by rote
learning by repetition
TRANSLATION
by rote = durch stures Auswendiglernen --- GOOGLE INDEX by rote: approximately 800,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Anne Swift, from the NUT's executive committee, said she feared teachers would be forced to make children learn facts BY ROTE, with inspectors turning up to test the children's knowledge of the continents, chronological order of history and times tables.
(The Guardian)
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Because ROTE learning and memorization have negative connotations for most people, it might be better to speak of learning things by heart.
(The Huffington Post)
(The Guardian)
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Because ROTE learning and memorization have negative connotations for most people, it might be better to speak of learning things by heart.
(The Huffington Post)
Did you
know?
by rote
noun phrase
- to learn something in order to be able to repeat it from memory, rather than in order to understand it
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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The American Heritage Dictionary says "rote" is probably of Scandinavian origin, because of the similarity to the Old Norse "rauta," to roar. Why this word would have evolved to the current sense of "rote" is not clear. But stranger etymological developments have occurred.
Another suggestion is that rote is connected with the Old French rote (route) or from the Latin rota (wheel, rotary). The Oxford English Dictionary dismisses both of these origins as groundless.
The main sense of rote is a memorizing process that uses routine or repetition, often without full attention or comprehension, such as a pupil who has to learn the capitals of every country in the world. Although this approach to learning is still prevalent in many parts of the world, some modern educators criticize it as ineffective and outdated. Need to know the capital of Burma? Just grab your
smartphone and google it.
Rote also refers to the sound of the ocean surf, such as before a storm. A rote is also a zither-like medieval instrument that is played with a bow, but sometimes with a wheel, which is where it got the name from (originally rota).
Descriptions of the rote have varied from a lute, lyre, harp and the hurdy-gurdy, which is played by turning a handle connected to a wheel which vibrates the strings, while playing a keyboard with the other to alter the pitch.
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SYNONYMS
learning/memorizing by heart/repetition
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Some things, like telephone numbers and passwords, just have to be learned by rote."
noun phrase
- to learn something in order to be able to repeat it from memory, rather than in order to understand it
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
The American Heritage Dictionary says "rote" is probably of Scandinavian origin, because of the similarity to the Old Norse "rauta," to roar. Why this word would have evolved to the current sense of "rote" is not clear. But stranger etymological developments have occurred.
Another suggestion is that rote is connected with the Old French rote (route) or from the Latin rota (wheel, rotary). The Oxford English Dictionary dismisses both of these origins as groundless.
The main sense of rote is a memorizing process that uses routine or repetition, often without full attention or comprehension, such as a pupil who has to learn the capitals of every country in the world. Although this approach to learning is still prevalent in many parts of the world, some modern educators criticize it as ineffective and outdated. Need to know the capital of Burma? Just grab your
smartphone and google it.
Rote also refers to the sound of the ocean surf, such as before a storm. A rote is also a zither-like medieval instrument that is played with a bow, but sometimes with a wheel, which is where it got the name from (originally rota).
Descriptions of the rote have varied from a lute, lyre, harp and the hurdy-gurdy, which is played by turning a handle connected to a wheel which vibrates the strings, while playing a keyboard with the other to alter the pitch.
---
SYNONYMS
learning/memorizing by heart/repetition
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Some things, like telephone numbers and passwords, just have to be learned by rote."
