1 Revision Sheet = 10 Minutes Of Tumblr After...

1 revision sheet = 10 minutes of tumblr after...

God I’m bad at revision!

How to study: Information Based Subjects (Biology, Home Ec, History)

Hey everyone so I have been thinking about starting a series on how to study certain subjects. The subjects I did in high school were English, Irish, french, maths, home economics, biology and physics. I think this series will be a 4 part series starting with today’s which is How to study information based subjects such as subjects like Biology which has a lot of information to be learned !

Disclaimer: This is how I studied for my exams and it worked for me and it might not work for you!

Flash Cards

This is my number one way of revising anything with a lot of information.  Let’s say I am studying asexual reproduction in plants for biology. I go through the chapter and underline relevant information. If you don’t know what is relevant ask a friend or a teacher. Once I know what relevant info I need I start making my flash cards. I add a title card with the name of the chapter. I use small enough flashcards and so I like to write the information big. I tend to keep the information short and sweet and leave out any unnecessary words. Try to not overcrowd the flashcard. Try having 3 pieces of information on one flash card. If you are going to draw a diagram cut out a piece of plain white paper the same size as the flashcard that way it can be included in the pile of flashcards! Once I am done a set of flashcards I will put it in a pile and use a paperclip to keep a chapter together. Then I will go back to them when I am revising

Mini Whiteboards

I got this idea from my biology teacher who used mini whiteboards with us at the start of class where she would have a little pop quiz. Now I know most people won’t have access to a mini whiteboard so if not I am going to give you two ways to make one with everyday supplies. The first way is how I did it! So you will need a polypocket basically the things you put in folders to protect your pages. Then you will need a white page to insert into it. That’s it! You will then have a fully functioning whiteboard. Just write onto the plastic with a white board marker and rub it out with a tissue or a cloth to be more ecofriendly! Another way is to laminate a blank page. You could use lined or just plain paper whatever you think would work for you! And it works the exact same as the page protector! I use this to do definitions when writing them out again and again! This way im not wasting as much paper and you are still learning as you are writing the information down. I would also revise a chapter by writing down everything I know on a chapter and then revising anything I don’t know!

Notes

Take notes in class! Whether it’s writing it into the book beside the text or into a notebook they will come in handy at some point even if it’s when your doing questions on the topic! If your teacher uses powerpoints ask them to email them to you and take notes at home or review them at home while doing revision questions! The notebook doesn’t have to be anything fancy just a plain copy will do because by the end of the year it will probably be a mess anyways!

Past Papers

Past papers are one of the most important things to do when revising anything especially information heavy subjects. Start at least a year before exams that way you can get used to the layout and the marking scheme for your subjects. I didn’t do enough Home Economics papers and when I got the actual exam I felt out of my depth because of this. I would recommend asking teachers to mark them for you as they know the marking schemes better than you do and they might mark you harder than you would mark yourself which is a good thing when it comes to exams. Past papers are a good revision technique because they often repeat themselves over a certain amount of years so you start repeating questions and this helps you learn over time!

Homework

Always do your homework! There have been subjects that I hated so much that I refused to do the homework and it just caused added stress and anxiety and it came back to bit me in the arse when it came to exams ! Just take a half hour out of your day to do that essay or those revision questions because let’s be honest your teacher doesn’t really care if you do them or not because it’s going to harm you more than them ! Even if you start your homework during free classes or lunch it will benefit you. On days that I had a lot of homework I would take my lunch to myself and sit in my class with my headphones in getting it done and most of the time I would work on something that had a heavy book because I didn’t want to carry it home!

Videos

Since subjects with a lot of info can be a lot sometimes videos can come in handy especially the night before an exam. The night before and the morning of my biology exam I watched Crash Course and everything that I watched came up and I was able to picture the diagrams and definitions in my head and the examples Hank gave for certain things! Some of my favourite videos series include: Crash Course and Khan Academy

Quizlet 

I know a lot of information heavy subjects have many definitions to learn and I know mine did. I used quizlet to learn my definitions. I use the type function to learn them as it really helps to revise them and get them in my head. I do this until I know the definition!

