How Students Can Memorize Printed Texts Better

The article is about getting maximum profits from reading and about using your new knowledge in practice.

1. Notify Key Moments, Learning Info and Main Ideas

Mostly, people mechanically look into a text without making any notes while reading a book or Internet article. They forget useful information as a result. If you note everything that attracts your attention, you'd be able to memorize and use that info in real life much better.

Underline, Highlight and Think About the Text

It is not enough just to underline certain text parts. To memorize the info, you need to think over it. For instance, look through the writing and your notes once more after you finished reading. Concentrate on the information that is important to you. This is how you can determine the data worth memorizing.

Divide Info into Categories

When making notes, remember where you can use the info and why you liked it. Divide it into the required categories. For example: “Key phrases”, “General studying information”, “Ideas to use”.

Create a Record

To memorize the book or studying material better, create a record of it. Do this with Evernote or any other text editor which is comfortable for you. Keep up with this plan:

• Download the book’s cover;
• Describe the book with your own words;
• Write out all the best quotes and key moments;
• Write your ideas and thoughts that appeared during the process of reading.

2. Discuss the Material with Friends

A discussion is what increases the value of a reading material significantly.

Choose one of your groupmates or friends who has different thoughts or non-standard thinking, and discuss the book together with him or her. This is the way for you to improve your analytical skills, ability to state your thoughts and memorize the read text. Moreover, you’ll be able to look at the learning material from another viewpoint.

3. Write About Things You’ve Read

One of the best ways to catch up new knowledge is to pass it to someone. When writing about the book, you do not only pass its sense to people but enrich the book content with your own ideas and experience. The same thing works with any learning material as well.

4. Ask Questions About the Text

You replace passive consumption with active analysis when asking yourself questions about the material you’ve read. The analysis of 10 pages of a good book can give you more than a quick reading of 50 Internet articles.

After you finished reading, ask following questions:

• What was it about in general?
• What topics did the reading touch in details?
• Does the content correlate with reality completely or partially?
• What exactly correlates with reality?
• Is it possible to use new knowledge in life?
• Did any similar situation happen to me?
• What thoughts appear after reading?

You can consume written contents passively or participate in it actively. Participation can bring you more satisfaction and use.

5. Read the Book Once More

When you read the book one more time, you discover info which could be missed or misunderstood previously. Additionally, you perceive previous knowledge in another way, too.

6. Use Knowledge in Real Life, but Start Gradually

One of the most critical reasons for people not to use book recommendations in practice: they try using it all at once. They try rebuilding their life radically after reading any motivational or learning book. But this requires huge efforts and people quit it all standing halfway. Then, they decide tips from the book do not work and take the next one to find recommendations of another guru. The vicious circle gets closed.

New habits have to enter your life almost unnoted. The more difficult and time taking the new practice is, the higher is the probability for you to quit it. So, if your reading is about changing your life, change it gradually, day after day.

The same thing works for students reading learning materials. You can’t memorize it all after some sleepless nights before the exam. Treat studying carefully, take responsibility for your grades, and don’t postpone it all to the very last moment.

Good luck and excellent grades to you!