Have you ever noticed how the lyrics of a catchy song in a new language sometimes gets stuck in your head? Or how you can remember a word after you have seen it written, or even more so when you have written it?
The type of engagement with what we are learning varies depending on what style of learning is the best for you. What really gets to you and sticks with you.
There are 4 types of learning styles: visual, auditory, reading and writing, and kinesthetic. Knowing which one works best for you can help you take advantage of what tools to use to make it easier and more fun to remember vocabulary and even grammar!
Visual
I don’t know about you but I love memes. And, if they are memes that play with language even more!
Arguably, text enters in the category of reading and writing, but when the text is combined with an image (or when written and read = seen) we begin to relate the image with the meaning and hence for visual learners having the image of the object is very helpful to remember the word.
Visual learning is also not exclusive of what your eyes can see, but, as cheesy as it might sound, what your mind imagines too. Reading a word and visualising internally the meaning of the word helps visual learners to memorise and connect meaning with language.
Reading and writing
It has happened to me so many times that I listen to a word and no matter how many times someone has told me the word I can’t memorise it. For me what does the trick is to write the word, and seeing it written.
Auditory
Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad próspero año y felicidad (I wanna wish you a merry Christmas) Have you ever heard this song? It is definitely a catchy one, and season worthy in these weeks! For auditory learners rhythm, tone, cadence and all the elements that come with engaging with sound help memorise and learn new words. This is not exclusive to listening to songs but words have their own rhythm, and playing with the sound of words and sentences for some is a useful resource for learning vocabulary.
Under this learning style there is also the speaking component, auditory learners really take advantage of learning when speaking and enunciating new words.
Kinesthetic
If you are a kinesthetic learner you are in for a treat, because it’s time to move the body! You can dance, sing, do karaoke (can be done in the comfort of your own private space if shyness is down your alley). There are so many exercises and fun activities you can do as a kinesthetic learner by combining all the previous styles with movement. This movement is not exclusive to your own body movement but also to visual movement for example, when seeing a presentation that includes a lot of visual stimulation like animations.
So, take a moment and reflect on what really gets to you, what style makes learning easier and dive in!
And if you already know what style is yours and have any tips please do share!
. I remember during exams what helped me the most was having remembered not only the notes but how they looked like and where I wrote them. Once I had the picture in my mind, I had the answer. Also, while learning languages, I always have to have a mental image of the word otherwise I can’t pronounce it properly 
.
