Help with studying

Meglamonia

What way works for ye for studying?

Any specifice advice for English,Irish,Maths,French,Geography,Business,Biology or Economics would be greatly appreciated thanks

brian93

Always doing your homework, and being properly prepared for class tests is a great start! What I found to be the best method, and it took me a while to find it, was re-writing notes, and to break a chapter down onto one sheet.

For Maths, the only way to go is to do as many questions as you can. Make sure you do all the questions in your exam papers, and if you can all the questions in your book if you have time, particularly early in the year. (Say if your teacher gives you Q. 1, 4, 7, 10 etc, do questions 2, 3, 5, 6 etc. to get the hang of it properly!

For Geography, be smart about what you learn. No need to learn the tertiary activities for both the Paris Basin and Mezzogiorno or for the West of Ireland and Dublin as they have never asked specifically which one to answer on. Learn as many essays as you can - about 8 for each section, picking out for sure the ones that come up most years, and then 4 for the essay style questions (ie. biomes or whatever you do!) Re-writing essays is the key here, and learning the facts and percentages of this and that help get you some valuable SRP's! And put full effort into your project! It will bring your mark up significantly if you do it well!

For Biology, re-write your notes until you can fit a chapter onto a page (ie. Respiration/Menstrual Cycle) Learn your definitions word for word, and make sure you know your experiments back to front! It's a big syllabus so get into tackling it as soon as possible!

My advice seems like a lot but you have so much time that it's not even funny! Just be smart and don't spend all your time staring at the wall or out the window!!

Meglamonia

brian93 wrote: »

Always doing your homework, and being properly prepared for class tests is a great start! What I found to be the best method, and it took me a while to find it, was re-writing notes, and to break a chapter down onto one sheet.

For Maths, the only way to go is to do as many questions as you can. Make sure you do all the questions in your exam papers, and if you can all the questions in your book if you have time, particularly early in the year. (Say if your teacher gives you Q. 1, 4, 7, 10 etc, do questions 2, 3, 5, 6 etc. to get the hang of it properly!

For Geography, be smart about what you learn. No need to learn the tertiary activities for both the Paris Basin and Mezzogiorno or for the West of Ireland and Dublin as they have never asked specifically which one to answer on. Learn as many essays as you can - about 8 for each section, picking out for sure the ones that come up most years, and then 4 for the essay style questions (ie. biomes or whatever you do!) Re-writing essays is the key here, and learning the facts and percentages of this and that help get you some valuable SRP's! And put full effort into your project! It will bring your mark up significantly if you do it well!

For Biology, re-write your notes until you can fit a chapter onto a page (ie. Respiration/Menstrual Cycle) Learn your definitions word for word, and make sure you know your experiments back to front! It's a big syllabus so get into tackling it as soon as possible!

My advice seems like a lot but you have so much time that it's not even funny! Just be smart and don't spend all your time staring at the wall or out the window!!

Great answer thanks

spurious

People study successfully in very many ways. You really have to find out what works for you.

wayhey

Meglamonia wrote: »

What way works for ye for studying?

Any specifice advice for English,Irish,Maths,French,Geography,Business,Biology or Economics would be greatly appreciated thanks

You don't say whether you're in 5th Year or what level you're doing the subjects at? I'm going to assume you're in 6th Year, doing Honours for most of this. I can only really advise on the subjects I've done.

General Study Tips

I agree completely with spurious, different people learn in different ways. I know that I'm a very visual learner. I learn better when my notes are in clear, bullet-pointed lists and sometimes have small doodles or drawings to help me remember. I'm also a big fan of recording stuff and listening to it again. For example, I found some crucial scenes of Shakespeare on YouTube and put them on my phone for when I was out running. They'd come up on an odd shuffle and the quotes would really just sink in after a while (Just double-check they match quotes in the actual text!!). Get into a routine of study and be honest with yourself. (I've heard it said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, so don't completely derail if you struggle a little bit at first). Try to spread yourself out evenly across subjects, especially ones you hate or find difficult. I can't stress enough how much flash cards worked for me - they can be absolutely brilliant to fly over definitions in Biology, quotes in English or experiments, quickly and easily. You can even get someone at home to ask you the question on one side, something which worked for me when I was getting tired. Remember to take regular breaks and look after yourself!! Unwind (some exercise and fresh air, even a few minutes is great!), eat healthy and get plenty of sleep. You don't want to burn yourself out!

