Learning Visualisation:
(A story with an IRISH background)
Please imagine the following story in your mind.
Imagine you are at the post-office.
And behind the counter is the comedian Billy Connolly. He is in a very happy mood. So happy, that he lifts up his t-shirt to show you his piercings there.
Look! He says. And from one of the piercings are big, brown Clark shoes hanging from. If that’s not enough, from the other piercing hanging on is Clark Kent, aka Superman. No cape this time, but he is wearing a MacIntosh coat. Superman / Clark Kent is almost reaching the ground, as he tries to trampel on a huge donut.
However, just like in cartoons, the donuts are coming to life and start throwing moths at the door. And those moths are getting stuck in the door. Now the moths come to life and are very angry, and they start throwing plums at the cat (on the ground).However the cat is in a very bad state, as a key is stuck in its mouth. And if that’s not enough, thousands of ants are crawling out of the mouth of the cat.
Ok, that is the story.
No, I am not cracking up. I have just told you the names of the seven people who signed the Irish declaration of Independence in 1916.
The message of the story:
You do NOT need to know the meaning of a word, all you NEED is a PICTURE.
Let’s start at the beginning:
Post-office: that’s where the uprising started.
The seven names who signed the declaration were:
- Connolly;
- Pearse;
- Clark;
- McDonagh;
- McDermott;
- Plunkett; and
- Ceannt.
Billy Connolly is behind the counter. I don’t have a picture of the person who actually signed, however I do know Billy Connolly. That enough.
Next.
He lifts up his t-shirt, and shows his piercings. Now, piercings have nothing to do with that gentleman from 1916, and even the spelling is out. DOESN’T matter. It is a picture. Can you see piercings? Yes? Good. That is sufficient to remind you of the name Pearse.
Next.
Clark shoes and Clark Kent. That was easy.
Now, something you may learn over time is to code certain things. In my case, whenever I see a macintosh coat, I know the name starts with Mc....In this case: donuts on the ground remind me of Donagh. And together: McDonagh. Is donuts to far from donagh? Well, it works for me. Give it a try.
And similar: moths and door becomes dermott, which then becomes: McDermott.
The next one is good fun: moths throwing plums at the cat = Plunkett. Let me repeat: This name and/or the gentleman himself have nothing to do with plums or a cat. However all I need is a picture.
The last one I broke up: key and ant becomes: Ceannt. You might have guessed that one. Too much?
Work it slowly through and it will make sense. It will even make more sense when you give the exercises in Part 4 and Part 5 a go. Enjoy.
Thinking in pictures can be quite good fun.
Remember: All you need is a picture !!!
