Plant

Clean your room/space, tidy your desk, make your space feel neat and focused. The space we are in means a lot, don’t confine yourself to a messy space.

Make sure you also feel ready. Freshly showered, has a good meal, did some movement-based activity. You can’t focus as easily if you feel all messy and uncomfy.

Put your work in order, what is most important? If you’re taking an exam over a specific topic i.e Biology, look for the most mentioned topics. Those will be what you study most. When I took AP Psych, I found the outline online that said what percentage of the test would be what topic, and studied those flashcards, notes, and videos.

Likewise, figure out how much you need to do every day to get done in time. If you have 20 chapters left in a book and each one is 15 pages then take 300 pages divided by how many days left (say 40) leaving 7.5 pages a day minimum. 

Block out time to study. Make sure you have no distractions, phone on silent, friends know you’re unavailable. This is its own test, a test of focus!

Go to review days if you have them Your instructor should explain what’s on the exam and what is expected of you, and if you miss out on important details you’ll really notice later. It may seem like skipping gives you more time to study, but you’ll be at a disadvantage in the end.

If you feel yourself getting distracted, reading the passage with no recollection of the content, or about to slam your head into the table, take a break. Go for a short walk, get a snack, stretch, get a glass of water, have a little dance party. Breaks count as being productive, self-care is important.

Feel free to switch up your studying methods. Taking notes every day or reading chapter after chapter of a subject gets boring. Do flashcards, Draw or make a diagram. Studying the brain? Draw and label it. Use funky pens sticky notes. Varying your methods of study will not only help you grasp the material better, but it’ll keep you from getting bored.

Find a friend or join a study group. There are a lot at different universities or even just create your own with like-minded folks. You can even do one online like I do. There are many discords for this. I’m in one and it’s great to hold each other accountable and share goals.

You can also switch up your space. Everyone has a different type of place they work best. Maybe a library, cafe, park, bedroom, couch, restaurant. Don’t stay couped up. 

Use apps like Tide, Forest, Flora, Quizlet and more. I seriously use these every day. Tide is my favorite, it incorporates white noise and nature sounds with a Pomodoro timer, as well as three settings for Focus, Relax, and Sleep.

Make studying aesthetically pleasing. Studyblrs are on to something here! You don’t need to have expensive things or show them off but have pens you like, fun highlighter and sticky notes. Pick out playlists of music that makes you feel focused.

after i got such a positive response last time, i bring you more playlists for studying! hopefully these will tide you through a very busy exam season and i hope you enjoy some of these playlists!

instrumental

winter classical music

chopin nocturnes

chopin waltzes

chopin mazurkas

mendelssohn songs without words 

that’s why mozart is the king of classical music

the best of maurice ravel

quiet music without lyrics

a staff at the national palace museum waiting for the spring rain, music without lyrics

dreamy movie osts

you’re a princess dreaming in the palace garden

flowers left by the gardener, concentration and healing music without lyrics

a string quartet, but each player wants to have a standout moment

a villain’s tribulations

for the tragedians in the back 

a playlist of underrated female composers

a playlist for involuntary self-judgment as a nineteenth century villain

a playlist for mournful minds

kpop

korean winter osts

listen to this when you are sad | kdrama osts

heize playlist

younha playlist

soft twice playlist for chilling

chill girl group songs/kpop playlist

dreamcatcher chill & slow playlist

taeyeon ost playlist

korean coffee shop playlist

krnb/khiphop chill n study playlist

Get up: make the firm decision that you are going to study and move towards you desk.

Get tea: or coffee. The preference of beverage is up to you. You just need to believe that it will help, even if its only for a little bit. 

Set goals: if you are very exhausted setting mini goals like studying for an hour will be much more motivating.

