Beginner · Learning How to Learn
Learn Anything Faster
Swap the study habits that only feel productive for the few that research shows actually last. One short lesson at a time.
Course complete. You have finished every lesson.
What you’ll learn
- Why rereading and highlighting feel useful but fade, and what lasts instead
- Test yourself and space your reviews, the two best-supported study habits
- Mix your practice, learn from worked examples and explain ideas in plain words
- Judge what you really know, take notes that help and keep your focus
- Drop three popular myths, and leave with a simple weekly learning plan
This course is for anyone learning something new: for work, a course, an exam, a language or a hobby. You do not need any special tools or background. Each lesson takes about two and a half minutes and teaches one habit, with simple pictures and plain words.
Lessons
Chapter 1: How learning works
Why some study fades, and how memory keeps what lasts.
- Lesson 1 Why Rereading and Highlighting Fade, and What Lasts See why rereading and highlighting feel productive but fade, which two study habits last longer, and what the rest of this course covers. 3 min Completed.
- Lesson 2 How Memory Works: Take It In, Keep It, Get It Back Learn the three stages of memory in plain words, and two simple habits that follow: ask what new things mean, then recall them later. 2 min Completed.
Chapter 2: The two big habits
Test yourself, and space your study over days.
- Lesson 3 Active Recall: Test Yourself Instead of Rereading Learn to test yourself instead of rereading: which questions work best, why you should check every answer, and what to do with mistakes. 2 min Completed.
- Lesson 4 Spaced Practice: How to Spread Your Study Over Days Learn to spread your study over several days instead of cramming, plan your reviews backward from a date, and choose how long to wait. 2 min Completed.
Chapter 3: Practice and understand
Mix your practice, explain it plainly and judge what you know.
- Lesson 5 Worked Examples and Mixed Practice: How to Practice Skills Learn two habits for practicing a skill: study solved examples while a topic is new, then mix the kinds of problems you can already do. 2 min Completed.
- Lesson 6 The Feynman Technique: Explain It in Plain Words Learn to explain an idea aloud in plain words, as if to a beginner, to find the gaps in what you understand and fix them. 2 min Completed.
- Lesson 7 Metacognition: How to Judge What You Really Know Learn why feeling sure right after study misleads you, and how to judge what you know later, with only the question in view. 2 min Completed.
Chapter 4: Make it part of your week
Notes, memory tricks, focus, the myths and your plan.
- Lesson 8 How to Take Notes and Read So You Remember Learn why notes help most when you review them, why highlighting alone does little, and how to recall a chapter from memory. 2 min Completed.
- Lesson 9 Memory Tricks: The Memory Route and Remembering Names Learn how a memory route helps you remember lists, how to make names stick, and why recalling later is what keeps them. 2 min Completed.
- Lesson 10 How to Focus While You Study: Fewer Switches, Better Plans Learn why switching tasks costs you, how to put the phone away and write things down, and how to plan when and where you study. 2 min Completed.
- Lesson 11 Learning Myths to Drop, and Your Weekly Learning Plan Drop three popular learning myths, see what makes practice count, and fill in a weekly plan built from five well-supported habits. 2 min Completed.
Videos coming soonAbout this course
Each lesson is a written page with pictures, a “Try it” step and the full script. A short video of each lesson is coming soon. Follow the lessons in order, or jump to the habit you need.
What you need: something you want to learn, and a few minutes a day to practice the habits on it. A notebook or a flashcard app helps, but a sheet of paper is enough.
The lessons draw on the research in our Learning How to Learn guide and How Memory Works. Most of this research involves school and university students; the lessons say so where it matters, and none of them promises a result.
Good questions
Answers, plainly
How long does the course take?
11 lessons, about 27 minutes in all. Most lessons take about 2 minutes, so one fits into a short break. Take them in order, or jump to the one you need.
Do I need to sign up or pay?
No. Every lesson is free and open, with no account and no email address. Your progress ticks are saved in your own browser only.
Can I watch it instead of reading?
Not yet. Every lesson is a written page with pictures and the full script. Short videos of each lesson are coming.
Who is it for?
Complete beginners, anywhere in the world. Plain words, round example numbers and no background needed.