting than

  • straight lines, all right? And you think about everything around us. They have edges and

  • lines. It's the curvy ones that draw your attention because in nature, there are no

  • right angles, right? A right angle is 90 degrees. You've always got some kind of curve or angle

  • or circle to it.

  • And finally, one word -- no. I'm not finished talking. I mean one word, which is different.

  • Each branch has one word because that leads to focus, okay? If you have whole sentences,

  • you cannot go from a sentence because that's a thought. But a word can be colour is fun.

  • Colour is exciting. Colour is new. You can go from many different ways. But once you

  • say, "colour is blah, blah, blah," it kind of finishes stuck. So each one -- each branch

  • will have a word. Because from here, you can go memory -- not just better, but memory deeper,

  • memory attached or included, right? You can just add words, and one word gives you that

  • freedom once again, or I would say, flexibility and focus. Many F words here. That's interesting.

  • Okay, so this is how we work with mind maps. This is how I use them. So now, I'm hoping

  • if you just study this -- look at this lesson. Then, look at my other lessons and go back.

  • You'll go, "Wowee! That's what he did. I saw him do that, and I didn't get it, but now

  • I do. I honestly do." Start with the center image. Started from the bottom; now, we're

  • here. Drake, you owe me money. So we start here, and we move out. And then, they seem

  • crazy at the beginning, but when you step out -- excuse me. Yep. When I step out, it

  • makes more sense. And that's what I want you to do. Put it down. Step away from the page.

  • Look at the page. And then, look at how the branches go and how the thoughts go. And then,

  • you'll go, "I understand him. He's a genius." Look. You don't have to believe me. But if

  • you want to know, guys like Einstein, Galileo -- that's right -- Leonardo DaVinci -- they

  • used mind maps. And now you can be with the pantheon of gods. Or you could be, you know,

  • just like them. Take the pictures in your head. Put them on the paper. Have a better

  • memory. Have more fun. And learn permanently. Cool? I thought you'd like that. Okay. So

  • there's the little clown for some colour.

  • Anyway. I've got to get going. I need to take my map and find my friend. He's holding my

  • drink right now. You've had fun. I've had fun. But before I go, I'm getting a message

  • right now. It's not on the map, but it's in my mind. You need to go to www.engvid.com,

  • "eng" as in "English", "vid" as in "video", where you'll find myself, Mr. E, and our other

  • friends and teachers there to teach you. It's a map and a guideline for you, right? Just

  • like the mind map. Search it. Learn how to think and remember. I'm out. See you later.

  • Have a good one.

Okay, so take the bus here, then, the train. Get a ticket -- hi. James, from EngVid. Ever

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