When teaching, one activity I do is about the different meanings of "used to" as in "I used to watch tv but now I don't" and "i'm used to eating with chopsticks." One phrase that always comes up is "I'm used to studying." And this is an understatement.
I have never seen anybody ever look as good studying as my Taiwanese students. They make studying look like an art form. They have at least six different color pens and each one is assigned a different function. Meaning their notebooks have different colored writing in it, each with it's own meaning.
White out has moved away from the liquid and on to these tiny strips. I'm so unwieldy with them, but I've had students who can perfectly cover something in a split second, no matter how tiny it is.
Books have different colored highlights (some highlighters are even erasable!), colored sticker tabs, and color post it notes. Colors are obviously very important to the artistic display of studying.
It really is beautiful to see. A glorious dream of anybody who loves organization. The thing is even though they are good at the actual studying, doesn't mean they always do well in school. Which I don't really get, if you are that organized, you must do well right? But to hear them say it, they are just used to it, so it's more just going through the motions. The very fact that they are used to it makes it less effective.
Which is why I don't do any of that. For my studying it's all one color, and if i make a mistake, just scratch it out and write next to it. And the results speak for itself. Eight years in Taiwan and my Chinese is....hmm, nice weather we're having isn't it?
