What is studying by Osmosis ?
Hi all,
I have a silly question, but I would appreciate any information about my question 
.
I was wondering: What is learning by Osmosis?
Is it a real way to study or it's a joke!!
I made a search on the internet and all I got is pictures of people putting books on their heads!! 
and other hard articles which are very hard for me to understand 
I would appreciate any nice explanation about that 
Thanks a lot ^_^
12 Answers
I think this phrase is kind of a joke, it means to learn by being surrounded by the information but not bothering to study or do any work. Like a lazy version of what's called "immersion".
( If I remember my biology class well osmosis is the process by which nutrients enter a cell, they move from an area of high concentration to low concentration, the concentration within the cell being lower. )
Osmosis is the movement of nutient carrying water in plants with no effort being made - it is automatic.
Learning a language (or anything) like that would not work. It would be about as useful as standing under a shower.
Osmosis is a real thing, as stated above. "Studying" by osmosis though, is a joke. Like, "I'm going to put my school books under my pillow tonight so that the answers seep up through my pillow and into my head". It's just a silly thing.
Learn or study via osmosis
Learn via osmosis is a real way . Being surrounded by it, absorbing the knowledge through everyday use, without actually studying the subject.
But studying by osmosis" to get out of studying, is not going to work because it isn’t as effective as studying or learning the subject, but if the basic knowledge is all you need then learning or studying via osmosis is an acceptable way.
Moving to Spain to learn Spanish, accounting or mechanics, you pick up jargon and ways of doing things. Like a child who helps his dad every weekend, in the home garage is going to pick up knowledge, not that he is studying but being surrounding by it he can learn.
"I'm going to put my school books under my pillow tonight so that the answers seep up through my pillow and into my head". It's just a silly thing. Of course the knowledge of a book isn’t going to seep through your pillow while you sleep, but listening to audio tapes and being in an environment that you need to learn, will give you a understanding of the subject without learning.
Poeple say "studying by osmosis" to get out of studying. Osmosis is a scientific process based on being adjacent and absorbing things "through the skin". Studying by osmosis is a joke...although that would be really aweosme if it actually worked! Escpecially for those of us with very big textbooks and very little time...
I have to admit, I have tried learning by osmosis in the past.
I used to hang around with really intelligent and well-known scholars. I would sleep on a pillow of books with titles ranging from Advanced Particle Physics to Plato's Republic. I ate barrels upon barrels of alphabet soup. I would talk for hours on my "smart phone." I even went so far as to pay my local university to allow me to pitch a tent in their library so that I could sleep surrounded by this wealth of knowledge. After three or four years trying this method, I finally realized that I wasn't getting any smarter. In fact, I think I actually got a bit dumber.
Now I am much more savvy about such schemes, and only follow those true and time tested methods of knowledge acquisition. That is, I went out and hired somebody to pour the knowledge into my head for me (there's no way osmosis was going to carry that stuff through that thick skull of mine).
Wow you brought me back to school biology classes.
Hola, lovely,
Osmosis is an actual scientific occurence,
But "learning by osmosis"? That is just a ferverently wished
for fantasy in the mind of all students!
Imagine how wonderful it would be to just put a book on your
head (or under your head) and all that knowledge would have
just seeped into your mind by morning.
However, I have heard of students swearing by playing tapes
while they slept, and having the knowledge be in their minds
when they awoke!
For me, I pray a lot, along with studying --- can't hurt, right?
Osmosis is a real, scientific process. The pictures you are seeing are in fact "jokes." Just Google it! ;o)
It's a most enjoyable process.
You lie in the bath. It must be hot bath.
You read a Spanish book. You must not drop the book into the bath, especially not if it's Kindle.
Just try it, it does wonders for your Spanish.
And if not, what have you lost by trying?
I unintentionally studied for an exam by osmosis once. Needless to say my exam outcome was somewhat less than desirable (desirable in my case means a "C").
Osmosis is an actual learning method, though it is referred to "Suggestopedia" or "Desuggestopedia". The purpose behind it is to activate your subconscious and peripheral senses to aide you in the acquisition of another language. It will never be as effective (in my opinion) as actual studying, but, by being surrounded by language, it will help the formal learning to take root in your subconcious.
