History Main / SleepLearning

* ''Film/{{Phenomenon}}'': George gave his friend Nate an audiotape of Portuguese phrases like "What are your skills?" and "When can you start?" so he could hire Ella, a Portuguese woman as a maid. [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels George secretly slipped in phrases like "You have beautiful eyes"]], in order to play matchmaker between the two. By the end of the movie Nate and Ella are expecting their first child.

* ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'': Quite possibly twisted before it ever got off the ground: people are made to listen to tapes while sleeping during childhood. Huxley has his fictional conditioning experts explain that hypnopaedia is ''useless'' for teaching (one shows a boy who memorized a long lecture on the Nile River without actually ''learning'' anything from it, he could repeat the entire passage, but when asked for a specific piece of information from it, he could not answer); the tapes, therefore, are used only for behavior modification -- they contain platitudes intended to subtly reinforce the values of World State society.

-->-- '''Dean Venture''', ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': Hank and Dean are educated this way in lieu of school. Apparently it works. In fact it also [[spoiler:copies their memories to be implanted into spare clones of them for their frequent deaths.]]

** Heinlein also used the trope (again for real, not for laughs) in his earlier novel ''Literature/SpaceCadet'': One of the cadets is given tapes to learn Venusian in his sleep. When he wakes up, he's disappointed that it apparently didn't take--until one of his fellow cadets (a colonist from Venus) cusses in Venusian and the protagonist replies in the same language without even thinking about it.

* ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'': Conrad is able to learn Japanese via sleep learning.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', "The Big Cheese": Dexter tries to cram for a French test at school, but [[RepetitiveAudioGlitch his recording skips]], and when he wakes up in the morning [[BrokenRecord all he is able to say]] is "omelette du fromage". [[ExtremelyEasyExam The only question on the test, luckily, is to translate the phrase "cheese omelette."]][[labelnote:*]]The proper translation would actually be "omelette ''au'' fromage". "Omelette du fromage" would translate closer to [[GratuitousFrench "cheese's omelette"]].[[/labelnote]] In fact, "omelette du fromage" is the phrase needed for every situation Dex faces for the rest of the cartoon, including solving the Mid-East crisis. His only obstacle? The password needed to enter the lab is "Franchise/StarWars", so the lab's voice-activated vault door bars his re-entry [[spoiler:then self-destructs when Dexter failed to give the correct password one too many.]]

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': Randy Disher did this at the ending of "Mr. Monk Visits A Farm" regarding a case file of a crime he reviewed. Justified, as he initially thought it was the result of his sleeping that he solved the cause of the murder of his uncle (Monk, while Disher was asleep, fed the answer through his ear without his knowledge).

* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode 58 has Jon Arbuckle preparing for a pitch to a publisher (his little-seen job is as a cartoonist). The publisher doesn't like Jon's nail-biting habit, so Jon tries using a sleep-learning record to cure himself. Garfield and Odie destroy the record by accident and replace it with cartoon sound effects, a Spanish-language tutoring record, and a "Hits of the 1950s" collection. At the meeting, all Jon can produce is "Hola, Paco, ¿Qué tal?", doo-wop music, and machine-gun noises. As it turns out, the publisher is a Mexican immigrant, named Paco, who likes doo-wop, and the sound effects match Jon's submission very well. Unfortunately, he still hasn't cured his nail-biting habit, so Jon doesn't get published.

* ''Manga/{{Gals}}'': Invoked. While staying over at the Kotobukis, Miyu plays study recordings in Ran's bedroom and recite study materials when Ran is trying to relax or sleep. This allows Ran to pass her exams even though she didn't study for it.

* ''Fanfic/Plan7Of9FromOuterSpace''. Captain Proton regards his hypnopaedia ear-plugs as useless for sleep learning but handy for blocking out the [[AdvertOverloadedFuture ubiquitous advertising]].

* ''Film/TheMisadventuresOfMerlinJones'': This technique is the focus of research by the titular hero of the movie and its sequel ''Film/TheMonkeysUncle''. Since these are comedy movies by Disney, his results are.. mixed.

* ''Literature/CitiesInFlight'': The series makes it clear that this only handy for InfoDump (which is useful for the protagonist who has never lived in a City before) but the hard thing is applying the information that you have been given. The process itself is psychologically trying and not everyone is capable of it.

** In ''Literature/GloryRoad'', a (straight) man is taught a foreign language with the aid of an hypnotic trance and a beautiful, nude, woman.

