Whenever the subject of why some people learn faster comes up, I get a whole host of common answers:
- Some people are just naturally smart. (Often implying you can’t improve)
- Everyone is “smart” in their own way. (Nonsense, research indicates different “intelligences” often correlate)
- IQ is all in the genes. (Except IQ changes with age and IQ tests can be studied for, like any other test)
There may be some truth to these claims. But, I don’t believe that means that average learners are doomed to mediocrity. I’ve met and heard of many people who went from middle to spectacular students after changing their learning habits and finding motivation.
Considering the upcoming launch of my rapid learning program, I wanted to share my favorite tactics to learn faster, retain information better or just enjoy the process of learning more:
#1 – Pegging (or How Mental Magicians can Perfectly Recall Hundreds of Numbers)
One of my favorite learning tactics, that is rarely mentioned, is pegging. This is a great tool for remembering numbers, provided you practice it.
The systems I’ve seen typically work with a special cheat sheet. This is a list of the digits 0-9 which each correspond to the sound of a consonant. All you need to do is memorize the corresponding consonant and digit match (e.g. 0 = t, 1 = s, 2 = k, 3 = r, etc.)
From there, you can translate any series of numbers into a series of letters. Now all you need to do is make groups of letters into nouns by adding vowels between the consonants. So 201 becomes, k-t-s, which can become “kites”, for example.
Then, once you have your string of nouns, you just need to create a story that combines each of the nouns in a sequence. To translate them back you only need to remember the story and decompose the objects back into their original digits.
#2 – Metaphor (Juliet is the sun… or is she a chemical formula?)
Here’s a quick way to separate the rapid learners from the average learners. Ask them to give you an analogy for whatever they are learning. The rapid learners probably have already thought of at least one analogy, application or metaphor. Slower learners usually are baffled by the question.
Linking ideas allows you to retain them longer and understand them better. Shakespeare isn’t the only one who should be making connections between ideas.
#3 – Total Immersion (Or How a Guy Can Become Fluent in 8 Languages)
Benny Lewis became fluent in eight languages in under a decade. More, his current goal is to become fluent in a new language in under 3 months. When I asked him how he achieved this his answer was straightforward: “I stop speaking English. I do everything in the language I want to learn.”
When you’re totally immersed in a subject (or language), even if you’re lost, you’ll learn far faster than everyone who just dabbles.
#4 – Visceralization (What does a derivative look like?)
When we were kids, we played with crayons and drew pictures of fantastic things that never existed outside our imagination. What happened?
Now most of us feel embarrassed if we try to imagine anything exciting or creative with what we learn. This is, I believe, a key reason many people struggle scholastically. They try to memorize exactly the way they were taught, instead of visualizing the material in an inventive way.
When I recently had to write a test on international labor law, a key topic was the International Labor Organization. Rather than memorize facts, I drew a picture of a creature which had three heads for each of the sections of the ILO, one with 4 mouths for each of the different delegates. In all, I managed to incorporate a page of notes into one picture.
Learning only needs to be boring because you make it that way.
#5 – Linking (Or How to Remember a Grocery List Without the Paper)
Like pegging, linking is another trick mental magicians use. The idea here is that you form a chain, linking each item in a sequence to the next item. You form these links by imagining bizarre and surreal pictures which combine the two elements.
For a simple list like Milk -> Honey -> Apples, you would need to form a link between milk and honey, which you could imagine a giant cow that had bees which came from its udders instead of milk. For the honey and apples, you could imagine an giant apple beehive swarming with tiny apple seeds.
Like pegging this technique can go far beyond the scope of this article. I’ve used it successfully to remember lists of abstract principles that need to be memorized in a sequence for tests.
#6 – The 5-Year Old Method (Try explaining quantum physics to a first grader)
Most rapid learners know how to simplify an explanation. Obviously, actually explaining your masters thesis to a first grader might be impossible. But the goal is to reduce the complexity, by explaining, breaking down and using analogies, so that someone far below your current academic level could understand it.
If you can teach an idea, you can learn that idea.
