One very important method of becoming a more effective learner is just to keep on learning. An article in the magazine “Nature” back in 2004 pointed out that people who learned juggling had increased how much gray matter they had in their occipital lobes, which is the part of the brain which is associated with visual memory. That gray matter then vanished again when the individuals ceased to practice their new skill!
If you are trying to learn something such as a new language, then continuing to practice is incredibly important so that you will be able to maintain the gains which you have managed to achieve. This phenomenon – referred to as “use it or lose it” – involves a brain process which is called “pruning”. Some pathways within the brain are maintained, while others are simply eliminated. If you want new information that you have just learned to stay there, then you need to keep on practicing and rehearsing it.