Another specific case of Preterite vs Indefinite

[BlueSkies]

Hi,

In my exercise book there is a model answer which includes two seperate sentences I'd like to highlight:

"Mientras viajaba, hacía fotos."

And

"En su viaje aprendió much sobre la cultura de la gente"


In my own answer, I´d written: Mientras viajaba, aprendía mucho sobre la cultura de la gente"

Could anyone illustrate the distinction between the two variants, and tell me if my answer is incorrent?

Thank you.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Your answer would be correct, depending on what you want to say:

"Mientras viajaba aprendió mucho sobre la cultura de la gente" means that during his/her trip (one-time event), that person learnt about people's culture.

"Mientras viajaba aprendía mucho sobre la cultura de la gente", means that he/she would learn from people's culture every time he/she travelled (a habit).

[BlueSkies]

Understood.

Thank you :).