'Study' & 'Learn'

[shane]

Whilst teaching today a question entered my mind: What's the difference between 'study' and 'learn'?
A student told me "Learn is when you have a teacher, and you watch / listen to them in order to gain knowledge. Study is when you do things alone"

The example in the book used this dialogue:

A: "Did you learn English at high school?"
B: "No I didn't. I studied it at college"

I then asked the student who gave me the explanation:
"Don't these two place both use classrooms? Teachers? Don't you have to watch / listen at both of these places? How are they different?"


So, can anyone tell me the difference between these two words? I was never taught a difference, and IMO, there is very little difference, save for usage. To learn the different usage of these words, you'd have to listen to many different examples.

Can anyone help?



Shane

 

[dduck]

Care of Merriam-Webster

to STUDY
1 : to read in detail especially with the intention of learning

to LEARN
1 : to gain knowledge or understanding of or skill in by study

Both entries refer to each other, so in my book they are very closely linked. If you try hard enough I'm sure you could find some subtle difference between them - but ask yourself: is it important? Is it useful? Will my head explode in the endeavour? :wink:

Iain

 

[RonBee]

They are not the same thing, although they are closely linked. Learning is the goal and, hopefully, the result of study. It is possible to say, "I studied, but I didn't learn." In practice, the two words are often used pretty much the same way. If a person says "I studied English at college" the unspoken assumption is that he learned it too. If a person says "I learned English at college it is naturally assumed that he did at least some studying. So while the two words do not mean the same thing, they are closely linked.

 

[Tdol]

Study is the work and learn is the result, although you can study without learning and learn without studying. Of the two, learning is better IMO. ;-)

 

[shane]

If you try hard enough I'm sure you could find some subtle difference between them - but ask yourself: is it important? Is it useful? Will my head explode in the endeavour? :wink:

Iain

You ask these questions, but here, it IS important. In fact, it's life or death - if the students don't know the difference between these words, they will fail their exam. If they fail the exam, they don't get to go to university. If they don't go to university, their lives are effectively ruined; they won't find a good job, ever

Thanks for all your help guys!! I thought they were pretty much the same thing

 

[lucyarliwu]

You ask these questions, but here, it IS important. In fact, it's life or death - if the students don't know the difference between these words, they will fail their exam. If they fail the exam, they don't get to go to university. If they don't go to university, their lives are effectively ruined; they won't find a good job, ever

HI Shane, I can understand what you said here for that I'm lucky to have passed by that terrible period preparing for the entrance exam, and I succeeded finally.

So I still remembered the difference between 'study' and 'learn' told by my teacher just as Tdol and Ronbee mentioned above: 'study' is a course or work, while 'learn' is a result no matter the result is good or not. Hope what I said here can help.

Lucy wu

 

[shane]

Hi Lucy, good to see you back here

Did you have a nice time on your travels??

 

[Tdol]

You ask these questions, but here, it IS important. In fact, it's life or death - if the students don't know the difference between these words, they will fail their exam. If they fail the exam, they don't get to go to university. If they don't go to university, their lives are effectively ruined; they won't find a good job, ever

HI Shane, I can understand what you said here for that I'm lucky to have passed by that terrible period preparing for the entrance exam, and I succeeded finally.

So I still remembered the difference between 'study' and 'learn' told by my teacher just as Tdol and Ronbee mentioned above: 'study' is a course or work, while 'learn' is a result no matter the result is good or not. Hope what I said here can help.

Lucy wu

Congratulations. ;-)

 

[lucyarliwu]

Hi Lucy, good to see you back here

Did you have a nice time on your travels??

Hi Shane, thanks for your hot greeting!

Ya I do have a good time by travelling and I'm now in Qingdao enjoying the hilarious International Beer Festival. That's a great fun here!

Lucy wu in Qingdao

 

[shane]

I'm now in Qingdao enjoying the hilarious International Beer Festival.

Cool! We have the International beer festival here in Dalian, too!! I haven't been there though; I'm too busy working

 

[Tdol]

I take it that beer is popular in China. ;-)

 

[clam36]

This two words are not the same but they are synonims.I think that the word study is something that you learn at school,college,university,etc.,but it's not sure that you learn it!You can only study it at school and don't look at it when you get at home!But the word learn means that you sit in a chair or anything else and start learning it!

 

[Casiopea]

I can study math all day long, all week long, even all year long, but that doesn't mean I actually learned anything; i.e., can apply math, use the knowledge I studied.

I agree with the posters who said that learning is about the results and not necessarily the act itself. ;-)