For me personally, I classify myself (whether it's valid or not!) as an experiential learner. I have a very hard time learning abstract things in purely abstract ways. I can read a book about a branch of mathematics and try intently to learn from it and totally fail. But give me one practical, real-world problem which demands some knowledge of that type of mathematics, and I might pick up the bulk of the same subject matter quickly, to the degree necessitated by the project. Whatever my conscious intentions may be, my brain throws a toddler tantrum about it and is like "Prove to me that I can use this for real or I'm not investing in it".