1. Confidence and Self-belief:
The students should have confidence in themselves and belief in their own abilities. They should have a strong belief and confidence that they can clear the exam. Everything can be achieved through belief.
2. Knowledge and Hard Work:
Knowledge is necessary to clear any competitive exam. The students should have good knowledge about fundamentals and concepts of the subject. Without this, they can never hope to clear the exam.
For gaining knowledge, a lot of hard work and preparation is necessary. Knowledge cannot be gained overnight. Conceptual knowledge can be perfected by reading and understanding the concepts and then practicing questions based on these concepts.
3. Solving sample papers and past question papers:
This is the most important. Solving sample papers and past question papers will give an idea about the type of questions asked in the entrance exam and also give a lot of practice to the students. This will help the students in the actual exam.
While practicing and also during the exam, the students must always pay attention to their speed i.e. how fast and accurately they can solve the questions. It is advisable not to spend too much time on a single question. If they are not able to solve that question in a particular time limit, they should leave the question and move ahead.
4. Time Management:
Firstly, students must prepare a timetable for studying, and make sure that they are following the time table ritually. The timetable must be prepared for the period up to the exam and then broken up into monthly, weekly and daily schedules.
The students must then keep a record of what and how much they have studied and review their performance regularly.
Initially, a student should study for 3 to 4 hours a day for the competitive exam. Later when the exam draws near, around 6 to 8 hours can be put in.
5. Sharpness of mind:
Sharpness of mind is needed for competitive exams. A sharp mind gives conceptual understanding, ability to think out difficult or tricky questions and speedy response to the questions.
Sharpness of mind can be achieved by regular practice and also by doing brain exercises such as puzzles, crosswords, chess and sudoku.
Hope these tips will be useful for the students who are going to appear for the exams..
Best Of Luck!!!!!
Showing posts with label prepare for sat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prepare for sat. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Friday, November 20, 2009
Study effectively for Gre,Gmat,Sat,Ielts,Toefl.
1. Prepare blocks of study time and break:
As your tests are approaching develop and plan for, blocks of study time in a typical week. Blocks ideally are around 50 minutes, but perhaps you become restless after only 30 minutes. Some difficult material may require more frequent breaks. Shorten your study blocks if necessary—but don’t forget to return to the task at hand! What you do during your break should give you an opportunity to have a snack, relax, or otherwise refresh or re-energize yourself. For example, place blocks of time when you are most productive: are you a morning person or a night owl?
2. Dedicated study spaces:
Determine a place free from distraction (no cell phone or text messaging!) where you can maximize your concentration and be free of the distractions that friends or hobbies can bring! You should also have a back-up space that you can escape to, like the library, departmental study center, even a coffee shop where you can be anonymous. A change of venue may also bring extra resources.
3. Weekly reviews:
Weekly reviews and updates are also an important strategy. Each week, like a Sunday night, review your words, your notes, your calendar. Be mindful that as deadlines and exams approach, your weekly routine must adapt to them!
4. Prioritize your assignments:
When studying, get in the habit of beginning with the most difficult subject or task. You’ll be fresh, and have more energy to take them on when you are at your best. For more difficult courses of study, try to be flexible.
5. Postpone unnecessary activities until the work is done!
Postpone tasks or routines that can be put off until your school work is finished! This can be the most difficult challenge. Distracting activities will be more enjoyable later without the pressure of the test, assignment, etc. hanging over your head. Think in terms of pride of accomplishment. Instead of saying “no” learn to say “later”.
6. Identify resources to help you
Are there tutors? An “expert friend”? Have you tried a keyword search on the Internet to get better explanations? Are there specialists in the library that can point you to resources? What about professionals and professional organizations. Using outside resources can save you time and energy, and solve problems.
7. Use your free time wisely
Think of times when you can study "bits" as when walking, riding the bus, etc. Perhaps you’ve got music to listen to for your course in music appreciation, or drills in language learning? If you are walking or biking to school, when best to listen? Perhaps you are in a line waiting? Perfect for routine tasks like flash cards, or if you can concentrate, to read or review a chapter. The bottom line is to put your time to good use.
8. Review notes and readings just before class
This may prompt a question or two about something you don’t quite understand, to ask about in class, or after. It also demonstrates to your teacher that you are interested and have prepared.
9. Review lecture notes just after class
Then review lecture material immediately after class.
The first 24 hours are critical. Forgetting is greatest within 24 hours without review!
