Everyone has a preferred learning style. Some people learn best by watching visual presentations, others gain more understanding by performing actual motions, still others acquire knowledge best by listening.
If you are an auditory learner, you need to hear the words spoken in order to fully comprehend and remember them. You learn best through lecture-type teaching, oral presentations, teleconferencing, or in an one-to-one conversation.
You are probably an auditory learner if you:
* enjoy music but are distracted by background noise
* memorize things by repeating them out loud
* enjoy talking and participating in group discussions
* remember voices better than faces
* notice sound effects in movies
* have no problem with spoken instructions but have difficulty following written directions
* are good at explaining things to others
* are good at grammar and learning foreign languages.
Auditory learners should make use of special strategies to enable them to comprehend, master or review material for tests faster and more easily. Here are hints they will find helpful:
* Young auditory learners will learn to read best using a Phonics approach.
* Older students should read material aloud, even when studying alone. Repeat facts aloud over and over to yourself until you remember them.
* When solving a Mathematics problem, read it aloud then “talk through” various solutions until you find the one that sounds most reasonable.
* Make use of appropriate video tapes, audio tapes, and books on tape when possible.
* Join a study group or invite a buddy to study with you for exams. Take turns repeating or explaining the course content to each other. Your buddy will cover the same material but may rephrase it in a different way. This will reinforce your knowledge.
* If the teacher agrees, tape-record lectures and play them back while traveling, before going to sleep, or anytime you have a few free minutes.
* Make your own tapes, reading from your notes and then replay them whenever you have a chance.
* Sit near the back or to the side of the classroom, so you will not be distracted by diagrams or the gestures or facial expressions of the teacher. Concentrate on listening.
* Use word association techniques, mnemonics or songs to help in memorizing.
Word association- linking new information to something you already know. 7+2=9, 17+2=19, 27+2=29, 37+2=39, 47+2=?
Mnemonics are simple strategies to jog memory. For example: to remember the names of the Great Lakes, think of fishy (HOMES) Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
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Songs- remember the alphabet song you learned in Kindergarten? A,B,C,D,E,F,G,… I bet you can still sing it.
Try some or all of these study tips and discover how easy it can be to retain information. Find a private place to study, somewhere where you won’t feel embarrassed if you are overheard talking out loud to yourself. There are some people who just don’t understand that this is how auditory learners study most effectively.
