What learning strategies do "quick learners" follow?

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1. Having a good mental model and fitting the concept learned into the model

“Others may appear to be fast learners but they are actually being re-introduced to a concept they
already understand”

“appear to be fast learners but have been introduced to the building blocks underlying the new
knowledge”

“Those who appear to learn "quickly" are good generalists. They are good at connecting new
information with existing body of knowledge; doing so gives them the handle to manipulate newer concepts.”

“Have an extremely wide number of interests and understand the basic sciences to a very deep level. "

“Our education mainly focuses on learning in a few areas such as reading comprehension and math
applications.. Having worked with students struggling to read or do math, I've found surprising number of
artist, creative writers etc.”

“Practice learning until you have mastered it (I like to think of it as "collecting skills"). After a while, you
notice how the shape of knowledge is more or less the same thing, no matter the subject. You also know the
steps you take when you learn. Then you repeat until you get bored.”

2. The first 20 hour rule:

" learn just enough that will help in future self-learning and future building upon. "

3. Be aware of order of learning

" sequential learning vs bridging random conceptual islands"

4. Survey the material:

"learn to skim. learn to read fast. "

“Use the SQ3R Method—survey, question, read, recite, review”

5. A good memory.

Absorb information Fast. Memory(retention / recall) is the greatest tool

“I have found that those who are quick learners actually are people with very good memories.
Basically learning is remembering, so any strategy that will help you remember will help you be a quick
learner.”

6. BE AWARE OF LEVELS OF LEARNING:

" going from “what”.. (the definitions.. informative) to “how..” (how is gravitational force related to mass)
to “why” and "5 whys" for depth"

7. Approximate learning.
 “there is something about..” “so this chap found out this equation..what the equation does is relating
this with that..”

8. Form quick summaries as you learn

“Reflect on the patterns emerging and make a proactive visualizaton on the next move to learn more”

“ what are the key ideas and salient points here? how can I organise and paraphrase them?

“fine tune your mind into spotting the key ideas”

9. Use imagination. Form diagrams/ visual conceptualizations

“Make visual summaries (flow charts, mind-maps, etc.).”

10. Analogies. metaphors. see patterns

“One of the greatest learning strategies you can implement is building analogies to what you already
know.”

11. Understand in more than one way.

“Imagine every time going through the same forest but using different road. How well will you then know
about the forest?”

“learn from multiple sources”

“Use several interpretations of the problem you are tackling - geometric, physical models, maybe some role-
model description, whatever helps you find something familiar.”

12. LEARN WITH A PLAN:

Before the study session. skim the content.

“start with the study questions”

“start with learning objectives.”

13. Keep asking questions.

“ visualisation, repetition and permutation. Also asking the who what where when and why in relation to all
parts thereof whatever your looking at.”

14. Learn in chunks

“ method of 100 Boxes. This learning strategy takes all info on your topic and mentally places it in 100
boxes. You do not need to know all contents of all boxes to function effectively. Figure out what is critical
info, what is helpful but not necessary, and what serves no purpose for you. Prioritize. “

15. Teach to yourself.

“Using the Story telling technique in which you connect the content of learning topic and make a new
story. your story may consist of several side events to cover the topic.”

16. Spaced repetitions

17. Make notes. form conceptual maps. seek similarities and form contrasts. identify gaps

18. Know what you can forget.

 Separate what is relevant from what is not. Cut to to the core-principles of the subject.

“First Principle thinking ⇒ Thinking and understanding things in the basic fundamental components that
form the foundation/domain of the knowledge.”

19. Be familiar with learning styles.

“people are slow learners, because they follow a style that which is not intrinsic to them”

Learning Styles and Strategies

Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire

“Some people learn by doing, others a better a book learning or watching someone else perform the
task.”

Project-centric learning:

"Applying what I have learned through practice . good way of learning new material (instead of going
through the whole 1000 page manual first)."

“Steve wozinac (apple) didn't read much about electronics, he just tried to understand and build things
his way. This met him know every aspect, without the simplification abstraction layers induce.”

“With every new programming language, I start with a big project idea, and research how to do what I
want at each stage piece by piece”

Problem-centric learning:

"Learning by solving a specific problem". “targeted, dedicated learning”

20. Combine approaches:

"ADEPT method

http://betterexplained.com/artic ...

It uses an analogy, diagram, an example, a plain English statement and lastly a technical description."

21. Be relaxed.

Enjoy the learning. Find motivations(why are you learning it?). Look for the interesting parts

22. TimeBox the learning:

Learn with Sharp focus under pressure. put yourself in the line

100+ Answers

Brandon Lee upvoted this

Nicolas Cole, Writer with a story, how I became the person I am.
Answered Apr 7, 2015 · Featured on HuffPost

I would consider myself a fairly quick learner in the sense that in my brief 24 years here on this planet
called earth, I have "mastered" a variety of skills and crafts.
I attribute much of this to the way I approach my work, not necessarily my inherent talent or IQ.

Here are some of the things I do:

1. Memory Tricks

Based on what we know about memory, we know that it's easier to remember something when it's tied
to a piece of knowledge we know deeply, than to try memorizing it in its solitude. Case in point: If I
tell you to memorize this series of objects in order (pig, bicycle, red hat, banana cream pie) and you try
to memorize it with no rooting in a place you know very well, or to a "thing" you can recall at any time,
you're going to have a hard time—especially if I expand the list to more than 4 objects. But if you
imagine your childhood home, and at the end of the driveway lays a dead pig, and in front of the front
door is your old bicycle, and as soon as you walk in there's a red hat on the banister, and at the top of
the stairs there is a glowing banana cream pie, well then suddenly it's very hard to not see these objects
every time you think about your childhood home. This is a memory trick, and very useful when you're
learning a ton of new information all at once.

