大象传媒

Adam Strachan
this is brilliant i wil use it all the time from now on.

margaret
I think it depends on whether you're the type that beats yourself up when you make a mistake. I find I learn from mistakes but I'm not interested in analysing them. Tend to get on with it until the next mistake - and learn again.

mary
I totally agree about trying to get it right first time which is why i hate being told to work it out for myself on the computer because invariably i will get it wrong and wrong again, so i prefer to be taught to do it right first time.

Janet
I agree, if I get a name of a place or thing wrong It is more difficult to remember the correct name later.

Pauline
I don't actually agree with this statement and find that an error made once, is usually once only

Philip Brown
I do this all the time. In everything I do. From my work to getting lost. It is totally pathetic of me! I shall try and do what you suggest.

Deepak
I agree... When I sit with my wife, I relieve on her and hence can not able to put whole concentration on things, but when i am alone i can concentrate properly, learn the things more quickly..

lynn Henry
Yes, exactly the same thing regarding driving to a specific place. I always miss the turning even though I think at the begining of the journey that I must remember not to miss it

Naidu Buddha
I don't agree with this at all. Once we commit a mistake, in the next instance I'll we careful not to repeat the mistake. Yeah, this helps in remebering not to repeat the same which we don't want to.

danio
I strongly agree with this wisdom, and often try to explain it to friends. This is especially true in memorization. If I am memorizing a prayer, or a monologue, but I hesitate or say the wrong word in one part, the mistake stays in future repetitions. In this case, I go back and just read the section quickly and smoothly, until the flow sinks in, over the mistake. Parallels can possibly be made with other learning that included mistakes in the beginning.

George
Strangely enough, if I go wrong the first time I'm driving somewhere, on the second occasion I get it right. Perhaps that's because I hate making mistakes!

liz
I think this is so true. Unlearning a mistaken way of doing something is so much more difficult than learning it correctly in the first place.

Dr Karisma Khurrum
Note for henry; to differentiate between there/their ; times to use there is when you want to point to a location for example, the table is there, therefore; where and there, where shows the location. Hopefully this will make it clear as when to use their/there.Thanks to my english teacher who put me out of misery by teaching me this system at the age of 9, its stuck with me ever since.

Mastura
Well i think we can never learn from our mistakes now!!I agree with the facts, maybe we never realise it before. I guess it explains now why people tend to do the same mistakes again and again.

M.C.
I have a memory block ,I repeatedly say Sutton Coldfield when I mean (now what is it?) I'll just ask my husband.Stockton Heath --that's it !

Sue D.
2 examples - I learnt to spell the word "simultaneously" as "simltainously" - and it was years of being told off by English teachers before it was corrected in my mind When I started to learn modern Greek some years ago, I misheard some common words, and although I soon found out the right word, it was ages before the right rather than the wrong word would come to mind first when speaking. However I also agree with those who say that we can learn from our mistakes - sometimes the "history" if having made the error then putting it right helps to reinforce the correction

Tracy
I totally agree with this. I tend to remember things I learnt at school, which have now changed in some way i.e. been superceeded or improved - and I cannot make the mental adjustments very easily. P.S. I am not that old though - before you ask!!

Ken Toye
I disagree with "error-free" learning in foreign language learning(MFL)Children learn a language(Mother-tongue)by making "mistakes". They should be allowed to be creative and invent items in their own grammar. The fun of teaching is to lead them towards adult grammar and meaning. Many thanks for the programmes, Ken Toye, which inextricably linked to learning and teaching

June
I disagree with this comment I feel that you can learn by your mistakes and very often I would rather try something for myself than watch other people do it and try to remember what they have done.

Lisa
My husband and I go walking at a local Country Park and we always end up taking a different route. We try to use the same route as his parents but neither of us can remember the turnings and always make a wrong turn -but we end up at the end eventually!