<transcript below>

So you’ve learned Hangul. ‘What do I do now?’ is probably your next question. I would know because you all have asked me at least ten times a day. The people have spoken; a lot. So I shall give the people what they want. Here is a short masterlist for beginners who are endlessly stuck at Hangul and have no idea what to do next:

Typing in Korean:     ♡ Hangul (just in case you haven’t gotten that part yet)     ♡ Practice your Hangul: typing test     ♡ How to change your keyboard: language setting       ♡ Korean Fonts

Flashcards / Apps:     ♡ Quizlet     ♡ Anki     ♡ Apps

Websites:     ♡ Talk to Me in Korean (TTMIK)     ♡ How to study Korean (HTSK)     ♡ Lang-8     ♡ KoreanClass101     ♡ Haru-Korean     ♡ Learn Korean     ♡ Sogang Korean

Masterlists:     ♡ Study Korean 101     ♡ Fluentlee     ♡ From Ireland to Korea     ♡ Lost in Korean Translations     ♡ Flicker of Korean     ♡ Korean from Dummies     ♡ Bite Sized Korean     ♡ Bulletproof Korean     ♡ Sohee Studies     ♡ Hannah-DulSet     ♡ Korean Study Tips     ♡ Su-eop     ♡ GGKorean

My Resources / Recommended:     ♡ Textbooks          ~ I will always recommend TTMIK (textbooks here)     ♡ Korean Games     ♡ Websites     ♡ Apps     ♡ Webtoons

Beginner Need to Know:     ♡ Introducing yourself     ♡ Vocabulary (literally fill your brain with as much vocab as possible)     ♡ Batchim (받침)     ♡ Sentence Structure     ♡ Conversational Korean

Tips:     ♡ The romanized Korean is not a complete representation of the Korean alphabet. Understanding that pronunciation/spoken Korean is just as important as reading and writing will help your Korean flourish - so drop romanization.     ♡ You are literally free to do whatever you want. You could learn phrases, vocab, grammar - you could even start taking beginner lessons at a KSL school or find a tutor; your Korean language journey is your own. What works for me might not work for you.     ♡ There’s always a honeymoon stage. What I mean by this is sometimes people are caught up in the excitement of learning Korean that they forget to do the boring stuff - ie grammar and extensive studying. The honeymoon stage usually filters those who are serious and those who aren’t about learning Korean.     ♡ However you chose to learn Korean, own it. If you’d like to learn through KDramas/KPop, that’s okay. If you want to go to Korea and immerse yourself, that’s okay. Own it. And work hard while you’re at it.

Studying Korean is a beautiful and painful process. As a former beginner, I can tell you it’s a lot of work but it’s worth it. I hope that you have some guidance now when you’re done learning Hangul, but it’s really up to you the path you decide to take. Best of luck! I will always be here to answer your questions - don’t hesitate to message. Happy Studying :)

*All verbs below are in original form(dictionary form).

존재하다 : to exist

선언하다 : to declare, proclaim

목격하다 : to witness

제안하다 : to suggest

조언하다 : to advise

개입하다 : to intervene

헌신하다 : to devote

축하하다 : to congratulate

환영하다 : to welcome

접근하다 : to approach

투자하다 : to invest

개선하다 : to improve

응원하다 : to cheer, support

설명하다 : to explain

오해하다 : to misunderstand, misconceive

해결하다 : to resolve

조절하다 : to adjust

계획하다 : to plan

보호하다 : to protect

조사하다 : to investigate

확인하다 : to check, verify, confirm

출발하다 : to depart, set off, start

도착하다 : to arrive, reach

설득하다 : to persuade

양보하다 : to yield, give way

희생하다 : to sacrifice

쟁취하다 : to achieve, win

야기하다 : to cause, bring about

실수하다 : to make a mistake

긍정하다 : to affirm

부정하다 : to deny

생산하다 : to produce

소비하다 : to consume, spend

인정하다 : to admit

소유하다 : to own, possess

봉사하다 : to serve, do volunteer work

유지하다 : to maintain

보조하다 : to assist

인용하다 : to quote, cite

대표하다 : to represent

선택하다 : to choose, select

거절하다 : to reject, refuse

촉진하다 : to promote, accelerate, boost

요구하다 : to demand, ask

사과하다 : to apologize

추측하다 : to guess, suppose

간섭하다 : to interfere

낭독하다 : to read aloud

관찰하다 : to observe

추구하다 : to pursue, seek