2. Dig In

When you're learning something new, you HAVE to be willing to fail. You HAVE to be willing to
create a lot of garbage. And you HAVE to be ok with the process of what it takes to go from awful to
average to good to great.

Quick learners the first ones to fall and the first ones to get back up again. One thing I've always done
when learning something new is I've thrown myself into it with total disregard to the consequences
and/or potential outcomes. This will end up teaching you the hard stuff first, and give you a better
foundation to build on.

3. Practice

I think there is a huge misconception out there about what it takes to actually learn something—and it
always seems like the other guy is just "smarter" or has a knack for "picking things up quickly." Hate
to break it to you, but that's rarely the case. The honest answer is that in order to learn, you have to
practice, and the ones who learn faster are the ones who practice more.
Practice, practice, practice. It's an input/output game. The more you put in, the more you get out.

4. Teachers

As Mark Harrison said, finding a teacher or mentor is one of the quickest ways to get exposed to mass
amounts of golden knowledge in the shortest amount of time. Why? Because they allow you to see the
world through their eyes, and expose you to lessons that would otherwise take you years to discover,
let alone understand.

That said, another huge part of learning is surrounding yourself with people like yourself, hungry to
learn and in search of knowledge. You will all end up teaching each other, and benefit greatly from the
exposure of each individual's unique approach to the craft.

5. Draw Parallels

This, I believe, is the root of all learning. If you do it once, you can do it again and again and again.

For example: When I was very, very young, I started playing hockey and the piano. These two things
taught me the building blocks of a few very important skills—practice, discipline, routines, etc. When I
was in high school, I applied these building blocks to video games and began to "master" them—
becoming one of the highest ranked World of Warcraft players in North America. When I graduated
high school and took up music production, I applied what I'd learned playing competitive video games
and forced myself to write and produce a song a day for a year straight. When I picked up
bodybuilding, I applied those same skills, lifting 6-7 days a week for 4 years, eating 5-6 meals a day.
While the rest of my peers in college were whining about "not feeling creative" and "having trouble
writing" (I was studying creative writing) I was churning out endless material because, again, I applied
that same work ethic to my craft—I didn't write when I felt like it, I wrote every day no matter what.

Over and over again, I applied the same principles I'd learned to different and seemingly unrelated
crafts, and each time found a path towards mastery.

That said, the quick learners always bring their own unique expertise to each new undertaking. This is
what allows them to "learn" so quickly—because they aren't learning EVERYTHING from scratch all
over again. They're applying what they know deeply and just changing the variables.
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Peter Baskerville, Jay Wacker, Xu Beixi, and 5 more upvoted this

Joel Chan, cognitive scientist of science and innovation
Updated Feb 5, 2016

A couple weeks ago, I learned that a guy named Scott Young completed a 33-course MIT computer
science curriculum in 12 months [1]. He has been running his own blog that's focused on self-
improvement, and it includes a heavy focus on accelerated learning.

Many of the techniques he employs and recommends, such as the Feynman Technique [2], the "5-year
old method" (pretend you are teaching your subject to a class of 5-year olds) and "visceralization" and
use of metaphors [3], map to well-known cognitive science principles of learning. For instance, the
first two map onto a robust finding that self-explanation helps promote deep, robust learning that will
transfer well to novel problems [4].

To achieve his extremely torrid pace of learning, he recommends and uses a number of seemingly
simple/obvious "hacks", such as watching lectures at 2x speed (most are still intelligible at this speed,
I've tried - purpose is to get gist, and develop deep learning and understanding through other
methods) and making sure that he is always focused and has enough energy (enough sleep, exercise).

[1] MIT Challenge

[2]

[3] A Brief Guide to Learning Faster (and Better)

[4] http://chilab.asu.edu/papers/Chi...

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Steven Grimm
Doesn't the fact that you can learn effectively from a lecture played at 2x speed stand as a pret...

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Shane Parrish, Writer; Reader, Thinker; Doer, Speaker; Listener

Updated Nov 29, 2016

The Feynman Technique was how Richard Feynman integrated knowledge and has helped me
enormously in the past few years.

There are three steps to the Feynman Technique.

Step 1: Teach it to a child

Take out a blank sheet of paper and write the subject you want to learn at the top. Write out what you
know about the subject as if you were teaching it to a child. Not your smart adult friend but rather a...
(more)

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Jo Roderick, I was terrible as a young student. I'm much better as an old

student of life.
Answered Oct 31, 2016

The first thing we need to be aware of is our perception about others. The second most important
aspect is to stop comparing yourself to the world at large. It doesn’t serve you nearly as well as you
might think.

One of the biggest factors common in successful people is self-belief. What this means is that a
successful people set their goals and compare their own achievements with their past acc...(more)

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David T Kramaley
Answered Nov 6, 2012

I've used two techniques with great success, depending on the subject.

Somethings like economics, history and such, require your full attention when you are learning. This
means when I was in a lecture I would make sure the professor had my full attention by looking
them in the eyes while they talked. This has worked a charm and I usually do not have to review
for a test in subjects where this...(more)
 Upvote 9 Downvote

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Paul Denlinger upvoted this

Mark Harrison, IT Consultant, once and future CTO
Answered Jan 11, 2011

1: Put it into practice - do some worked examples. mindmap the application of it to something you're
currently doing, You can't learn golf from a book, you need to swing a club at a ball. You can't learn
Ruby on Rails from a book - you need to put together a site.

