How to Learn Anything Quickly

"When I ask people, 'How do you learn?' most of them know it. But when I ask 'Do you act on this knowledge?' few reply that they do. And yet to act on this knowledge is the key to performance -- or rather not to act on this knowledge is to condemn oneself to nonperformance." Peter Drucker, Know your Strengths and Values I picked up a book the other day called How to Learn Anything Quickly, by Ricki Linksman. In the book are a couple of assessments that allow the reader to determine their learning style. According to Linksman, there are four types of learners: visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic. Visual learners learn best by seeing printed or graphic images. Auditory learners learn best by listening, or talking. Tactile learners learn best by touching and feeling, sometimes emotionally. Kinesthetic learners use their large muscle groups in learning. There are also people who learn best using a combination of these methods, however often people have one dominant way of learning best. On top of these four styles, Linksman places a second division: left and right brain dominance. She then has eight "superlinks" to learning. If you read her book, and I recommend it to clearly establish how you learn best, you will find out what your superlink to learning is. I found out that I am a visual learner with a right brain dominance. Now I have something I can work with... I always thought I was a reader rather than a listener, and now I know why. Not only do I prefer to read over listening, but I prefer images to written communication. I like pictures to tell me what I need to know. According to Linksman's book, as a visual right-brain learner, I "take information in through my eyes and am attuned to images, pictures, graphics, colors, shapes, designs, sizes, and spatial relations.... Only after they grasp the big picture can they focus on its details." Her advice to me is to learn through visual aids with graphic and pictorial content so I can see the big picture. When no graphics are available, I need to convert the spoken or written communication into images in my mind to really grasp the message. Linkman gives descriptions of each learning style and how to maximize your ability to learn quickly. She also provides insight on how to convey your messages so that everyone can learn it effectively. source: http://idea-power.blogspot.com/

This book is a must for anyone who wants to learn more about their own and others' learning styles. Teachers and parents often teach according to their own learning style, and this books breaks that tendency, by describing multiple learning pathways. For the reviewer who complained that the author didn't advise those with multiple modalities, I find that you can use your creativity to blend the author's techniques. (for example, if you are visual and kinesthetic, use colorful diagrams AND movement to enhance learning). I also appreciated that tactile and kinesthetic were given separate attention, since they are often lumped together in other books. Highly Recommended!

I can't believe no-one else has reviewed this book. I am a high school special education teacher and see students struggle so much. I couldn't resist checking it out when I spied it on the shelf. I found so many ideas to help my students learn that worked. This book is inexpensive, a quick read and is very helpful! I use many of the ideas all the time!

This is the book we should all have been exposed to early in our school years. It would have made our respective remainder of our academic career much more successful and fun. The two tests within the book are excellent and accurate. It measures you on two axis, the first one whether you are quantitative oriented (left brain), or more creative/artistic oriented (right brain). The other axis measures what is your main informational sensory channel (visual, audio, kinesthetic). By combining the results of the two tests, you will know what is the best way for you to absorb information and learn new stuff. I have read tons of books on this subject. This is the clearest.

After reading this book, it gives me confidence that nobody in this world is stupid. They just have to know how to learn in the way that most suits them. It's a great book.