Should I bother taking notes?

10 comments

1. Up to you. Many find taking notes to be a good way to consolidate and take in information they learned

2. I have never been able to study without my own notes (be it at uni, high school or Japanese). S
   Especially for grammar notes are a must for me.

3. Depends on what kind of learner you are. For me, taking notes is a must but if you feel like it’s slowing you down and you’re not really getting anything from it then it’s probably just a waste of time.

4. I think it’s more useful to make your own summary or schemes, mind maps, instead of just notes. I like to summarise things explaining them the way I understand it. The process of writing consolidates information, André forces you to think through what you just learned

5. I keep notes but not exactly textbook notes, because I have the textbooks for that info.

   I have a document which I keep various contractions I’ve encountered.

   I have another with various grammar points that I’m likely to mix up.

   I have another with various conjunctions that I always mix up.

   That kinda stuff is useful IMO

6. If you want to know how to write the Kanji then definitely take notes. I do a mixture of both. I have a book that I use to learn new Kanji and I write those down as practice. Then there are times where I just run into random Kanji that I don’t know and just look them up. I don’t remember what the Kanji looks like exactly but I’m still able to recognize it when I see it.

7. I think you’re better off just practicing writing the kana, and then when you have that down, copying or writing your own sample sentences for vocabulary/grammar points.

8. Do what works for you. I take notes all the time and come back to them before bed. But if you find yourself taking notes and then never reading them? then don’t do it anymore.

9. Slowing you down is, to some extent, the whole *point* of taking notes.

   I find they help not so much because I look back at them, but because I slowed down and was sure I could really explain whatever it was to myself. Writing things down gives your brain more room to process them.

   I almost *never* look back at notes I take, but the process of taking them helps me get stuff into my head better than just reading. After a certain amount of reading something dense, your brain starts to skip over stuff a bit to keep moving, and that hurts comprehension.

   Obviously this is more useful when you’re on something you feel a little confusing, rather than stuff you already basically know or find easy.

10. Hey! I have studied the language for over 10 years.

    I would study the textbook over and over and practice with what I learned. It is hard to remember my early days.

    Now, I don’t do that. What textbooks do you use?

    On sites and videos, that’s where I would download and print stuff to practice. A good app for help would be HiNative.

    The notes also give you something to look at though for reference or to take somewhere.