As your tests are approaching develop and plan for, blocks of study time in a typical week. Blocks ideally are around 50 minutes, but perhaps you become restless after only 30 minutes. Some difficult material may require more frequent breaks. Shorten your study blocks if necessary—but don’t forget to return to the task at hand! What you do during your break should give you an opportunity to have a snack, relax, or otherwise refresh or re-energize yourself. For example, place blocks of time when you are most productive: are you a morning person or a night owl?
2. Dedicated study spaces:
Determine a place free from distraction (no cell phone or text messaging!) where you can maximize your concentration and be free of the distractions that friends or hobbies can bring! You should also have a back-up space that you can escape to, like the library, departmental study center, even a coffee shop where you can be anonymous. A change of venue may also bring extra resources.
3. Weekly reviews:
Weekly reviews and updates are also an important strategy. Each week, like a Sunday night, review your words, your notes, your calendar. Be mindful that as deadlines and exams approach, your weekly routine must adapt to them!
4. Prioritize your assignments:
When studying, get in the habit of beginning with the most difficult subject or task. You’ll be fresh, and have more energy to take them on when you are at your best. For more difficult courses of study, try to be flexible.
5. Postpone unnecessary activities until the work is done!
Postpone tasks or routines that can be put off until your school work is finished! This can be the most difficult challenge. Distracting activities will be more enjoyable later without the pressure of the test, assignment, etc. hanging over your head. Think in terms of pride of accomplishment. Instead of saying “no” learn to say “later”.
6. Identify resources to help you
Are there tutors? An “expert friend”? Have you tried a keyword search on the Internet to get better explanations? Are there specialists in the library that can point you to resources? What about professionals and professional organizations. Using outside resources can save you time and energy, and solve problems.
7. Use your free time wisely
Think of times when you can study "bits" as when walking, riding the bus, etc. Perhaps you’ve got music to listen to for your course in music appreciation, or drills in language learning? If you are walking or biking to school, when best to listen? Perhaps you are in a line waiting? Perfect for routine tasks like flash cards, or if you can concentrate, to read or review a chapter. The bottom line is to put your time to good use.
8. Review notes and readings just before class
This may prompt a question or two about something you don’t quite understand, to ask about in class, or after. It also demonstrates to your teacher that you are interested and have prepared.
9. Review lecture notes just after class
Then review lecture material immediately after class.
The first 24 hours are critical. Forgetting is greatest within 24 hours without review!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Learning Verbal..
Lord Gautam Buddha was awakened or enlightened under the tree of Pipal or the Bo-tree which is famous for the story of how Prince Siddharth became Lord Buddha. So that particular tree has been famous by the name of BodhiVruksha. Now, that tree also signifies us something other that we don’t often care to understand. We do see the huge setup of the tree but we often forget how deep in the ground the roots of the tree are! Unless the tree grows its roots meters in the ground, it cannot gain the sky catching height we see. That teaches us that to reach heights of knowledge it is absolutely necessary to have roots of basics firm. So learning the basics of any subject will provide you knowledge that will be thorough and long lasting.
As far as Verbal is concerned good knowledge of English is necessary and that doesn’t mean that people, who don’t get on with English language well, won’t do well. Learning the Verbal section with right approach is necessary. Many students have a common misunderstanding that learning wordlists by heart is the only way to score good in verbal sections. I would suggest learning in right approach will make it easier to understand, interesting and long lasting in memory. How many words will you memorize? 300? 400? 500? And how long will you remember them? There are some 4000 words that are commonly used in Spoken-Written English in countries like U.S. and U.K.
The aim for keeping this Verbal section in exams like GRE, GMAT, SAT is that the students should get familiar with the type of language, the variety of words that are commonly used in English speaking countries. Not with the aim of ‘lets see how much can you memorize?’ Ok, You will learn Nouns, then Adjectives, then Verbs-Proverbs and all the parts of speech; so you can tell me that you have learned everything for Verbal section and you are now ready to take on the test. But I will ask you, ‘Have you learnt English?’ The aim of learning often gets sidelined. Then what is the use of learning it? There are techniques of learning. If you follow them the learning will become a merry journey rather than prolonged, boring and unending process.