2: Find someone who knows how, and has a reputation for being good at explaining things. Ask them
to explain something. Buy them lunch if needed. If you don't understand something, ask them to
repeat it. If you don't understand it then, ask them to explain it a different way. If they can't, or they
won't, or you still don't understand, find someone else to explain it.

3: Find someone else who is keen to learn about the same subject, and arrange to get together with
them regularly (online or in meatspace), to run through how things are going.

4: Each month, go and buy a magazine in a category you've never bought before. I don't care what -
Interior Design, Fishing, Cooking, Sports Cars, anything really. Read it - you may pick up a 'pattern'
that resonates with something else, elsewhere, and much of learning is about patterns. (Even if you
don't, you'll learn something, so the day won't be a waste.)

5: If you are in a meeting situation (class, business, club, whatever), don't be afraid to put up your
hand and say 'Sorry, can you just explain why...' a bit more. Stupid people will think you are stupid.
Intelligent people will admire you. This helps discover who the people to start networking with are.

6: Accept that mastery takes time and practice.... and isn't a constant upwards curve. Learn to love the
plateaus.

7: If you are having trouble getting something, write it out, longhand (not on a computer) on a pad of
paper, just before you are going to bed. (Ideally, wait until you are in bed, do it, then close your eyes
and go to sleep). You don't actually need the conscious mind to be involved to internalise a lot of
things.
71.9k Views · 608 Upvotes

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Betsy Megas
I would add that some things simply do take time to learn. You don't learn golf by swinging a clu...

Jessica Su, Will Wister, and Patrick Mathieson upvoted this

Alex K. Chen, multithreaded messenger. Seeks timeless context-independence
Updated Oct 24, 2016

Learn only when you're excited to learn about the thing. If you're not excited about it, don't force
yourself to learn it (rather, just wait - there may come a time when you find a new and far more
exciting way to learn the subject - the pace of instructional innovation is amazing these days).

This is one huge reason why optimizing for learning is largely incompatible with optimizing for
grades....(more)

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Krishaan Khubchand, Student | Spead-Reader | Education-Junkie

Answered Jan 4, 2016

You are looking for more effective and efficient learning strategies, so let's break this down into the 3
steps of learning.

1. Pre-Learning:

This is about your mindset before you even start trying to learn something. I'm not just talking about
having an optimistic or growth-minset, I am talking about priming your mind to learn and understand
the content at hand, as soon as possible. Here are so...(more)

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Andres E. Crucetta Nieto, Student, Interested in Everything

Updated Aug 10, 2015
First, I’d like to debunk several myths that have been thoroughly ingrained in students’ mind:

1st Myth: “Highlighting makes you memorize content faster”

Expert say this myth is False, Highlighting and Rereading does not help as much as it is a passive
practice where the brain is not as involved in the content.

What you should do instead:

...(more)

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Gerard Danford, Academic PhD (Aalto) MBA (LBS)

Updated Sep 2

10 Rules for Better Learning

According to Prof. Barbara Oakley

1. Recalling: Try to frequently recall the main ideas of what you are learning...or try
generating ideas from within yourself... 'I wonder what this means?'.

2. Testing: Use any method you can to test yourself all the time (recall, applying, asking others
opinions etc.).

3. Chunking: Pretend what you are trying to learn is a song...learn to play it over and over
again in your mind. In this way the information combines into a chunk you can access when
needed.

4. Spacing: Your brain is like a muscle and needs a break now and again. Don't try to learn
everything at once...spread the learning out over time.

5. Alternating: Practice different techniques for learning. A single approach is sub-optimal.

Try writing things down, creating pictures, constructing a quiz etc.

6. Breaking: Taking breaks from a problem or a challenge allows the brain to take over and do
some thinking in the background.
 7. Questioning: Consider how you could explain a problem, challenge etc. in a way that a ten
year old could understand? Using analogies can help.

8. Focusing: Turn off all interrupting things (phone, computer etc.) then set a timer for 20
minutes and focus on the one thing you are working on.

9. Thinking: Do the hardest thinking and problem solving early in the day when you and your
mind are fresh.

10. Contrasting: Dream of where your learning is taking you (outcomes, insights, solutions,
etc.) and then create a picture or words to describe that outcome. Reminding yourself
periodically of the desired outcome (looking at the picture, reading the words) will motivate
you to achieve greater learning.

Now watch Prof. Oakley Describe: Learning How to Learn

this video has been curated by the author

"quality rewards vigilance"

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Terrence Yang, Mira Zaslove, Oliver Emberton, and 2 more upvoted this
Will Stern
Updated Jul 10, 2014

I've been in the web development industry for 16 years and have had to learn countless new
technologies. I've also been a guitar, graphic design & video editing teacher for the better part of 2
decades. As a result, I've learned some very efficient ways to help people learn new things quickly:

Drown your way to swimming

Don't start at the bottom, start at the top. Find the very best person in the field and follow
what they say. If you don't understand their words because they're over your head, listen
to them more - google their terminologies - until you do understand the world they live
in. Compare your work to the best on earth, not to your peers.

Put yourself in a place that's way over your head. Apply for a job that you probably won't
get...the failed interview will provide invaluable information as to what people value on
the playing field you want to be on.

"Play with the big boys" any chance you get. Get addicted to the feeling of being the worst
on the team. If you become the best, find a new place to work where you aren't anymore.

Refuse to learn without doing

Don't read a blog on how to code without hand-coding/copying every example.

If you listen to a lecture, take unnecessarily complex notes - this will lock in information.
**edit** research shows that taking more selective notes causes you to process the
information and retain it better: Taking Notes by Hand Benefits Recall, Researchers
Find

Start a blog. Disseminate the valuable information you're learning to others.

