Are you getting the most form your study sessions? Do you know the one crucial first step to take every time you sit down to study? And if you do, are you using consistently and making part of your natural study routine?
There’s no magic or secret to this. I just want to make sure you are doing it, because if you are not, you are losing out! Your receptiveness to new information, revision of old knowledge and retention and understanding of the new material will be greatly enhanced if you do.
Each and every time you start on a new section or topic, check what the general subject is, take pen to paper, and as quickly as possible write notes on what you know already about the topic. This will often be what you learned in a previous chapter, or may be general information about the topic you have already.
Even if you think you know nothing about the subject your notes can be based around questions you may have about the topic. Try to generate anticipation and a hunger for the knowledge you are about to read.
Be aware that these notes should be brief; keywords will do. Always study with time and efficiency as one of your aims. Don’t waste time on elaborate notes. Your aim is to reawaken and prime your brain – not to make notes for presentation or future retention.
In fact, if you get good at this, you could even do it in your head, but since it takes a disciplined mind not to wander off track during this process, you are probably going to need to write it down.
Once you have finished, get on with your study of the chapter. You will find that you are less likely to be distracted and are more motivated to find answers to some questions or gaps in your knowledge. You will also find you can recall new information more easily due to the neural connections you can make between the old knowledge in your memory and the new. This information would be much more difficult to absorb if you tried to learn it ‘cold’.
Try this for a week – even if you have ‘heard it all before’. Make it part of your study routine and you will reap the rewards. Test it, and you will see how much it helps your learning.
By: Steve Bracken
Posts Tagged ‘Brain’
Effective Study Sessions – The First Thing You Should Do to Get the Most From Your Study Sessions
December 18th, 2009The Importance of Foreign Language Study – Why Study a Foreign Language?
November 24th, 2009
With so many people throughout the world able to speak English, it’s easy to understand why some might question the importance of foreign language study for native English speakers. I spent a few years living in Japan and many of my Japanese friends would express jealousy over the fact that I grew up speaking such a “useful language”.
Still, there are many reasons why English speakers should consider studying a foreign language:
1. Your job prospects. The world is becoming increasingly smaller, as the internet allows people to connect from anywhere in the world. Speaking a foreign language can help y ou to get a job with a company that does business outside of English-speaking countries. You may even be given the opportunity to live abroad.
2. It fosters cultural understanding. When you study a foreign language, you don’t just learn the language. You learn about a country’s people, culture, and traditions. Understanding the differences between your own and another’s culture is a great way to foster a more cooperative spirit.
3. You can travel more easily. While it’s true that people of many different countries speak at least basic English, this isn’t always the case. Speaking the language when you visit a foreign country makes for a much better experience. Even if a person does speak English, you’ll find that you get better service and help when you try to speak the native language.
4. You can make new friends. Speaking more than one language means that you are able to interact with a broader range of people. You can use the internet to find “email friends”, connecting with people across the globe. You can also find homestay or cultural exchange programs that allow you to directly experience another culture or share yours with someone different.
5. You’ll exercise your brain. Whether young or old, everyone’s brain needs a good workout now and then. Learning a foreign language can help you work on a variety of different skills-listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This easily increases your brainpower and makes you a smarter person overall.
6. You can learn discipline. Foreign language study often requires a high level of discipline if you want to do it right. You can easily take these skills and transfer them to any number of projects.
By: Stephanie Tekrider
Improve Study Skills – 3 Memory Improvement Tips
November 22nd, 2009
You can improve your study skills by using memory improvement tips which can lessen the time you need to study. It will also save you stress from panicking when the examination day comes. Here are 3 memory improvement tips that will help you improve study skills overnight. And that’s a promise.
1. Using Mneumonics In exams, there are lots of places where you need to memorize long lists. You can use Mneumonics to make things a lot easier.
If you want to remember in order, the last 5 prime ministers in the UK who are:
- Harry Wilson
- James Callaghan
- Margaret Thatcher
- John Major
- Tony Blair
you can make up a phrase such as “Harry Jumped Miles Joking Terribly”. Each of the first letters of the phrase represents the first name of the UK Prime Ministers. Using this memory improvement tip, remembering long lists will require less of your study time.
2. Improve Study Skills By Using Photographic Memory
When you read your studying material, picture things in your brain and make it funny or shocking so that it’s hard to forget.
For example, earthquakes are caused by plates moving towards or away from each other. This build up of pressure is then eventually released which causes the earth to move. What you can do to remember this is immediately picture 2 smiling plates with faces, pushing each other. Eventually they lose balance and fall over each other. Simple photographic images of the above scenarios can be easily imagined and remembered. If the images are funny or scary, then you’ll remember them even better. It is much harder to use your memory to recall information without your brain relating to the text it reads with images.
3. Working In Chunks Of Time
When you study your materials, you tend to remember the beginning of the material and the ending of the material. The bit in the middle is the part that is easily forgotten. The reason is that when you start studying, your brain and energy is fresh. It takes in the information more easily. When you’re near the end, the information that you’re revising is most recent so recalling the information is easier. By knowing this, you can shorten your studying time to take advantage. Study in chunks of 30 – 45 minutes. Nothing more. You are using the beginning and the end recalling ability, to its maximum.
By studying this way, memorization is much better and you’ll spend less time revising.
These 3 memory improvement tips will help improve study skills quickly and effectively. They are quick fixes for people studying within a short amount of time. To further improve your memory and make your life more convenient, you should read up more on memory improvement. Memory improvement is essential for life and not only to improve study skills.
By: Adrian Abel