Alan
I came across a management technique that characterised people in three areas: altruistic, assertive and analytical. For some time, in describing this to someone, I had problems remembering the word analytical. Eventually, I thought of the 'anal' part of the word and how that described my memory! I now remember all three words!!

aileen
this doesn't go for language learning, because you can't not make mistakes. Here it's good to understand your mistake, so you don't make it again. - Not always possible, for example "der,die,das" in German is not logical.

piere
I disagree, mistakes are a fundemental part of learning. The reason your body feels pain is so that you remember the pain and don't make the mistake again. It is also true in everyday life you are more focused on not making the mistake again, so you probably more likely to get it right.

Simon James (Grockle)
This is probably true, but must require a very pure and simple line of thought or MOOD to achieve. Alot of bad habits have manifested themselves in my Piano playing making it hard for me to get the syncopation that I need to get at the Funky music, maybe it could be a kinetic bad habit spread like a virus from my guitar playing which relies heavily on my right hand.

stefano
the latins used to say that to make a mistake is human, to persever is evilish! Also, you learn as you make mistakes! Once you make a mistake and subsequently realize you have made a mistake, you should MAKE a mental note of it and NOT do it again!

Darol
This is so true.as soon as I read this, an example of the route learning came to mind. the first time of going to my local swimming pool I missed a left turn on a simple route and now I repeat this on each trip. Having read Roy's excellent tip, I've introduced a 'cue'straight away.

Barbara+
Try learning Portugues if you make a mistake The Portuguese will always very politely correct you and this action will comit the word or verb to memory

Ian
Never usually had a problem finding a place. now is a piece a cake with a SatNav system. Problem is how can I apply it to other situations.

Ram Nair
I tend to remember the birthdays of two brothers (not mine) living elsewhere in the wrong order and send the wrong card when a date comes - I realise it soon after posting : it happened twice, though I will now surely not repeat it.

Monica
I do not agree that error free learning is effective. I feel that often once a mistake has been made often it is not repeated. Children learn by making a certain percentage of mistakes and having them corrected. Error free learing I do not believe is possible.

sands
Three of us go to a golf tournament each year. We went the wrong way the first time and continue to go the same wrong way each time since. We've done this 4 years in a row! (Obviously it's not too wrong, or we wouldn't get there at all!!)

Annie
Some people just confuse right and left without realizing they've done it and they are stone cold sober! I was once at a yoga class where the teacher was patiently trying to tell someone what to do in terms of right arm and left leg etc and the poor woman she was talking to just looked lost. I knew she couldn't understand right and left in instructions as my sister is like that but the yoga teacher didn't realise and repeated the instructions and then started to get impatient. Quite a few people are like that and just need to be shown not told. We all have our foibles.

Imran
Disagree. I'm learning arabic language and i must admit i'm the opposite; i actually remember to correct myself when i make the error as this is what i perceive as 'learning'. If I say a word incorrectly and my teacher corrects me i, most often than not, never repeat it. It's the same with other activities too. The way to progress is to learn from your mistakes. It's inevitable that everybody will make mistakes at some point or another. I guess it's one thing to minimise them, another thing to learn from them... As for driving errors, then if i make a mistake the first time, i will certainly not make the same mistake again.

Mandy Winter
I agree with this one, when I visit my brother in Yorkshire I always come off the roundabout too early, have to turn around, get back on the roundabout and off again, drove myself mad until I learned not to do it. I stopped myself by counting the exits.

Laura
I have to disagree to a certain extent as I find I usually learn from my mistakes - in fact i usually forget if I got it right sometimes and dwell over the situation a second time round as I've forgotten what was the right way!

Pete
I found that starting in a new workplace it is easy to get someones name wrong , and that for months after I would have to concentrate hard every time I met them otherwise I would think of the incorrect name first.

Sylv
I was interested in your explanation about making repeated mistakes on a journey. My problem is that I take note of 'landmarks' that are very likely to move or disappear by the time I repeat the journey. Some examples are the place where the man with the dog crossed the road; the lady with the pushchair at the bus-stop; the kid with the spiky hair. Strangely they do actually seem to help me remember a route but are absolutely hopeless when giving directions to someone else - 'You turn right where the girl fell off her bicycle.' doesn't mean much to anyone else.

rhona
There's a road that I almost ALWAYS get wrong. The first time I drove along it I made a mistake; now, every time I come to the same junction, I want to go the wrong way. It's taken several years to make me remember that the instinctive way is the wrong one, but I'm getting there!

