Optimal Learning

  The interleaving effect is a psychological phenomenon which enables people to learn new material better when they mix together different topics as they study. Interleaving is therefore highly beneficial, and can facilitate learning in various domains, including in history, math, music, and sports. In the following article, you will learn more about interleaving, see the various … Read moreInterleaving: How Mixed Practice Can Boost Your Learning

  When going over material that we’ve learned, most of us instinctively focus on knowledge-telling, which involves repeating the material in a rote manner, where we just go over it again and again until we feel that we remember it well enough. However, research shows that we can get better results by focusing on knowledge-building, which involves … Read moreThe Difference between Knowledge-Telling and Knowledge-Building in Your Learning

  Whether you’re studying for a college course or trying to improve at your favorite sport, there are three factors that determine how successful you will be. These factors are: (1) your natural abilities, (2) the amount of effort that you put into learning, and (3) how optimized your learning process is. The following article explains … Read moreThe Three Factors that Determine How Successful You Are at Learning

  The protégé effect enables us to learn information better when we teach or intend to teach it to others, than when we learn it just for ourselves. The following article will show you how this effect works, and how you can take advantage of it in order to learn things in a new, effective way. … Read moreThe Protégé Effect: How You Can Learn by Teaching Others

  A common question people ask is whether you should write notes by hand or type them up on a computer. In short, studies generally show that writing notes by hand allows you to remember the material better than typing it. However, when it comes to actually choosing which method you should use, the answer … Read moreHandwriting vs. Typing: How to Choose the Best Method to Take Notes

  It doesn’t matter what skill you’re trying to improve; if you want to get better, you have to practice. However, there is more than one way to practice effectively. Research shows that mental practice, which is the act of going through specific motions in your head, can help you achieve significant progress in skills … Read moreMental Practice: What It Is and How You Can Use It

  When you learn a new language, it’s important to get a lot of exposure to it. One of the best ways to do this is by watching movies and TV shows in your target language. In general, it’s better for you to watch foreign-language videos with subtitles, rather than without them. However, this gives rise … Read moreThe Best Type of Subtitles to Use When Learning a Foreign Language

  When you learn a new skill, the beginning tends to be the most frustrating part. Often, you’re not sure what you should be doing exactly, or how you should be doing it. This applies to everything from when you start playing a new sport to when you try speaking a new foreign language. Fortunately, the process of becoming … Read moreThe Stages of Learning: How You Slowly Become More Competent at New Skills

  Expanding your vocabulary is an important but difficult aspect of learning a new language. One way to make it easier is to use color coding techniques, which can facilitate the vocabulary acquisition process. In the following article, you will learn why color coding improves your memorization abilities, and see how you can implement it … Read moreUse Color Coding Techniques to Learn Vocabulary More Effectively