The simple act of teaching will cause you to process the knowledge to a level of simplicity
that greatly increases your understanding. Plus, any human interaction surrounding the
knowledge - comments, arguments, corrections, will cause it to lock-in deeper into your
memory.

Practice shorter, but more frequently rather than longer, but less frequently

A guitar student who practices 10 minutes every day will do far better than one who plays
2 hours once a week. The latter will simply keep re-learning much of the same thing each
 week, forgetting it by the next week. Your brain remembers the first and last things the
most, so make sure to recap each "learning session" with the most important things you
want to remember.

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Garrick Saito
That's good advice.

3 more comments from Tom Musgrove, Evan Alphonse, Bruce Achterberg

Tom Granot-Scalosub, Test Cracker @ Chexam.com

Answered Feb 8, 2015

Automate your studies as much as possible.

The problem with the formal education system is that it is very rigid, and this fact reflected by many of
its graduates.
You'll often find people who are rigid thinkers tell you that the only way they can learn something "for
real" is to take a class or go to school. These people are the people you need to avoid.

There are a ton of interactive ways ...(more)

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Shalin Shah, Qurious person

Answered Aug 16, 2015

Sometimes, it is not so much as a technique as it is a natural way of organizing data inside your head
that enables a person to absorb, interact, comprehend, retain and retrieve the information as
and when required.

I will list down a few "strategies" that might help you:

 1. Pomodoro Technique

Using this technique forces the learner to allocate a specific amount of time solely for the
purpose o...
(more)

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Kevin Johnsrude, software developer, musician, artist, model, polymath,

Buddhist
Updated Feb 1, 2014

I learn new stuff all the time. Josh Kaufman, author of the book, "20 Hours" boils the process down to
its essentials and talks about how you can grasp a new skill in 20 hours of practice. His rules are:
1. Deconstruct the skill

2. Learn enough to self-correct

3. Remove practice barriers

4. Practice at least 20 hours (in a month)

https://youtu.be/5MgBikgcWnY

You won't be a virtuoso, but you will be amazed at ...(more)

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Emanuel Martonca, CEO at Thinslices, a mobile development company

Answered Sep 12, 2014
I would say staying organized is probably the most important feature all learners should have. Some
are more ambitious than others, though. The funny thing about learning is that the more you do it,
the more you get the hang of it. It's like driving, in a way. You start off being afraid you'll have an
accident and then you gradually become an expert.

It also depends on how complex the things ...(more)

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Nikita Ponomarenko, Direct&Online Sales,Persuasion, Math teacher, Vegan

Nutrition
Updated Sep 26, 2015

Knowing what to learn and what to forget

All the quick learners have in common is that they now exactly what to focus on when learning.
Focus is critical because the key to learning is forgetting what we don`t nee

The biggest mistake most people make is they want to learn and know everything. The truth is that you
can`t learn everything.
The capacity of our mind is limited and we forget mos...(more)

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Joschka Tryba, Digital Product Manager and Office-Chair Philosopher

Answered May 20, 2014

Often it is about being strategic about what you learn and how you present knowledge,
rather than actually being good at learning.

In academic or professional environments, often the approval of your boss or teacher is not a good
measure of learning/performance. Some people you may think are faster learners may actually just be
more strategic learners. There is a difference between being good ...(more)

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John Hwang, Ellen Vrana, Nipun Sher, and 5 more upvoted this
Robert Frost, Instructional design specialist
Answered Nov 5, 2012

The key to quicker learning is to understand how learning happens and then taking advantage of that
process.

If we study how neurons work in our brains, we can reach two conclusions:

1. Learning occurs because of repetition

2. Learners must connect new knowledge to previous knowledge in order to learn

The first one is pretty straightforward. Repeatedly think about something and the neurons related to
that something will grow dendrites and make associations with other neurons, making it easier for us
to remember and recall that something, when needed. We all know how to learn or memorize by
repetition.
The second is the more complicated one. Our brains store information by context and association
based on existing mental models (AKA schema). If we want to learn new information successfully we
need to either find an existing mental model that will associate with the new information or we need to
build a new mental model in which the new information will fit.

The quick learner determines the analogous existing mental model or realizes when they don't have an
existing acceptable mental model and they back-off and build a new mental model before trying to
absorb the concept that is new. Building new mental models can be done by outlining or mind-
mapping. Start with the central new concept and branch off to the key features of that concept. Keep
branching off until you reach a point where you have existing knowledge that can connect to the new
knowledge.

Here is a crude example. Let's assume we wanted to learn how to play chess:

By making the association between the shape of the Bishop piece and a picture of a bishop's hat we will
have a neural association that will make it easy for us to recognize which piece is the Bishop.
Using images wherever practical is a benefit, because our brains are better at remembering images
than words.
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Ante Qu
How would you apply this to learning or understanding something like quantum mechanics, when even...

Ajita Gupta, worked at Hewlett-Packard

Updated 23h ago · Featured on Thought Catalog

This is my strategy for learning and it has proven to be very efficient so far.

1. Read books: Always start with a basic well-structured book. Anyone who has taken out the
time to write a book which is popular must have a very deep understanding and profound
knowledge of the topic. Make a list of most significant books in the topic of interest. The best
one will give you 80% of the knowledge. The T...
(more)

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Blessen George
Wow absolutely brilliant. Very concise, each point is extremely useful and applicable. One of the...

Arpan Roy, Was a student at 30

Answered Mar 29, 2014

Life is too short to start reading a book from the Preface

One thing I learnt during my PhD, is that life is too short to start reading a book from the Introduction
Chapter. Sure, you will get a nice over all view of the entire book, but if you need results quickly, this
may not be the best way.

