THE ACTIVE PART OF THE SESSION

The “active” part of the original suggestopedic session was based on outward concentration in yoga, i.e., concentration or fixation, with eyes open, on an external object, picture, image or symbol.

Throughout the original active session, the students watched the language program simultaneously with its special reading by the instructor. On the printed page, the material-for-memorization was visually arranged in threes and each element of this threesome was presented orally with a different intonation (Lozanov, 1971a, pp.

234 ff; Lozanov, 1978, pp. 195–196; p. 268). In the “active” part of the session, audio and visual elements were thus coordinated or combined; the students watched the language dialogue and listened to it being read by the teacher. (As we shall see, Dr. Tomatis emphasizes that a very effective technique for learning foreign languages is the combination of audio and visual elements). In addition, outward concentration on an external object (i.e., the printed text) was combined with an inner repetition of the words and/or phrases in the foreign language. Inner speech is considered to be of considerable importance in Soviet (or Russian) psycholinguistics; following the example of A.N.Sokolov, Lozanov and his staff found that “inner repetition” is especially helpful in the memorization of difficult foreign words (e.g., those which bear no resemblance to their Bulgarian equivalents) (Sokolov, 1972;

Lozanov, 1978, pp. 64–65). In the original suggestopedic language class, the students repeated (at least in theory—as coordination of breath with thought or image is not easy to achieve)⁷ the foreign words and phrases to themselves during that period of rhythmic breathing when their breath was suspended or held—thus following the example, but not necessarily the purpose, of the ancient and modern yogis.

In the reading of the three phrases in the foreign language, a fixed pattern was followed. The first word-group, short sentence or sentencefragment was read in a normal, declarative tone of voice;

the second phrase was read in a soft whisper (no doubt imitating Lozanov’s work in subliminal suggestion and psychotherapy); the

third phrase, in great contrast to the second, was read in a loud voice and with a commanding tone. An example from the French manual follows:

Je vous présente ma mère et mon père normal tone of voice Ma grand-mère et mon grand-père whisper

Ma soeur cadette et mon frère Paul loud tone of voice The tone of voice used for each phrase bore no necessary connection to the meaning of the word-group as such. The loudness or softness of the voice and the “quality” of the suggestion (straightforward, subtle, authoritative) were used for variety and contrast—and probably also to prevent the relaxed students from falling asleep in class. (When a student did doze off during the session, he or she was gently nudged awake by the teacher). More importantly—at least according to experts in yoga—the three intonations of the original suggestopedic language class correspond to three forms of suggestion in yoga and are considered very important for improved memorization.

When the new material was presented in the session (especially during the oral-introduction part of the course), the Bulgarian translation of each phrase or word-group was given first (Once the students were in possession of the textbook, this Bulgarian translation could be omitted during the teacher’s reading of the lesson dialogue). The Bulgarian translation was intended for quick student reference and was considered necessary for older students who initially experience difficulties learning a foreign language by the direct method because they do not properly understand the meaning of what they are saying or hearing without some kind of

“clue” in their native language. The Bulgarian equivalent of each foreign word or phrase was, however, read very quickly and in a relatively soft, neutral tone of voice—almost a monotone. Undue attention was not supposed to be drawn to it.

Since rhythm augments the sending (as well as the receiving) of thoughts or images (Ostrander and Schroeder, 1974, pp. 146–147), and since metered language is said to activate the right hemisphere of the brain,⁸ each foreign language phrase and accompanying Bulgarian translation was read according to a precise rhythm;

insofar as was possible, proper intervals were maintained between each part of the “trinity.” According to cassette recordings made of language classes I observed at the Institute of Suggestology in June 1971, the teacher read the language materials in the following

order and with the following timing: Bulgarian translation of phrase-to-follow: two seconds; foreign language phrase: four seconds; pause: two seconds. A simple example from the 1971 English manual follows:

Tia pita vsichki kursisti (two seconds)+She asks all the students (four seconds)+pause (two seconds).

The reading proceeded smoothly in the continuous rhythm of 2:4:

2 until the end of the active session. At eight seconds per Bulgarian translation, foreign language phrase and pause, for the reading of each group of three phrases and appropriate Bulgarian equivalents, 24 seconds was required. Each dialogue comprised ten pages; each page contained five groups of three sentences (or sentence-fragments). A given page took 120 seconds or two minutes to read;

a ten-page dialogue was read in 20 minutes. According to experts consulted in Paris, 20 minutes is the ideal meditation period in yoga.

While the teacher maintained the correct “reading rhythm,” the students would breathe deeply, rhythmically and continuously from the abdomen. Ideally, their breathing rhythm would coincide with the reading rhythm: two seconds’ inhalation (Bulgarian translation); four seconds’ breath retention (foreign language phrase); two seconds’ exhalation (pause). During the special reading of the active session, the students closely watched the language program. On the printed page, as mentioned, the material-for-memorization was visually arranged in threes, in the form of paired associates and with the foreign-language phrases on the left-hand side of the page. Used in Soviet hypnopedia, paired associates have been shown to be a memory-training device. The left-hand side of the page, according to Aleko Novakov, is considered more important than the right-hand side, because newspaper editorials, i.e., items of importance, appear on the left side of the page. One tends to remember what is considered important. While the foreign language phrase was being read, the students simultaneously retained their breath for a count of four seconds, looked at the appropriate part of the text (on the left side of the page) and mentally repeated to themselves the given phrase or word-group in the foreign language. The active session continued without a break for some 20 minutes.

THE PASSIVE OR CONCERT PART OF THE