Hear and Feel the Words You Learn

As you learn verses by heart, you want to hear and even feel what you say.

Hear the Words

You should physically **hear yourself** saying these verses.

When you say verses out loud, you’re literally talking to yourself.

We “talk to ourselves” all the time, but most of this conversation happens inside our heads. For memorizing, that silent monologue isn’t enough. You want to actually hear your own voice.

Hearing activates more parts of your mind and memory than the usual mental self-talk. Remember, the more ways you connect to these verses, the better you’ll remember them.

Feel the Rhythms

In an earlier article, we talked about speaking the rhythms in the Gospel. These rhythms can change your whole experience of these stories.

But the rhythms go beyond speaking. When you speak with rhythm, you hear the rhythms too. You even feel them. You can feel the pause, the tension, the resolution.

You don’t need to be constantly aware of these rhythms. Mostly, you sense them without realizing it. But sometimes, especially when you’re starting a new verse, or the passage is difficult, paying attention to the feel of these rhythms can help clarify the memory.

Feel the Shapes of the Words on Your Tongue and in Your Mouth

You can also feel the shapes of the words in your tongue and mouth.

Try it. Go to the full story at the back of the book, and read yesterday’s and today’s verses together three times.

  • First, as you would normally read aloud.

  • Second, as you learned to speak yesterday: loudly and slowly, with rhythm and expression.

  • Third, paying attention to forming each word with your tongue, lips, and mouth.

Did you feel the difference?

In the next article, we’ll talk about experiencing the words you speak.

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