Mindmaps

I not a fan of mind maps but they work for certain things. I found they work great for history especially if you draw pictures beside the fact!

These are my tips on how I studied for information based subjects especially subjects such as History and Biology. Take these tips with a grain on salt and learn what works for you and learn from what doesn’t! It took me a while to figure out how I studied and these are the majority of how I would study for these types of subjects!

Let me know how you study and if you liked this post please reblog it! I will be continuing this series in the next few weeks so keep an eye out for those! It’s great to be back and thanks for all the support over the past few months!

how to get the most out of duolingo

duolingo is a great app/website that you can use to begin learning a foreign language, but unfortunately you most likely won’t be able to fully learn the language if you only use duolingo. so, here are some things that you can do to get the most out of duolingo and to learn your target better.

1. read the lessons - most of the languages (especially if you’re learning in english) have little lessons. however, these are only available on the website, so if you use the app, you might want to occasionally check in online and click on the little lightbulb to read the lessons. they usually aren’t super in-depth, but for beginners it is super helpful and not as heavy as a textbook grammar guide.

2. don’t work too fast and always revise - if you’re knocking out a bunch of lessons a day thinking you’ll learn faster, this could be true, but most likely it’s not. if you work at a steady pace and remember to do it once a day (preferably at the same time – they say this is better for memorization) you will learn it better. if you do one lesson or maybe two a day and you still have time for more, go ahead and revise a little. when i first started french, i did two lessons a day and then always revised to make sure i remembered everything.

3. study the vocabulary - not all of the courses have this, but on the online version some of the courses have a tab on the top that says “words” and this is a great place to find all the vocabulary that you’ve been learning in your courses. go through the list and find all the words you don’t know that well or at all and make some flashcards or a set on quizlet and study them. learn how to spell them, pronounce them, conjugate them, and use them within a sentence. if you do this, you’ll always have a solid base to fall back on. this goes for learning conjugations, as well.

4. start learning your native language in your target language - after you’ve finished all the courses in your target language, feel free to revise daily. you might want to, however, start learning your native language in your target language. this might not be an option for all the languages offered on duolingo. for me, i learned english in french. this was helpful for picking up more phrases and seeing more common ways that french people write. if you’re feeling particularly confident and know your stuff really well, try learning a new language in your target language. for example, i did the spanish course in french, which definitely helped with my french phrasing while translating. 

5. don’t stop after you finish your course - if you’ve done it right, finishing your course on duolingo will give you a really good start to the language you’re learning. after you’ve finished, keep revising, but also go ahead and start learning your target language in different ways. i made a whole in-depth post on how to learn a language online here. some ideas are reading children books, watching youtube videos and movies, and talking to natives all in your target language. never give up because it will be worth it. 

Saturday, July 22nd, 2017 

Here are some of the very best apps for students; either in highschool or in college. I have used many of the following apps, but not all of them. Some, I have just asked friends about and they suggested those ones. 

Please enjoy the apps below, tell me how you like them, and feel free to add onto this list :)

Focus: SelfControl, Forest, MindNode, FocusBooster, FocusWriter, Think, StayFocused, Freedom, Cold Turkey, Anti-Social, Time Out, SmartBreak, Balanced

Productivity: Evernote, Any.do, MyScript Nebo, Outlook, Trello, Droptask, Basecamp, Pocket, Gyst, Doodle, Pen and Paper, Wunderlist, Toggl, Asana, Wolfram Alpha

Sounds: Tide, WhiteNoise, Chroma Doze, Coffitivity, Noisli, Brain.fm, NatureSpace, Noizio, Rainy Mood, SimplyNoise, Spotify, Slacker Radio 

Language Learning: Duolingo, Memrise, Busuu, Babbel, Livemocha, Living Language, Tandem, MindSnacks

