Baroque Music Can Help You Learn

“Le chat est sur la table.”

If you’re like most people, impractical phrases like the above are about all that’s left of your high school French. But studies by Bulgarian psychologist Georgi Lozanov showed that if you’d been listening to Baroque music while you hit the books, you could now remember a whole lot more.

Dr. Lozanov called it Superlearning. In the 1960s, he found that learning and memorization techniques – particularly concerning language – were 50 percent more effective when paired with calming Baroque music. By 1966, students in his classes could learn – and retain – 1,800 words per day. And they left the classroom invigorated, alert, and stress-free.

If you’d like to try it for yourself, pick up some Baroque music – music from the 16th to 18th centuries. Try composers like Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel.

[Ed. Note: Bonnie Caton is a staff writer for the AWAI Travel Division. To find out how to learn Spanish using a similar technique called SuperThinking, click here. For more tips, sign up for AWAI Travel’s free e-letter, The Right Way to Travel.]