₦airaland Forum

First avoid believing that cramming is bad. Cramming is good. If you can cram well, you can become a professor. You will know what millions want to know. It is also call memorizing.

Memorizing is learning method I can't do without. It is also a big fun. If I memorize everyday a name of each of the current African presidents, in less than 2 months I can call the name of each African president offhand as if I live in each African country. If I do this with Igbo or Yoruba, then I can speak it in a few months. Like reading, there are two types of memorizing: memorizing for studies and memorizing for leisure. For studies, I focus on my course or career in order to talk intelligently and professionally while for leisure I focus outside my course to talk of other field. Most times, I use media to jot down the names of current key government officials and memorize them so that I can within a few days tell their names offhand.

Read leaning Secret here https://www.nairaland.com/2671506/home-learning-secret

How do you learn at home, and is it a fun? To improve your self to live better, it is said, right off the bat, nothing good comes easy, you have to sacrifice your time or at least restrict yourself to doing certain things which are the secrets. And, shortly after, I improve a lot.

Reading is most likely the actual key and this is the first thing I consider as learning advice. As I go through both electronic and hard books at home, I follow two types of reading: reading for studies and reading for leisure. For studies, I focus on my course (career), to make myself ready to answer any question or assignment that may come at any time, without putting myself in a spin. In this studies, I lay emphasis on reading text and history books pertaining my course.

Memorizing is learning method I can't do without. It is also a big fun. If I memorize everyday a name of each of the current African presidents, in less than 2 months I can call the name of each African president offhand as if I live in each African country. If I do this with Igbo or Yoruba, then I can speak it in a few months. Like reading, there are two types of memorizing: memorizing for studies and memorizing for leisure. For studies, I focus on my course or career in order to talk intelligently and professionally while for leisure I focus outside my course to talk of other field. Most times, I use media to jot down the names of current key government officials and memorize them so that I can within a few days tell their names offhand.

Also read: Home Practice Secret of Public Speaking https://www.nairaland.com/2669745/home-practice-secret-starting-public

Another thing that helps me more is browsing. Where I live is far from National Library or where I can skim through dailies (newspapers), so instead of spending money on transport, I use it to recharge my cellphone to browse every time I like even at midnight. It is here I gain more reading resources like electronic books. I get clue of many things that I can't afford offline. For instance I wanted to buy a book about how Adolf Hitler killed 6 million Jews during world war II but I couldn't afford it. When I browsed, I got what I wanted. (But know most online facts are not trusted). There is also browsing for studies and browsing for leisure.

Another learning secret I code is thinking, although I often forgot it behind. To understand thinking as a learning secret, believe there are two types of thinking: normal and extraordinary thinking. Normal thinking is the one you do to remember something or facts while extra ordinary thinking is constructive thinking or the one you do to create something or ideas. For extraordinary thinking which is the most important one and usually like a dream or vision, you must have an object of thinking.

I usually use this constructive thinking for fun. I picture myself teaching more better, or with my wife and my daughter as tourists in South Africa or California USA. If you are a fiction writer, you can use this thinking to picture what your characters are doing or going through and jot it down. Picture yourself delivering a speech before the world. This thinking is also used for various inventions.

As you make your bed so you shall lie on it.

By Maren John Mafuyai, a literary contributor from Jos

Every good practice begins from home and starting public speaking is no an exception. To activate the itch, I glanced at heaven and earth and ask myself whether I am different from those that can make it and I refuse to agree that I can't make it. I start doing all that I can to see how the future may be and at the hotch-potch of trials this turns out to be the most helpful secret.

Also read: Home Practice Secret Of Public Speaking https://www.nairaland.com/2668035/home-practice-secret-public-speaking

First, by heart lens, I see public speaking as a niche but not as a niche as it is but as something worth revealing that I have. Public speaking is all about telling the public what they should do to help themselves while advertising and selling your product. Public speaking is not purely different from blogging. The only difference is you are valued than a blogger because you are exceedingly trusted. And you can be a blogger while doing public speaking and this is not adding any extra hard work.

At the foot of the ladder, I have a secret. As a teacher, I know how to take advantage of the knowledge you gain in school to live a better life. I am an example. I am not richer than you but you think I am because of how I look clean. You can see me. You can shake hand with and ask me how do I start. You can visit and see me with my wife and my daughter. I am not like a blogger who only shows you his picture. The difference between me and you is that I have a value that you need, which is a catalyst to yours.

Having a secret to show a big difference, beyond the height of imagination, I buy chairs and a standard writing board and launch myself as an entrepreneur. (This is also a beginning step of opening a school). Once I get those equipment, I spend a little amount of money renting a conference room or class.

At the invigorating stage (to quickly get popular), I look for my disciples. These are aspiring teachers. I pay them by teaching them how to do what I am doing and by allowing them to introduce people to my knowledge and to serve as program presenters. I pay those that help me in teaching other field. They also make part of the audience.

In the beginning a public speaker is like an evangelist. He is a founder like an evangelist, who found a church and employs a pastor to handle it. In progresss, he claims he cures the sick and know how to make the destitute rich. With this claim, he gets more than ten believers and appoints all to work with him. They head the small ground like choir, women fellowship, youth band, etc. Through them, others start coming. Gradually, he gets thousand people. To pay his pioneers (the people that help him begin the church), he sponsors them to become pastors and opens branches for them to manage. Soon some of them open their own.

Like a winning evangelist, a public speaker begins by giving free or cheap services. I begin by lecturing people free of charge and sell my books cheaply. To get more popular, I invite aspiring musicians or dancers to make the occasion colorful. People find it interesting and start attending as flocks. In a particular height, I call it a show and many aspiring musicians beg me to feature them for people to see them. I advertise on media, both online and offline. Gradually, at the peak of a hat, I sell tickets for attending.