* "Poor Superman": In Fritz Leiber's short story, the Thinkers are a cult of con-artists who have managed to gain a strong foothold in the United States by offering them pseudo-science miracles. One of the founders, the idealistic Jorj Helmuth, actually believes in some of the crap the Thinkers peddle, such as sleep learning. The more cynical and realistic co-founder Jan Treggaron mocks him for this during his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, adding that he wouldn't be surprised if he'd taken up hypnosis as well [[spoiler:foreshadowing TheReveal at the end that Jorj's lover Caddy was only faking being hypnotized]]. As Treggaron puts it, Jorj made the biggest mistake a con-artist can make: he fell for his own con.

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS7E5TheDisappearingAct The Disappearing Act]]", Carole, who's trying to get the EmployeeOfTheMonth award of tickets to Paris, has taken to putting on tapes whilst she sleeps in an attempt to teach herself French. For what is shown, it seems to have been a successful venture for her, although they starts leaking into her dreams in the form of them being about going to Paris.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': Randy Disher did this in the ending of "Mr. Monk Visits A Farm" regarding a case file of a crime he reviewed. Justified, as he initially thought it was the result of his sleeping that he solved the cause of the murder of his uncle (Monk, while Disher was asleep, fed the answer through his ear without his knowledge).
* ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'': An experiment in unconscious learning was a cover for rather more unwholesome experimentation. Of course, in this show they can see your dreams through the lamp over your bed.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': Referenced in "The Voyager Conspiracy." Seven of Nine modified a device called a cortical subunit allowing her to download ship's status reports while she was regenerating. When she mentioned this to Captain Janeway, Tom Paris commented "Learn while you sleep? I tried that once, gave me a headache." The ultimate effect of Seven of Nine's experiment was that the new information wasn't absorbed properly and she became paranoid, convinced that both Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were plotting against ''Voyager''.

* In ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' an ocular implant called a "Neuroplex" displays a stream of information when the user is sleeping based on their train of thought. The game effect being that after two weeks of that the character gains one [[SkillScoresAndPerks Proficiency point]], up to three.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'': Apparently, this is one of Tenebrae's seven hidden talents. Neither Emil nor Marta find it useful, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/KidVsKat'': Used as the main plot point in an episode where Coop uses a self-help tape to boost his confidence. Mr. Kat then replaces the tape with one designed to make him pessimistic, and when it works uses the same method to turn Coop's father into his servant. When Coop discovers Kat's plan, he again uses a tape to make himself a 'tough guy', which nearly ends badly for him family and friend.

--> '''Marge:''' Are the self-help tapes having any effect?\\

* When Creator/CJCherryh was in college, she once had exams on US history and Machiavelli on the same day. So they day before, she crammed history, then dictated her notes on Machiavelli into a tape recorder and slept while it played in a loop. The next morning, her history exam had an essay: you're Abraham Lincoln, it's a week before Fort Sumter, what do you do? She wrote down a detailed plan of arrests and assassinations, and turned it in before she realized what she'd done. She got an A.

* It's easier to retain knowledge if you read/listen to it just ''before'' you go to sleep, due to the shift from normal brain-waves to alpha brain-waves. As an added bonus, you'll be able to ''comprehend'' it and not just be a living tape recorder. However, it still takes at least a few days, so cramming the night before a test isn't recommended.

* Invoked in ''Manga/{{Gals}}''. While staying over at the Kotobukis, Miyu plays study recordings in Ran's bedroom and recite study materials when Ran is trying to relax or sleep. This allows Ran to pass her exams even though she didn't study for it.
* In ''LightNovel/KyoKaraMaoh'' Conrad is able to learn Japanese via sleep learning.

* Played with in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' when Yusuke, as a ghost, is able to appear in Kuwabara's dream strictly to help him study for the upcoming test. It's bizarre, but it works! As a note, the idea that dreams help you learn information you remember is considered quite probable in psychology so this is stretching the truth at worst.
* In '70s SuperRobot anime ''Anime/{{Zambot 3}}'', this is how Kappei, Uchuta and Keiko are taught to pilot the eponymous robot.

* As there is no UniversalTranslator in ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager'', Captain Janeway has Nee'Lix teach them a CommonTongue which is put down on hypno-educator tapes for the crew. [[MythologyGag The sleep learning gives Tom Paris a headache.]]

