Is it better to study out loud or in silence?

In what way do you find studying most effective? Many people study by reading silently, while others do it out loud. If you are one of the latter, you probably walk around the place where you are studying while reciting what you have read or learned. Sometimes you might even start a conversation with yourself. But what is more effective: studying by reading aloud or silently?

What we suggest is that both options be used, because as we will discover below, Both reading aloud and silently enhance different aspects. Even if we prioritize and give more importance to one of them, we are going to see what each one contributes and subtracts.

Studying in silence and visual memory

When we study in silence, the ideal is that we do a first reading in which it is fairly clear to us what the text we are reading is about. However, this cannot be left alone. After that first reading it is important to underline the important ideasstop on what is not clear and reflect or look for information that dispels the questions.

It is important to underline and make notes, even using colored highlighters, because doing so helps our visual memory. (Remembering the location of information facilitates the process of rescuing it from our memory: recovery). Furthermore, the use of colors also makes us pay more attention, making us focus on what we have previously judged to be most important.

The importance of studying by reading silently lies in the fact that we can concentrate on what we are reading, but if we do not do something more than simply read, this action will not be of much use to us. The reason is that we need to work actively with the element of study, make it ours. Not only reading, but also writing, writing down, putting into our words what we are assimilating. Here lies the crux of the matter and where studying reading aloud has a lot to offer us.

Studying by reading aloud strengthens knowledge

When we study by reading aloud something happens and the ear begins to be part of this experience.so cognitive abilities related to memory, attention, understanding are awakened… This act activates our brain’s ability to retain and store information.

However, as we mentioned in the silent reading, there is something more… Isn’t it true that it is much easier for us to listen to an explanation from others than to read their own notes? This is because what has been read is given a personal value, it is explained with different words, but one can also ask questions, question, debate. This enriches the study and favors our memorization process.

When we study by reading aloud we make connections. Suddenly, we link what we are saying with something previously read or on another page. We make a mental scheme that can help that scheme carried out in silence or that reading that we had done without speaking out loud. It is an ideal complement that strengthens knowledge and engraves it in our minds.

The benefits of listening to yourself

Colin MacLeod and Noah Farrin are great researchers who have dedicated themselves to studying the effect of loud production and its relationship with learning.. For this reason, since 2010 they have dedicated themselves to it and in the magazine Memory One of his investigations was published called “The benefits of listening to yourself.”

In this research they described that they had the collaboration of 100 students from the University of Waterloo, in Canada, who were given 80 words that they had to reproduce out loud. The vast majority of them wrote down on paper the words they remembered just in case.

Afterwards, they went on to another test, but before taking it they had to choose 4 different ways to remember words. One was to read them silently, another was to listen to the words recorded on tape by someone, another was to listen to words recorded in one’s own voice, and the last was to read them aloud.

The results were very revealing and the authors called it the “production effect.” After two weeks of the test, the participants were given a series of words that they had to identify if they belonged to those they had read or memorized. Those who had read the words aloud responded better.

However, It was also discovered that listening to one’s own recordings helps. However, recordings made by someone else were only third in effectiveness. So, the more personal the recording, the better we will remember it.

Although studying by reading aloud is a very good option, we cannot rule out the others – usually what we try is to memorize material with meaning and not single words.. A combination of all of them can provide very satisfactory results.

Some people find it better to study by reading silently, record themselves reading the same text and then listen to themselves. Others will choose to read aloud from the beginning and then study silently by writing or making diagrams about what they have learned. In this sense, it is about using what research tells us, each person adopts the methodology with which they achieve greater performance.

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