Learning Styles and Why You Need to Know Yours
Have you ever wondered why you struggle to remember new information from podcasts? Or why you always prefer to turn on captions to videos and read along as you watch? Knowing your learning styles can help you understand exactly why.
I’m the kind of person who loves learning more about myself and the ways that I take in information. I first discovered learning styles years ago when my friends and I poured over online surveys to compare our similarities and differences.
It made so much sense!
When I began learning languages, I decided to use that information to lean on my strengths. I quickly realized, though, it didn’t always work as I expected. Especially when I became the one in charge of my own learning.
The thing is, we don’t just have ONE learning style. All four styles, Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic play a different role in our experiences, and depending on the activity, you will realize that it’s not as simple as choose just one that resonates with you.
In this post, I want to share:
- The 4 Learning Styles You Need to Understand When Creating a Study System
- How All Three Affect Your Language Routine
- Why You Need to Know Your Learning Style “Ratios”
What Are The Four Learning Styles?
Whenever we learn new information, we will favor one of the four learning styles over the others. These four learning styles are Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic, also known as VARK:
Visual Learners
Visual Learners tend to use graphic images to understand new information, like maps, diagrams, and charts. If this is your main learning style, you prefer:
- Visual aids like pictures in textbooks and graphics
- Drawing your own diagrams (or copies of ones) to understand concepts
For example, when you learning spacial words like ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘next to’, ‘inside’, and ‘outside’, you prefer to have images next to those words to better remember them
Aural Learners
Aural Learners learn best with they hear new information. If this is your main learning style, you prefer:
- Podcasts or audiobooks and talking things through.
- Using voice notes to keep track of your ideas.
For example, when learning a new grammar structure, you prefer to hear it used aloud in an audio lesson rather than see the words written in a textbook or writing it out by hand.
Read/Write Learners
Read/Write Learners like to, as you might expect, read and write to learn and retain information. If this is your main learning style, you prefer:
- Books, textbooks, articles, and subtitles on videos
- Writing out ideas in journals or notes to help you remember new ideas.
For example, when learning a new vocabulary word, you prefer to write it over and over again in a notebook to remember the feel of how it’s written as well as the word and meaning itself.
Kinesthetic Learners
Kinesthetic Learners like to learn through action and experiences. If this is your learning style, you prefer:
- Demonstrations of a concept to better understand
- Acting out situational dialogue to practice new vocab or grammar structures.
For example, when learning vocabulary for food, you prefer to have the actual food items within your grasp to make better connections between the word and the object.
How Do Learning Styles Affect Your Language Routine?
When creating your own study system, one of the best steps you can take is figuring out your learning styles.
Why?
Figuring out your learning styles can help you better understand:
- Which skills might be easier for you to improve (i.e. speaking, listening, reading and writing.)
- How to improve the skills that might be harder for you.
- Which strategies will help you to improve your skills.
- Which tools work best for you and your learning needs.
This means that you can easily make a decision on if you should spend money on a particular app, or website membership, or if you should invest your time and energy into watching a specific video series to learn.
This also means that if you are relying on a tool that doesn’t work best for your learning styles, you can adapt it so that it DOES work well for you.
Let me give you a personal example:
As a learner, I am mostly a read/write learner. I prefer to read to learn to information and to write to retain the information.
My go-to strategy for any language I learn is to have a separate notebook where I write out multiple example sentences: I read the sentences, and then I write them out once (or sometimes multiple times if it’s extra tricky).
And I almost never look at the notes again.
Just the act of reading and writing it out is enough for me at that moment. Whenever I forget, I actually close my eyes to remember how it was written down on the page or how it felt to write it out to recall.
This entire process helps me to overcome some limiting beliefs about the “best” ways to learn a language. It puts to focus on what works best for ME.
Why You Need to Know Your Learning Style Ratio
The most important thing you need to remember about learning styles is this: we are all influenced by MORE THAN ONE.
What does this mean for you?
This means that you actually have multiple styles or ways you can improve your skills and learn a language.
For me, I’m not just a Read/ Write learner. I’m a Kinesthetic learner, and a bit of a visual learner too. So whenever I can, I make sure I incorporate reading and writing activities into my routine.
And if I can’t, I try to make it an experience or visual instead.
If I’m watching a video (kinesthetic) I often turn on the CC or subtitles to read along. Whenever I need to understand a diagram or image in a language textbook, I look for the words or descriptions on the page to better understand it.
And for anything audio…?
I need transcripts, and to write down what I hearing.
Or I need to be actively doing something else so my mind can focus better on the words. So often times when I listen to language podcasts, I’m writing something or cleaning, or even just walking around my room.
Otherwise, I’ll probably forget the entire episode before the end of the week.
How Can You Use Learning Styles to Help Improve Your Language Studies?
Understanding your learning styles will completely transform your language studies and the way you think about your study routines and habits.
You can use what you know about your learning styles to build in systems that support styles you struggle with.
And this will help you to gain clarity in your language studies and to stay consistent (and actually enjoy your language studies).
Which is the ultimate goal, right?
PS. Want to know exactly how to find your learning styles and use them to build consistency in your language studies? I teach that and more in my 1:1 coaching program! DM me at thepolyglotfox on Instagram for more information about how you can work with me.
— The Polyglot Fox