Dian
I agree with this. Things I learn't incorrectly as a child such as spelling or learning a word wrong such as the names of places or people names I still have to think about, and if I have directions wrong in a journey, I struggle with myself when I reach that point on another occasion as to which way I should go. So my question is how do I get out of the habit of these mistake if I have learn't them incorrectly from the start?

Colin White
One well known technique used to remember peoples names is to say it to them soon after you are introduced, for example "Hello John Smith". We are then more likely to use it correctly when we meet them again.

Joe
When i am learning a piano piece, if i hit a wrong note the first time i practice it, i find i usually hit this wrong note more than others

roy
If you know where/when you took a wrong turn on a journey then you need to add a cue so you remember to get it right next time. Not sure how well this works long-term when you may lose the link from route to cue or details of cue.

Kate D
I agree but had not realised it so will make a greater effort not to make less first time errors.

Kevin Geoghegan
As a taxi driver, I have been amazed at the number of people who have difficulty distinguishing left from right when they are giving directions! Women seem to be a lot worse than men in my experience. Maybe the influence of alcohol has a lot to do with it!

Kevin Geoghegan
I think the critical thing about learning from mistakes is this is only possible if you are aware you have made a mistake in the first place! When learning a foreign language, for example, getting a phrase wrong will most likely result in you repeating that phrase incorrectly forever. Unless you get a blank look of incomprehension from the listener, you may not realise you have made a mistake. It is highly unlikely anybody will correct you out of politeness. Usually you are told that it is OK to make lots of mistakes learning a language. I think that is only OK if the mistakes are corrected (by a teacher say), otherwise mistakes are a Bad Thing.

J
very useful

h
I always remember mistakes&errors.I find really hard to remember the trip, for example

David Davies, Bangkok, Thailand
It's rubbish that when you make a mistake the first time, you will continue to make the same mistake. It's a well-known fact that everyone only learns by the mistakes they make, and correct them. If you never make a mistake then you will be perfect. When you are perfect you can do anything. You can take as many drugs as you like or drink as much alcohol that you want, and then get killed in a car accident, because you have taken too much. A good example is the Second World War torpedo, which was fired from one warship to the enemy warship. It didn't go straight for the target, it went from the right to the left and back to the right, until it was close to its target, then straightened up and hit the target. Scientists learned how to design the torpedo to go from side to side, from nature. David Davies Bangkok

Jaromir Buczek
I have to disagree to this. I and all people I know, literally, learn from mistakes, and can honestly say that I never heard "oops, I did it again," from anyone.

Peggy
But how to avoid the mistake in the forst place? No-one chooses to make an error.....

Mysturji
You've convinced me! from this moment on, I will never make another mistayke!

Alec
Oh yes. It can be hard to consult a map when riding a motorbike. As a result I often deviate from the intended route when going to a friend / family member's house for the first time. And thereafter make the mistake almost every time. It takes great effort to re-learn.

Barbara
I will try this, this year because each year we go to Bournemouth and near the end of the trip we make the same mistake and go wrong at the same place each time should be usful

Pat
There's an old saying I've always found true that the only thing you learn from experience is how to recognise your mistakes faster the next time you make them. Maybe this accounts for it

peter dandy
i disagree i make a mistake then i make a point not to repeat it

anon
i agree completely. I play the piano and if I practise repeatedly with an error then it becomes painstakingly difficult to correct it afterwards.

Clare Johnson
i disagree when I make a mistake, next time I will ensure that I don't make that same error because I am so aware of that mistake that next time it will not occur again

Ezzie
There used to be a girl in my school who just looked like a Nancy. For four years, I could not get her name right,even though I knew it was Natalie. It was infuriating. Even now, every time I think of her, I still think Nancy first.

