Learning in sleep: is it possible for language study? Many programs to “bed-learn” a language in your sleep are sold commercially, and language study has been one of the most popular subjects.

Psychological experts researching sleep language learning have had little luck teaching languages to deep sleepers in controlled studies. However, research in this area has inspired one major breakthrough in language education, accelerated learning, which has reported results as dramatic as students learning 900 to 1,200 new vocabulary words in one day.

Accelerated learning is performed in a light waking trance similar to light sleep, rather than in deep sleep like some sleep learning programs. In line with this, research results have been more promising for light sleep learning.

How Accelerated Learning Works

Accelerated learning emerged from sleep learning researchers who observed that hospitals were successfully using special music to relax patients’ heart rate and accelerate their healing process. Attempts to accelerate language learning using a similar method proved highly successful. Students were taught to relax until they had reached a mild trance state. They were then taught foreign language vocabulary to the background of a series of concerts set to specific rhythms timed to their breathing. Many students were able to learn 400 or 500 vocabulary words in one day with 90 percent retention, and even better results were not uncommon.

Sleep Language Learning CDs by BMV Quantum

A typical course  involves a series of steps like this:

1. Students’ confidence in their ability to learn language is built up by challenging conventional beliefs that create mental blocks to learning.
2. They are taught relaxation techniques for muscle relaxation and slowing breathing.
3. Material to be learned is previewed in the student’s native language first because this is easier to form mental associations. A printed version of the material is read aloud at a relaxed, timed pace, with the material presented in the context of a story that puts the vocabulary in a meaningful context. The same material is then previewed in the language to be learned.
4. Next is an “active concert,” where students read along as they listen to the foreign language vocabulary read aloud to the background of special music timed to a specific rhythm matching the students’ breathing rate.
5. After a break, students relax to a “receptive concert” by closing their eyes and listening to an audio where the music now takes the foreground and the language is read aloud in the background.
6. The next day, students practice using the new vocabulary they have learned by applying it in games and puzzles.

Applying Accelerated Learning to Sleep Learning Languages

Accelerated learning emerged from sleep learning techniques. Here are some ways accelerated learning techniques can be adapted to language sleep learning.

• Accelerated learning relaxation techniques can be learned from an audio in bed.
• The receptive concert phase of a standard accelerated learning language course can be done in bed.
• The course can be modified by creating vocabulary flashcards for students to view while awake and then visualize in bed with their eyes closed, to simulate the active concert phase. The receptive concert phase can follow.
• Follow-up games and puzzles can be done while listening to audios.

In these ways, a conventional accelerated learning program can be used in conjunction with sleep learning, and using subliminal messages to create a standalone sleep learning program for learning languages.

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