当你读书老记不住该如何学习How To Study When You Can’t Remember Anything You Read

How To Study When You Can’t Remember Anything You Read

I realized at a young age that I didn’t learn by reading. I was the square peg entering a system of round holes.

我很早就意识到，我并不是通过阅读来学习的人。我就像一个方钉，被硬塞进圆孔构成的体系里。

So throughout my school years, I created my own tactics to study, learning in a way that worked well for me.

因此，在整个求学阶段，我摸索出了属于自己的学习方法，用真正适合我的方式去学习。

I started university in 2004. This was the first time I had ever been assigned specific textbook pages to read called ‘readings’. So that night, I procrastinated until the wee hours to get that reading done. When I finally read all 30 pages, I asked myself what I could remember and my mind was blank.

2004年我开始上大学。这是我第一次被要求完成指定教材页数的“阅读任务”。那天晚上我一直拖到深夜才开始读。等我终于读完那30页时，问自己还记得什么，脑子却一片空白。

Then I grabbed a highlighter I had never used and started reading again. The next day at the lecture, I still couldn’t remember anything I read the night before. So I concluded at that moment that I will not do a single reading for the rest of my academic career.

于是我拿起一支从没用过的荧光笔，又重新读了一遍。第二天上课时，我依然想不起前一晚读过的任何内容。于是我在那一刻下定决心:在接下来的整个求学生涯中，我都不会再做任何阅读任务。

How did I study for all the courses without doing a single reading? But first, let’s get crystal clear about what studying actually is. Is studying basically memorizing?

在不做阅读的情况下，如何应付所有课程学习的呢?在回答这个问题之前，我们先弄清楚，学习究竟是什么。学习是否等同于死记硬背?

Memorizing is one of the tools in the learning process but it’s not the only way studying can be approached. The difference between memorizing a single fact and understanding a concept is that one has no meaning and the other does.

记忆只是学习过程中的一种工具，但并不是唯一方式。记住一个孤立的事实和理解一个概念之间的区别在于:前者没有意义，而后者有。

I cannot remember the dates and years of all the significant events in history; however, I can explain how one thing influenced another.

我记不住历史上所有重要事件的具体年份，但我能解释清楚一件事是如何影响另一件事的。

Here are the strategies that I used to thrive through the decades of my academic career.

以下是在多年的求学生涯中赖以成长和成功的学习策略。

Focus on the right information

聚焦正确的信息

I didn’t do a single reading in University but I did read the lecture notes. Usually, these were PowerPoint slides with 4-5 bullet points on each which was the right amount of information that I could digest.

大学期间我没有完成过任何阅读任务，但我会看课堂讲义。它们通常是PPT，每页只有4-5个要点，信息量正好是我能够消化的程度。

Don’t take notes like a mad person

不要像疯了一样记笔记

For me, I learn best by watching and listening carefully. When I’m writing, I’m focused on writing. When I’d listen carefully during the lecture the first time around instead of writing, it became easier to remember when it came down to studying.

对我来说，最好的学习方式是认真看、认真听。一旦我在写东西，注意力就全在写上了。第一次上课时如果选择专心听而不是拼命记笔记，后续复习时反而更容易记住内容。

Do the practice tests and re-do homework assignments

做练习题，反复完成作业

My brain retains knowledge when it’s being asked like a search engine. Oftentimes, the teacher would give us optional practice tests or assignments to complete.

当知识以“被提问”的方式出现时，我的大脑更容易记住它。很多时候，老师都会提供一些可选的练习题或作业。

Reverse engineer your own exam

反向拆解你的考试