I found writing out study plans really helpful, even early in the year.. like a list of Biology chapters (or larger chapters broken down into smaller chunks). It meant I record progress, see where I needed to study more and I could mark off topics I found harder and go back to them later.

Keep motivated too! Pin up sheets from a prospectus about your course! Blu-tack up old exams you didn't do well in as motivation to keep going!

English: Don't neglect Paper 1. People always forget that it's worth as much as Paper 2! I really believe the best way to improve your English grade is to keep writing. Try to do a Question A and B a week and ALWAYS hand your work up. Teachers are usually great at correcting stuff, after all, most are teaching subjects they like. Understand the different essay styles, and try to read a little every week. Websites from magazines like Time, National Geographic and The Guardian are great. If something sticks in your mind you could mention it in a discursive essay. Invest in a thesaurus and a decent dictionary. Use them when reading notes/writing answers to improve your vocabulary. It sounds babyish, but it actually makes your answers stick out straight away if you're not using the same words all the time.

I'd highly recommend the Key Skills book for revision. It's got great notes on the Shakespeare play and poetry (and Lies of Silence, Dancing at Lughnasa and Il Postino on comparative...). Regardless of your comparative, it's well worth it I think. Reading a few opinions on poems can help you formulate your own. Cian Hogan's Poetry textbook also has outstanding notes (in my opinion) but they can be a little complex and sometimes too complicated. I definitely needed a dictionary to hand but I found some stuff that was really great at sticking out from everyone else's answers, little insights into poems I'd missed. Try to learn a few quotes each week. Bear in mind you need to know quotes/the story from your single text very well. If you're in 5th Year, get very familiar with characters/plot now. You need to have that down by November of 6th Year I'd say. Try to pick a quote from each poem you're studying along the criteria of "Theme, Image, Technique (e.g. Metaphor, Rhythm). What I mean by that is, pick quotes that show a poet's technique or main message. "How" poets write is something that seems to come up a lot lately, not anything as easy as a personal response. And cover a few poets... don't allow yourself to jeopardise your grade in June. Keep at it, keep reading notes (there's lots of good stuff online!) and do as many previous questions as you can, especially on poetry and the single text!

Irish: I did the old course and know nothing about the new one other than the oral is worth about 40% now? I'd say get started on that now and aim to have an oral copy prepared by Christmas (not learned, but questions/answers written out and CORRECTED by your teacher!) If you can get the basics out of the way now, then you'll have a head start and be able to devote time to stuff like the picture stories or any topical news that could come up close to the oral. In studying essays I learned a very good general opening and ending (positive/negative). I'd fill it in with bullet points I'd learned from topics, eg An Córas Sláinte. The oral actually comes in here nicely and if it's marked like ours was, variety and "naturelness" of Irish will get you good marks. So a high standard of oral does pay off in the written too!

Maths: I only did Ordinary Level and know nothing about Project Maths!

French: I broke my study up as follows into 3 sessions per week.
1) Grammar - I got to terms with the present tense, then past, then future, regular irregular. I learned the verbs by writing them down on flash cards and just learning off the endings. Monotonous as hell, but it's worked for years for people.
2) Abstract Topic - Pick a topic and collect relevant vocabulary and suitable sentences you can learn off. eg drugs, sport... again, this can all count to an oral!
3) Oral/Comprehension/Listening - Kind of like a flexible sesion. Coming up to the oral obviously I focused on that. I tried to do diaries regularly as well as Listening (1, or even part of 1, at weekends). Read French websites on stuff you like, it actually sinks in well!

Geography: I disagree with brian93. Geography exams have started to change and the syllabus specifies that you do European/Irish/Sub-Continental examples of each economic activity. The SEC are copping on that people are leaving stuff out and Geography questions have become much more twisted. If you want a high grade don't take shortcuts. The minimum (for a high B/A) really is to do one of each. But I do agree that you can be clever about your study... try to find links between areas, such as the development of Paris and Dublin (both have a financial services sector in the city, both have extensive rail connections etc). It's really just a memory test, but try to do a full Geography question every second night and hand it up... you'll be amazed how quickly your standard will improve!! Try to UNDERSTAND Geography instead of learning off lots of meaningless facts. I found learning a "profile" for each region worked well, like population, rainfall, any relief/drainage features, etc. These can explain why economies develop the way they do in a region and allow you to develop SRPs smoothly. I'm not sure that I'm explaining myself very well.. I did rewrite lists of SRPs repeatedly too to get it to sink in. DON'T neglect the boring stuff, like learning the folding periods in physical Geography. Don't be afraid to watch nature documentaries on the rainforest/desert biome for SRPs and tie them into your own answer, or find some SRPs online, it really makes an answer leap off the page!