Games: Lumosity, Sudoku, TanZen, GeoMaster Plus HD, Speed Anatomy, Star Walk, LeafSnap, Splice: Tree of Life, Vismory, Pigments, Viridi, Sunshine, Nota

Revision: Gojimo, Revision App, iMindMap, Exam Countdown, Penultimate, Clippet

Test Prep: Khan Academy, Magoosh ACT Flashcards, The Grading Game, Math Brain Booster, ACCUPLACER Study App, CK-12, NRICH, StudySync, Quizlet, StudyAce, That Quiz, Brilliant, Synap

Planner: Timeful, Remember the Milk, Listastic, Finish, 2Do, iStudiez Pro, MyHomework Student Planner, My Study Life, ClassManager, MyLifeOrganized, Daily Agenda, Schedule Planner, Todoist

Writing: EasyBib, ProWritingAid, Bubbl.us, WiseMapping, yWriter5, Storybook, Q10, Write 2 Lite, Writer, Diaro, Note Everything, OmmWriter, Draft

Health: MyFitnessPal, Lose It, Endomondo, FitNet, Sworkit, Daily Yoga, Yonder, Fooducate, SideChef, Rise, LifeSum, Meditation Studio, Happify, 7 Cups, Clue, Start, Power Nap App, Fit Radio, Calm

Courses: Corsera, PhotoMath, Udemy, HowCast, SimpleMind+, Open Culture, Canvas, Schoology, Alison, CourseBuffet, Degreed, Instructables, InstaNerd, Big Think, Yousician, Pianu 

Books & Reading: CampusBooks, Scribd, Pocket, Wattpad, GoodReads, Readmill, Audible, Prizmo, Blio, Kindle, Overdrive, BlueFire Reader, Nook, Kobo, Aldiko, Cool Reader

Note Taking: SuperNotes, StudyBlue, Bento, QuickOffice, Google Keep, Zoho Notebook, Simplenote, Bear, OneNote, Box Notes, Dynalist.io, Squid, Notability 

Inspiration: TED, Lift, Believe It: You Will Achieve, BrainCourage, Get Inspired, iFundamentals, Reinventing Yourself, iWish, Pozify, Positive Thinking - The Key to Happiness, The Gratitude Journal 

Other: WiFi Finder, Mint, Zwoor, Brain Pump, Curiosity, Ready4 SAT, GradeProof, edX, Mendeley, Due, CamScanner, IFTTT, Square Cash

Day 3 of the #1yearoflangs challenge!

Learning about animals today!

How to know which language level you’re at and tips for improving your skills - divided by proficiency level!

These are all my personal thoughts and experiences from reaching a proficient level in one language, and an intermediate in another!! Feel free to correct me or add whatever you wish<3

 1. A0 - Knowledge Level: Nothing

At this stage, you have absolutely no knowledge or very little knowledge about a language. My advice is to start out slow: the alphabet, pronunciation rules, basic pronouns, colors, etc. At this point, there’s not much you can improve on (Reading/Writing, Listening and Speaking) since you’ve got no actual knowledge to expand upon. Try apps like Duolingo, have fun with translating words such as your favorite animal, plant, or swear word. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself at this point, it’s all in good fun! Try starting a notebook in which you write down new words, (i.e. all of them) or watching a couple videos on Youtube, even if you don’t understand much.

2. A1 - Knowledge Level: Just a Bit

This is when you slowly exit the stage of “is this even a language” and enter the “beginner” world. You know a couple basic verbs (to be, to have, eat, sleep, walk, talk, etc) and some sets of basic nouns/pronouns. (weekdays, months, numbers, colors, objects you find around the house, and all that fun jazz.) You can string together a couple sentences you’ve heard twenty times on Duolingo! Regardless of the fact that “The boys drink milk” is not really something you’ll need in irl conversation, it’s good that you’re getting familiar. By this time, you should start looking into proper grammar rules such as verb terminations, tenses, noun declinations, pronouns, etc. Children’s books are a good way to learn a lot of stuff you’d need. The language is simple and it goes straight to the point, which is the only type of writing you understand, mostly. Right now, speaking is not really an option aside from learning to pronounce words right. Listening, on the other hand, can be done really easily! If you find that Youtube channels in your target language are boring or too hard to understand, music is the way to go. You’re especially lucky if you’re a Disney fan, because most of their songs are easy to remember and are dubbed in a lot of languages, so have fun with finding what fits you best!

