These observations are based on the personal experiences of many people . Please add your own comments by writing to us ukindia
To put the information in the long term memory stores in the brain involves paying close attention , understanding the material and then cramming it . Search for a quiet space -best is often at home in the evening or maybe an empty classroom in the afternoon .
Find a book by an author who can teach in simple language and from first principles . For eg . Nelkon is one of the best for Physics . Start studying the subjects in the following order - English , Mathematics , Physics , Chemistry and last Biology .
For eg get a book of mathematics which can teach from simple additions and subtractions and then upto say age 15 and then 18 .
Start from page 1 . Read each sentence slowly . Make sure you understand it . Get up from the chair , walk about and articulate that sentence . This vocalizing gets it into the short term memory . It is also very useful because often when you try to vocalize it without looking at the book you will find that you didnt really understand it and then you go back and try to work it out again . If you get really stuck ask a teacher . Then move on to the next sentence. When you have finished the chapter , read the worked example .
Get a piece of paper and make sure you can redo the worked example without looking at it again . Then read a question from the excercises at the end of the chapter and look at the correct answer from the back of the book . Now work out the question and you should get the way the answer is worked out . Do this for a few questions , then move on to the next chapter . Dont waste time doing your questions without looking at the answers for the moment
. Do this for each chapter say 2-3 hrs a night and you should be able to do a 10 year course in 2 weeks at the most . Next get some past papers which have been solved by a teacher in some book and go through each of the questions making sure you understand the way it is done .
Next move on to Physics . Something like Nelkon's O-level or GCSE Physics is excellent . Start from page 1 , articulate each sentence on getting up from the chair . It often helps to draw little pictures in your mind . Having already done the Maths first , Physics will be quite easy . In Physics start with Mechanics , then Heat , then Light , then Electronics . Do exactly what is recommended for Maths above . Do the same with Chemistry and finally Biology .
For the languages learn the script and then names of a few hundred common items -see the Spanish lessons on ukindia . For English the best books are by F G French . If you do all 5 of them you will never make a spelling mistake again . They are out of print and you will have to get your library to get them from the copyright libraries in Oxford , Cambridge , London and the Library of Congress in Washington . They are called 'Self Help excercises in English by F G French' -parts 1 to five.
At University make sure you rewrite the lecture in the evening or better type it into the computer . Share the duty with your friends , otherwise at exam times you will find that most of your lecture notes are illegible and panic will set in ! Lecturers should really put their lectures on the Internet together with diagarams -see for example the medical topics page on ukindia . Get past papers before you start the course and do some questions from it . It is often best to write about 100 essays throughout the year - a bit like this one , putting in your own words the essential features of that topic . Then at exam time make sure you cram those essays..
Tips on Essay writing
These must be written in a simplified form in a language you can understand . There is no point in writing more than 2 or 3 A4 pages on a topic where you will get only half an hour per question.
An essay should be like a good lecture . Define the topic then the content and finally a summary . For your research you will need to read a book or article on the topic and integrate that with your own experiences and thoughts . When reading the article note down key words as you read . Then over the next day look at the key words and start to formulate the essay in your mind .