The way to prepare for Verbal section goes through understanding of construction of the language. Every word that comes before us has been made up with some basic elements like suffix, prefix and the main root or stem of the word. Now, the approach towards learning should be like a Surgeon; you should look to dissect the word in its elements. Try to separate the root of the word and then look for its meaning. Then go for the prefix and suffix that are attached to the root and get what information they provide about the word. This method should be followed for each word that comes before us, that may be in Eveready’s newspaper, in any book or in day to day listening. It’s all about getting it as a habit. Look at a verb- “confine” that means “to restrict”. Now instead of just memorizing it, lets dissect it! 'con’ is the prefix that signifies ‘within’ and ‘fin’ is the root which tells us ‘limiting something’. The whole word turns out ‘to limit within’ or to say ‘to restrict’. Now lets see word ‘finite’, which is a noun. Look for the root; it is ‘fin’ which now we already know. It says something about ‘limiting’. And the given word is a noun without any prefix. So can the meaning be derived as ‘limited’; yes, that is the step towards getting the meaning.
Students must get the habit to look beyond just the word, the sentences and create awareness about what and how they read, listen or speak. This awareness is more important while preparing for SAT as SAT test have a bit weight on Grammar. Learning the language as a whole will be the better option than trying to memorize the words. Same goes with the writing of essays. Once you get the central idea of what to write, the ideas will start to flow automatically. It’s all about explaining yourself the same topic. Once you convince yourself that you have understood the subject, it will be matter of typing the same matter on the computer screen and the reader will understand it as you have understood it. Nothing makes the joy of understanding something more appreciable than knowing it thoroughly and in right approach. Learn to enjoy the process and then results will follow you.
As far as Verbal is concerned good knowledge of English is necessary and that doesn’t mean that people, who don’t get on with English language well, won’t do well. Learning the Verbal section with right approach is necessary. Many students have a common misunderstanding that learning wordlists by heart is the only way to score good in verbal sections. I would suggest learning in right approach will make it easier to understand, interesting and long lasting in memory. How many words will you memorize? 300? 400? 500? And how long will you remember them? There are some 4000 words that are commonly used in Spoken-Written English in countries like U.S. and U.K.
The aim for keeping this Verbal section in exams like GRE, GMAT, SAT is that the students should get familiar with the type of language, the variety of words that are commonly used in English speaking countries. Not with the aim of ‘lets see how much can you memorize?’ Ok, You will learn Nouns, then Adjectives, then Verbs-Proverbs and all the parts of speech; so you can tell me that you have learned everything for Verbal section and you are now ready to take on the test. But I will ask you, ‘Have you learnt English?’ The aim of learning often gets sidelined. Then what is the use of learning it? There are techniques of learning. If you follow them the learning will become a merry journey rather than prolonged, boring and unending process.
The way to prepare for Verbal section goes through understanding of construction of the language. Every word that comes before us has been made up with some basic elements like suffix, prefix and the main root or stem of the word. Now, the approach towards learning should be like a Surgeon; you should look to dissect the word in its elements. Try to separate the root of the word and then look for its meaning. Then go for the prefix and suffix that are attached to the root and get what information they provide about the word. This method should be followed for each word that comes before us, that may be in Eveready’s newspaper, in any book or in day to day listening. It’s all about getting it as a habit. Look at a verb- “confine” that means “to restrict”. Now instead of just memorizing it, lets dissect it! 'con’ is the prefix that signifies ‘within’ and ‘fin’ is the root which tells us ‘limiting something’. The whole word turns out ‘to limit within’ or to say ‘to restrict’. Now lets see word ‘finite’, which is a noun. Look for the root; it is ‘fin’ which now we already know. It says something about ‘limiting’. And the given word is a noun without any prefix. So can the meaning be derived as ‘limited’; yes, that is the step towards getting the meaning.
Students must get the habit to look beyond just the word, the sentences and create awareness about what and how they read, listen or speak. This awareness is more important while preparing for SAT as SAT test have a bit weight on Grammar. Learning the language as a whole will be the better option than trying to memorize the words. Same goes with the writing of essays. Once you get the central idea of what to write, the ideas will start to flow automatically. It’s all about explaining yourself the same topic. Once you convince yourself that you have understood the subject, it will be matter of typing the same matter on the computer screen and the reader will understand it as you have understood it. Nothing makes the joy of understanding something more appreciable than knowing it thoroughly and in right approach. Learn to enjoy the process and then results will follow you.
ASPIRING FOR SAT,GRE,GMAT ? DEVELOP READING HABIT.
Students preparing for the Sat,Gre,Gmat tests have to mandatorily develop the habit of reading extensive until and unless you read extra stuff other than your academic recording – you can never be sure of performance in all these list. RC’s or reading comprehensions is the toughest part of all these tests even for the best of the students.Two or three month span that you have for preparation makes sure of the following.
1.Devote atleast one hour for extra reading.
2.Pick up anything and everything of your disposal for healthy reading.
3.If not anything newspaper reading also will do if done religiously. Read the “Speaking Tree ” in Times of India and editorials from newspapers.