I was unconsciously following the method outlined by

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5...
to pick up ...(more)

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Kyle Pennell, Fascinated with nearly everything

Answered May 31, 2013

Watch video tutorials at 2x speed

Videos are great for learning but are sometimes too slow to hold one's attention. I find it very hard to
sit through slow screencast videos. You can skim text quickly to get to the important parts but video
isn't very 'skimable'.

It can be helpful to speed the videos up. You can still understand what the person is saying and you
can watch more content thi...(more)

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Milena Rangelov, I am working on improving myself 1% every day.

Updated Aug 11, 2015

This is a hot topic and something all of us would like to grasp. Here are my 10 ideas on quick learning:
1. Attitude is decisive factor. Quick learners have the confidence that everything is figure-outable. It is
also important to forget about the labels. Stop describing yourself as "math dummie" , "bad at
languages" or "untalented for X". It will just create the resistance and slow the learnin...(more)

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Eckart Mildenstein
Great points....

Anna Sharudenko and Jonathan Brill upvoted this

Stan Hayward, Film/TV/Book writer
Updated May 20, 2014 · Featured on Lifehacker

The quickest way to learn anything is by Positive Transference of Learning.

Transfer of learning

It means transferring the skills you have learned in one field to something else.
Some obvious examples.
If you learn one instrument you can learn another easier than the first.

If you have learnt a new language it is easier to learn another quicker than the first.

But there are other aspects of it.

If you have learned to play the piano, you will be able to learn touch typing easier. This is because
learning touch typing requires a rhythm and hand-and-eye motor skills.

If you have learnt to draw well you will generally be more observant.

You can use Venn diagrams to see what skills have in common.

Let's imagine you want to learn three different subjects of:

Touch Typing
Piano
French

Also assume you were a beginner in each, and had only an hour a day to learn.

Typing and piano both require hand practice (the overlapping skill)

Touch Typing requires typing out words. You can choose to type out french words from
french songs. So words are the common element.
 Piano requires learning songs. You can choose to learn french songs..

You can now use your practice hour in the following way.

1. Practice your typing for twenty minutes. This will get your hands warmed up, and increase
your french vocabulary.

2. Then practise the piano for twenty minutes. Try singing the french words to the songs you are
learning.

3. Now practice your french by learning new french songs.

This is only an indication of how skills can be transferred. We do it all the time in lesser ways, but it
can be worked out systematically.

In my own case I once worked as a sailor.

I transferred that skill to helping run a diving boat. I was able to get free diving lessons for doing this.

Once I had learned to dive, I took up underwater photography. I now used my diving skills to get
photos.

Once I got photos I sent them to magazines, so used my photo skills to get into journalism.

Once I got into journalism I wrote travel articles about diving.

I then expanded my journalistic skills to other subjects.

In most cases I simply learned enough to do the job required, so I was never particularly good at any of
them, but good enough to achieve my purpose.

From an outside view I appeared to be a quick learner with many skills, whereas I was a normal
learner with adequate skills applied in a systematic way.
49.7k Views · 484 Upvotes
 Upvote 484 Downvote

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Jan Sullivan, 30 years in business taught me lots.

Answered Jan 8

I’ve heard that slower learners are more thorough learners, and if the school system catered to them a
little better, they would be superstars. Video learning is ideal for slower learners because they can
pause and rewind and end up knowing the content really well. But in how many classrooms can you
rewind the teacher?

I have noticed that quick learners can be big picture people. They naturally ...(more)

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Suyash Sharma, Musician | Engineer | Bibliophile | Epistemophile | Foodie &

Traveler
Answered Dec 21, 2014

Learning is the act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing, existing knowledge, behavior,
skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to
learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow
learning curves. Learning is not compulsory; it is contextual. It does not happen all at once, but b...
(more)

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Kaite Pfirrmann-Gould, I graduated uni, didn't I?

Answered Dec 2, 2016

Chunking[1]with information that you already know.

“Quick-learners” immediately store information that relates to other information. They will connect
concepts that suit one another for easier recall.
This is partially an inherent skill, and an easily a learned skill:

Relate all information with things you already know.

When you are first exposed to new material, keep in mind the phrase, “Oh! This ...(more)

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Gabriel Monlhuret, Survived French Classe Préparatoires : I learnt to get shit

done
Answered Oct 14, 2015

I've been a learning junkie since I'm a child.

I don't believe in methods or strategy as people can sometimes see it as check-lists. I prefer having the
good mindset and keeping in mind my best practices:
Don't do things that seems like work. If you're curious about something and have fun
doing it you'll get better at it quickly.

Chunk and process: the first principle concept. Deconstruct the ...
(more)

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Alessio Bresciani, Digital Leader, Marketing and Blogger

Answered Oct 12, 2015 · Featured on HuffPost and Inc

Your question is a great one. And it forced me to reflect about the things I have learnt across my
interests in business, personal development and martial arts.

In your question you say you are a ‘slow learner’. Let me tell you, I’ve seen many slow learners
understand subjects to far greater detail than people who can learn at a fast pace. If fact, slow learners
can bring a deliberateness t...(more)

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 Jane Jacobs, Diagram Software Engineer
Answered Nov 15

Using Mind map s.

Observing the quick learners around, I find that almost all of them are using mind maps to manage
things in lifestyle, learning and work. I asked them about the reason why they love mind maps, and the
answer could be concluded into one sentence - mind maps keep your mind clear and show you the
overall picture in real time.

