consistency works

When you're trying to learn something, consistency is pretty important. Exactly how extreme the consistency needs to be kind of depends on the person and the subject. I think for language, no matter the person, the consistency needs to be very very extreme. Everyday of course. But then how often each day? Well generally the more the better. In fact all day would be ideal. (By this I mean living in the country that uses the language you're trying to learn and not speaking your own language while there.)

For other subjects you probably don't need to be quite as extreme. But still consistency. Sometimes I tutor people in math and meet them about once a week. And when I meet them I ask if they practiced during the week and some people always say no. These people never really learn that much and it's pretty sad because they're paying a lot of money.

If I'm trying to seriously learn something or memorize something I study it many times throughout the day. I normally write down some information on a piece of paper and put it in my pocket and look at it many many times throughout the day. In high school I used to write it on my arm, but this was only during winter so that my long-sleeved shirt could cover it up. And then when walking down the halls I'd pull up my sleeve and read my arm. But that somehow doesn't seem so appropriate anymore. Too much information at once isn't really helpful, so if I have a lot of information I need to memorize I put a relatively small amount down on a piece of paper and carry it around as many days as it takes to really remember it. Then I write a new piece of paper and so on. (If you have a time limit this would obviously take some planning out.) Sometimes I do this for kanji and it's really effective. But for kanji I actually have to write it to really practice and learn it. Soooo... I just write the kanji many many times throughout the day. On the train, while waiting in line at the supermarket, on the toilet, wherever. The more your brain thinks about information the stronger you make the fact connected to your brain. This is true of any kind of information: formulas, vocabulary, chemical names, geography, dates, anything.

So consistency. It really works.


▼▽▼▼【講師】Amberly先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【Get rid of your text book and your teacher】2009.04.08 (Wed)