In many English-speaking countries, rote memorization seems to be treated as something bad. Why is that?

I'm not an education expert, and I'm using a translation tool for this as well.

I'm from a non-English-speaking country, but when I look at subreddits of school education in English-speaking countries, it seems like rote memorization is treated as something bad.

Why is rote memorization so often viewed negatively?

Especially as a non-English-speaking person, there are times when I think that rote memorization is the only way to learn English spelling and grammar.

For example, after learning that "to make a word past tense, you add 'ed'," words like "taught" appear, and the grammar and spelling are just too confusing.

If you had to explain the history of each word every time you encountered one like that, it feels like you'd never finish studying. (It might be fun to learn as a hobby, but it would take too much time to be part of compulsory education.)

Submitted September 18, 2026 at 03:25AM by Suspicious-Toe-8193 https://ift.tt/BXa6QsW