4.While reading concentrate on the time take n to comprehend the stuff, which should be reduced with each passing days.
5.Magazines like readers digest will not only help you improve your language but also in quicker comprehension.
1.Devote atleast one hour for extra reading.
2.Pick up anything and everything of your disposal for healthy reading.
3.If not anything newspaper reading also will do if done religiously. Read the “Speaking Tree ” in Times of India and editorials from newspapers.
4.While reading concentrate on the time take n to comprehend the stuff, which should be reduced with each passing days.
5.Magazines like readers digest will not only help you improve your language but also in quicker comprehension.
Strategies for learning wordlists.
Learning the 'Word Lists' is a big problem for students. Here,we can discuss and follow some strategies and become 'Wordsmith'.
1. First of all, don't go for the rote learning or 'rattafication' as they call it. Always try to understand the meanings of the words. Most of the words may have more than one meanings. Study all the meanings minutely as many of them can be tricky. Keeping all the meanings of a certain word in mind may be a real challenge. But DONT run away. Take the bull by its horns instead. Plan and follow a well-defined strategy. You can form sentences mentally in order to remember different meanings of different words. In case of adjectives, you can personify them i.e. you can allot the adjectives to certain persons whom you know. Don't worry, s/he will never know it. You are doing everything mentally.
2. Secondly, do not depend on only one or two sources for your words .Learn them from different sources viz. newspapers, magazines, books, flash cards, etc. There is a very good book in the market to improve word power. It's called ' Word Power Made Easy' written by Norman Lewis. Watching good T.V. channels like CNN or BBC is also a good idea. Just keep your sensors alert, you will learn a lot in the process.
3. Last but not the least, while going through ' Word Lists ' of any good book like 'Barron's, you should revise them periodically. I will elaborate this point through an example. Barron's GRE has fifty word lists. I recomend ten word lists in the first week. Once you have completed ten of them, revise those ten and then go ahead. Complete next ten in the second week. After two weeks, you will have completed twenty word lists. Again revise those twenty and so on. Thus, by the end of five weeks you will have completed and revised all the fifty word lists.
However, don't stop even after completing all the fifty word lists. If you don't practice them, you will forget them very fast. So in order not to forget those words and to learn many more new words, read. Thus, you will come across the words you have learnt and they will remain with you for the rest of your lives. Further, use the words on daily basis in your writings and conversations. Take my word for it.
Work in a planned manner and it will pay very handsome rewards. All the best.........
1. First of all, don't go for the rote learning or 'rattafication' as they call it. Always try to understand the meanings of the words. Most of the words may have more than one meanings. Study all the meanings minutely as many of them can be tricky. Keeping all the meanings of a certain word in mind may be a real challenge. But DONT run away. Take the bull by its horns instead. Plan and follow a well-defined strategy. You can form sentences mentally in order to remember different meanings of different words. In case of adjectives, you can personify them i.e. you can allot the adjectives to certain persons whom you know. Don't worry, s/he will never know it. You are doing everything mentally.
2. Secondly, do not depend on only one or two sources for your words .Learn them from different sources viz. newspapers, magazines, books, flash cards, etc. There is a very good book in the market to improve word power. It's called ' Word Power Made Easy' written by Norman Lewis. Watching good T.V. channels like CNN or BBC is also a good idea. Just keep your sensors alert, you will learn a lot in the process.
3. Last but not the least, while going through ' Word Lists ' of any good book like 'Barron's, you should revise them periodically. I will elaborate this point through an example. Barron's GRE has fifty word lists. I recomend ten word lists in the first week. Once you have completed ten of them, revise those ten and then go ahead. Complete next ten in the second week. After two weeks, you will have completed twenty word lists. Again revise those twenty and so on. Thus, by the end of five weeks you will have completed and revised all the fifty word lists.
However, don't stop even after completing all the fifty word lists. If you don't practice them, you will forget them very fast. So in order not to forget those words and to learn many more new words, read. Thus, you will come across the words you have learnt and they will remain with you for the rest of your lives. Further, use the words on daily basis in your writings and conversations. Take my word for it.
Work in a planned manner and it will pay very handsome rewards. All the best.........
Preparing for the tests...Work Hard and Relax !!!
Many students work really hard for their tests (SAT/GRE/GMAT/TOEFL/IELTS). But still they do not score good marks. Morever, they are unable to make out what went wrong. A very BIG reason for doing bad in the test is that they worked HARD. May be too hard. There is a whole lot of difference between working 'hard' and working 'intelligent'.
