Do you think that writing down words help with learning?

In this media age, everyone can learn a language just by watching videos and typing stuff online...but... do you think that writing down words with pen(cil) and paper would actually help you learn a certain language faster?

Idk, this may sound dumb honestly but I am interested...do any of you people learning languages online have notebooks with notes or do you do that all online? 

Everyone have different kind of learning styles. For me, I have to write down stuff to memorize it. I also prefer actual books than electronic versions. So yeah that can help but it depends on your specific learning style.

Writing down with pencil and paper while learning is quite disturbing for me. I prefer hand-out copies or using online. 

I have a small vocab notebook of spanish words and I jot down every new words that I encounter in my learning. Once in a while I browse through it and it helps a lot in building my spanish vocab. It also give my eyes a break from the screen. :blush:

I think it really depends on your learning style. 

I am over 30, so I am in the pencil/pen/paper generation. Writing something down in a notebook makes it memorable for me, but I can see how it might not work for other people. 

To each his/her own, I guess. 

I find it very helpful. I believe in tackling vocabulary from as many sides as possible, to get as much of your brain as possible to help you out. Listening to it, repeating it, reading it, typing it, trying to recall it and writing it are all important imo. Here is a screen shot from this week:

Writing stuff down helps me remember. When I'm learning something, I have to write it down. That way, I can always refer to it. It feels to me like my hand and my brain are connected,so when my hands write, it's like I'm literally writing it in my memory too.

Great notes Leo!  

It depends how your brain primarily functions but s lot of us, store kinetic memory and visual memories so the act of writing the word physically as well as seeing it is useful. 

taking down notes is a big help. very helpful for me.

I find it really helpful to right down the words :) Somehow when I write something in a notebook I tend to learn it better than when I type it on the computer. So it does depend on a learner's type.

leosmith wrote:

I find it very helpful. I believe in tackling vocabulary from as many sides as possible, to get as much of your brain as possible to help you out. Listening to it, repeating it, reading it, typing it, trying to recall it and writing it are all important imo. Here is a screen shot from this week:

Mine is more of a listing of spanish words and phrases with their English translations, to help me build my vocab. Haven't updated it for a while but will start writing down again.

Here it is, please excuse my handwriting.. 

Writing stuff down is helpful because it adds another neural pathway in your brain to associate something with a new learned thing. Like Leo said, get as much of your brain as possible to help you out.

Write down the phrase. Listen to the phrase. Listen to a recording that pauses to let you respond with the correct phrase. Watch the phrase on Sesame Street. Say the phrase out loud while listening to bistro music at a street cafe and sipping from your rich, aromatic cappuccino. Just, make as many associations as you can.  

dragonsky wrote:

Idk, this may sound dumb honestly but I am interested...do any of you people learning languages online have notebooks with notes or do you do that all online?

Now I am a bit puzzled. Why would that sound dumb to anyone?

Sometimes I write down notes in a file, but usually I prefer the pen and paper way. It seems that the idea of "manual writing supporting remembering words more easily" isn't as far-fetched as I maybe used to think a long time ago.

But the electronic approach has its advantages, too. I would prefer it when collecting a large number of phrases because of the time.

I used to write down new words everyday. It was definitely helpful! These days, I rely on videos and audio lessons.

I grew up writign down things so it's helpful for me. I feel like I'm learning it twice when I write things down.

ikaymoreno wrote:

I grew up writign down things so it's helpful for me. I feel like I'm learning it twice when I write things down.

And I also grew up writing down things.

Still doing so for a number of purposes.

While also striving for balancing it, and not writing down too much.

Because one day I read that in some situations (not all), a piece of paper would act as an external brain cell.

And it would be one that isn't available all the time. 

Then I verified this claim a bit ;), and at least for me, it really was like that too often.

So writing something down could either aid or hinder remembering it, it depends.

SGP wrote:

ikaymoreno wrote:

I grew up writign down things so it's helpful for me. I feel like I'm learning it twice when I write things down.

And I also grew up writing down things.
Still doing so for a number of purposes.
While also striving for balancing it, and not writing down too much.
Because one day I read that in some situations (not all), a piece of paper would act as an external brain cell.
And it would be one that isn't available all the time.
Then I verified this claim a bit ;), and at least for me, it really was like that too often.
So writing something down could either aid or hinder remembering it, it depends.

I'm so old school I design PowerPoint presentations on paper. Hahahahahaha! I used to do that because we didn't have a computer so I need to have my sh*t all planned out before I go out and rent a computer to write a report or create a PPT. To this day, I create my outlines for manuals and PPTs on paper before I work on it on my laptop.

That and my to-do lists are still on paper. :) I use Asana for most of my projects but I still have a to-do list on paper. 

ikaymoreno wrote:

I'm so old school I design PowerPoint presentations on paper. Hahahahahaha! I used to do that because we didn't have a computer so I need to have my sh*t all planned out before I go out and rent a computer to write a report or create a PPT. To this day, I create my outlines for manuals and PPTs on paper before I work on it on my laptop

Someone designing Power Point presentations on paper?

Not a big surprise. Paper really is a Multi Purpose Tool after all.

Yes, many of us take it for granted. But a long time ago, it was too expensive or non-existent even.

When I was a teenager, someone had a reason to test my programming skills (which were very improvable, today they are quite rusty). So he asked me to write a small program's code without a computer. # PaperIsRetroButIStillLikeIt