Test Time

Anxious students tend to suffer a lot during test time. That is my case, I get too nervous and anxious when a have an exam. Therefore, exams for me do not only mean studying hard but also searching for techniques to lower my anxiety. I want to share with you my studying techniques for anxious students.

Take your time to study

Do not start studying two days before the exam (if you are able to). When you already know the date of the test, you can start studying a bit every day. This gives you time to read and reread the notes and to take down notes.

Make a summary

If you profit more from visual techniques, summaries, word maps, time lines and charts will help you a lot.  Try to write the summary with your own words but include relevant words and definitions that you need to incorporate to your vocabulary.

Check and study from the summary

Read your summary and check if you do not need to add more information or to correct anything (language, spelling or conceptual errors).

Practice aloud

Ask questions to yourself to see if you can answer them without relying on your notes.

Share and make connections

Share your notes or what you have study with your classmates. Helping one another it is highly enriching. In the same way, it is useful to make connections between the topics and the real world such as, personal experiences, films or songs.

Relax

When the test is very near, just try to relax. Once a teacher explained that the brain can only retain small pieces of information per day. So it is useless to spend the whole night before the test studying, you will only get tired. Listen to your favourite music, sleep and eat well. Be optimistic and remember that we always have a second chance.

But don't be lazy; you won’t have a third or a fourth chance!!! (Sorry, my anxiety is talking again)

First Language Acquisition Stages:

•   Cooing: (0-4 months) the baby starts producing vocal sounds.

•   Babbling: (6-8 months) the baby produces syllables such as ‘mama’ ‘dada’

• One –word stage: (12-18) babies start to understand and produce words such as ‘food’ ‘dog’ ‘toy’

• Two-word stage: (18-24 months) children produce two-word combinations such as ‘doggie big’ ‘mama go’

•  Telegraphic stage: children began producing full sentences.

It was highly useful for me to learn about these stages and to understand that the time varies according to each child. Although they may be going through a silent period, language is still being developed in their minds. My daughter almost omitted the two-word stage, I remember that she only said ‘mama milk’ and nothing else. But she became the ‘talking-queen’ during the telegraphic stage. So remember, language is not a formula, it is a very complex subconscious process going on in the child’s mind.