It is very important to make a proper schedule for your studies and follow it properly. Break your study time into short intervals. An ideal duration for one session is two hours. Study for two hours and then take a short rest for upto half an hour. In that half an hour, you can eat or drink something light. Don't take a big meal if you want to study. Eat something light at short intervals. If you take a heavy meal, you will feel lethargic and may fall asleep. If you want to sleep during day, take a siesta after lunch. It is also known by other names like cat nap or power nap. After this, you can start with fresh energy. It should not exceed 30 minutes. Else it will make you feel lazy.
If you are tired or bored of studies, do not force yourself too much. take a break. You can do deep breathing exercises. Our brain does not work to its full capacity if it lacks oxygen. Therefore, it is our responsibility to supply it with fresh oxygen. You can take a cup of strong tea or coffee also.
The most important day of your preparation is the previous day of the exam.And the most vital activity of that previous day should be to RELAX. You have prepared for the hundred meter race. You have worked very hard for it. Hence, DON NOT practice just before going to the field. What I mean to say is that your frame of mind at the time of the test is very important. If you have already exhausted it, it is going to take revenge which may be disastrous.
Therefore, take proper sleep on the previous night. Eat good food before going for the test. 'Good food' means the food which provides you energy but does not make you feel sleepy. Drink water at regular intervals.
While taking the test ATTACK every question. It means that you should be fully alert and should utilize your brain to the hilt.It is important to work hard for whichever test you are preparing for. But it is equally important to reward yourself on a daily basis for the hard work you have done. You must be aware of the saying : " All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". Hence, avoid being a dull boy and enjoy and relax after you have done your hard work.
All the best........
It is very important to make a proper schedule for your studies and follow it properly. Break your study time into short intervals. An ideal duration for one session is two hours. Study for two hours and then take a short rest for upto half an hour. In that half an hour, you can eat or drink something light. Don't take a big meal if you want to study. Eat something light at short intervals. If you take a heavy meal, you will feel lethargic and may fall asleep. If you want to sleep during day, take a siesta after lunch. It is also known by other names like cat nap or power nap. After this, you can start with fresh energy. It should not exceed 30 minutes. Else it will make you feel lazy.
If you are tired or bored of studies, do not force yourself too much. take a break. You can do deep breathing exercises. Our brain does not work to its full capacity if it lacks oxygen. Therefore, it is our responsibility to supply it with fresh oxygen. You can take a cup of strong tea or coffee also.
The most important day of your preparation is the previous day of the exam.And the most vital activity of that previous day should be to RELAX. You have prepared for the hundred meter race. You have worked very hard for it. Hence, DON NOT practice just before going to the field. What I mean to say is that your frame of mind at the time of the test is very important. If you have already exhausted it, it is going to take revenge which may be disastrous.
Therefore, take proper sleep on the previous night. Eat good food before going for the test. 'Good food' means the food which provides you energy but does not make you feel sleepy. Drink water at regular intervals.
While taking the test ATTACK every question. It means that you should be fully alert and should utilize your brain to the hilt.It is important to work hard for whichever test you are preparing for. But it is equally important to reward yourself on a daily basis for the hard work you have done. You must be aware of the saying : " All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". Hence, avoid being a dull boy and enjoy and relax after you have done your hard work.
All the best........
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
SIX RULES FOR FASTER COMPREHENSION
1.READ MORE:
You must make time for reading,atleast two full hours thrice a week.This makes reading a natural habit & more rewarding.2.LEARN TO READ FOR MAIN IDEA:
Stop wasting time& effort for details ,push through effeciently for a quick recognition of the main idea.Be more interested in the writer`s basic thinking than in his minor points.
3.CHALLENGE YOUR COMPREHENSION:
Try to read difficult & challenging material. you will never become a better reader by limiting yourself to easy reading.
4.BUDGET YOUR TIME:
Keep youself deadlines in reading .Say to yourself: "i have this book & i want to finish it by tomorrow night"
This way you will mobilize yourself for reading as an intellectual pursuit
5.PACE YOURSELF:
Set yourself a time limit,say 15mts & count the no of pages you have finished in that time, multiply by 4& you have your potential speed for that book per hour.
Keep to the rate you have set yourself.This way you will learn to devise personal tricks to speed up.
6.DEVELOP HABITS OF IMMEDIATE CONCENTRATION:
Nothing makes concentration so easy ,so immediate as the technique of sweeping through the material purposefully looking for main ideas & broad concepts.
This stimulates your mind, you get involved in the writer`s thoughts & as an added dividend you soon find increased concentration.
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