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5

Understanding Yourself as a

Learner

The worst of all deceptions is the self-deception that we no longer need to
learn.
after Plato

OST OF US KNOW WHAT KIND OF BOOKS WE PREFER TO READ. SOME
people love thrillers and hate science fiction, others prefer biogra-
Mphies or historical novels. The same applies to our eating habits.
You may prefer Indian or Chinese food, vegetarian or organic, pota-
toes or rice, and so on.
But, what about your learning? To be a competent learner,
you need to know a little more about the kind of learner you are. If
you don’t take the time to find out more, you may just be deceiv-
ing yourself into thinking that you cannot do something when in
fact you can. What is special about you and the way you prefer to
learn? And what can you do to work on those areas in you that are
less developed?
There are three main factors determining your learning style:

1 Where you prefer to learn.
2 How you take in information most easily.
3 How you deal with information you have taken in.

You have already looked at the first of these in Chapter 3. Now, you
need to think about how the other two affect your life.
Consider the following two examples.