teach oneself vs learn by oneself

[Humble]

Hi,
I wonder which is commoner
a) She taught herself Arabic.
b) She learned Arabic by herself.
Tnx

[hector51]

b)She learned Arabic by herself.

it's my choice

[matilda]

for the first sentence, i can say that tyeaching occures when the teacher( the one who teaches) is a master on what he is teaching. he should know every single point about the subject he is teaching.
but you can learn s.th by yourself. you can buy some books and start learning.

hope that helps

Matilda

[DavyBCN]

Originally Posted by Humble

Hi,
I wonder which is commoner
a) She taught herself Arabic.
b) She learned Arabic by herself.
Tnx

She taught herself is perfect if she did not have a teacher but learnt through books, internet, etc. A good alternative is that she was self-taught.

She learnt by herself can mean exactly the same thing, but could also mean that the was a teacher's only pupil. She learnt on her own is also used but can be confused in the same way.

[Humble]

Thank you, Davy.