Robert
It'd be great to learn things perfectly first time out! In learning a language I find however I concentrate more on mistakes that are corrected. Of course I feel that everything I do is correct; I'm not trying to make mistakes. So the corrected mistake gets extra attention; maybe making a stronger memory because I don't want to repeat it. I also end up with a clearer understanding after this process.

Asha
Doing mistakes isn't always bad!!!considering the above incidence of driving to the friends house for the first time and making mistake finding the way may lead to findin' a new thing in tht path....a new shope which is offering a flat 50% sale/a stranger etc etc., so, where's the mistake gone when we are benifited....lol.. second time when we take the same route we recollect the mistake......... as long as one is good at memory and avoid it.

henry
spelling mainly things like their/there or necassary...i had to think about that one and im still not sure its right.!!

Muriel
This is useful to know. I've just realised that this may be why I'm having a problem learning a new fast turn in a ballroom dance!It's replacing one I'd already learned, and having got it wrong once I thought it was the anxiety about getting it wrong that made me keep repeating my mistake!

Ric D
This is not necessarily true as if you get lost getting somewhere by taking a wrong turn that the next time you travel there you can recall that the turn is the wrong one and not to go down that route like before. This happened to me and recently and on the second trip I associated the wrong road as the one not to go down. It became a landmark memorywise.

katron
This is definatey something i shall try to implement! Good tip

mike
I noticed this when coaching maths and science. I developed techniques for 'error free' lessons.

Gillian
I dont think this always works. I find that making a mistake, makes me more likely to get something right in future as i remember the mistake i made before.

Teresa
I have just started a new job and made the mistake of calling one of my colleages "Amy" from the outset - her name is Katie. I do it everytime now unless I really think about it!

Cheri
I find pressure of work means I don't slow down enough to fully absorb new information. Then the mistake gets repeated and so the stress increases...

Rami (website team)
Thanks for all your comments. A controversial one this. I stress again that experts tend to use this technique with people who have specific memory problems though the principle can apply to SOME aspects of our everyday lives. As with any of these tips, it's a mix 'n match approach. Some tips will work well in certain situations. To those eagle-eyed readers who spotted the typo, thanks. It has been changed and we're duly shamed. Hey, we're human too and everyone makes mist.....oh.

Anon
A good reason to avoid multiple-choice tests where students are prompted with several wrong answers and one right answer!

Steve
I work for the Post Office I wish someone would tell higher management about the importance of making instructions on new systems and procedures error free. Of course we all make mistakes, but higher management are responsible for frequently sending out information that Postmasters and counter staff are meant to absorb - only to contradict what they have said within a week or two. Often this is because of poor proof reading of the material that they issue. It does however prove a real hindrance to the learning process which is often difficult enough given the volume of material to learn occasioned by the rapid pace of change - to say nothing of the massive costs associated with disseminating incorrect information.

shanaz ahmed
i feel I remember my mistakes and I tend to avoid them the next time

Faye
I disagree, when i make an error, the next time I do something, I am reminded of that error and can therefore avoid it.

Sheba
I don't get this. Can somebody explain please?

brunnette-1
this works but we're human how are we meant to stop making mistakes?

Margaret
Useful. The important thing is to listen and to hear what is being said. Or to read and not let the mind wander when the subject is not holding one's attention. I suppose Chunking, reading chapters rather than reading too long is the answer.

Sara Marguerite Chandler
I really agree you have to learn it right in the first place. My parents moved to different area about two hours drive from me. On my first visit I took the wtrong turn off a roundabout, I then learnt the right turn but for the following 25 years the wrong turn still looked to me like the right turn. This proved a little frustrating.!!!

hipmummie
That is me! Imake the same mistake driving to my friend's home. I've been there over a dozen times this year but even when my husband drove I made him make the same mistake I do!

Ljn
Yes driving to my son's new house. Get it wrong every time.

Nikita
I think that if you give wrong answer in important test in school, and teacher corrects you, that you will know correct ansewer in future. That is mine experiance.