* This technique is the focus of research by the titular hero of the movie ''Film/TheMisadventuresOfMerlinJones'' and its sequel ''Film/TheMonkeysUncle''. Since these are comedy movies by Disney, his results are.. mixed.
* In ''Film/{{Phenomenon}}'', George gave his friend Nate an audiotape of Portuguese phrases like "What are your skills?" and "When can you start?" so he could hire Ella, a Portuguese woman as a maid. [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels George secretly slipped in phrases like "You have beautiful eyes"]], in order to play matchmaker between the two. By the end of the movie Nate and Ella are expecting their first child.
* In ''Film/DemolitionMan'', prisoners who are frozen are given training through 'sleep-method' in order to make them better citizens when they are eventually released. John Spartan, the CowboyCop wrongly framed for the death of a busload of people, is given skills for knitting and dress-making, and one of the first things he does is knit a sweater for his new partner, Lenina Huxley. Simon Phoenix, the BigBad of the film, gets tactical weapons training and martial arts implanted in him. Turns out the "benevolent leader" of the society was using him as muscle.

* Quite possibly twisted before it ever got off the ground, in Aldous Huxley's novel ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'', where people are made to listen to tapes while sleeping during childhood. Huxley has his fictional conditioning experts explain that hypnopaedia is ''useless'' for teaching (one shows a boy who memorized a long lecture on the Nile River without actually ''learning'' anything from it, he could repeat the entire passage, but when asked for a specific piece of information from it, he could not answer); the tapes, therefore, are used only for behavior modification -- they contain platitudes intended to subtly reinforce the values of World State society.
* Tape in Creator/CJCherryh's ''Literature/AllianceUnion'' books is Sleep Learning with hypnotic drugs and computer feedback. Citizens use it to learn skills they lack the time for learning conventionally; it is used on [[ArtificialHuman azi]] for almost the entire programming of their minds.
* ''Literature/SmallGods'' includes an anecdote about a prince in the Discworld who tried to do this and asked a philosopher if he could find an easy way for the Prince to learn things. The philosopher replies there is no royal road to knowledge, to which the King says he bloody well builds one or else. Cue slaves whispering in his ear as he sleeps. Unfortunately the third one stuck a dagger in it but, "I don't believe there was anything wrong with the idea in principle."
* Sleep-learning is used, effectively and with no failures, in the Literature/LiadenUniverse. (Though the Liaden version of it is a machine based on neural induction technology that works by implanting information into otherwise unused neurons, not the "sleeping with a tape recorder" idea that this trope is mainly about.)
** In ''I Dare'', [[spoiler:Miri relates a bad experience she had with it on Surebleak before being committed to a properly-working machine to find she is a sleep-learning prodigy.]]
** In ''Scout's Progress'' [[spoiler:Aelianna's brother sticks her in a sleep-learning machine with the safety devices removed to punish her for defying him.]]
** Sleep-learning does have the disadvantage that knowledge thus obtained needs to be practiced or it will be lost, and seems to have other disadvantages that make it unsuitable to replace schools entirely; otherwise universities such as those seen in ''Local Custom'' and ''Fledgling'' would no longer exist.

* The ''Literature/WaysideSchool'' books has one student, a HeavySleeper, never being disturbed by the others on Mrs. Jewls's insistence that she's sleep-learning. At least one tie-in book hints this may be right.
* In ''Literature/FlowersForAlgernon'' Charlie is given a TV that plays instruction tapes while he's sleeping right after he receives the intelligence augmentation. At first he wonders how he's supposed to sleep with that thing playing, a couple weeks later he's wondering why everyone doesn't speak German and Chinese.
* In Fritz Leiber's short story "Poor Superman", the Thinkers are a cult of con-artists who have managed to gain a strong foot hold in the United States by offering them pseudo-science miracles. One of the founders, the idealistic Jorj Helmuth, actually believes in some of the crap the Thinkers peddle, such as sleep learning. The more cynical and realistic co-founder Jan Treggaron mocks him for this during his TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, adding that he wouldn't be surprised if he'd taken up hypnosis as well [[spoiler:foreshadowing TheReveal at the end that Jorj's lover Caddy was only faking being hypnotized]]. As Treggaron puts it, Jorj made the biggest mistake a con-artist can make: he fell for his own con.
* This is how Literature/{{Paratime}} Police officers learn languages and customs before going into the field.
* It's mentioned that ''Literature/HammersSlammers'' personnel use sleep learning to learn their clients' languages, in addition to the Dutch spoken within the regiment.
* In [[Literature/{{Okuyyuki}} "Okuyyuki"]], Reilly's magical katana [[TalkingWeapon Audrey]] teaches him swordfighting in his dreams, filling them with memories of her ancient battles.