For quick learners, the most obvious obstacle is confusio...(more)

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Claudia Azula, WSJ and USA Today Bestselling Author / Podcast Host / Yoga
Teacher
Answered Sep 12, 2015

I don't think there is such a thing as a "quick learner", I think there is people who: PAY MORE
ATTENTION

The KEY to paying attention is that you are FASCINATED by the subject

For example, I LOVE watching a movie like "Straight out of Compton" why? BECAUSE it is about the
creative process, about writing, about rapping, about ANGER, about being a MINORITY (like me, a
woman, Spanish)...

So, It...(more)

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Nihar More, works at Students

Answered Sep 30, 2016

Learning is a skill in itself.

Never before has there been so much information readily available at our fingertips. Never before has
there been so many free resources to learn new skills and expand our minds. But with this
unprecedented access to knowledge, never before has there been so much confusion about what advice
one ought to follow.

More often than not, what separates the people who seem ...(more)

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Sam Bleckley, worked at The University of Oklahoma

Updated Feb 18, 2011

The ability to form useful analogies makes learning faster for me. A 'learning' analogy connects
information about a field I'm unfamiliar with to something I already know. By attempting to use that
analogy to predict facts about the new field, I can test its accuracy, and in domains where it is
accurate, I learn very quickly. When it isn't accurate, I seek a new analogy --- sometimes creating a...
(more)

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Raviteja Chirala, Everyday is an opportunity to live!

Answered Nov 17, 2015

I have found some stats which many quick learners can correlate to. The best way to have ever lasting
impression of something you have learned is through teaching. Sharing your knowledge is the best
way to retain what you have learned. Write journals, share answers on Quora or Reddit, present
in Meetups, teach to students. There are multiple ways to preserve your knowledge but be wise in
preser...(more)

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Ramakrishna Rajanna, Entrepreneur, philosopher, thinker, simple person.

Answered Jun 9, 2014
Evolution has made humans quick learners giving us a huge advantage!
Among humans some are quicker learners. Some of these strategies are unconsciously used by these
fast learners!

Brainstorming:
The key to understanding something is to know the what, why, how, where, when of a subject. Fast
learners do these connections automatically to some extent. You can artificially improve it by using
techniques like mind-mapping.

Muscle memory:
A lot of topics need muscle memory. If you can know multiplication tables, physics constants, some
conversion ratios, you can easily do many calculations in your mind while reading and assimilate the
subject better.
Muscle memory is also useful in deducing solutions/solution patterns for common problem patterns.
Every subject has some fundamental concepts, constants, rules, exceptions and patterns you should
know at your fingertips. This will definitely speed up of understanding
Speed reading:

I have seen people speed read naturally. Fortunately, you can gain the skill too, if you are conscious
about speed while reading.
It is most effective in novels and least effective in math. Moderately effective in narrative subjects. The
key idea is not to read by mouth but just glance at the content and read important words. Skipping few
words is fine as long as you are able to understand the flow.
Very effective in revision (See a point on revision)

Summary extractor:
Fast learners inherently look for summary and reconstruct everything else as needed. Some books
have summary section at the end of the chapter which gives main points. Most fast learners
automatically skip or speed read less important stuff.

Early bird expert:

If you are early bird reader on a subject, everybody comes to you for their doubts. This is very good
because, you understand the subject more by teaching and you understand the subject deeper by
solving other's doubts. In turn other think that you are a fast learner whereas you are learning by
repetition and discussion. This is the best technique because, all you need to do is read and
understand a few days earlier and everyone else will make you an expert.
Pattern matching:
Patterns are easy to remember and understand than pure concepts. Patterns can exist at multiple
levels.

Intuition:
Some have intuition based on the way and environment they grow. This intuition helps in assimilating
and connecting the knowledge the person is reading. Intuition also develops when you understand a
lot of topics and you can extract patterns across.

Interest/Curiosity:
When we are curious of something, our mind automatically applies many of the techniques listed in
this thread! Yes, your mind already knows a lot of techniques.

Sensory triggers:
The more sensory organs you involve the more your brain is able associate. For example a child learns
objects better when he sees, hears, smells and feels the objects than just reading it on paper.

Experience and exposure:

A lot of people have prior experience or exposure to content before actually formally learning the
subject. For eg: a Software Engineer's son is already exposed to a lot of concepts before actually taking
the subject. He might not understand everything when he is exposed to that knowledge but He will be
able to connect the dots when he formally learns and think beyond what he is studying.

Association:
Association is the best memory technique. People who can associate new learning with what they
already know can remember better and move faster.

Order of learning:
Order of reading subjects also makes a huge difference. For example if you learn music informally
first, you will be able to learn and correlate music theory concepts. It wont be as effective if you try the
other way.

Replay/Revision:

You might have noticed that quick learners also get doubts at random time. They are involuntarily
replaying the material in their brains. Replaying serves three purposes: 1. improves retention 2. Makes
you realize different perspectives of the same content 3. think in dimensions you missed while reading
the first time.

State of mind:

Most people with less distractions/tensions in life will be able to put more of their mind time on the
subject for the same amount of physical time you spend in front of the books. Our minds constantly
wander on all different topics. It is the nature of mind. The lesser things you have to wander the more
time you can spend on the content you are interested in.
Some people on the thread have mentioned it in a different way "Study when you are happy...". The
fundamental principle is how much of your mind time is occupied.

First exposure on the subject:

First book and/or the first teacher you encounter has a great influence. If you have a teacher with great
presentation skills or a book with simple to understand illustrations, then your effort is reduced by
50% . Any further books you read, you can easily assimilate extra information quickly. Choose your
first teacher/book wisely.