#7 – Ambiance Catalysts (Or How Drinking a Pint Can Improve Your Studying)
Cal Newport, wrote about the importance of context when studying. If you lock yourself away in a library to get work done, no wonder you’re going to hate it. If the ambiance is appealing, it can push you to get working.
He suggests even going to a quiet bar with your reading material and ordering a beer.How’s that for a more inviting study setting?
#8 – Diagrams (Who said doodling in class was wrong?)
It turns out doodlers perform better in mental retention tests than non-doodlers. I would add even that if the drawings you create in a class are related to the course material, you would probably learn even better.
#9 – Speed Reading (Or How to Read 70 Books in a Year)
Speed reading is less about speed and more about control. Just as racecar driving is more about controlling speed for tight turns, rather than just hitting the accelerator.
If you want to speed read, the basics are:
- Use your finger as a pointer to underline the text as you read it. This reduces the impact of saccades and distractions in slowing your reading time.
- Practice reading books faster than you can comprehend, by moving your finger faster. This “practice skimming” helps you improve your comprehension at higher reading rates.
- Stop subvocalizing. Practice reading faster than you can say the words aloud in your head. Subvocalization can help at slower speeds, but if you require it to read, you’re top speed will be reduced.
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As a quick side-note, Learning on Steroids now has close to 900 people on the pre-launch list. Despite this, I only have room for 100 people when we go live in January. If you want a chance to get in on the program, you better put your name in now.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
I'm a speed-reading, vegetarian, holistic learning, productivity hacking university student.
Total immersion sounds great. I wrote a post about why you need to watch television in other languages when you are studying another language. But total immersion is even better. Stop thinking in your native language, just do everything in the language you want to learn!
Great tips here Scott, your upcoming book sounds good already!
It would be great if you could expand a bit more on Ambiance Catalysts.Overall,I really liked the article.
You can see an example of the linking method at http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Have-a-Super-Power-Memory-Part-1-Memorising-Lists
In this example you can learn all the American Presidents
I always use Pegging since reading Derren Browns book. When you are intelligent you find metaphors just coming to you in every day life whilst you’re looking at things like snowfall. I wrote a detailed post on this EXACT subject (pegging) over at my blog if anyone wants to check it out. http://richardshelmerdine.com/blog/2009/09/29/advanced-memory-the-link-method/
Hi Scott
Since reading your blog I have developed a keener interest in speeding reading. In my job as a lawyer I have to review lengthy documents and the key is to make sure the provisions of the document work (high level of comprehension required) and I also have to proof documents (i.e. typos, spelling, commas out of place, incorrect numbering of provisions etc). I am wondering if it is possible to speeding read and effectively achieve the type of review explained above?
Keep up the great blog
Christopher
Hey Scott.
I sure hadn’t thought about that method of pegging before. That sure would help for those who memorize hundreds of digits of pi, or such. I could make a few sentences to memorize, and then I could get 100 digits of pi down. I know about 50 right now, for no reason, but I got them down by rote memorization.
These are some very strong methods. Good call about analogy, because I had noticed that when I had trouble making an analogy for something in the past, for a joke or comment, it was because I didn’t full get it. I think this is why some jokes are held in high regard, because they represent an upper level of thinking.
I have done more in 2 hours in an immersed state than I have done for the same activity in 20 hours when I wasn’t immersed in the task or concept. Immersion is a big win for the long-term.
Scott making knowledge-gaining methods palpable here.
Christopher,
I don’t know of any method for speed-proofing. But if you find one, let me know, I’d definitely like to use it myself!
-Scott
Hey. I liked the learning languages part. =)!
Merry Christmas.
I totally agree with No 3 and No 6.
These two have been the secrets of my academic & career success. First, I get totally involved in the project and then I simplify it so much that I start to share it with others in an aesthetic way.
Speed reading is a myth. It is nothing but reading minus sub-vocalization. No need to read books about it or use speed reading software.
Amity,
Well I completely disagree with you that speed reading is simply reading minus subvocalization. I think you illustrate one of the least important parts of speed reading, as using a pointer has, in my practice, been a far more important tool than the strict elimination of subvocalization.
-Scott
Hey Scott,
For your “Learning on Steroids” program, how are you prioritize, when deciding who gets a spot? Will you give priority to those who signed up earlier?
