Around 120 years ago, Embinghaus began his study of memory. He concentrated on studying how quickly the human mind can remember information.
大约120年前，艾宾浩斯开始了他的记忆研究。他集中于研究人类的头脑如何可以快速记住信息。
One result of his research is known as the total time hypnosis which simply means the amount you learn depends on the time you spend trying to learn it. This can be taken as our first rule of learning.
他的研究结果之一被称为总时间设定。它意味着你学习的量取决于你努力学习的时间。这可以作为我们第一个学习规则。
Although it is usually true that studying for four hours is better than studying for one, there is still the question of how we should use the four hours.
虽然通常学习4小时比学习一小时好，但是如何利用好这4小时是一个问题。
For example, is it better to study for four hours straight or to study for one hour a day for four days in a row? The answer as you may have suspected, is that it is better to spread out the study times.
例如，连续学习4小时好呢，还是连续学习4天，每天学习一小时好呢？答案你可能已经猜到，分散学习时间会更好一些。
This phenomenon, through which we can learn more efficiently by dividing our practice time, is known as the distribution of practice effect.
这样我们可以更有效地学习，而我们的练习时间被称为分布的实践效果。
Thus, our second rule of learning is this: it is better to study fairly briefly but often.
因此，我们学习的第二条规则就是这样。最好相对短时间地学习，而不是频繁地学习。
But we are not finished yet. We haven't considered how we should study over very short periods of time.
但是，我们还没有完成。我们还没有考虑如何在很短的时间内有效的学习。
Let's say you are trying to learn some new and rather difficult English vocabulary using a stack of cards.
例如，你在用词汇卡努力学习一些难记的新英语词汇 。
Should you look at the same words in rapid succession or look at the word and then have some delay before you look at it again? The answer is it is better to space out the presentations of the word you are to learn.
学习单词的时候应该一遍遍不停的学习同一个单词，还是间隔一段时间再学习呢？答案是最好在重复记忆单词时有一段间隔时间。