Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I got a PhD without knowing how to read — and once I figured out what I'd been missing, everything about learning changed.
Thanks to Monarch for partnering with me! Start your free trial and get 50% off your first year of total money clarity using my link monarchmoney.yt.link/11RFlt0 or code jones50 for 50% Off Monarch Core tier.
In this video I break down the two books that completely rewired how I think about reading, studying, and research: Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book (1940) and Make It Stick by Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, and Mark McDaniel (2014). One is a 20th-century philosopher's guide to reading as intellectual practice. The other is a synthesis of decades of cognitive science on memory and learning. Read separately, they're useful. Read together, they describe the same thing from two different angles — and they expose why so many smart, motivated students (myself included) spend years working hard at the wrong things.
I cover Adler's four levels of reading (elementary, inspectional, analytical, syntopical), his six rules for analytical reading, and why most academics quietly live at level two. Then I go through the seven techniques from Make It Stick that actually move information into long-term memory: retrieval practice, spaced repetition, interleaving, elaboration, generation, reflection, and calibration. Finally, I show where the two books converge — why analytical reading IS retrieval practice in disguise, and how tools like Anki and the minimum information principle let you turn careful reading into durable knowledge.
If you're in grad school, heading there, or just trying to teach yourself something hard, this is the video I wish someone had handed me at 18.
📚 Books mentioned
• How to Read a Book — Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren (Amazon affiliate link: amzn.to/42Bp4mM)
• Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning — Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel (Amazon affiliate link: amzn.to/4wrhqZL)
🎓 My upcoming courses
• Language learning accelerator (waitlist): languagejones.com/accelerator
• Intro to linguistics (waitlist): languagejones.com/blueprint
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 The confession: a PhD without knowing how to read
0:50 Two books, two angles, one practice
2:14 Monarch
03:45 Adler's pyramid: the four levels of reading
06:08 Adler's six rules for analytical reading
8:10 Make It Stick: why your study habits are lying to you
10:12 The seven techniques that actually work
14:35 Where the two books meet
16:50 Anki, the minimum information principle, and atomic knowledge
20:18 What I'd hand my younger self
💬 Have you read either book? Drop your take in the comments — especially if you disagree.
👍 If this was useful, like and subscribe for more on linguistics, language learning, and how to actually learn things.
Keywords: how to read a book, Mortimer Adler, Make It Stick, Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, Mark McDaniel, how to study, learning how to learn, spaced repetition, retrieval practice, Anki, cognitive science of learning, study techniques, grad school advice, PhD tips, analytical reading, syntopical reading, minimum information principle, Piotr Wozniak, interleaving, elaboration, active recall, illusions of mastery, study habits that work, evidence-based learning, language jones
#HowToReadABook #MakeItStick #LearningHowToLearn #SpacedRepetition #RetrievalPractice #StudyTips #PhDLife #GradSchool #Anki #CognitiveScience #ActiveRecall #Linguistics #LanguageLearning #StudySmarter #Autodidact #LanguageJones
I got a PhD without knowing how to read — and once I figured out what I'd been missing, everything about learning changed.
Thanks to Monarch for partnering with me! Start your free trial and get 50% off your first year of total money clarity using my link monarchmoney.yt.link/11RFlt0 or code jones50 for 50% Off Monarch Core tier.
In this video I break down the two books that completely rewired how I think about reading, studying, and research: Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book (1940) and Make It Stick by Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, and Mark McDaniel (2014). One is a 20th-century philosopher's guide to reading as intellectual practice. The other is a synthesis of decades of cognitive science on memory and learning. Read separately, they're useful. Read together, they describe the same thing from two different angles — and they expose why so many smart, motivated students (myself included) spend years working hard at the wrong things.
I cover Adler's four levels of reading (elementary, inspectional, analytical, syntopical), his six rules for analytical reading, and why most academics quietly live at level two. Then I go through the seven techniques from Make It Stick that actually move information into long-term memory: retrieval practice, spaced repetition, interleaving, elaboration, generation, reflection, and calibration. Finally, I show where the two books converge — why analytical reading IS retrieval practice in disguise, and how tools like Anki and the minimum information principle let you turn careful reading into durable knowledge.
If you're in grad school, heading there, or just trying to teach yourself something hard, this is the video I wish someone had handed me at 18.
📚 Books mentioned
• How to Read a Book — Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren (Amazon affiliate link: amzn.to/42Bp4mM)
• Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning — Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel (Amazon affiliate link: amzn.to/4wrhqZL)
🎓 My upcoming courses
• Language learning accelerator (waitlist): languagejones.com/accelerator
• Intro to linguistics (waitlist): languagejones.com/blueprint
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 The confession: a PhD without knowing how to read
0:50 Two books, two angles, one practice
2:14 Monarch
03:45 Adler's pyramid: the four levels of reading
06:08 Adler's six rules for analytical reading
8:10 Make It Stick: why your study habits are lying to you
10:12 The seven techniques that actually work
14:35 Where the two books meet
16:50 Anki, the minimum information principle, and atomic knowledge
20:18 What I'd hand my younger self
💬 Have you read either book? Drop your take in the comments — especially if you disagree.
👍 If this was useful, like and subscribe for more on linguistics, language learning, and how to actually learn things.
Keywords: how to read a book, Mortimer Adler, Make It Stick, Peter Brown, Henry Roediger, Mark McDaniel, how to study, learning how to learn, spaced repetition, retrieval practice, Anki, cognitive science of learning, study techniques, grad school advice, PhD tips, analytical reading, syntopical reading, minimum information principle, Piotr Wozniak, interleaving, elaboration, active recall, illusions of mastery, study habits that work, evidence-based learning, language jones
#HowToReadABook #MakeItStick #LearningHowToLearn #SpacedRepetition #RetrievalPractice #StudyTips #PhDLife #GradSchool #Anki #CognitiveScience #ActiveRecall #Linguistics #LanguageLearning #StudySmarter #Autodidact #LanguageJones