* The ''Literature/CitiesInFlight'' series makes it clear that this only handy for InfoDump (which is useful for the protagonist who has never lived in a City before) but the hard thing is applying the information that you have been given. The process itself is psychologically trying and not everyone is capable of it.

* An episode of ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' had Eric Matthews learn to skate by listening to a dieting tape that his friend had dubbed over. Naturally, not all of the original audio was removed, leading him to freak out over, and then run away from, unhealthy food at the end of the episode. In the middle of a date.

* The classic Nickelodeon show ''Series/ClarissaExplainsItAll'' had an episode where Clarissa wanted to memorize all the lines of a play she was starring in overnight (she'd signed up to be the understudy, and didn't expect to need to know it). So she played a recording of the play in her sleep. It seemed to work at first, but then she started reciting lines of the play mixed in, with lines from other famous plays ("If you believe in fairies, clap your hands!") due to tapes causing her to dream of being an actress in other shows.
* An experiment in unconscious learning in ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'' was a cover for rather more unwholesome experimentation. Of course, in this show they can see your dreams through the lamp over your bed.
* One episode of ''Series/RoundTheTwist'' has Bronson helping Pete to cram for an exam by reading the textbook to him at midnight. Then Bronson begins reading a superhero comic aloud, causing Pete to become convinced he's a superhero. HilarityEnsues.
* ''Feral TV'' (technically a puppet show, but its predecessor, ''Series/TheFerals'', had live actors as well as puppets) features [[TheDitz Darren the dog]] teaching himself to be more assertive by this method. After seeing it work, his "friends" immediately begin sticking in ''Teach Yourself Karate'', ''Teach Yourself French'', and ''1001 Uses For A Dead Cane Toad'' (their boss being a cane toad). [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity ensues, but only a little bit since it's a 5-minute program]].
* In an episode of ''Series/RadioActive'', George is caught sleeping in class, and explains that he is actually studying his book via osmosis. While it does work, it turns out he was sleeping on the wrong book.
* Referenced in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' called "The Voyager Conspiracy." Seven of Nine modified a device called a cortical subunit allowing her to download ship's status reports while she was regenerating. When she mentioned this to Captain Janeway, Tom Paris commented "Learn while you sleep? I tried that once, gave me a headache." The ultimate effect of Seven of Nine's experiment was that the new information wasn't absorbed properly and she became paranoid, convinced that both Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were plotting against ''Voyager''.
* Randy Disher did this in the ending of the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk Visits A Farm" regarding a case file of a crime he reviewed. Justified, as he initially thought it was the result of his sleeping that he solved the cause of the murder of his uncle (Monk, while Disher was asleep, fed the answer through his ear without his knowledge).

* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS7E5TheDisappearingAct The Disappearing Act]]", Carole, who's trying to get the EmployeeOfTheMonth award of tickets to Paris, has taken to putting on tapes whilst she sleeps in an attempt to teach herself French. For what is shown, it seems to have been a successful venture for her, although they starts leaking into her dreams in the form of them being about going to Paris.

* One Sunday ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strip had Linus describing to Lucy how putting a ''book'' under his pillow will let the learning enter his head by osmosis. "While I'm asleep, the answers will seep up through the pillow and into my head." The last panel is a shot of his worried face as he says "...I hope!"
** This is based on an old children's tale, where use of said technique resulted in one kid's head expanding to accommodate the new knowledge. Eventually the head grew so big it filled the kid's room. I can't remember how it ended, though. Probably had something to do with AnAesop about taking the quick path.
* A similar joke was used is a ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' strip when Jason mentioned Peter used the same method. Unfortunately, the day the strip took place, Peter had tests for ''three'' different subjects, leaving his neck horribly twisted in the morning.
** Another time, he had an IQ test. "So ''that's'' where all those volumes of the encyclopedia went."
** This trope also led to a Dream Arc regarding Creator/{{Homer}}'s ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' when Peter tried listening to the audiobook the night before the test, and somehow ended up dragging Jason into the dream. The ending of the dream has him discovering that Quincy was playing the role of Penelope, a discovery that was strongly implied to have resulted in him waking up earlier than usual out of disgust.