Biology Like Geography, Biology is a behemoth of a subject. Firstly, get your definitions down. Flash cards worked well for me, and writing them out again and again. Then prioritise experiments, you'll have to answer 2 questions on them in the exam. Finally work your way through the chapters, writing out notes, doing exam paper questions and rewriting answers. Make sure to frequently come back to topics like photosynthesis or respiration, or any other ones you find harder to remember. Try to "tie" things together when you're studying, e.g. Studying the circulatory system and the heart.. the heart is an organ... what is an organ? a collection of tissues working together to perform a function.. what is a tissue made up of? cells!.. what keeps the heart going? it has its own blood supply via the coronary artery... what regulates heartbeat? The SA/ AV nodes (I could be wrong on this, haven't looked at it in months..!)... they're directly related to the nervous system... Thinking like this worked for me anyway. Diagrams are absolutely crucial as well, don't disregard them! They don't have to be perfect but they should be clear.

I'm probably getting vaguer as I go on Good luck with it, stick at it, ignore those negative voices that creep in as your studying, don't waste time worrying and you'll do fine All you can do is your best!

Meglamonia

wayhey wrote: »

You don't say whether you're in 5th Year or what level you're doing the subjects at? I'm going to assume you're in 6th Year, doing Honours for most of this. I can only really advise on the subjects I've done.

General Study Tips

I agree completely with spurious, different people learn in different ways. I know that I'm a very visual learner. I learn better when my notes are in clear, bullet-pointed lists and sometimes have small doodles or drawings to help me remember. I'm also a big fan of recording stuff and listening to it again. For example, I found some crucial scenes of Shakespeare on YouTube and put them on my phone for when I was out running. They'd come up on an odd shuffle and the quotes would really just sink in after a while (Just double-check they match quotes in the actual text!!). Get into a routine of study and be honest with yourself. (I've heard it said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit, so don't completely derail if you struggle a little bit at first). Try to spread yourself out evenly across subjects, especially ones you hate or find difficult. I can't stress enough how much flash cards worked for me - they can be absolutely brilliant to fly over definitions in Biology, quotes in English or experiments, quickly and easily. You can even get someone at home to ask you the question on one side, something which worked for me when I was getting tired. Remember to take regular breaks and look after yourself!! Unwind (some exercise and fresh air, even a few minutes is great!), eat healthy and get plenty of sleep. You don't want to burn yourself out!

I found writing out study plans really helpful, even early in the year.. like a list of Biology chapters (or larger chapters broken down into smaller chunks). It meant I record progress, see where I needed to study more and I could mark off topics I found harder and go back to them later.

Keep motivated too! Pin up sheets from a prospectus about your course! Blu-tack up old exams you didn't do well in as motivation to keep going!

English: Don't neglect Paper 1. People always forget that it's worth as much as Paper 2! I really believe the best way to improve your English grade is to keep writing. Try to do a Question A and B a week and ALWAYS hand your work up. Teachers are usually great at correcting stuff, after all, most are teaching subjects they like. Understand the different essay styles, and try to read a little every week. Websites from magazines like Time, National Geographic and The Guardian are great. If something sticks in your mind you could mention it in a discursive essay. Invest in a thesaurus and a decent dictionary. Use them when reading notes/writing answers to improve your vocabulary. It sounds babyish, but it actually makes your answers stick out straight away if you're not using the same words all the time.