-David
What’s your GPA now?
Jake,
As a Canadian, I don’t have the same GPA system as the United States. However, my GPA currently sits between an A and A+.
-Scott
Scott-
Thanks for a great article. I agree with you and your rebuttal to Amity to speed reading. It is not a myth at all. There are certain programs out there that are effective in not only increasing your reading speed, but reading comprehension as well. Not only does it show those two great qualities increase but it also shows a increase in brain power, enhancing the right side by up to 1500%. For more information, check out http://www.eyeqadvantage.com. It’s a great site that has great content and information on speed reading, but also great complimentary articles and games.
Thanks again for the great article
Is it still a 4.2!? You’ve been at the same GPA for a while. Well great job anywho
J,
No, not exactly the same. I believe it’s a 4.09, but honestly I don’t really pay attention to specifics when it’s in that range.
-Scott
[...] H. Young (@ScottHYoung) has tons of solid insights on learning. In 9 Tactic for Rapid learning, he shares a few of these. My favorite tactics on this list are linking, learning by metaphor, and [...]
Great list. I like visualization (as opposed to visceralization) too. If I do something once that I need to remember, I’ll visualize doing it again and again until it sticks. I also visualize doing things before I actually do them, like building something or grocery shopping. I make most of the mistakes in my head rather than in action. I like diagrams and good analogies, too.
Keep up the good work.
[...] hacking university student”. On Scott H Young (at http://www.scotthyoung.com) the author have collected 9 tactics that can help. Some, like pegging and linking, I have taught in class for a few years, but there [...]
[...] 9 Tactics for Rapid Learning [Scott H Young] [...]
Do you know any methods for law students? The students of an entire year all failed in a recent exam, because the exam questions required that one knew a book of 1000 pages by heart.
If you know any tactics for this kind of exams, it would be great…
Hey Scott, this is a good list you’ve got here. It more or less covers everything one would need to be a rapid learner.
Also one thing that really works is…paying attention in class and reading up on the topic taught right after the class.
My prof. in collge told us, the human brain retains any new information for about 148 minutes after being exposed to it first. So better reinforce it before it starts slipping from your mind.
A thing that is very important while you are learning is that your mind consumes a lot more glucose then is very important to eat something like an apple or banana (avoid chocolate or things that are too high in sugar) to re-energize the brain and avoid mental fatigue.
Physical exercise is essential too…
[...] 9 Tactics for Rapid Learning (That Most People Have Never Heard Of) « Scott H Young [...]
All that and nothing on spaced recall? Supermemo, Anki, or Mnemosyne can amp up your learning dramatically.
[...] 9 Tactics for Rapid Learning (That Most People Have Never Heard Of) « Scott H Young (tags: learning education lifehacks tools study reading advice memory) [...]
[...] 9 Tactics for Rapid Learning (That Most People Have Never Heard Of) [...]
[...] 9 Tactics for Rapid Learning (That Most People Have Never Heard Of) [...]
[...] Tactics for Rapid Learning I found this to be an interesting list of things to think about using to improve how well you retain information [...]
[...] 9 Tactics for Rapid Learning (That Most People Have Never Heard Of) « Scott H Young – [...]
You could add flash cards and mind maps to this list of speed learning techniques.
I forgot to add, you can use visceralization and visualization for learning the meanings of new words (for improving your vocab for competitive exams like SAT, GMAT, IELTS, etc.) Simply construct a story around the phonetic representation of the word and associate the story with the meaning of the word. See the site MnemonicDictionary.com they have ready-made memorizable stories that can help you remember meanings of new and difficult words. You can also add another learning technique to this techniques of rapid learning list: that is, Mnemonics/Acronyms where you take the first letter of the things in the list you wanna remember and form a coherent sentence or acronym with it. For example for remembering the order of planets in the solar system, you could use ‘Mother Very Eagerly Made Jam Sandwiches Under No Protest’. The first letter of each word would represent, the planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter etc. in that order… More mnemonics for learning are here: http://www.fun-with-words.com/mnem_example.html and here: http://www.mnemonic-device.eu/mnemonics/. I am not affiliated with both these sites (standard disclaimer).