As I reach a middle class of the game, figuratively the middle of the stairs, having at least a sufficient followers, I apply for sponsors and organize a summit show that quickly makes me stand out as a celebrity. I look for sponsors from big big companies like Peak Milk, banks, insurance. They advertise their products during the session. What I talk about indirectly persuade the audience to buy their product. I talk about what make life better and healthy.

But according to public observers, it is easier said than done. However, since I make a peanut from the tough beginning to keep the body and soul moving together while still collecting a salary as a teacher, it is not difficult. I speak good English with good pronunciation to stand out from the crowd.

By Maren John Mafuyai, a literary contributor from Jos

What are the chances you get and use to shine as a public teacher or speaker? I get my chances at home and use them well. But the secret won't stupefy you.

If I want to find it easier, I begin with planning a programme, which is like planning an essay. I brainstorm. That is to say, shortly after finding a topic, I begin to jot down all what come my mind about it. These are usually words or phrases, not sentences. I jot them down even if they are not important.

Shortly afterward, I select and gather the important ones to use as subtopics or topic sentences from the most important to the less. If I will explain them as a quick notice or speech, which is usually during birth day or funeral or club or teaching, I stop here, but if it is a paper, I continue to develop the programme.

Developing a programme, I explain each subtopic or topic sentence through giving examples or definitions and blend it as a paragraph. Assuming I have 5 subtopics or topic sentences plus introduction and conclusion, I have 7 paragraphs in total. But sometimes I break a paragraph in two if it is going complex or long.

While developing a paragraph, there are little things I always consider, and these are things that can make your audience wonder how you remember them. Forexample, I can decide to say something to make them wonder why I say so. I may rely on talking about what is not obvious. For example, talking about my relationship with you during your birthday, I may decide to rely on how you wiped your table when I met you last. This will make the audience wonder why I consider it. But a good thinker may realise I am portraying you as a clean person while others may enjoy the picture (of you) as you clean the table.

At the slope of the game, I choose vocabularies which, I bet, is not too difficult. At winding, I look around me to see if there is any object worth mentioning, it could be salt, wall, chart, door, window, table, drawer, etc. If I choose one, how can I use it? I usually go denotative usage. Forexample, I may decide to use window as follows: My standing here today may serve as a window to understanding the joie de vivre. Or I may decide to use salt as follows: if you are not tasted as salt, you haven't yet a clean slate, and, before us today, this man is our salt. If you are not a denotative language savvy, start learning to be one, it will help you more in writing and speech.

To start learning denotative language usage, I began with a door and use it in lieu of a way. As an example, I said, As learning is a door to becoming a professional or expert in any field so is practice.

As for normal or conotative vocabularies, I usually read newspapers, magazines, novels, text books and so forth to get them. Although, good writers say it is bad to use long words, I use both long and short when the occasion demands. There are listeners or readers that need entertainment and long words gladen them. Most audience love to hear a speaker saying, "Have you ever internationalized yourself? Or what does it mean to self-internationalize?" Is it not a long word? It is, but it is interesting to hear it for the first time or after many months or years.

At the drop of the pen, after every every, I view myself delivering the speech. I usually stand far on the high stage seeing my audience. I try to pronounce the words well and clear. I exercise lots of pauses to see if it gives me good confidence to continue. I use a technique of entering another topic if I forget what to say next.

By Maren John Mafuyai, a literary contributor from Jos

I agree with what Chinua Achebe said: writing as a creative art is not something you should learn.

Write what happened, make it presentable, show someone and submit.

Chinua Achebe did not go to writing school before he wrote Things Fall Apart.

Wole Soyinka did not go to writing school before he wrote The Lion and the Jewel.

They all started writing confidently as what they read.

But this is not to say you shouldn't learn grammatical rules in order to put your idea in an understandable way.

The first thing in writing exercise is understanding grammar.

You know no one is there to do this for you.

Most especially these days.

Read this story to the end to know. If you find nothing strange, read it again.

Je t’adore

Jala pronounced ‘mon père.’ The interpreter said ‘my father.’
When she pronounced it too fast, her mouth wasn’t serene. French was a kind of language that sounds like Chinese with so many Qs sound effects.

Since I admired Jala, she needed to know me.

“I’m interesting in networking”, I said, “I came from Cape Town to see my aunt.”

In Cape Town in a minor computer village I was known as a Jos boy, a servant of an American White industrialist who took me as his daughter who schooled in Ukraine.

I thought to write a poem about Jala, about her palor’s splendour.

She was outwardly black, inwardly white, a pure Parisian. Since birth, living in Paris for 22 years, she deserved this clean house with beauty typically of whites. Bird singing outside.

I liked her: she looked serious unlike uncivilized women in shanty towns. I would write a poem about her to be read in Cape Town, read in Johanesbourgh.

It was good to be civilized.

This is Cotonou, her country of origin where we dey. Cotonou, West Africa.

“Is Networking your only interest on earth?” She asked.

“Not at all?”

“I think of you, you should learn French and feel free to roam about West Africa.”

“You mustn’t tell me”, I said.

“We don’t need an interpreter to hear us, I swear, to blackmail us.”

“We need it for now please. Not blackmail. I need to trust you, Jala.”

“C’est-à-dire…”

“That is to say…” the man interpreted.

“C’est ça.”

“That is it.”

In a beach with him this love was too slow. Jala wore her bathing suit, plastered on her body, and as I hugged her, my lips salty, the interpreter rushed close to us like a referee on a football pitch.

“I love you”, I said.

“Je t’adore.”

#I wrote this last year.