Study methods, (sorted and organised af)
We all find ourselves in a pinch when studying for a particular subject, or some concepts or just studying in general. And then we play the blame game - I’m stupid, I suck at studying, I dumb, yadda yadda yadda.
But sometimes, the fault isn’t ours. Our study skills are largely influenced by external factors that have nothing to do with our brain (because well all humans have the same brain to begin with, yeah? It’s just some know how to use that thing, and some are still learning how to). So here’s so ways that might help you make the most of all sorts of things that are thrown your way:
Teachers influence our academics deeply and therefore it is important to know how to adjust our methods according to the types of teachers that teach us!
You love them, and are generally doing well in their class.
They know how to balance the amount of speech and writing part in class just perfectly and their explanations are heavenly.
For their subjects, practice papers are the best because they’ll help you lock all the info in your mind for eternities.
Solve as many tests as you can find, and get all your doubts solved by them at the end and I promise you will never have difficulty with that particular chapter again!
“The I’m-gonna-fill-the-board-with-my-marker teacher”
Doesn’t even bother speaking, just enters the class and starts writing up stuff in the board.
Class is generally noisy because their backs are turned towards you 90% of the time.
Just copy down everything form the board. Don’t leave out a single word.
Review whatever you’ve written once you get home and find out what is it that you don’t understand.
You’re lucky if they teach you math /physics /numericals based topics, because you have an entire guide on how to solve each type of sum with steps and formulas!
Once you’ve marked your doubts, take them to the teacher, or to any other teacher who teaches the same topics and get it cleared. Pretty sure you’ll rock their subject!
Babbles on and on all the time, doesn’t know that the board exists.
Won’t even breathe in between the doesn’t care if nobody is listening - they’ll finish their part at all costs.
Try recording their lectures, you don’t necessarily have to take notes in class.
Once you get home, play the entire lecture and take notes now - you’re most likely to cover all important points.
If there’s something you don’t understand /think you missed, get your doubts solved by them or maybe online. This way you can do some time pass in class while not missing out at the same time!
Asks hella lot of questions, engages the class as much as possible.
Best thing to do in their class is to sit in front (it won’t make you a loser really) and listen to their questions carefully, note them down and participate.
Participating will get you noticed and also help build your confidence - and you get to impress the teacher so it’s a win win!
Prepare some questions for them in advance and keep asking, this will create a sense of ‘I’m a good student’ kinda thing in you (trust me I feel like a heavenly potato) and get your queries solved!
There are subjects that you’re so good at you could practically teach them, and then there’s math (no offence, math lovers). And physics. And chemistry. And everything that you don’t know.
Math and physics can be a real pain, but referring to solved examples in your textbook, or your teacher’s solutions makes then 37363x easier.
A list of formulas is a must, I prefer sorting my formulas chapter wise in sticky notes but you can totally make a 'formula + solving methods cheatsheet’ to help for finals!
Practice problems are life savers!! Keep solving until you’re pretty sure you’ll crack these types of questions.
Mostly there is a certain way of solving certain problems, figure out that common way for a bunch of problems and nite the method down. All you need to do during the exam is figure out what type of problem you are dealing with and how to solve it will be known to you automatically!
Find a good teacher - maybe a school teacher, a tutor, a classmate or maybe your dad who happens to be a math expert. You need one person to guide you through the “numerical labyrinth”. There are many awesome people on the Internet (studyblrs I’m looking at y'all) who can help.
History and essay writing type of subjects can be difficult to tackle, since there’s no logic you need to apply here - they only test your memory half the time.
Bullet points are so helpful when taking notes for such subjects idk I just fall in love with words that are bullet pointed.
Aesthetic note making, embellishments and all that jazz totally works here because the more time you spend with the information, the better you remember it and are able to retain it.
Try recording the lectures and playing them in your free time (as podcasts and all), maybe when cleaning your room or making yourself breakfast or doing mundane chores.
I once slept with my earphones on and was playing 'the French revolution’ and the next day I topped our test on that topic. Now this may not be a legit tip but hey - you’re sleeping. Come on.
“Diagram and sciency subjects”
Most of us consider biology to be our favourite, but fail to do well in it sometimes. This is because we’re studying the whole thing wrongly.
Biology can be a very visual subject so all you artists bring out your creativity!
Imagining the structures of your body, an animal’s body, plant’s body, cell’s body heck any body will help you clarify the concepts in your mind.
Try breaking up large words to understand what they mean. I began learning Latin (and abandoned the effort) to grasp the biological terms better and it helps! Your language is strong - your biology is strong.
Aesthetic notes all the way down!
Chemistry can be made pretty looking with colourful reactions on paper, and there’s always mnemonics to make it fun.
I always try to form mnemonics which reference my favourite songs/dialogue /fandom stuff to spice stuff up. For example, to remember the preference order of functional groups during nomenclature I came up with “PS Sam Winchester Loves Eileen And they go on A date Next friday” (hey spn peeps how’s this?). Write down the first initial of every word you need to remember and come up with combinations, you’ll love it!
Personality Development and Social Science were these type of subjects for me.
All I did was read through the textbook the night before exams and I’d get a pretty good score.
Tree diagrams and tables often help with these.
Explaining the stuff to someone does the job too!
Three things - Duolingo /memrise /any app, flashcards, YouTube.
Your textbook is likely to have lots of practice activities, solve each one of them.
YouTube will help you with the pronouncing part - check out songs in your target language to improve!
Grammar is important, so you understand your grammar in the beginning and your base is strong.
Come up with terms in your head in your target language, although they’re wrong - there will be a point where you’ll be thinking in that language as a habit.
Don’t be afraid to mispronounce, vomit words as much as possible.
If you don’t have a vocabulary book, make one right away!
Langblrs are so amazing don’t let that resource slip out of your hands!
Change of environment usually motivate you so keep changing your study space from time to time.
Ana Mascara, study with jess, @studyquill @revisign @tbhstudying @studywithinspo have some fabulous YouTube channels and they make 'study with me’ vids too which are just too motivating so check them out!
Khanacademy, CrashCourse, ASAP science are there to clear your doubts - use the resources!
Keep two notebooks - one for class which has messy notes and scribbles and another for home with the neat and aesthetic ish.
Keep track of your portion and note your syllabus.
Highly recommended - study journal. Want me make a long ass post about it? Lemme know!
Playing teacher is a promised way to engrave the info in your mind. So go teach your friends or mom or dog or teddy! Teach me if you want to!
Make sure you have a no study day at least once 2 weeks? Because it’s important. We don’t want to get burned out!
Ted talks can be motivating!
Writing mock exams is so helpful you should totally do it!
Sleep is more important than you think it is, so sleep. Go dream the hell out!
That’s all for now folks, hope this helps a bit! My inbox is always open if you guys have any questions!
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