I find that I learn songs best if I sing them for other people. Singing to myself doesn't get me to the point where I've really got the song down. For that, I have to have an audience. For that reason, I refrain from Alice's barenaked songlearning methods...
I apologize to the people who have to hear the song before I've got it completely worked out - I hope it isn't too painful. I've been going to a Wednesday-night sing where you're expected to have songs on a given topic prepared, and usually sing them yourself. This happens every two weeks, so I quickly ran through my repertoire and now I'm forced to learn new stuff. Oftentimes, the circle gathering is the first time I've had a chance to sing some songs for other human beings. Once I've performed it, then a song is much easier to learn.
-Joe Offer-