* A research option in ''VideoGame/{{Outpost 2}}''. After completing it, it's reported to be ineffective for anything other than easily memorizable facts, but it does give a trivial boost to the training time (being slightly stronger if playing as Eden).
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'': After the SRX team is given manuals for their R Series units, Ryusei asks Aya if there is a sleep-learning machine for use, to which she states that if such methods worked, they would've been used on him long ago.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', "The Big Cheese": Dexter tries to cram for a French test at school, but [[RepetitiveAudioGlitch his recording skips]], and when he wakes up in the morning [[BrokenRecord all he is able to say]] is "omelette du fromage". [[ExtremelyEasyExam The only question on the test, luckily, is to translate the phrase "cheese omelette."]][[labelnote:*]]The proper translation would actually be "omelette ''au'' fromage". "Omelette du fromage" would translate closer to [[GratuitousFrench "cheese's omelette"]].[[/labelnote]] In fact, "omelette du fromage" is the phrase needed for every situation Dex faces for the rest of the cartoon, including solving the Mid-East crisis. His only obstacle? The password needed to enter the lab is "Franchise/StarWars", so the lab's voice-activated vault door bars his re-entry [[spoiler:then self-destructs when Dexter failed to give the correct password one too many.]]
* Hank and Dean from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' are educated this way in lieu of school. Apparently it works. In fact it also [[spoiler:copies their memories to be implanted into spare clones of them for their frequent deaths.]]
** Of course theres the whole subtext about how the learning bed's outdated information and the resulting lack of contact with other kids compared to school has much to do with Hank and Dean's weirdness and idiocy. Dr. Venture has at least some awareness of the downsides of this teaching method, having been subjected to it himself ("And THAT'S why I didn't lose my virginity until I was 24!"), but he apparently doesn't care.

* An ''WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' special used the trope when Alvin was trying to learn how to act romantic before a Valentine's dance. It's shown working...as Alvin dubs himself "Captain Chipmunk".
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', advertisements are inserted into everyone's dreams ''...[[LaymansTerms "just like this liquid gets into this egg"]],'' (injecting a liquid into an egg, [[AnalogyBackfire which then explodes]]). "Although in reality it's not liquid, but gamma radiation."
* Used as the main plot point in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KidVsKat'' where Coop uses a self-help tape to boost his confidence. Mr. Kat then replaces the tape with one designed to make him pessimistic, and when it works uses the same method to turn Coop's father into his servant. When Coop discovers Kat's plan, he again uses a tape to make himself a 'tough guy', which nearly ends badly for him family and friend.
* Deconstructed in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode, "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS1E3DrivingMissHazyNoGutsNoGlori Driving Miss Hazy]]". Lori intentionally gets Leni to fail her driving test by slipping headphones onto her that teach bad driving instructions while she sleeps.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Wilma and Betty use a sleep teaching method in order to reprogram them into perfectly trained husbands. Upon learning they were brainwashed, Fred and Barney decide to teach their wives a lesson by making them think they were going to pull a robbery when the girls asked for mink coats.

* ''Feral TV'' (technically a puppet show, but its predecessor, ''Series/TheFerals'', had live actors as well as puppets) features Darren [[TheDitz the dog]] teaching himself to be more assertive by this method. After seeing it work, his "friends" immediately begin sticking in ''Teach Yourself Karate'', ''Teach Yourself French'', and ''1001 Uses For A Dead Cane Toad'' (their boss being a cane toad). [[HilarityEnsues Hilarity ensues, but only a little bit since it's a 5-minute program]].

** In ''Scout's Progress'' [[spoiler: Aelianna's brother sticks her in a sleep-learning machine with the safety devices removed to punish her for defying him.]]

** Heinlein also used the trope (again for real, not for laughs) in his earlier novel ''Literature/SpaceCadet'' -- one of the cadets is given tapes to learn Venusian in his sleep. When he wakes up, he's disappointed that it apparently didn't take--until one of his fellow cadets (a colonist from Venus) cusses in Venusian and the protagonist replies in the same language without even thinking about it.

* ''Series/RedDwarf''. It's mentioned that Rimmer attempted to use the self-hypnosis tapes "Learn [[UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage Esperanto]] While You Sleep" and "Learn Quantum Theory While You Sleep". The only results we're told of are that neither he nor his bunkmate got any sleep.

