Leaning into Different Learning Styles
In this month’s translation industry updates we’ll be thinking about how we can draw on a wide range of learning approaches to improve our progress in other languages, or with anything else that we’re studying.
Learning a language is a particularly interesting learning activity because using another language involves many different competencies, such as speaking, learning, reading, and writing. It also involves a communicative and social aspect that is not necessarily such a big part of other areas of study, and all of these factors can make learning a language harder than learning other new information. At the same time, because learning a language involves so many different skills there is a lot of potential to use a wide range of different approaches to help us as we learn.
This leads to the topic of learning styles, or the idea that we all have a particular approach to learning and retaining information and should focus on study methods which favour this. In many ways, the idea of learning styles is actually somewhat controversial. Proponents tend to say that if we focus on learning in a way that plays to our own particular interests we can boost our level of motivation and achieve better results, while detractors typically say that talking about learning styles tends to pigeonhole people into categories and prevent them from exploring alternative approaches to learning. Over and above that, there tends to be a level of overlap between different learning styles and in many cases we instinctively draw on a range of approaches rather than just one, which means that thinking in terms of styles can be somewhat simplistic.
In the rest of our article, we’ll firstly be discussing commentary around some of the popular learning styles, and then we’ll be thinking about how we can use these different approaches to make our learning more interesting, involving, and ultimately effective.
One of the most widely-used approaches to thinking about learning is the so-called ‘VA(R)K classification’, which divides learning styles into visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, sometimes with a fourth approach used which is the reader/writer style. Visual and auditory learners are perceived as learning best by seeing and listening respectively, while kinesthetic learners are perceived as being practical individuals who learn best through movement and hands-on experimentation. Readers/writers, on the other hand, prefer to learn through exposure to the written word.
Another approach is to look at so-called ‘thinking styles’, as explored by the German biochemist Frederic Vester and described in an article by Munich Business School. This approach focuses more on the cognitive side of learning and how people process and accommodate information. Vester’s four styles consisted of pictorial, object-oriented, abstract-conceptual, and social integrative. Pictorial thinkers tend to have vivid imaginations and be drawn to images and graphics, while object-oriented thinking is centred on hands-on interaction with the physical world. Abstract-conceptual thinkers, on the other hand, prefer working with theoretical concepts and abstract models and theories, while social integrative thinkers tend to be communicative and to learn best through social interaction.
Meanwhile, the American psychologist Howard Gardner developed a theory of multiple intelligences, which holds that there are different types of intelligence that individuals develop to a great or a lesser extent, with his eight ‘intelligences’ consisting of logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistics, and naturalist. Meanwhile, Peter Honey and Alan Mumford divided learners into activists, reflectors, theorists, and pragmatists.
It’s clear from all of this that there are a lot of different ways to approach learning, so we’ve tried to categorise learning tips to appeal to different types of learners.
If you’re a highly visual person, you might like working with mind maps or colour-coding your notes, including using different colours to highlight key vocabulary or mark different verb endings. You might also like to watch series or social media content in your target language, including with the subtitles in your language or in your target language if needed, since this will help you to relate the auditory material with the written content. It’s also worth looking for interesting materials in your chosen language if you can find these, such as newspapers or even food packets, particularly if you live in a country where your chosen language is spoken. And you might also like to create posters or sticky notes to glance at as you’re walking around the house, since this will catch your attention and provide important repeated exposure.
If you’re an auditory learner then you might benefit from using rhymes, acronyms, and mnemonics to help you remember new concepts, or try forming associations between words. It can also be useful to try reading aloud or recording yourself speaking, if you feel comfortable doing this, or speak in your target language to your pets. It can also be useful to listen to auditory content in the background in order to gain passive exposure to a language, whether this is podcasts or other audio material that is specifically targeted at learners, or native content for local audiences. Listening to music can be helpful in this sense too. It’s also worth speaking to people in your new language, whether that’s fellow learners or people from a culture where that language is spoken, or trying to spend time in public places where you can hear people around you speaking in that language, such as coffee shops.
If you tend towards the social and communicative style of learning then you’ll probably thrive on interaction. If you’re learning in a classroom environment then you might benefit from discussing grammar or other language points with your classmates, particularly if you’re learning a language that follows a very different logic to the one you grew up speaking, and you might also enjoy explaining what you’re learning to somebody else who isn’t familiar with the topic. You’ll also enjoy using your new language skills in practical settings, so it’s worth seeking out social occasions wherever possible.
If you’re a kinesthetic learner then you’ll probably benefit from anything that makes your studying more tactile, such as writing on whiteboards, creating flashcards to go over, or writing things out in sticky notes to leave around your house. Taking regular breaks for movement may also be helpful, as can having objects around you to fiddle with, such as stress balls. You might also benefit from using your knowledge in practical settings, particularly if you have easy access to your target language in the place where you live.
People who are drawn towards learning through reading and writing often benefit from rereading content, writing notes out, reformulating concepts in their own words, or writing practice answers or essays. If written content works for you then it might be useful to highlight passages or write your own notes in the margins of books, as well as writing down summaries of what you’ve learned. You might also benefit from reading from a wider variety of sources in order to take in information from different angles, and this is particularly useful when learning a language since a lot of us tend to learn words and structures more easily when we regularly have them in context.
Lastly, when deciding how to go about studying it’s always worth thinking about which learning approaches have worked well in the past, but also remember that your preferred way of learning can change over time and depending on circumstances, so don’t be afraid to mix things up and try something different if your go-to methods aren’t helping you. And most importantly of all, enjoy the learning process! Learning any language is an amazing, immersive experience, no matter which way you go about it.
This wraps up our discussion of learning and thinking styles, but if you agree or indeed disagree with any of the points in the article or you’d like to share your own study tips, don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts in the comments.
Happy learning and translating, and see you again for next month’s updates.
Sources
Munich Business School
Learning types: Which one are you and how does it help you study?
https://www.munich-business-school.de/en/l/guide/learning-types
Universidad ORT
How can you learn more effectively? Discover your learning style
https://www.ort.edu.uy/en/blog/how-to-learn-better-explore-your-learning-style
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