Lex
I agree to a certain extent with error free learning, for example learning to play the guitar. If you do it right first time it becomes a lot easier when you practice. Finding my way to a new house is slightly different. I'm more like a rat in a maze. I make lots of errors on the first trip, hitting "dead ends", but every time after that I go straight to the destination.

David
Agree 100%. If I drive 300 miles and get it right first time. I always get it right thereafter. If I get it wrong first time - catastrophy thereafter, as sure as God made little apples!

Donald Clark
This is, in fact, wrong. We learn from failure. Most learning, in practice, apart from the trivial 'cramming' and 'learning lists' which your programmes focus on, come through experiencing failure and avoiding this experience from then on. Many will NOT learn to backup data on their computer until they suffer catastrophic failure. Computer games gave us real insight into this phenomemon works. Kids learn from constant catastrophic failure linked to repeated practice.

Roland
Try remembering the mistake, this will keep you on track. Remember the route, but also remember the mistake. You will not make it again. I think this used to be called 'Learning by one's mistakes'. :)

Eva
Not sure if I agree with mistake-free learning. My own experience is learning from mistakes sticks and usually had a good result at the next occasion.

Koala
This applies to music. Ask any musician. Get something wrong in the first two or three attempts at playing a new piece and it will take a great deal of effort to stop repeating the error.

Debbie
I agree, we all lead busy lives and doing one thing whilst thinking about something else. What we are really saying here is that better concentration is needed in the first place to help your remember something.

Red Queen
Your example is exactly what I do. I never go anywhere easily the first time and then I never get there without making the same wretched mistakes over and over. Massively frustrating as I think of myself as a punctual person, so I have to add so much time to every journey. I call it 'disgeogria'!

Jane
My main memory mistake is in spelling words ending in re/er. Though in my case there is a cause since I use both French and English constantly. The other one is my friends birthday. We've been friends 20yrs and only this year did I remember her birthday was July and not June. Now I remember it as the day after Bastille Day.

Ali
This makes me feel a whole lot better! I have driven to a friends house several times over a period of four years and missed the vital junction every time. I finally wrote the junction down on a post-it note which I keep in my address book and take it with me when making this journey and haven't gone wrong since. I empathise with Jan totally - when I am abroad, driving on the right and navigating as a passenger, I invariably tell them to turn off left when I really mean right. Any explanations?

anon
This is a very good point, but its easier said than done to learn something perfect first time, especially if it is long.

Sue
This is depressing - I have always tried to encourage people to believe it doesn't matter if they get it wrong the first time, they can try again. This 'tip' appears to re-inforce perfection - not good news for human beings. Personally, I'm far more likely to learn from getting it wrong, especially if it involves me in embarrassing situtations, than trying to boil my brain cells by striving to get it write - er, I mean right ...

Colette
I often do this with birthdays, always getting the same 2 days mixed up or house numbers, until I can find some way of remembering the correct number.

Varley
I do not agree. Making a mistake when one is doing something, will prompt one to put it right and realise how best not to make that mistake again. What about 'If at first you don't succeed try try try again'!

Carol
I've often got it right the first and even second time, then the third - wrong! Very frustrating and hard to understand why.

Jan
Actually, this one made me feel a bit better, becuase I have been beating myself up about making the same driving mistakes! At the same time, it really irritates me that I can't remember a route as well as I used to - and if I'm alone in a car and trying to find my way by looking at a map, I can only remember a maximum of three intersections before having to stop and check map again. Help!! And I seem to be getting right and left mixed up - but could that have something to do with the fact that I drive in both England and Norway? I feel comfortable on either side of the road, and tend to think of turns as with or across the traffic rather than left and right.

Jenny
I would have said the opposite of this - that if you make an error first time around, you don't forget it and it helps you get it right the next time! If you get something right straight away, you aren't really learning. It's like the theory of teaching children about things that are hot. They may never touch anything hot, but that's not learning a lesson they can apply. If they DO touch something hot, they certainly learn, and that's a lesson they can apply and use.

