Study Tips
 

I just thought this would be a good thread for those of us who are in school. If you're like me, you may sometimes have a hard time remembering some of the words or definitions that are needed to pass an exam. One of the methods I use is I try to use the word in a sentence or have it rhyme with something. In my case rhyming is a little harder to do when I have to learn the meanings of words like Hip dysplasia, Patella luxation, Cardiac abnormalities and Polycystic kidney diesease, just to mention a few.:( But sometimes it works.

For example read over this list once, noting how many words you remember two minutes later.

Gate
Hive
Shoe
Vine
Heaven
Sticks
Door
Hen
Tree
Bun

Most of us won't recall all of the words. Now read the list again, and this time associate each word with a number that rhymes. Like the number 1 is bun, 2 is shoe, 3 is tree. 4 is door, 5 is hive, 6 is sticks, 7 is heaven, 8 is gate, 9 is vine, 10 is hen. Five minutes later, count to 10.

Reciting the numbers using a neural path will help you easily remember the words on the list. It works for me.

A 2nd example is to read this list below. Wait two minutes and then try to recall the words.

Pickle
Llama
Broom
Skateboard
Lightbulb
Bed
Fish
Clown
Eggplant
Stethoscope

This time, counting to 10 won't help. Instead, try to remember the list using your visual system. This is the method I use most of the time, because far more neurons are involved in seeing than in any other sensory function, so creating a mental picture of a word from the list above and linking it with a word from the 1st example I gave makes it a little easier. For example the hen sits on an eggplant, or a lightbulb glows from a shoe. Wait a few minutes and then count to 10. You'll probably recall the 1st list, and the 2nd will follow. Try it. It may work for you. It works great for me.:)

ETA: If anyone knows of anything better, please post it. I need all the help I can get.:(

I've do stuff with mnemonic devices sometimes. I used it to memorize different categories in linguistics. I can't remember it right now but...ha, I swear it worked at the time.

You take the first letter of each word in the series then make up a sentence. It's like Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally for the order of operations in math. Parentheses, exponents, multiplication/division, addition/subtraction. Yay!