When you were very young and going to school, chances are that the teacher relied very much on teaching you by using your sense of sight and your sense of hearing.

You probably had to listen a lot, and read a lot.

Yet not everyone learns well with using these two senses. Some people need to learn by doing.

The reason is that for each person, we each have a unique learning style, and unique sensory preferences. One sense usually dominates in us.

As an adult learner you will be able to learn much better if you know as much as possible about your own personal learning style.

Which of your senses do you rely on the most to take in information about the world? Do you know which of your senses is most dominant when you call up a memory?

For example, if you remember childhood trips to visit your grandparents, do your memories consist mainly of the sights of the grandparents?

Or do you remember best the sounds? Or the smells, feelings and tastes?

Test out several memories from your own past, and notice whether your memories are most intense when you access your visual, your auditory, or your body memories.

Do any one of your sense memories feel stronger than others? Which sensory mode do you tend to use most often? Are there any senses that you never use at all when you remember things?

Another way to find out which of your senses is most dominant is to note which types of sensory words you use most often in conversation.

Perhaps you have never noticed which of your senses you refer to most often when you talk, but if you start to pay attention, you may detect a strong preference.

If you are particularly strong in your visual sense, you may frequently use phrases like “I see,” or “The way I picture it” or “Let’s shed some light on this.” If you are a person whose visual sense dominates over the other senses, you probably love looking at beautiful paintings, beautiful objects and scenery.

If you are primarily a hearing person, you pay a lot of attention to sound. You may love listening to music, or you may crave complete silence. You would rather take in information by listening to a lecture than by reading a book. Your conversation may be filled with phrases like, “I hear what you’re saying” or “That rings a bell”.

People who are primarily kinesthetic pay a lot of attention to their bodily sensations and emotions. Their conversation may be filled with references to their feelings, even when they are discussing facts or opinions.

People with a very strong kinesthetic sense prefer comfort over style when choosing their clothing or furnishing their house. They prefer to participate in an activity instead of reading about it. People with a strong kinesthetic sense tend to enjoy playing sports, dancing and engaging in hands-on physical activity.

Why does any of this matter? The reason is that the more you know about your own particular learning style, the more you will be able to choose the sorts of learning experiences that work best for you, and avoid those methods of instruction that you will find frustrating.

In primary school and high school, most of the educational instruction is presented in the visual or auditory modes. Students are required to do a lot of listening and a lot of reading. This method works very well for those of us who have a mix of strong visual and auditory styles.

But this style of instruction is a disaster for people with the sensory mix of being very strong in kinesthetic processing while very weak in visual and auditory learning.

Students who are primarily kinesthetic learners while weak in visual and auditory learning often feel lost in school.

They may grow up convinced they are stupid, not realizing that they did not receive instruction in a sensory language they could easily understand.

People who are strongly kinesthetic learn best from educational experiences that are “hands-on”, such as apprenticeship programs, or programs that have a high degree of active participation.

If you are very strongly visual, you will do best in classes that emphasize films, videos, visual presentations, and reading. If you are very strong in auditory learning, you will enjoy classes that teach through lectures, tapes, discussions and debates.

Whenever it’s extremely important that you do well in a particular subject, try to choose educational classes that use a method of instruction compatible with your strongest senses.

If you are equally strong in all three methods, you will be able to take in, learn, and remember new information regardless of which sensory mode is used in the presentation.

If you have one sensory system that seems extremely weak, try to avoid taking classes that use that form of instruction whenever it is really important that you get a good mark in that subject.

This article is taken from the new book by Royane Real titled "How You Can Be Smarter – Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better, and Be More Creative" If you want to learn how to use your brain better download it today or get the paperback version at http://www.lulu.com/real