3. A2 - Knowledge Level: Basic/Preliminary

Now we’re beginning to see some major improvements. You pick up words easier, you can read almost perfectly even if you don’t understand everything, and you can form really basic sentences by yourself. For speaking, by now you should be able to say your name, the place you live in, and maybe talk about your hobbies or your favorite stuff! It depends on if you’ve worked with a teacher until now or not, so don’t worry if you’re still struggling. As a stepping stone between beginner and intermediate, this level can either be the one when you slowly improve or make a really big jump in your skills. Listening to songs and youtube videos should be easier, but nobody is expecting you to actually comprehend everything. As for vocabulary and reading, learning new words should come more intuitively by now, but again, you’re still in the early days. Writing is still something that can be difficult, so try maybe linking a couple sentences together to make a short story and translating some simple texts. But it you don’t find it difficult, writing a hundred words once a couple days may be the way to go.

4. B1 - Knowledge Level - Intermediate

Finally, we’ve reached the intermediate stage! By now you should be able to hold very basic conversation and reveal information about yourself. You should be able to pick up words you know from the people around you, and understand mostly everything if spoken slowly and clearly to. Reading light books or magazines should be challenging but okay, while you should be able to remember certain words without making too big of an effort. By this stage, active learning is still essential, as you probably have a lot more ahead in your language learning journey. I encourage you to write short stories or several sentences about your day in a diary, depending on what works for you. Watching Youtube videos should be something you do often, because it improves listening skills greatly and gets you accustomed to informal speech patterns and filler words.

5. B2 - Knowledge Level - Advanced Intermediate

Yay! You have officially reached the advanced intermediate stage! You should be able to hold everyday conversation without too big of a headache, listening probably isn’t a breeze for you but still, if you watch a basic youtube video you can pretty much get all of it. YA books should be a regular part of your reading, since they’re not too hard to comprehend but still a good reading exercise. Vocabulary probably isn’t a bother anymore, since you know most of the words you need and the ones you don’t, you hear them once or five times and they stick to you. At this level you can probably write some basic fanfiction, or anything that doesn’t require advanced language skills but is still challenging. Congrats! You’re almost at an advanced level!

6. C1 - Advanced

If you’re still here, means you’ve got a strong sense of dedication. C1 is the advanced level, where you have pretty much everything that you need to comfortably live your life in a country which speaks your target language. If you’re already here and most of the above things seem far, far away to you, then maybe it’s time to get down on some serious reading. Look up local classics, or contemporary works that stimulate your mind. Writing essays, reviews, reports, etc, should be something you are able to do, as you have a good grasp on both formal and informal language, both literary concepts and idioms/phrasal verbs/slang. Listening should come easily, with the ability to understand everything that is spoken to you without worries, as long as they don’t have an alien accent. Speaking, too, should be a breeze by now, with everyday conversation being a piece of cake and more formal conversations not posing too big of a challenge. If you want to reach the next– and last– level, it can be done through thorough preparation of skills that are usually required by exams or for language-related jobs. If you don’t care about either of these, congrats! You learned a language! 

7. C2 - Proficient

Long past fluency, you now wish to master a language, down to its very core and history. Pick up some of the big classics to read. Watch a bunch of those complicated videos explaining complicated concepts. Write poetry and prose,and speak to people in contexts which require more than the average range of vocabulary. If you’re still not satisfied, get a damn teacher. Tumblr can’t help you now.