Foundation:

When foundation is strong, anything learnt on top of it is faster. For eg: if you know the concept of
"speed" you can understand the concept of "acceleration" faster. Also if you understand the concept of
"rate of change" in math then you can understand both concepts "speed" and "acceleration" almost
immediately. Strong understanding at lower levels results in faster understanding at higher levels.
Similarly, core subject expertise helps in faster learning of related subjects.

Gamification:
Learning based games help you speed up ! Several online games and mobile apps are focused on
learning in innovative ways. Make use of them. It is fun and useful at the same time.

Some other good resources:

1.The first 20 hours: How to learn anything: Key idea is to getting your hands dirty as quickly as
possible and learn on the field.

2. How teaching helps you study better

Ramakrishna Rajanna's answer to How can I study more effectively? I manage to make average grades
from what I retain in class and with the little studying I manage to do. I do find flash cards work for
definitions, but I am a nursing student and they can only go so far. Any tips?

3. Feynman technique
Acaz Pereira's answer to How can you learn faster?

Most important: I have seen people who consistently work hard outpace the quick-
learners sooner or later in life.
21.6k Views · 217 Upvotes · Answer requested by Prabha Manepalli

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Bhuvi Jain
Great tips! Well thought out and presented answer. Thanks!

Suzan Stroud, Author of Treblemakers Piano Method Series & founder of

Treblemakers Music School
Answered Jan 29, 2015
1. Try to get a big picture understanding of how something works. Then memorizing details is easy
because they are interrelated like dropping pieces into a puzzle.
2. Drill on a small bit of information and then use it to do something in the real world. It's kind of like
test-driving the information you've learned to see how well you've learned it and work out the kinks.
Think of a time wh...(more)

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Stefan Jerome, studied at University of Leicester
Answered Apr 23, 2013

Have you tried looking at the Pareto principle?

The Pareto principle (The 80/20 Rule) states that for most information, the important 80% of
information you need is only in 20% of the content. It is also used in business; the rule, in this context,
states that only 80% of your returns (profit) derive from 20% of your clients.

In terms of learning, applying this principle means scanning throug...(more)

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Sanjay Sabnani upvoted this

Terrence Kwasha
Updated May 18, 2014

I basically slept through all of my classes up until the master's level and aced the final exams. I
typically procrastinated on projects until an amount of time that everyone else would be sweating
bullets and fail miserably, and then figured out everything and cranked out a 100% accurate and
decent quality project in record time.

People would always get furious at me for doing this, and w...(more)

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 Isiah Meadows
I've picked up a lot of this myself already, by age 18. If the whole world makes logical sense, i...

1 more comments from Linda Harasim

Carlos Matias La Borde, overthinker

Answered Sep 10, 2015

I'd say I learn pretty damn fast. I don't think there's a single strategy, but there are a number of
different ones I'll use depending on the context.

If at all possible learn by doing. Nothing makes things click faster than actually using them.
Nothing gives you as deep an understanding of what you're working with. This isn't always
possible or feasible, but when it is, it's always my preferr...
(more)

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Calvin Huang, Terrible student who earns decent grades

Answered Apr 6, 2015

Good memory isn't the only thing one needs to be a quick learner, but it's certainly vital for long-term
knowledge retention.

Extensive studies have been conducted on human memory and how to improve one's knowledge
retention. The results indicate that timely review of new information at strategic intervals is key to
long-term retention.

Ideally, you should review new material within 24 hours ...(more)

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Lidia Stanton, worked at University of Northampton

Answered Oct 26, 2014
Quick learners don't sit and read or write in a passive way, they are active learners. They are on the
go. They pace the room and collect sensory information. They imagine, envisage, talk to others and
touch/manipulate objects, they engage their whole bodies in the process of finding out. They have
fun when learning. Multisensory learning involves engagement of different senses to stimulate the...
(more)

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Matthew Sweet, Interest in Strategy, esp. enjoy the work of B.H. Liddell Hart
Answered Oct 29, 2015

They follow the two rules of skepticism.

I don’t specialise in doubt. I also don’t specialise in certainty.

This is the dilemma of the young. How much should I question? How much should I believe or not
believe? Where do I draw the line between acceptance and challenge?

Doubting too much leads to paralysis. It hinders our ability to learn and means that we will never
accomplish anything. By d...(more)

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Babette Dickerson
Updated Jun 28, 2016

There is no trick, there is only conditioning. It starts at home. Parents are the very first people who
teach their children how to think and consequently how to learn from birth. Children watch their
parents and, consciously and unconsciously, copy them. Parents should talk, read and explain
everything to their children. It doesn't always require a lot of stop-sit-chat time. If you're with you...
(more)

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 Farhan Js
Updated Feb 20, 2015

There are two modes of learning, Focused Mode, and Diffused Mode.

Focused mode is a way of learning, where to find a solution to a question, you have predefined
rules/formulas. So when a question is asked, you know how to proceed to find the solution. In the
above diagram, for focused mode, the red path shows the thought structure your mind would follow, a
familiar thought pattern, to answer ...(more)

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Tanya Koltunova, works at Ph.D. Students

Updated Jun 14, 2014

If the goal is not just the understanding and use of the information, and you need to remember it and
to be able to recall it after, there are some ways to improve the process of learning, which can help you
spend the time more efficient.

Short basic info:

The brain creates connections between neurons, but they are short-term until person gets some sleep.
After the sleep they become stable, an...(more)

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 Taha Nakabi, Engineer and PhD student in computational intelligence
Answered Nov 28, 2016

Based on my own experience, we used to apply this strategy in engineering classes because we was
obliged to learn faster a lot of new subjects:

1. Relate the new concept to old concepts that you understand clearly, try to find an analogy
between them.

2. Begin with exercises before reading the material, this will open your mind to absorb
information faster.

3. Build a curiosity for the subjects that you’re...

(more)

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Alexandra Isenegger, Small business strategist I CEO @ Linkilaw

Answered Nov 16, 2016

Every single person can learn quickly. However some people learn faster than others.