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': In "A Jorb Well Done", when Coach Z's inability to properly pronounce the word "job" becomes a major sticking point, the other characters try everything from elementary school to [[Literature/AClockworkOrange Ludovico's Technique]] to get him to say "job" without adding a few extra consonants and vowels (and sometimes entire syllables). Finally, Strong Sad suggests a tape he made of himself reciting the word "job" over and over from when he was "practicing the dictionary". Coach Z listens to the tape while he sleeps, and the next morning Homestar is pleasantly surprised to find that Coach Z can say "job" with no problem - but ''now'' [[HereWeGoAgain he can't remember how to pronounce "Homestar"!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', "The Big Cheese": Dexter tries to cram for a French test at school, but [[RepetitiveAudioGlitch his recording skips]], and when he wakes up in the morning [[BrokenRecord all he is able to say]] is "omelette du fromage". The only question on the test, luckily, is to translate the phrase "cheese omelette."[[labelnote:*]]The proper translation would actually be "omelette ''au'' fromage". "Omelette du fromage" would translate closer to [[GratuitousFrench "cheese's omelette"]].[[/labelnote]] In fact, "omelette du fromage" is the phrase needed for every situation Dex faces for the rest of the cartoon, including solving the Mid-East crisis. His only obstacle? The password needed to enter the lab is "Franchise/StarWars", so the lab's voice-activated vault door bars his re-entry [[spoiler:then self-destructs when Dexter failed to give the correct password one too many.]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', "The Big Cheese": Dexter tries to cram for a French test at school, but [[RepetitiveAudioGlitch his recording skips]], and when he wakes up in the morning [[BrokenRecord all he is able to say]] is "omelette du fromage". The only question on the test, luckily, is to translate the phrase "cheese omelette."[[labelnote:*]]The proper translation would actually be "omelette ''au'' fromage". "Omelette du fromage" would translate closer to [[GratuitousFrench "cheese's omelette"]].[[/labelnote]] In fact, "omelette du fromage" is the phrase needed for every situation Dex faces for the rest of the cartoon, including solving the Mid-East crisis. His only obstacle? The password needed to enter the lab is "Franchise/StarWars", so the lab's voice-activated vault door bars his re-entry.

* In an early episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'', Rimmer has attempted to use the self-hyponsis tapes "Learn [[UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage Esperanto]] While You Sleep" and "Learn Quantum Theory While You Sleep". The only results we're told of are that neither he nor his bunkmate got any sleep.

It's worth noting that, although some people will try to convince you to the contrary, SleepLearning has been proven to be completely ineffective in RealLife. Just like its "EvilTwin", SubliminalSeduction.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Jean Paul Valley's father used SleepLearning learning to make him into ComicBook/{{Azrael}}, a badass angel of vengeance. He was a bookish computer geek, but when triggered, could go up against Batman, whom he briefly [[AntiHeroSubstitute replaced]]. Not bad for listening to a tape in your sleep.

* Tape in Creator/CJCherryh's ''Literature/AllianceUnion'' books is SleepLearning with hypnotic drugs and computer feedback. Citizens use it to learn skills they lack the time for learning conventionally; it is used on [[ArtificialHuman azi]] for almost the entire programming of their minds.

** Of course theres the whole subtext about how the learning bed's outdated information and the resulting lack of contact with other kids compared to school has much to do with Hank and Dean's weirdness and idiocy. Dr. Venture has at least some awareness of the downsides of this teaching method having been subjected to it himself ("And THAT'S why I didn't lose my virginity until I was 24!"), but he apparently doesn't care.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', "The Big Cheese": Dexter tries to cram for a French test at school, but [[RepetitiveAudioGlitch his recording skips]], and when he wakes up in the morning [[BrokenRecord all he is able to say]] is "omelette du fromage". The only question on the test, luckily, is to translate the phrase "cheese omelette[[labelnote:*]]The proper translation would actually be "omelette ''au'' fromage". "Omelette du fromage" would translate closer to [[GratuitousFrench "cheese's omelette"]].[[/labelnote]]". In fact, "omelette du fromage" is the phrase needed for every situation Dex faces for the rest of the cartoon, including solving the Mid-East crisis. His only obstacle? The password needed to enter the lab is "Franchise/StarWars", so the lab's voice-activated vault door bars his re-entry.

[[folder: Film]]

* Deconstructed in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' episode, "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS1E3DrivingMissHazyNoGutsNoGlori Driving Miss Hazy]]". Lori intentionally gets Leni to fail her driving test by slipping headphones onto her that teach bad driving instructions while she sleeps.

** In ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' Rico studies for his officer qualification while on deployment using hypnopaedia. But it, combined with the conventional studying, runs him ragged until his CO orders him to "take a break". MI troopers and navy pilots also receive a number of post-hypnotic suggestions, ranging from sleeping on commmand to the "suicide on capture" order given to navigators who know the location of Sanctuary.