I'd highly recommend the Key Skills book for revision. It's got great notes on the Shakespeare play and poetry (and Lies of Silence, Dancing at Lughnasa and Il Postino on comparative...). Regardless of your comparative, it's well worth it I think. Reading a few opinions on poems can help you formulate your own. Cian Hogan's Poetry textbook also has outstanding notes (in my opinion) but they can be a little complex and sometimes too complicated. I definitely needed a dictionary to hand but I found some stuff that was really great at sticking out from everyone else's answers, little insights into poems I'd missed. Try to learn a few quotes each week. Bear in mind you need to know quotes/the story from your single text very well. If you're in 5th Year, get very familiar with characters/plot now. You need to have that down by November of 6th Year I'd say. Try to pick a quote from each poem you're studying along the criteria of "Theme, Image, Technique (e.g. Metaphor, Rhythm). What I mean by that is, pick quotes that show a poet's technique or main message. "How" poets write is something that seems to come up a lot lately, not anything as easy as a personal response. And cover a few poets... don't allow yourself to jeopardise your grade in June. Keep at it, keep reading notes (there's lots of good stuff online!) and do as many previous questions as you can, especially on poetry and the single text!

Irish: I did the old course and know nothing about the new one other than the oral is worth about 40% now? I'd say get started on that now and aim to have an oral copy prepared by Christmas (not learned, but questions/answers written out and CORRECTED by your teacher!) If you can get the basics out of the way now, then you'll have a head start and be able to devote time to stuff like the picture stories or any topical news that could come up close to the oral. In studying essays I learned a very good general opening and ending (positive/negative). I'd fill it in with bullet points I'd learned from topics, eg An Córas Sláinte. The oral actually comes in here nicely and if it's marked like ours was, variety and "naturelness" of Irish will get you good marks. So a high standard of oral does pay off in the written too!

Maths: I only did Ordinary Level and know nothing about Project Maths!

French: I broke my study up as follows into 3 sessions per week.
1) Grammar - I got to terms with the present tense, then past, then future, regular irregular. I learned the verbs by writing them down on flash cards and just learning off the endings. Monotonous as hell, but it's worked for years for people.
2) Abstract Topic - Pick a topic and collect relevant vocabulary and suitable sentences you can learn off. eg drugs, sport... again, this can all count to an oral!
3) Oral/Comprehension/Listening - Kind of like a flexible sesion. Coming up to the oral obviously I focused on that. I tried to do diaries regularly as well as Listening (1, or even part of 1, at weekends). Read French websites on stuff you like, it actually sinks in well!

Geography: I disagree with brian93. Geography exams have started to change and the syllabus specifies that you do European/Irish/Sub-Continental examples of each economic activity. The SEC are copping on that people are leaving stuff out and Geography questions have become much more twisted. If you want a high grade don't take shortcuts. The minimum (for a high B/A) really is to do one of each. But I do agree that you can be clever about your study... try to find links between areas, such as the development of Paris and Dublin (both have a financial services sector in the city, both have extensive rail connections etc). It's really just a memory test, but try to do a full Geography question every second night and hand it up... you'll be amazed how quickly your standard will improve!! Try to UNDERSTAND Geography instead of learning off lots of meaningless facts. I found learning a "profile" for each region worked well, like population, rainfall, any relief/drainage features, etc. These can explain why economies develop the way they do in a region and allow you to develop SRPs smoothly. I'm not sure that I'm explaining myself very well.. I did rewrite lists of SRPs repeatedly too to get it to sink in. DON'T neglect the boring stuff, like learning the folding periods in physical Geography. Don't be afraid to watch nature documentaries on the rainforest/desert biome for SRPs and tie them into your own answer, or find some SRPs online, it really makes an answer leap off the page!

Biology Like Geography, Biology is a behemoth of a subject. Firstly, get your definitions down. Flash cards worked well for me, and writing them out again and again. Then prioritise experiments, you'll have to answer 2 questions on them in the exam. Finally work your way through the chapters, writing out notes, doing exam paper questions and rewriting answers. Make sure to frequently come back to topics like photosynthesis or respiration, or any other ones you find harder to remember. Try to "tie" things together when you're studying, e.g. Studying the circulatory system and the heart.. the heart is an organ... what is an organ? a collection of tissues working together to perform a function.. what is a tissue made up of? cells!.. what keeps the heart going? it has its own blood supply via the coronary artery... what regulates heartbeat? The SA/ AV nodes (I could be wrong on this, haven't looked at it in months..!)... they're directly related to the nervous system... Thinking like this worked for me anyway. Diagrams are absolutely crucial as well, don't disregard them! They don't have to be perfect but they should be clear.

I'm probably getting vaguer as I go on Good luck with it, stick at it, ignore those negative voices that creep in as your studying, don't waste time worrying and you'll do fine All you can do is your best!

Yeah im in 6th everything honours except maths

and fantastic answer appreciate it