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Collins maps out language success

12.12.07 Benedicte Page

Mind Maps, the graphical method for representing thought which is reputed to boost brainpower and improve memory, is to be applied to language learning by Collins. The Collins Language Revolution series will be launched in March and is intended to give aspiring linguists a new way to learn a language using the Mind Mapping-technique.

With a choice of beginner-level French, Italian or Spanish, purchasers will be presented with a pack for each language consisting of two CDs, a book and access to an interactive website, intended to test and reinforce what may have been learnt.

Collins has worked with Tony Buzan, who invented Mind Maps in the 1960s, to produce the packs that it says will help students enhance their linguistic powers using a combination of pictures, colour and spatial awareness.

Mind Maps have been used in a wide variety of different industries and devotees include Bill Gates and Al Gore, but it has never been employed to help those wishing to learn a language. Katherine Patrick at Collins, said:  "This is a new way for everybody who's tried everything else and still can't grasp a language."

Rob Scriven, managing director at Collins Language, commented: "20 per cent of the UK population has some need to use or deal with a foreign language though many don't find the success they are looking for." Scriven said that that the collaboration between his department and Tony Buzan represents a "step forward for Collins Language and for learning as a whole."

Each of the language packages will be priced at £19.99 and the series is due to be followed by an intermediate course that will be produced in 2008. Other languages are also being considered for inclusion within the series at a later date.

Benedicte Page Books collins

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