How to make studying more fun

I have a confession to make: I really, really love studying. I could never tell this to most of my friends since they would just make fun of me – or even worse, think that I’m just trying to show off or something. But simply, I just have fun studying.

That’s why today I’m going to share some tips on how you can also have fun studying, based purely on my own experience. Life isn’t all about studying but studying makes life a lot more fun. 🙂

First of all, try to actually get interested in what you’re studying.

If you have chosen the subject of studying by yourself, you probably are already somewhat interested in it so no problem here. However, in case of studying for school or a job, there’s a possibility you’re not exactly studying because you have burning love for the subject. Try to think about anything that would grow your interest: think about the people behind the information, look at some pictures about the subjects, imagine how you could use the information practically…

This brings us to the next tip: try to apply the information you just learned to practical problems.

I have never really liked studying subjects like Physics or Chemistry. However, in High School, I finally found a way to make them more interesting. When studying laws of motion, I calculated on how fast will an object dropped from Tokyo Tower reach the ground (by doing this, I also learned that it will probably hurt quite a lot if it hits someone so I’d recommend you not to try this in reality). In maths class, I calculated what are the odds of the tree beside my home falling over my house in case of a big storm. In biology class of genetics, I calculated what my children will probably look like. As for psychology, well, I used it to help my friends and do some self-diagnosing.

Like the ones above, there are countless ways you can bring the subject you are studying closer to you and make it more interesting. I also recommend on thinking about ways to make the time spent for studying more enjoyable.

Do whatever you like while studying: eat some chocolate, relax on a sofa, drink some coffee… Studying can be just as fun as reading a magazine – even funnier. Also, has it ever crossed your mind that even reading an ordinary magazine or newspaper is actually studying? You can learn anything from media criticism to language.

I’m going to write an extensive article on language studying later but there are a few short tips I really recommend when you’re studying a new language:

1) Watch tv programs and movies in the language you’re learning even if you couldn’t catch on anything they’re saying. Even if you understand nothing, it’ll definitely be beneficial later. I actually originally learned English from console games even though I could barely understand anything when I started playing.

2) Don’t only use textbooks for reading comprehension – read anything you see written in that language. Even product labels can be beneficial, as well as blog posts and forum sites.

3) Practice speaking by mimicking different accents and speaking by yourself. Don’t care about the pronunciation, just have fun speaking the language. When I first started studying Japanese, I didn’t pay attention to accent or intonation at all but nowadays, I only get compliments for my pronunciation. Just get into the language first and worry about the pronunciation later: if you’re lucky, your pronunciation will get better automatically.

That’s it for the post today but I’d really love to know if there are others who love studying as much as I do. Personally, I especially love studying languages, psychology, history and maths – what about you? You’re also free to tell me if you really hate studying and think these tips will have no effect to that. I might try to convince you that you’re wrong though. :’)