A language learners’ forum

yossarian wrote:What do you do?

I used to take notes, it worked well; I take very little notes now, it works well.

yossarian wrote:... wondering if I should be taking notes.

Depends on whether you are able to take notes that are better taken than not taken?

A study that rates effectiveness of various learning techniques.
Summarisation
Note-taking
Verbatim
etc

It depends on the book or program I am using. If it is disorganized or mostly audio I am more likely to take notes.

Simply copying helps me quite a bit, especially if the book I am using is concise.

I don't approach all books and programs with the same expectations of how I am going to interact with them. It is kind of like how I interact with people. I have to wait and see how it goes and adjust as we go along.

I used to write notes in pencil at the top of the pages (down the bottom and down the sides in the columns too if I ran out of space) in my course books. They were definitions and phonetics for unknown vocab, so that I could do quick reviews at the start of each study session. For example I'd do 10 minutes of revision flicking through a bunch of pages just referring to the new/unfamiliar vocab that I had written in pencil at the top of my pages. I'd then mark that page and do the same next study session, continuing from where I left off last time. A kind of SRS I guess. After the 10 minutes I'd do 50 minutes or whatever of progression through the coursebook from wherever I was up to in terms of working through the content of the book (i.e. not the pencil written notes).

Then I discovered SRS applications and stopped writing in my books. Unusual vocab, unfamiliar/new words and grammar notes were made. I made too many cards. Too much detail usually, and it took me too long to figure out over months or a couple of years, the best methods for creating cards. Then I got sick of them.

I started taking notes in a notebook. Then I got sick of that.

Nowadays I'm back to simply revising sections of coursebooks. I can't be bothered with SRS, notes, or writing in workbooks. It's faster to move on, and faster to just review the actual content of the course books, or whatever material i'm using, as opposed to writing it all out. It's also probably that given I'm at least intermediate if not approaching advanced in French, that note taking and SRS seems to be required less. Things make more sense, phrases and vocab have connections to now that didn't exist before. They're not isolated odd concepts anymore, even the unknowns. Even completely unusual words and phrases at least sound French, as opposed to just a sound mass.

Depending on mode of study, yes. If I have desk time, I write notes. Most of my study however is on my mobile phone so then no.

I have little to no intention of revisiting language related notes and basically just throw out the notebook after it's full (or maybe hang on to it a while so I can admire what a great student I am.). My purpose in taking notes is kinesthetic memory. Keeping my hand writing what my brain is thinking about and looking at just seems to give me one extra hook for things to stick. I often can't remember what was in the book, but I'll remember where I wrote it on the notebook page, and consequently remember it.

Not really, I simply abuse my books (notes and underlining)... I do use pencil though.

My notebooks are filled with exercises and my own attempts of composition.

Not so much anymore. I might make small notes and refer to them fairly regularly when I'm trying to internalise something, such as to prompt me to practice some vocabulary I'm learning for a specific purpose where forgetting it would be annoying. Though for those things I'm usually able to remember them and mull them over during the day, e.g. on my commute. I do make notes of page numbers if I want to refer to something later!

Hi everyone!

Thank you for all the input. After reading your replies, I feel more confident about my decision to write disposable notes - it was clear to me that trying to write notes eloquent enough to return to later simply wasn't working for me. I'm definitely one of those who likes to throw the notebook away once it's full. To compensate I've increased the number of questions in my Anki Deck e.g What is the difference between sacar and quitar? The act of writing the question makes me think about what it is I do and don't understand, and writing the answers helps to cement it in my mind. The great thing is I don't have to worry about referring to my notes later, Anki will do this for me.

As an aside, I've also started writing disposable notes when I read the news - filling a couple of pages in my notebook with bullet points and general thoughts about current events and then throwing them away afterwards.

Cheers!

Yossarian

yossarian wrote: After reading your replies, I feel more confident about my decision to write disposable notes.

To compensate I've increased the number of questions in my Anki Deck.

Speaking of Anki. The main note taking I do, which is very little, is to write down a word that I haven't been remembering. Glancing at the piece of paper that has a few words on it, I can quickly revise, or if necessary, look up one of the "too often forgotten" words. Works great.

I like the idea of taking notes, but I just don't have the patience to do it with any semblance of organization. I find myself using disposable notes like other have mentioned, especially when listening to a podcast like Coffee Break French. I'll grab a nearby piece of paper and jot down some sentences, then throw it away after the podcast has ended. It seems to help me cement information and spelling, and it decreases the chance of slacking.

Depending on how my learning evolves in the future, I may very well start keeping organized study notes.

I also have a little notepad on my MacBook in which I jot down information I'd like to learn, study, or put in my Anki deck. These notes are primarily for writing down unknown vocabulary or short study points while I'm in the middle of a language task or lesson. I don't like breaking the flow state.

I think the question is also "take notes when doing what exactly?"