Do 'learn by heart' & 'learn by rote' mean the same? - English ...

Fig. to learn something by memorizing without giving any thought to what is being learned. I learned history by rote; then I couldn't pass the ... EnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforlinguists,etymologists,andseriousEnglishlanguageenthusiasts.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore Do'learnbyheart'&'learnbyrote'meanthesame? AskQuestion Asked 8years,6monthsago Modified 7years,4monthsago Viewed 24ktimes 18 3 HereinIndia,boththephraseslearningbyheartandlearningbyrotearetakentohavethesamemeaning,i.e.,blindmemorisationwithouttrueunderstanding. However,somesourcessaythattolearnsomethingbyheartimpliesthatoneknowssomethingsowellthatithasbeenthoroughlyinternalisedandimbibed. Soisitwrongtoconflatethetwo? idiomsusagephrase-meaning Share Improvethisquestion Follow editedDec18,2013at8:18 Kris 36.5k66goldbadges5353silverbadges149149bronzebadges askedNov27,2013at8:43 coderboycoderboy 28311goldbadge22silverbadges44bronzebadges 2 Ithinkthetwoexpressionsmeanthesame.Iassumethatinsomeregions"byheart"ismorecommonandinothers"byrote".Thereisatendencytoassumethattheremustbeadifferencewhentherearetwoexpressionsforthesameidea.Andsuchspeculationssproutlikegrass. – rogermue Jan30,2015at7:58 Bytheway,theetymologyof"byrote"isunclear(Oxford).Iwouldguessitwasshortenedfrom"byroutine". – rogermue Jan30,2015at8:29 Addacomment  |  4Answers 4 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) 20 No.Theyarenotthesame.Infact,theyarenotevenrelatedmuch.Sadlythough,theexpressionscametobeusedinterchangeablyandevenWikipediahasmergedthemintoasingleentry. Learningbyroteisaboutthetechniqueorpracticeofmemorizing.Learningbyheartontheotherhand,isthenatureorqualityofwhathasbeenlearned. Thedirectortoldmetolearnmyspeechbyheart.IhadtogooveritmanytimesbeforeIlearneditbyheart.(TFD) Thisclearlyshowsthedifference.goovermanytimesistheprocessof'rotelearning';Ilearneditbyheartistheeffectitproducedorthequalityoflearningthatwasacquired. learnsomethingbyheart Fig.tolearnsomethingsowellthatitcanbewrittenorrecitedwithoutthinking;tomemorizesomething. Compare: learnsomethingbyrote Fig.tolearnsomethingbymemorizingwithoutgivinganythoughttowhatisbeinglearned.Ilearnedhistorybyrote;thenIcouldn'tpassthetestthatrequiredmetothink.Ifyoulearnthingsbyrote,you'llneverunderstandthem. Doyounoticethewithoutthinkingpart?Itoccursinlearningincaseof'rotelearning',andinrecollectioninthecaseof'byheart'! Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredNov27,2013at10:02 KrisKris 36.5k66goldbadges5353silverbadges149149bronzebadges 4 Nicetobeofhelp.KeepcomingbacktoELU! – Kris Nov27,2013at10:17 2 Ithinkthathitsthenailonthehead.+1. – WS2 Nov27,2013at11:56 Ifoundthisexcerptfromacommencementaddress.Idon'tknowifthiswouldqualifyasmoreofanopinionthanan"official"definition,butitseemsrelevant:"Learningbyheart—whichmaybesomewhatofadyingtradition—meanstolearnsomethingsodeeplythatitbecomespartofourcore:itfillsus;itchangesus."Thedifferencemightbelessintechniquethaninwhatwedowiththeacquiredinformation. – J.R. Nov29,2013at10:34 1 Youshouldsaywhetherthisisyourpersonalinterpretationorwhetheryouhavesomeclearevidence.Astheetymologyof"rote"isunclearIdon'tseehowyoucansaytheyarenotthesame. – rogermue Jan30,2015at8:34 Addacomment  |  2 WhenIwasatprimaryschoolintheearly1950swewereencouragedtolearnthings'byheart'.Forexamplewelearnedallourtimestablesfrom2to12'byheart'.Welearnedpoemsby'heart'.Atthattimethepracticehadnotcomeunderthesustainedcriticismofeducationaliststhatithastoday.Andtheexpression'learningbyheart'hadanicegentleringaboutit. Ineverencounteredtheterm'learningbyrote',nor'rotelearning'untilthepracticestartedtobecomederidedbypeoplewhoclaimtounderstandthesethingsalmostasthoughitwereharmfultochildren'shealth. Myownsuspicionisthatwhilsttheymeanthesamething,learning'byheart'soundedtoowholesomeandpositivealearningexperienceforthosepeoplewhowantedtogetridofthepractice.Soanaltogetherlessenticingtermwasintroduced.Imaybecompletelywrongaboutthis,butthatismyimpression. Isitwrongtoconflatethetwo?Ithinkthatwouldlargelydependonwhoyouweretalkingto.PersonallyIhaveneverunderstoodwhy'memorisation'excludedthepossibilityof'understanding'.Afterallactorsandactresseslearntheirparts'byheart',orisit'byrote'? Iwouldsaytheterms(whichmeanthesamething)areusedbypeopledependingonwhatimpressiontheywishtocreate.WhilstShakespeareanactorsprobablymemorise'byheart'(becausethatisdeemednice),childrenaretaughttimestables'byrote'(becausethatisdeemednasty). Furtherthought. @DamkerngT(below)hassuggestedthatlearning'byrote'isonlyonemethodoflearning'byheart'.Ifthatideahassubstanceitsuggeststhat'byheart'isamoregeneraltermandthat'byrote'isasubsetofit.Coulditbethat'byheart'referstoanend-resulte.g.Iknowthe23rdpsalm'byheart'.Andcould'byrote'refertojustoneprocessbywhichyougetthere? Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedNov27,2013at11:44 answeredNov27,2013at8:57 WS2WS2 63.6k4444goldbadges149149silverbadges289289bronzebadges 6 Iwouldmyselflearntospellsomewordsbyheart.Iwasneverexposedtoateacherstandinginfrontofclassgoing"D-O-G,dog,C-A-T,cat"orsimilarandthekidsarerepeatinginchoir,whichiswhatIthinkofwhenIhear"learnbyrote" – mplungjan Nov27,2013at9:19 1 Thisisalovelyexample(sadly)wherethedenotationsarevirtuallyidenticalbuttheconnotations(asyousay)are,probablybydesign,widelydivergent.Ofcourse,'byheart'emphasisesthewholesome(andheart-warmingandevenfun)internalising/endproduct,whereas'byrote'emphasisesthetedioussloginvolvedintheprocess. – EdwinAshworth Nov27,2013at9:35 2 Iwouldliketoaddthat"learningbyrote"isnottheonlywayto"learnbyheart".Jinglesaregoodexamples.Idon'tknowhowmanyjinglesthatIlearned(unconsciously)withouthavingtolearnthem"byrote". – DamkerngT. Nov27,2013at10:38 @DamkerngT.Sowhatisthesubtledistinctioninmeaningbetween'byheart'and'byrote'?Itakeit'jingles'are'byheart'sincetheysoundwarmandcuddly.Butyouarethefirsttoindicateadifferenceinmeaning,sowoulditbepossible,forthebenefitoftheOPtoputsomefleshontheidea. – WS2 Nov27,2013at11:35 @DamkerngT.Iwilleditmyanswertotakeaccountofwhatyouhavesaid.Itisinteresting. – WS2 Nov27,2013at11:38  |  Show1morecomment 0 IfIwanttolearnanythingbyrote,Iwouldhaveto"consciously"keeprepeatingthethingIwanttolearnagainandagain,usuallybyspeakingoutaloud,untilfinallyIcanrememberit.Usually,giventhatIrepeatthisenoughtimes,Imightfinally"knowitbyheart".Soinmyopinion,"learningbyrote"isaway(butnottheonlyway)to"learnbyheart".Buttheoutcome("knowingitbyheart")isnotguaranteed,sincemoreoftenthannot,studentsusuallyfindtheprocessof"learningbyrote"hardtoendure,sotheystopbeforetheycansucceed. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredNov27,2013at11:44 DamkerngT.DamkerngT. 1,70544goldbadges2121silverbadges3737bronzebadges 5 SowhatIthinkisevolvinghereistheideathat'byheart'referstoanendresult.Ijusthappentoknowsomething'byheart'.HowIachievedthatcouldhavebeenbyadeliberateactofrepeatingittomyselfmanytimes(byrote),orthroughaprocesswehaveyettonamewherebecausewehearsomethingfrequentlyweautomaticallyknowit'byheart'.Iwouldbeinterestedtohearfurtherviewsaboutthis. – WS2 Nov27,2013at11:50 1 Ihavereadabitofsomerecentlearningtheories(butI'mnotaneducationalexpertwhatsoever).Itseemstomethatanewtrendoflearningistohavepeoplelearnthingsbyheart"unconsciously"(jinglesisaverygoodexample,Ibelievethatlearningtodriveisanother,tonameafew).Theyappeartobelievethatthis"unconsciously"learningismoreeffectthantheotherway(usuallyimply"learningbyrote",ortorememberthings"consciously"). – DamkerngT. Nov27,2013at11:57 Learningbyheart..Astrangeexpressionthat.Whatitusuallymeansismemorization–stickingthingsinyourheadandkeepingthemthere,readytoreproducewhenrequired.Howelsedoyourememberirregularverbsotherthanbycommittingthemtomemory?WhatI’minterestedinherethoughistheheartpart–theseatoftheemotions.Whilewecanallrememberinformation,ifthereisanaffectiveaswellasacognitiveelement–ifwhatyouarereadingtouchesyourfeelingstogetherwithyourunderstanding..thenyoumayinteractwiththematerialandmakeityours(possiblyforlife). – J.R. Nov29,2013at10:42 ...Inotherwords,Ithinkyou'reontosomethinghere.{Source} – J.R. Nov29,2013at10:43 @J.R.,thankyouverymuch.It'sveryinteresting!Songsandrhymeshelpindeed.IrememberthatsincethefirsttimeIheardTobeornottobe:Thatisthequestion,(maybeinthemovieShakespeareinlove),I'veneverforgetthephrasehearingitjustonce. – DamkerngT. Nov29,2013at10:56 Addacomment  |  -2 Surely,learningbyrotememoryandbyheartaccordingtomearetwodifferentstepsinvolved.Manhasanaturaltendencytoforgetsoweuserotememory.Whileweneedtounderstandwhatwearelearningandreading.Itsimultaneouslyoccurs.Soreadaloudfirstthenwrite.Puttingbothurmindandheartwillexpressinformofanicememory. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredJan30,2015at0:34 jayeshjayesh 1 Addacomment  |  YourAnswer ThanksforcontributingananswertoEnglishLanguage&UsageStackExchange!Pleasebesuretoanswerthequestion.Providedetailsandshareyourresearch!Butavoid…Askingforhelp,clarification,orrespondingtootheranswers.Makingstatementsbasedonopinion;backthemupwithreferencesorpersonalexperience.Tolearnmore,seeourtipsonwritinggreatanswers. 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