How to study?

if ya have a place to yourself (or a really understanding family) i find that reading out loud helps, especially in the languages great for helping accents and that!! You have to concentrate more on the info compared to when your just skimming.....ya might feel like a fool at first but give it a chance. Try everything at least once, its only that way youll find what works for you:D Good luck in the mocks!!

You have more than 3 months left, so believe it or not you have plenty of time to revise the whole course in all your subjects. Start now. Your mocks are great at giving you the experience of doing an exam (question timing), but you should treat them as just that. You probably haven't covered some of the material anyway.

Make a study timetable aiming to have everything covered (and hopefully revised too) by the end of May. Make it REALISTIC. Give yourself plenty of breaks. STICK TO IT. Make sure you are always aware of what you need to have covered by June, i.e. if you miss your study on a specific topic, don't just forget about it - slot it it somewhere else. If you feel that timetabling isn't for you, at least have a list of all the topics you need to cover and tick off as you go.

The leaving cert is very manageable if you go about it the right way. If you plan your study time, you will always be able to see what needs to be done and you can move things around effectively if an unexpected event occurs (such as a night out you just can't miss). Doing the leaving cert doesn't mean you have to forfeit your social life completely, just mostly! But your social life will THRIVE when you get into the right course in the right college.


For wordy subjects such as history, business etc.

Making notes is an extremely effective way of helping you to remember material as well as reducing your revision workload coming up to the June.

Your notes should be concise and to the point. Leave out all irrelevant words, focus on noting only significant relevant points. Ensure your notes are neat - titles, margins, bullet points, & colour coding can help. Do not simply copy what is in the book - you could use your time more effectively.

When looking over your notes you will find that you remember a lot of the info. Use a highlighter to narrow your focus even more. By highlighting the key word in a sentence, you will be reminded of the whole piece of information when you reread just one word.

You will be grateful that you have done this when your exams are coming up and you can revise everything very quickly. A small pile of A4 sheets is a lot less daunting than a 200 page history book.


For languages

Two key areas: vocabulary and grammer.

Learn new words. Seriously. People forget that you have to do this and wonder why they are failing.

If you learn 5 words every night until May you will have about 450 new words by the leaving cert. If you learn 10 you'll have 900. Revise the words from the previous day until they stick in your head. Words that are repeated in comprehensions or useful phrases that can be used in many places will prove most uselful.

Learn the rules of grammer. These are the foundations the language is built on. You may have to brush up on your english grammer! (What is a pronoun, a reflexive verb, the accusitve or nominative case? If you don't know in english how will you know in another language.) If your textbook doesn't spell them out clearly enough, buy a revision book. Practice using the rules in sentences. Correct grammer is essential for a high grade.


For mathematical subjects

Learn formulas.

Practice, practice, practice.


Prepare by doing exam papers. Ensure you know how you are marked. The marking schemes for past papers are available on http://examinations.ie/.


In Trinity the student union elections are on at the moment - lots of campaigning and carry on that you would expect in American sitcoms. Weekends in college start on Tuesdays. There are free drinks receptions here at least 3 times a week if you know where to look. Once you're here, you're here - you will never have to work as hard as you did for the LC ever again. So get it right the first time.

Personally I learnt off sentences.
Break them up in your head and make Rhymes, anything that works.

Oh and for Geography and subjects like that, I had the best teacher.
He made us write everything into summaries... that way we understood things.. summarise in your own words,
1) It makes you think about the subject and not just write it down
2) You understand it so you've learnt it off and it'll stay with you.
3) Understanding is more important than learning off by heart.
4) if you understand then the marker will get the feeling you've conveyed your subject matter in the right context and grammar etc.

Good luck, it only happens once.
Don't make the mistake I did, study as hard as possible all year and then lose motivation the week before.

keep focused, write down on a piece of paper each day how many points you want and think in your mind of how to get those points, i.e. if I study this bit, it could come up..... look up sample answers to get an idea, you don't have to re invent the wheel, just look at what other people have done already and get a better idea.

It works...