Daily Prompt: Learning Style

Posted in Challenges by angloswiss

What’s your learning style? Do you prefer learning in a group and in an interactive setting? Or one-on-one? Do you retain information best through lectures, or visuals, or simply by reading books?

Photographers, artists, poets: show us LEARNING.

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That is me in the middle. Yes, I have been there and done that, one of the numerous educational training things our company did from time to time to keep up with the newest developments in the/our machine tool world. This photo was so long ago, I do not even remember why I was there.

I could never really register my preferences when the company decided; I just appeared on a mystical list and had to be there. Sometimes the educational training was intern, in the company and other times they let us out. Being let out was interesting. You saw other towns and places and the rooms for the educational planning might be in a large hotel or a training center. There were various reasons for this improvement in understanding. If we were lucky we also were fed with a free meal thrown into the bargain in the hotel.

I remember a particular lecture where a special training organisation was engaged. A man appeared, being the chief guru, and it was his job to teach us all how to answer a telephone and treat customers as gods, without giving them the impression that they were gods. Do you get it? I did not either, but that does not matter. He earned his money and I was there. There was an example he gave using me as the victim. “You have to bring across that the customer, Mrs. Angloswiss, is the most important person in your life” or something like that. I cannot remember exactly. Sorry, I could never take those things seriously and at the end of the three hour torture training he asked each one of us what we had learnt today. I am an honest person so I told everyone the truth “I learned that Mr. X knows that I am the most important person in his life”. Ok at least we had something to laugh at, Mr. X was at a loss for words, his face turned red, which was probably a rare thing in his life and I probably made an alteration to his teaching plan.

Learning something new is an enjoyable pastime for me. Even in my golden oldie age, you have never learnt everything and new developments happen in the world all the time. Over the years I have realised that if the person teaching me just wants to show how good he can do it, it will not work. I am a “learning by doing” person and I like to take over and really do it my way.

Computer stuff is no problem, I sort of grew up with it over the past twenty years, I had to. Our company expected it and if you did not learn it, you were out. What did I do? I was not content to just know which buttons to press and which mouse movement to make, I wanted to know why. I enrolled for a computer course and even took an examination at the end, which I passed. The company was paying, so they must have had faith in me. I think I was then around forty-five years old or perhaps fifty. I know it was all based on Windows 98 which was the newest example of Bill Gates development at the time. As I was applying the new found knowledge every day in the office, I got the hang of it. I even learnt Windows Access, which has died a slow death since and I am sure I never really applied it anywhere.

Learning languages was another tick I had, which are easy to use in Switzerland as we use four different languages, together with zig dialects which not even the Germans always understand: although I do not always understand the various German dialects. The best way to learn a language is to speak it, which is a feasible task in Switzerland. What happens when you learn something like Russian (I did). Who can you speak to? I could speak once a week at my Russian lesson to the teacher (she was good) and the other suffering members of the class, but in daily life this was not so possible. I did not know any Russians and Mr. Swiss had no interest.

After 10-12 years of attending classes I left the course. The class was always beginning anew due to loss of interest amongst some of the students, and I started the book at least three times. Russian is not easy, it is still a mystery to me how a Russian child learns his mother tongue perfectly. Eventually I discovered that one of my neighbours was married to a Russian lady, so I attacked her with my knowledge now and again when I met her in the garage. She was delighted to find someone who spoke it. Unfortunately I did not always understand what she said.

There is also a lovely lady who works in the local supermarket. Her German is almost better than mine, but her mother tongue is Russian. Oh how often have we spoken in this language whilst I am standing at the cash desk and she is tipping the items I am buying. I would add, much to the amusement of the other people waiting behind me or her fellow workers. “Look that is Mrs. Angloswiss, she can speak Russian”.

I like to use the things I learn in life and that is the best way to learn for me. Sometimes I might get hold of the wrong end of the knowledge stick, but who cares. I am rarely at a loss for words and asking is always the best method. I would add as a word of advice, do not learn to drive a car with your partner, it does not work. Don’t you think so Mr. Swiss, Mr. Swiss, Mr. Swiss? – ok, he is reading a book and does not want to be disturbed.

