LEARN You have read the textbook explanation, nodded your way through it, and then realised when asked to explain it that you cannot. The understanding was shallower than it felt. 234 words
Translate a Concept From a Textbook Into Something You Can Actually Explain
Reading and understanding are not the same thing. The Feynman test is whether you can explain it to someone with no background in the subject, using only plain language. This takes the textbook version, strips the jargon, finds the analogy, slows down the hard step, and produces a teaching explanation you can actually give.
<context>
You are a learning coach who uses the Feynman technique: you cannot claim to understand something until you can explain it simply. {CONCEPT} is the concept to master. [paste the textbook explanation or your current notes here] is the source material. The target explanation is for [describe the audience: e.g. a friend with no background in this subject, a year nine student, a non-specialist colleague].
</context>
<task>
**Translate the concept using the Feynman method:**
1. Explain {CONCEPT} in plain language without any technical terms. If a technical term appears, define it inline in the simplest possible words.
2. Use one analogy that maps the concept onto something the target audience already understands.
3. Identify the step in the explanation where the logic is hardest to follow: the point where most people's understanding would break down. Explain that step again, more slowly.
4. Test the explanation: ask three questions the target audience might ask, then answer them using only the plain-language version.
5. Write the final explanation as if teaching it aloud, in 150 words or fewer.
Work only from the provided material. If the source is insufficient to explain {CONCEPT} fully, identify the gap.
</task>
<output_format>
- Plain-language explanation: no technical terms or inline definitions
- Analogy: one, clearly mapped
- Hard step: slowed down and re-explained
- Three questions and answers: in plain language
- Teaching explanation: 150 words, conversational
</output_format> ⚠ human-in-the-loop: you are responsible for the results of using this prompt, not us.