WHY IS THIS?

It is just a matter of creating an environment which is conducive to your learning style.

Ask yourself:

1) What kind of learner am I?

2) What habits can I create to facilitate my learning?

Are you a Visual Learner?...(more)

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Jonas Koblin, learning science enthusiast

 Updated Mar 21, 2016

For me Spaced Repetition is the secret!

To maximise your learning, study short but often.

Neuroscientist proved that synapses, the million billion connections in your brain that make you
remember and understand stuff, grow mainly at night when you are asleep. This means that it is more
productive to study regularly with sleeping breaks in between.

Try it! Practice something for 15 minutes every ...(more)

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Terrence Yang upvoted this

Alex Jouravlev, the Ontologist
Updated Dec 1, 2014

I can only share what I do.

Don't learn - understand. You need to get the basic idea of the discipline, the piece of software etc. You
need to understand "why", the logic of the thing. Then you will be flying through the rest of the
material, mainly confirming rather than memorizing.
The downside of that approach is that you need to like and respect what you learn. You can memorize
several h...(more)

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Nick Kim, Googler/investor/advisor/Jesus follower

Updated May 25, 2014

The only value learning quickly has is bragging rights. As long as you're "fast enough" learning at a
more comprehensively level is orders of magnitude more important.

I see 3 main hurdles to learning quickly: focus, passion and mental horsepower.

If you're distracted it will be extremely difficult to learn. Though we want to think we're multi-taskers
we really aren't. We aren't multithread...(more)

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Eckart Mildenstein
Mr. Kim: You said it very well....

Anshu Gupta, studied at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

Updated Feb 3, 2015

When you're learning new material, it can be overwhelming when you think about how much time you
need to truly understand it all. This studying technique can help you stay focused and take on more
information with shorter study sessions.
The lecture "Study Less, Study Smart"—featured in the video below—is from psychology professor Dr.
Marty Lobdell from Pierce College . In it, Lobdell shares his...(more)

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Utkarsh Vajpai, Chemical engineering from Harcourt butler technological

institute
Answered Jun 28
So, here’s 13 things you have to avoid at ALL costs if you want to be able to concentrate when
you study and become a quick learner

1. Focusing On Things Outside of Your Control

It’s one week until you’re final exam or test, you haven’t even looked at the material that’s covered
yet. Oh god, stress overload. Why oh why didn’t I start studying earlier, damn those Netflix
marathons!

That’s exactly w...(more)

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Mary Mimouna, 35+ years as a teacher with experience teaching all ages
Answered Jun 17, 2014

Speaking as a teacher of three decades, I can immediately suggest something that I did not learn until
I was in my mid-20s. I wish I had known this since middle school.

Most students study by reading a chapter, and perhaps rereading it. They often skip the questions in
the chapter because by they time they get there, they are too tired, or don't know the answer anyway,
even after reading the...(more)

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 Carl de Malmanche
brilliant!! Will start immediately....

Aurora Afable, 24 years of experience

Updated Apr 5, 2015

I used to be a slow learner as well, but I've come to get over that by observing a lot of other people.
Here are a few things I do based on my experience.

1) Observe and ask

Observe first, ask if you're unsure. You can always ask people how they do it so well. I'm pretty sure
they're willing to share what they know.

2) Understand, not memorize

You know the saying that goes something like, "T...(more)

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John Michael Domingo, Writer. Learner. Martial Artist. Christian.

Answered Sep 4
I was the Valedictorian of my high school and graduated top of my class in college in Petroleum
engineering.

But to be brutally honest, I wasn’t anywhere near the smartest kid.

The other high-performing kids could just sit in class, barely seem to be paying attention, study the
night before the exam, and get a good grade.

This wasn’t the case for me.

I had to work really hard to get to the top of t...(more)

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Navin Kabra, Computer Science, Algorithms, Pune, PuneTech, Bollywood,

Philosophy. etc.
Answered Jul 16, 2013

Spend many years being a slow learner. Be a slow learner in many different diverse fields. And one
day, you'll suddenly notice that you're applying concepts and techniques from one field (often pretty
basic ones) into a different field, and people will start thinking of you as a quick learner.
20.1k Views · 313 Upvotes

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Alan Nguyen
Updated Nov 29, 2012

Over the last couple years, I completely unlearned the way I learned in high school/college and I think
I am a much faster learner now. This is what worked for me:

1. Postitive Attitude/Wishful Thinking: I simply make myself think that the subject matter
is actually easier than it is ("other people can learn, so can I" attitude) and imagine myself
actually know the topic well or the answers. I know it sounds silly, but the reason to do so is
to help you get rid of any anxieties or stress you may have about learning the
subject.

2. 3 I's approach: Introduce, Isolate (concept), Integrate (into current project or life).
Integration or applying what you learn is really key to making what you learn stick. What you
learn has to be valuable or you'll forget it.

3. Mind-mapping: I try to mind-map everything I read/study. It's a great way to take note and
also see how the different concepts connect to each other. It makes easier to
retrieve/remember the information later.

4. Diagram/Pictures: Drawing things out on a whiteboard makes me see what I learn in

different ways. Check out the Dan Roam books (back of a napkin and blah, blah, blah) on
how to do it.

5. Deep understanding through 5 why's: That main concept or issue you have a difficulty in
understanding – ask why 5x, and try to get the answer. If you go 5 levels deep, you're more
than like to really understand the subject matter.

Let me know if I should clarify things more ...