#tips: notes

Sure! Those days I’m studying Scandinavian Linguistics for my exam next week, I’ll show you my notes on that and how I learn them.

*** Please keep in mind that this is my own method and what works for me, could not work for you. Also, I’ve always studied Humanities towards oral examinations, so this method fits subjects that are more conversational and that require a speech preparation. ***

Step 1: Gather the material.

I have the notes I took during lectures but also our lecturer was so kind to upload the whole course notes. I compared the two and my notes correspond quite well but I didn’t attend some lectures, so I’ve decided to use only the “official” notes, of which I’m sure they’re complete.

Step 2: Read and highlight.

I read through all the material and while reading, I highlight the important things. Here I do a first selection of what is worth studying and what’s only chit-chat to fill the pages. In this case the notes provided were a pdf, so I upload it on my iPad and read/highlight in the GoodNotes 4 app - which’s great!

Step 3: First writing.

I write down in my own words what I think it’s important, i.e. the concepts I have highlighted in my text. Often I copy part of the original sentences and, of course, when there’s some definition I write it as it is. Whenever I find something listed, I make bullet points. For ex: I’m learning about the official languages of Sweden, the text says that there are 5 official languages, so I make a list of those. Each bullet point has the name of the language + some information (number of speakers, origin of the language, etc.)Whenever there’s a cause-consequence situation, I put an arrow between the two. For ex.: the presence of a trill sound before a consonant cause the consonant to become retroflex in Swedish and Norwegian. I can easily write that as “swe, norw: trill + consonant → retroflex consonant”. Nothing more, really. I avoid too many colors, titles or images - they’re just distracting.

Step 4: Read the first writing.

I read everything I wrote, highlighting the main concepts and integrating with some extra informations, connections and in-depth analysis. Usually I write those extras on the margins of my notes without really looking at any other source. I try to make connections on my own based on what I understood of the subject. Also, to write on the margin a small summary of the paragraph can be really helpful to fix what is being said at that point.

Step 5: Second writing.

Now I have my notes, highlighted and annotated but it’s not over! I try to understand what are those concepts I can’t not know for my exam. They’re usually just two or three and they’re what hold up the whole subject. I write them and once again, I highlight the key words. At this point, I have pretty clear in my mind what’s all about and I should be able to explain those two-three concepts without looking at my notes again. On these “short” notes I wrote just the fundamental phonetics phenomenons I’ll be asked for sure during my exam. If I don’t know them perfectly, I’m sure I’ll never pass my exam. Everything else is also important but, being just facts about the Nordic countries and their languages (history and general talking), I don’t need to learn them by heart.

Step 6: Read, read, read.

On my desk I have now three packs of notes. The ones that my lecturer made available (circa 50 pages), my “long” notes (20 pages) and my “short” notes (3 pages). I study only on my last condensed notes, that include the most important things I have to know. As long as I know perfectly those two-three key concepts, I’ll be fine. Of course, I’ll be reading again my other notes too but in a different way, more superficially.

There are four primary learning styles: visual, auditory, read-write and kinesthetic. To understand how to learn effectively, it is helpful to know what kind of learner you are.

Read-Write learners prefer printed words to receive information. They comprehend and remember what they read, especially when the topics are in statement or list form. They don’t like so much diagrams, charts or visual notes with colors and images that divert attention from the heart of the matter.

During class or lecture they take a lot of notes which will be crucial to understand and consolidate facts when studying at home. Often Read-Write learners take notes “verbatim”, that means they write words exactly how the teacher or professor said them. But an important part of note taking for such learners include rewriting notes in their own words. By doing that they have already interpreted what has been said and will be easier for them to strengthen the concept. Many students think that it’s useless to rewrite notes but that’s not true! Notes are just the starting place for further in-depth analysis that include handouts, textbooks, dictionaries, glossaries, etc. Every information in the notes of a Read-Write learner has his specific place. Bullet points and arrows are the easiest way to highlight key concepts and relations, while diagrams and charts seem confusing and unclear. If they have in front of them notes written in a visual format, they will likely rewrite them using full sentences.When they have to study for a test or exam, they rewrite notes multiple times, often putting them into other words or reducing them into bullet points lists. They also read (silently) the notes over and over again and read other material for research or comparison.

I am myself a learner of this type. I love to read and to write down accurate and complete notes during class. Once at home I usually read my notes again, read other sources if anything is not clear and then I rewrite them (often I type them because I don’t really like my handwriting). For example, these are my notes for my Scandinavian Literatures I class: 78 pages of theories, authors, books analysis that I wrote summing up notes I took during lectures and notes that our professor gave us.

As I need to study my notes for an exam, I write them again, condensing and reducing information into bullet points with key words. After that, I just read and read again my summary until I remember what I have to study. For example, the same informations that in the previous picture were written as statements, here are put in bullet points. From 78 pages of notes I got 15 pages of lists. Every author is listed with his works and key concepts. Just by reading this I can recall every author and contextualize him in his literary/historical movement.

In comparison with visual notes full of colors and doodles, these are pretty boring and simple (or minimalist?) but that’s what works best for me.