Teach Yourself How to Learn Better

Discover your learning style.

If you know your learning style, you can learn anything faster.

We’ve been told this too thousands of times but is true? Is there a “best” way to learn for each person? If one existed, shouldn’t we all strive to find it?

We could learn anything we wanted without worrying about time constraints. We could become experts in all the fields that interest us. We could accomplish so much more with our life.

Many researchers have said such a style exists. The model that stuck the most is the VARK model, created by Neil Fleming. Even though I only recently learned this model’s name, I’ve known about it for years. Like me, you’ve probably heard the concept without its official name.

Can we find it? Could the solution be simple? In a way, it is. It just happens we should turn our focus away from learning styles.

The VARK Model

Let’s rewind a bit to 1987. Neil D. Fleming is working at Lincoln University and develops a new theory about learning. His work delves into the idea that we all have a certain learning style that works more or less well, based on our likes and dislikes.

He created the VARK model. V for Visual, A for Auditory, R for Read/Write, and K for Kinesthetic. This model was developed after his observation that some students learned well with relatively “bad” teachers, and some others didn’t learn much despite having “great” teachers. He assumed the reason could lie in how students liked or disliked receiving information.

While the Visual and Read/Write aspects seemed similar, the first focused on symbols (images, maps, and so on), while the second represented a preference for the written word.

After watching 9000 lessons, he found that, indeed, there were differences based on preferences. Quickly his model spread throughout the world. It was, unfortunately, misused by many.

The VARK Model as an Excuse

People started using the model as an excuse for a lack of results.

It wasn’t his fault he failed the test, it was because the information wasn’t presented in images. It wasn’t her fault she couldn’t remember, it was because she didn’t get the opportunity to play with the material even though she was a kinesthetic learner.

The world decided we should all be set in tiny boxes. The idea of reducing our learning style to one category made it easier for teachers to tackle as well.

If the model is correct, then we should all focus on our strengths. We should ignore other learning styles because they aren’t “our” style. But is that true?

Preferences Aren’t Skills

Fleming cleared up misconceptions in a paper published in 2007, stating:

Some also confuse preferences with ability or strengths. You can like something, but be good at it or not good at it or any point between.

It’s not because we enjoy seeing visuals that we should do all our learning that way. Preferences and skills are different. Reducing our learning style to boxes was never what Fleming had in mind.

He wanted to start a conversation. If you know your preference and you have the opportunity to learn through it, give it a go. But don’t disregard other methods.

You’d struggle if you wanted to learn an instrument only through reading. You need to practice it too (kinesthetic). You’d also have difficulties learning geometry is you only heard about it. You need visuals too.

Under the VARK model, if teachers focused only on one category, students who didn’t enjoy the method would struggle. This is probably what prevented teachers to put this method to use. And we should be glad they couldn’t do it.

The Best Learning Style

We need to use a wide range of methods. Not one, not two, not even four.

Instead of focusing on learning styles, we need to focus on the brain. How it works. How it evolves. How it forgets. How it remembers. How it dissects information. How it rests.

As children, we were told we took classes that lasted an hour each. When we’d get home, our parents would tell us to study for an hour or two. The more we grew, the longer sessions became. At university, in France at least, it was classes of 3 hours and tests of 3 to 4 hours. We studied for half a day straight and then stopped touching learning material for the rest of the day.

Do you remember what you learned at the time? I sure don’t.

Instead of having studied in long sessions, we needed to spread them out, to use the spacing effect. As Robert A. Bjork said in an interview,

“The more things are massed together, the more you will see apparent benefits in the short-term. The more they’re spread apart, the more you’ll see real benefits in the long-term.”

Spending 9 hours in a row on a subject means you’d remember it well tomorrow but you’d forget it by next week. Spending 3 hours today, 3 tomorrow, and 3 in a week means you’d remember it for about a month, maybe more. Add another session in a month and you’re good to go for the next 6 months. With the same time spent on the task, memories formed are stronger.

Forgetting the content makes it stick for longer. If you study something you still somewhat remember, it’s easy. As a result, the brain doesn’t register it as important. On the contrary, if you force your brain to bring back knowledge it’s starting to forget, then it puts a sticker to remind itself it shouldn’t forget.

Context is also extremely important in forming long-term memories. If you study in different environmental contexts, your brain will create more connections and strengthen memory. On the contrary, if you are in a similar mood during different sessions, the brain associates that to the knowledge too, reinforcing it again.

Many other factors impact how we remember what we learn. The quality of our sleep, at what time of the day we study, the food we eat, the variety of materials, and so forth. Our brain is complex. Reducing it to one checkbox is to avoid at all costs.

Your Learning Style

This being said, the best way to learn exists. One that works for you and you alone. No matter how much you research the subject, you will never find a single person with the answer to all your questions. And even if you did, it wouldn’t work for long.

You have to experiment, to live for learning. Life is your learning style. What works today won’t tomorrow. What works tomorrow doesn’t today. Things evolve. Your brain does too.

You can have preferences. We all do. But if there’s one thing to remember for the rest of your life, it’s that you should never grow too attached to a certain learning method. It will hinder your progress.

If you could predict exactly the best way to learn anything, you’d have a lot of fun improving quickly. At first. A few months in, you’d miss the challenge. What makes life exciting is its unpredictability.

So next time you hear someone telling you they “can’t learn that way”, tell them it doesn’t matter. They should have fun with the knowledge and use the power of their brain, not the results of a simple test created in the 80s.

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Mathias Barra is a French polyglot, living in Japan, who speaks 6 languages and dabbled in numerous others.