Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
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Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#2I wonder if the writing confers the same benefits where the characters are the same as the learner’s native language. Here they used Arabic and so I wonder if there is something to the learners connecting writing new characters to new words/syntax/etc, versus if the characters had been the same.
Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#3I totally get this. If I need to focus and truly understand something, there is no replacement for writing.
Keyboards are fast, but the interaction patterns frequently devolve to almost squirrely behaviour. rapid movements, editing, and fleeting thoughts. It encourages you to move from one thought to the next as quickly as possible. Our MODE of measurement when typing is measured in WPM--how quickly you can output text.
Writing... is not that. Yes, you can rush. But it's slower, and I find that it helps me stay on single lines of thought. There's no manic jumping around, edit here, edit there. You can write the words, slowly even, and ruminate in their meaning.
Computers are unparalleled for editing, but I just don't find it as good of a medium for creating things that require large spurts of unbroken thought. And it's not that you CAN'T produce good, creative, well-thought through things behind a keyboard (we all do it to some extent every day), it's just not _as good_ of a medium for it.
Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#4If handwriting is better than typing, is there some other way of representing words that is better than handwriting? Perhaps other than speaking? Is it just because these are the first methods we learn to represent language? Or is it because there are more degrees of freedom in handwriting, i.e. more ways of getting things wrong so you have to focus a lot more.
Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#5If handwriting is better than typing, is there some other way of representing words that is better than handwriting? Perhaps other than speaking? Is it just because these are the first methods we learn to represent language? Or is it because there are more degrees of freedom in handwriting, i.e. more ways of getting things wrong so you have to focus a lot more.
It doesn't transfer as easily to other people but mindmaps or lukasa (for an ancient predecessor) are infinitely information dense and naturally built to the particularities of their builder's mind.
Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#6Interesting they used Arabic for this example - I grew up learning it at school but it’s only recently that smartphone keyboards are good enough to implement abjad. Most of the time you used to just switch to arabizi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_chat_alphabet
Writing in Arabic is really fun as well, calligraphy is appreciated.
Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#7I certainly feel the same way about remember ideas in diagrams. A napkin/notebook drawing is so much better than using a design tool with a mouse.
Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#8I wonder if the writing confers the same benefits where the characters are the same as the learner’s native language. Here they used Arabic and so I wonder if there is something to the learners connecting writing new characters to new words/syntax/etc, versus if the characters had been the same.
Letters change shape depending on where they are in the word, so almost certainly! :)
Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#9I totally get this. If I need to focus and truly understand something, there is no replacement for writing. Keyboards are fast, but the interaction patterns frequently devolve to almost squirrely behaviour. rapid movements, editing, and fleeting thoughts. It encourages you to move from one thought to the next as quickly as possible. Our MODE of measurement when typing is measured in WPM--how quickly you can output te…
> Writing... is not that. Yes, you can rush. But it's slower, and I find that it helps me stay on single lines of thought. There's no manic jumping around, edit here, edit there. You can write the words, slowly even, and ruminate in their meaning.
I really like what you’ve said here. This rings true for me as well. For years I was on a hunt for a better note taking app. I tried everything from a basic Mac notes app to Sublime Text to more niche tools like Omnifocus. Every time I ended up writing out the most critical notes by hand in a spiral notebook because it was more effective for me personally to retain that information.
Re: Handwriting is better than typing when learning a new language, study finds
#10I feel like the needing to forget your base keymap would make learning with a keyboard much harder. A made up example if I saw the new letter for "s", I'd tell myself it's located where "k" is and then I'd be confused if it was k or s when I saw it.