Daily Prompt: Learning Style

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21 thoughts on “Daily Prompt: Learning Style”

vicbriggs

08/12/2013 at 18:01

Delightful, as always. Thank you.
I don’t remember learning to speak Russian… I think I started speaking it when I was 4 because I had friends in the playground who only spoke Russian and of course I wasn’t going to let language barrier get in the way. I used to think it a harsh language before I discovered the poets and then it was decided: beauty. 🙂

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- angloswiss
  
  08/12/2013 at 19:55
  
  Have not yet discovered the poetry and I must admit my reading of Russian novels is usually in german or perhaps english. I think I just needed someone to talk to me in russian to keep me in the routine.
  
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  - vicbriggs
    
    08/12/2013 at 20:06
    
    Practice is key, certainly. I would recommend reading Gogol in Russian. Quite a delight.
    Warm regards,
    Vic
    
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dmauldin53

08/12/2013 at 18:28

I loved Windows Access. I used it daily in my work, which consisted of dealing with a lot of percentages and statistics. Excel was the hardest for me to learn and then I never used it at work, so now I’ve completely forgotten everything about Excel. I still have my college book to turn to if I ever arrive at a place in my life where I need to use it again.
I took Spanish in college, but never had much of a chance to apply it, so I have forgotten most of it. I still have that college book too, just in case I need it.

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- angloswiss
  
  08/12/2013 at 19:53
  
  I was very much at home in Excel, did the accounts for our local first aid society for six years and it was all in Excel. Mr. Swiss is an excel expert, so he showed me all the tricks. I never really needed Access and it seemed to have been shifted from its pedastal by a lot of other programmes tailored made for their purpose.
  
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tjbarkerseattle

08/12/2013 at 22:40

Pat, your blog has been selected by me for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award. Your thoughts and reflections, and especially your images, are inspiring and provocative! Even if you prefer not to accept this award, please accept this as a compliment and an indication of appreciation for your creative work. The philosophy of the award is: “The Dragon’s Loyalty Award is an award for the loyal fan/commenter, whether the recipient is a fellow blogger or just someone who follows and comments regularly”. Congratulations!
-tjbarkerseattle

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- angloswiss
  
  09/12/2013 at 09:00
  
  Thankyou so much for the nomination it its very much appreciated,, but as you mention I do not accept awards. It is award enough when I realise that people look in and say hello.
  
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Teepee12

09/12/2013 at 04:33

I learned lots of stuff, but I could never get languages. After 9 years in Israel, I spoke Hebrew like I’d arrived the previous day. Wish I had an ear for languages. I’ve always envied You People who speak many tongues.

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melodyspen

09/12/2013 at 07:47

Living on the economy in Hanau, I learned German right alongside English as my first language (because my parents are American). Unfortunately, after leaving there, I lost my ability to speak German altogether, save for a handful of basics. Several years ago, I attempted to teach myself Russian through a free online language software, because I think it’s a beautiful language. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to get beyond the basic greetings in all of the languages I’ve ever attempted to learn, so I envy your ability to be trilingual. 🙂

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- angloswiss
  
  09/12/2013 at 09:02
  
  It is a matter of survival in Switzerland to speak many languages. My German is more Swiss German than anything else, I speak high German ok but mostly with a Swiss German vocabulary.
  
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morrighansmuse

09/12/2013 at 08:56

I always enjoy getting an email alert letting me know about your latest blog post. And why am I not surprised to know that you’re a life-long learner? 🙂 I have a client who’s now 98 years old and up to a few years ago, continued to take classes at a local college simply because she believed you always learned something. I love languages as well and believe that speaking it is the best way to learn it. My Spanish improved greatly when I worked at a Los Angeles hospital where most of the Spanish staff helped me learn it by speaking to me. Even my German friend who studied for his masters degree here in California would play the Spanish stations around the house just so he wouldn’t lose his grip on Spanish and when we’d go drinking, he’d forget and start speaking to me in Spanish – but compared to him, my Spanish is now terrible.

BTW I nominated you for The Versatile Blogger award. I love how you are able to write so well and I love the adventures and musings of your cats 🙂

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- angloswiss
  
  09/12/2013 at 09:05
  
  My last language course was a year Arabian, but I decided it was one language too many, and they have so many dialects it was difficult to speak the right one. I have given up attending courses now but who knows perhaps I might start some time again. You are really never to old to learn. Thankyou for the nomination, very much appreciated, but I do not accept awards. My felines thank you that you enjoy reading their escapades and send a furry purr.
  
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The Presents of Presence

09/12/2013 at 18:37

I enjoy learning as well. 🙂

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