Studying Versus Knowledge – What Makes Them Different?

Studying. Knowledge. These are two words that students often get the meanings mixed. If you ask a student, “What is Studying?” Students would normally reply, “It is sitting in front of a desk.” If you then ask a student what knowledge is, they would reply that it is studying. So what exactly is the difference between studying and knowledge? What are the necessary steps you need to take to have an efficient study habit?

In my opinion, students need to know that learning a language and getting comfortable with the idea of learning a language is a long term objective. One cannot simply expect themselves to fully understand the language after a few months and then become extremely disappointed at the fact that they have not achieved their goals. In short, primarily speaking, students need to carefully assess their goals within their given time frame. With a clear goal in mind, you have a clear thought process and you will have higher chance of achieving your English learning goals!

The next step to a successful long English learning career is to focus on understanding, not memorizing only, the vocabulary and the terminology. Many a times, I have seen students simply memorizing the meaning of a word, without properly understanding them. When I asked them to make a sentence, the students had a hard time using the words in the right context. Therefore, whenever you are learning a new word, you must also try to write sentences with those words so that you are able to USE the word in real life situation. You can ask your native English speaker friends, teachers, homestay family etc whether you are using the word correctly. This approach will help you in all skill areas; speaking, reading, writing and listening!

I believe, with this approach, not only do you build up a library of vocabulary, you acquire the skill needed to formulate proper sentences! And, this is what we call acquiring ‘knowledge’, a step up from studying wouldn’t you say?