LOOKING AND LISTENING
21
mation. You don’t have paper and pen with you. What do you do to try
to remember what’s on the billboard?
Which exercise above came more naturally to you?
•Was it the phone exercise? If so, you probably learn better by hear-
ing.
•Was it the billboard exercise? Then you probably learn better by
seeing.
•Were the two exercises the same for you? Yes? Then you probably
learn better when you see and hear something at the same time.
BOOST YOUR EYE OR EAR POWER
OK, now that you know whether you learn better with your ears or your
eyes, what do you do to study more effectively? Whether you’re summa-
rizing what you read, or reflecting on what happened in the last class, try
one of these techniques:
•Give yourself something to hear: speak! Take notes by speaking
into a tape recorder. You can play this back not only at your best
study time (see Chapter 1), but in a headset when you’re commut-
ing to or from work, when you’re on your lunch hour, doing dish-
es at home, or going for a walk.
•Give yourself something to see: write or draw! Carry a little note-
book or sketch pad around with you to write or draw after-
thoughts of what you studied. You can study not only at your best
time of day, but since you’re carrying your notes with you, when-
ever you have a few minutes–even in the bathtub.
BE ALL EARS
Here are ways to make the most of using your ears in studying, whether
they’re your learning strength or not.
WHEN LISTENING
Use only your ears. Try closing your eyes when you’re listening to some-
thing you want to remember, whether it’s a tape of a speech or notes
HOW TO STUDY
22
you taped into a recorder. Now your ears have to do all the work! Try
the same thing when you’re on the phone or listening to news on the
radio or TV. Closing your eyes can help your ears focus. You’re helping
your ears get the most out of what you hear by not letting what you see
get in the way.
Learning a New Language?
If you’re studying a language, the sooner your ear becomes familiar with
the sound and rhythms of that language, the easier it will be for you to
use that language, both in speaking and writing. Tune into the language
you’re learning by listening to radio talk shows and TV programs in that
language. Remember to close your eyes! You’re just using your ears. It’s
too easy for your eyes to figure out what’s happening on TV.
WHEN READING
When you’re reading something you want to remember, try reading out
loud. Listen to your voice and change the sound of it when the mood of
what you’re reading changes. Have fun making deep and high sounds,
loud and soft sounds. Have you ever noticed in a play or movie, that just
before actors say something important, like, “The butler did it,” they
pause? There’s usually a pause after they say it as well. Decide what’s
important to you in what you’re reading, and try pausing before and after
you say that. Try it right now with this paragraph.
IT’S IN THE EYES
Here are ways to make the most of using your eyes in studying, whether
they’re your learning strength or not.
WHEN LISTENING
When you’re listening to something you want to remember, try drawing
a picture or taking notes. If you’re drawing, draw what comes to mind
right away. These are your notes, so they have to make sense to you! Stick
figures are fine. If you’re writing, pretend you’re a newspaper reporter
with a lot of readers. It’ll help you focus on what’s important, and your
notes will be clearer to you if you pretend you’re writing them for
someone else.
LOOKING AND LISTENING
23
WHEN READING
When you’re reading something you want to remember, draw or write. If
you’re writing, try choosing the most important word in a sentence, then
the most important sentence in the paragraph. Underline it if it’s your
own book; if it’s not, write it in your notebook. Explain why it’s impor-
tant; summarize what you read in words. If you’re drawing, make a series
of pictures, just like in a comic strip, summarizing what sticks out in your
mind about what you read.
STRENGTHEN YOUR EYES AND EARS
Practice focusing on looking and listening when watching TV.
•Use your ears. Close your eyes. Talk (even to yourself!) about
what you heard.
•Use your eyes. Turn off the sound. Draw or write about what
you saw.
Write in your notebook about what using your ears and then your
eyes was like for you. Thinking back to what you heard or saw, what sticks
out in your mind? Which was easier, relying on your eyes or your ears?
What did you need to do in order to concentrate when using your
less-favored style? The answer to this question can help you build up
your eyes if you learn better by hearing, and build up your ears if you
learn better by seeing.
If seeing or hearing is a problem for you, fast-forward to Chapter
20, “Knowing When You Need Help.”
Try It!
Practice Tips
If you learn better by hearing, say out loud what was useful to you in
this chapter. If you learn better by seeing, write or draw a cartoon
about it.
Here are some other ways to build up your seeing and hearing:
•See more: Check with your local or school library on viewing
closed-caption films. These films show you what is being said by
having the words appear on the bottom of the screen.
•Hear more: Check with your local or school library for books on
tape. Just about every kind of book is available.
If you learn better when you combine seeing with hearing, write or
draw what was useful, then read it aloud, or describe the drawing out
loud.
HOW TO STUDY
24
INSHORT
Discover whether you learn better by seeing, hearing, or both, by paying
close attention to what you do and how you do it. Make the most of study-
ing by doing it in the style you do best. If you learn better by seeing, write
or draw summaries and reflections. If you learn better by hearing, talk and
read out loud; tape your own notes, if possible. You can also strengthen
how you hear or how you see by focusing just on sound or sight.
25
CHAPTER
4
MAKING IMAGES,
MAKING ORDER,
MAKING SENSE
As you study, your mind
naturally creates images of
what you’re learning, and
puts what you’re hearing or
seeing into some kind of
order. Information makes
more sense to us when
both the pictures in our
mind and the sequence of
events are clear. Some of us
learn by using lots of
images. And some of us are
strong sequential learners.
This chapter will show you
how to build on both
strengths.
Think of a time when you and a friend
were discussing a movie you both saw. You might have said
something like, “Did you see the time he walked down the stairs
and came to a mirror?” Maybe your friend answered, “Do you mean the
time he saw the pianist?” Wait a minute: Can you see a time? Of course
not; an image is one thing and the order of things is something else. But
there is a connection. A movie is a set of moving pictures in a certain
order. You make sense of a movie when you get involved with pictures,