18. 06. 2019
Hello everyone, in today´s article I´m going to write about the things that helped me to deal with my first two exam seasons at the university. I will try to give you as much information as possible. I´m sure you already know a lot of information about how to study easily and what can help you, however, I´ll try to focus on the things you may haven´t known about. I hope you´ll find it useful in some way for your next exam season! Have a nice summer, relax and enjoy the holiday! L.
1. The first thing that helped me to even imagine the university exam season was the CILS exam experience. Although the international exam is not the same as the exam at the uni, I´d already had a rough idea about what it feels like and what I can expect.
2. During the revision days I had an exact plan: waking up at 7, breakfast and studying from 8:00 a. m. After each hour of studying I took a break for 30 minutes. From 12:00 to 2 p. m. I had a longer break for lunch, watching films and listening to music. In the studying breaks I was also doing the exercises of SM system. From 2 p. m . I continued with studying. I´m the type of person who is not able to study and focus at night. If it was necessary, I was studying till 23:30, but usually I stopped at 22:00.
3. Some days were more productive, some of them less. I usually study by chapters or topics. The night before the next studying day I decided how many chapters I wanted to learn the next day. I never write a to – do list, because it´s something that stresses me out. I always write more things than I´m able to do and in the end of the day it makes me feel less productive than I actually was. If I´m not able to study all the topics I wanted, I´m not angry with me. I try to be happy with the work I complied.
4. As I mentioned, I always use the timer/ alarm clock on my phone while studying. Thanks to this I know how many hours a day I dedicated to the preparation. I don´t switch my phone off, I don´t turn off the wi-fi.
5. If you want to revise for the exam and stay as calm as possible, a good time management is a fundamental thing. This way you can revise a certain amount of the studying materials day by day and moreover, you have some days for the final revision of the most important parts.
6. The fresh start of your studying day. Make yourself a healthy breakfast (smoothie, oatmeal ..) and start with something easier. I always started my studying day with reading the Spanish news and listening to the Spanish radio.
7. Don´t forget to comply your water intake. If you drink enough, you can focus better. It can be water with lemon, juice, plain water, tea ..
8. Use the highlighters, coloured slips of paper, pencils, .. simply try to be creative. Visit the stationery shop and buy something which can make your studying session more comfortable! This really helped me with the exam of Phonetics and phonology. I wrote the most important rules and definitions on the small coloured papers.
9. Use flashcards. You can create them on Quizlet. It´s very useful especially to remember some definitions, key words or for example to classify authors, phonemes .. I use these flashcards whenever I travel, when I don´t have so much time.
10. Watch motivational videos! There are many youtubers who focus on the studying content. I especially like these kinds of videos: “real time studying” – the video takes for example 2 hours, youtuber is studying and you can do the same thing. I also like the “revision videos” or “how to be productive/motivated since the morning”. My favourite studying youtubers are: Holly Gabrielle (Cambridge), Ruby Granger (Exeter), Sienna Santer (Harvard), or Paige Y (Cambridge).
11. Don´t forget to do some exercise, go out, to do some manual work. Do at least one thing a day that makes you happy!
12. Look at your successes, be happy for them. Think day by day, exam by exam. If you tried to comply everything in a short amount of time, you would probably feel unnecessarily stressed, tired, exhausted. I always take no more than 2 exams a day. If I feel I need more time for the studying and revision, I postpone the exam.
13. Everyone has a chance to pass the exam! You too. Trust yourself. Believe in your knowledge. Nobody is genius, believe that the majority of the students feel just as you.
14. If you freak out before or during the exam, here are some advices for you. Take a breath, try to breathe regularly. My method is: 6 – 6 (breathing in, breathing out). You can adapt it to your needs. If you don´t understand the task, read it again and again. If you feel under the pressure, you may don´t see an easy solution. Do your best, don´t give up. Take your time, don´t hurry. Try to stay as calm as possible, the nerves only make it worse.
15. Repay yourself! No matter if you passed or failed. You deserve the reward for the effort.
16. Find a good place to study. I prefer studying in my bed, sometimes in the garden. I don´t study in the library or behind the table. I study alone. Only this way I can focus a 100%. I don´t speak aloud, I don´t use the voice recorder. In most cases I study visually.
17. I always arrive in school in advance and revise the most important parts or questions.
18. I had to study during the semester to be able to pass some of the exams. In other cases, I studied 10 days in advance at the maximum. It doesn´t make any sense to study longer.
Soo .. thank you so much for reading! I tried to use this time when I still have the recommendations on my mind to summarize these advices. Anyway, during the summer I´m planning to publish regularly again. So see you soon! 🙂
Is there anything particular you would like to read about? Send me a message!
