Over the next few months, I am compiling the old tips of the week.  Here’s another.  This one is from August 10, 2019.

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If you are trying to learn something new, and if you are using audiobooks or videos to do so, you can learn faster.

Literally.

These days, you can adjust the settings on most audiobooks.  For example, on Audible, you can listen at 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.0, 2.5, and even 3.0.  On Scribd, it’s about the same.

Of course, if you set the speed too high, you will feel like you are learning with Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.  But, with most audiobooks, you can set the reader to 1.25.  At this setting, you will learn faster without losing the natural quality of the reader’s voice.

I am betting you knew all of that.

But, did you know you can adjust the speed on videos, too?

On YouTube, at the bottom right, you may have noticed a series of symbols.  These symbols:

I have no idea what most of them mean, and I definitely don’t know how Classical Conversations got their initials on every YouTube video… but, I am very impressed.

Well played Classical Conversations.  Well played.

Anyway, look at the second symbol… the gear symbol.   If you click on it and choose playback speed, you can speed videos up, or slow them down.

You can do the same thing on Vimeo.  At the bottom right of the videos, you should see this:

Click on the gear, and you can adjust the speed of the video.

By the way, since I use Vimeo, this means you can learn Latin at 1.25, or 1.5, or faster, just the way Caesar would have wanted it.

So, there you have it.  You can now learn faster.

One warning, though.  If you get used to learning faster, you will get used to listening to people talk at a faster rate.  Don’t expect them to do it in real life.

I have gotten so used to learning faster, I have begun asking people to please get to the point more quickly in real life.  It doesn’t seem to work.  Generally, they change the topic and quickly point out that I am being a jerk.

Strange.  Not sure why they change the topic.  I am just trying to learn faster.