Educators have known for a long time that people learn in different ways. That is why teachers present information in various forms. For example, as well as explaining a new language, language teachers often provide other learning experiences such as books, charts, videos, audio cassettes,songs, debates and group work. In this way, all students in a class have an opportunity to learn in the way that best suits them.
In the last 50 years or so, researchers have been studying learners in an attempt to identify all the
possible learning styles that humans use. They have found that we can very roughly divide people into three groups those who learn best through seeing, those who learn best through listening and those who learn best through moving, doing or touching.
Some research has identified eight distinct learning styles, and researchers have made up tests to find out which of these learning styles best suits different people. These tests show that, although most people have one dominant style of learning, they are also able to use other learning styles effectively. Some people even seem to have many different learning styles.
The advantage of knowing what kind of learner you are is that you can then study in the way that best suits your learning style.
长期以来教育家们就知道人们的学习方式不尽相同。这就是为什么教师要以不同形式为学生提供信息。譬如，除了讲解新的语言外，语言教师还时常会运用书本、图片、录像、磁带、歌曲、辩论和小组讨论等形式，提供其他学习体验。这样，班上所有学生都可以有机会以最适合自己的方式进行学习。
在过去的大约5()年中，专家们对学习者进行了研究，力图弄清人类使用的所有可能的学习方式。他们发现人们的学习类型大致可分三种：最佳视觉型、最佳听觉型和通过活动、操作或触摸取得最佳效果的类型。
一些研究还区分出入种不同的学习方式，并且研究者还使用测试手段试图发现不同的群体最适于哪种学习方式。这些测试表明，虽然大多数人具有一种主要的学习方式，但也可以有效使用其他学习方式。有些人甚至似乎具备多种学习方式。
知道你属于哪种学习类型的人的好处在于----你能运用最适合自己的学习方式进行学习活动。
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