One of the techniques we will be addressing and discussing in our study of HOW TO LEARN TO LEARN, TO STUDY, is the technique of understanding and comprehending terms.

Do you agree that it is difficult to remember what one does not understand?  Is it true that if you don’t understand something, it means that the concept, the event, and the knowledge have no meaning? Or worse, you get the wrong meaning, letting the truth slip out of your hands? Consequences can be fatal… 

Let’s say you try to learn a few lines of a song in a foreign language you do not understand. How long will it take for you to learn it? I believe you will need five times more time and concentration to learn the lyrics.  However, will you agree that you would master the same verses in a language you comprehend much faster because you would UNDERSTAND every word AND the consequentially the meaning of the sentence.

The same thing happens to us when memorizing mathematical formulas, laws of physics, or chemistry.  It is remembered much faster when every word from those subjects, such as definitions, proofs, and rules, is comprehensible. And of course, these are harder if we don’t understand the meaning of the words that explain them! 

It becomes obvious that what you do not understand, you can not explain using your own words.

On the contrary you understand better, if not excellent, what you can say in your own words and not just by using foreign words.

Let’s say have you heard of the term “isoamplitude”?  Probably not many of us hear it. But if it is explained to you that isoamplitudes are lines on climate maps that connect places of equal temperature difference, then you will understand the term better. It can motivate you to learn more or inspire to better understand everything else you see, read, and hear when applying the same method! If you take a look at the climate map below and see what the isoamplitudes look like, you will understand and remember even better, and you will be able to explain it in your own words.

So to finish this short teaser, in order to understand something, you need to know all the components, all the elements that make up a given concept, definition, narrative, mathematical formula, event or law of physics… Do you understand that mastering this technique and in continuation, this study will contribute to your defence against manipulation and lies, which we have been showered with all these years.

Understanding is the precursor and the main ingredient of good memory, the technique that we will deal with in the next part.

So the continuation is the MEMORY TECHNIQUE.

You are invited to join us!  

It will be enjoyable and memorable!

July 12, 2025

Darko Richard Lancelot

Philosophyofgoodnews.com

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