As my school year finished, I figured out I could share a few study tips on how you can learn and memorize information, like history dates, names or vocabulary, more quickly and efficiently !! I was in two years in a class where I was supposed to learn a lot in very little time so I developped tricks to be able to remember things more easily. These tips will probably be common but they really worked for me, and they can be especially useful to french students in high school or in college (but it can be useful to everybody too!!)
i. understand what you have to learn.
Trying to remember a lot of dates isn’t easy, especially when there’s a lot in a small time. You need to know what happened on the date and the details on how history goes, and you also need to understand why it happens. When you have understood how it goes from date A to date B, you will more easily remember the dates, and you will be able to make your history essay better. Learning history by reading history books specifically on the subject can be helpful too. The same applies to vocabulary as knowing the etymology of words can be a good way to learn vocabulary, especially when it is in latin or in ancient greek.
ii. rewrite your notes.
Not necessarily in an aesthetic way, but you can write the essential informations on paper in order to have the most important aspects of what you need to learn in something you can reread quickly. You can also do it on a computer if you had paper notes. As I usually wrote in class on paper, I rewrote nearly everything (as I usually need to know the details to understand everything) on my computer, then printed these notes and read it first with highlighters (yellow for informations and green for quotes/important names) and then with a pencil to underline the most important aspects or the conclusions. Reading multiple times, but always remaining active during your reading, can be all the more efficient if you do it everyday, not in one time ; if you read your notes everytime you have a break, you will learn it better than if you read it again and again on one night because you will slowly memorize how the things work and fit together. The same can be done to extracts of books or texts you need to learn, especially in history.
iii. talk.
If you repeat your notes to yourself it might work, but I usually held small classes in my group of friends to make them learn, for example, history or philosophy lessons. When you need to explain something, with or without your notes, you will be able to memorize the bigger picture and what happens in the detail at the same time. Doing it a day or two before the test is also an efficient way of seeing what you know and what you don’t know yet. This is especially useful when you have an essay to write : you will be able to see directly what you need to say.
iv. use apps.
This is especially useful for vocabulary (I don’t use apps for other things, and the app I use the most for vocabulary is called PONS) : vocabulary apps have a lot of “games” that can help you learn vocabulary quicker as you will be active when learning and not passive ; learning vocabulary by reading again and again a list is not really going to help you.
v. have breaks.
Reading again and again your notes intensively for a long period of time won’t help you have a clear mind : do a break every 30 minutes or every hour with something that doesn’t require much your brain, like going on social networks, but always for a small amount of time. Moreover, studying all day the day before the test will only confuse you. Start learning sooner (one week before?) and do something else the day before, especially on the afternoon (like having a walk, listening to music, ..) and read everything again on the evening, before going to bed. You can also wake up earlier and read your notes directly after waking up, as your head will be empty and informations will come more easily.
→ Studying is not only about notes and learning, but also about your lifestyle. Go to bed early, do other things beside school, take afternoons to do something else, start learning and doing your homework way before the due date. This will help you have a healthier body and mind. Don’t neglect your mental and physical health as it can be also essential on the day of a test !