Tony
I now remember where I've mis-learned something but get very confused if I've now got the right version or not. At least I recognise the need to ceck but it is very confusing so any ideas on overcomming this would be great

Irving Stewart
I find this a very useful tip not easy to put into practice,

Jane
If I'm going somewhere and get it wrong the first time, I refuse to make the same mistake twice. I'll try a completely new route, or stop where I went wrong and double check

Pete (English Teacher)
"Mistakes are how we learn". "I'm good because I made mistakes". It's human nature to make mistakes. The experience of making a mistake can be just as evocative (and useful in remembering) as the euphoric moment of getting something right first time. I certainly wouldn't discourage making mistakes. They are, experience tells us, vital to learning and memory.

Peter
Well it's again quite obvious if you take the wrong route to a friends house the first time the likelihood of doing it a second time increases. Because things look different going in one direction, returning they look different again. However, this is like saying we are all doomed to repeat our mistakes over and over when in reality there is some learning that takes place. And were i to make a mistake surely it would of enriched my experience and knowledge of the world just as much as getting something right first time. I'm a human being not a robot, point me out to the person who never makes mistakes first time and I'll give him/her an oil change for free.

Lizzie
I went to college every month for 2 years and only got there without getting lost three times. Often making different mistakes. By the time I had cracked it, the course ended.

Eddie Punch
This is very important for babies. When mummy or daddy tells baby something and baby learns it, think of how difficult it is for the parent to explain "No-I-didn't-mean-that-what-I-realy-wanted-to-say-was-quite-the-oppisite". It's impossable. Thw best thing to do is let baby live with the mistake and corect it years later when baby, now a child, can understand the concept "mistake"

Rami (website team)
Errorless learning runs counter to how we normally learn - especially as children - through trial and error. Where it is most helpful though is with people who have some form of memory disorder, such as amnesia or dementia. People with amnesia for instance will often remember their mistakes better than their corrections, which is why teaching them how to do something right the first time works best. In dementia, errorless learning might help sufferers with basic practical (motor) skills like getting dressed - something that's been lost but which can be re-taught and once again become almost an automatic process.

lyn wood
if I make a mistake I am more likely to remember the next time

Trevor
This is very true. Its as if you've recorded a film of your journey but cannot edit out the errors - my sat nav seems to have a similar problem, but that's a result of a roundabout being removed from a route I take regularly! The solution is to practice it out and note a key landmark to alert you to the impending 'tricky bit'.

Victoria
I'm in two minds on this one. To a degree I agree with Jeanne - especially with directions I think - you remember 'ah, I turned left here last time, but it's right'. So getting in wrong actually reinforces the 'correct' way next time around. Also, when you make a mistake that actually harms you in some way, the pain is a good memory jogger next time round (I'm thinking about a fancy 'designer' can opener we have that isn't at all obvious to use but, if used wrongly, gives you a nasty pinch!). But then other errors are more difficult - for example, a colleague of mine was introduced to me (wrongly) as Clara and she was too polite to say straightaway "My name's actually Elvira". So I (and presumably the person who introduced us) called her Clara for a while until I found out that wasn't her name. Now I find it really difficult to get it right.

Joan
Trial and error is a normal way of learning. There's no such thing as error-free learning.

Peachy
If I make a mistake while learning sth for the first time and later I find out what it's right, it will stick in my memory; I will not make that mistake again.

Maureen
But how do you un-learn something?

Alexandra McLeod
You can cut out all distractions and still not learn it correctly the first time.

Val
Agree, not about driving, but when I mis-type. ALWAYS repeat the misspelling.

Jeanne
I disagree get it wrong first time you make sure you get it right next time and will more likely get it right each time from then on, unless you have a memory laspe bad case of PMT and need to relearn route.

Angela
That's a fact that musicians recognise only too well - play a wrong note the first time through and it keeps creeping in unless you "practise it out"

les
this explains why an intelligent person, (me?) keeps-on making the same error!

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