No matter where you are in life, there may come a point when you stumble across a subject that’s difficult to comprehend. Learning new things can take a while, but what if you don’t have much time to spare? We’ve compiled a few ways you can speed up the learning process.

3

Take notes. They will help you remember the subject.

  1. Great notes make studying much easier. Listen to the information being presented and write it down in your own words. Write down key information in short phrases rather than using complete sentences. Leave spaces in your notes to jot down comments or questions later on.[3]
    • For example, instead of writing down, “The food chain is a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food,” you could write, “Food chain: series of organisms eating each other.”
    • Try developing a shorthand that’s easy to write down and understand. For example, if you’re learning about chemistry concepts, you could shorten catalyst to cat, chromatography to chrom, or stoichiometry to stoich.
    • If you're taking notes on how to do something sequential, like how to solve a math problem, write your notes down in steps. That way, it will be easier to remember how to apply those same steps to different problems.[4]
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5

Ask questions if you’re feeling stuck.

6

Study the subject 10 to 20 minutes a day. Studying will help you learn the subject faster.

  1. Lengthy cram sessions don't help you retain information in the long-term. Instead, try to space out your study time so you’re doing a little bit every day. Try studying for 10 to 15 minutes every evening or whenever you have time.[8]
    • Studies show that trying to cram a bunch of knowledge into your mind right before a test will only help you retain it in the short term.
    • If you’re limited on time, you might not be able to spread your studying over multiple days. If that’s the case, just make sure you take lots of breaks to give your brain a rest.
10

Memorize information with a mnemonic device.

Community Q&A

  • Question
    What should I do if I am getting low grades in math but am trying my best?
    Julia Zuklie
    Julia Zuklie
    Community Answer
    The first thing you can do is talk to your teacher to make sure they know you are trying. If your school has multiple math classes, try asking them if there is a possibility of moving down to one which has more time to work on math improvement. Also, you can ask your teacher for study tips and extra help, and maybe they can even get you situated with a tutor if you need it.
  • Question
    How to reciting English words quckly?
    Julia Zuklie
    Julia Zuklie
    Community Answer
    Try using flashcards, they help a lot. Even when making them, it helps you learn.
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About This Article

Daron Cam
Co-authored by:
Academic Tutor
This article was co-authored by Daron Cam and by wikiHow staff writer, Hannah Madden. Daron Cam is an Academic Tutor and the Founder of Bay Area Tutors, Inc., a San Francisco Bay Area-based tutoring service that provides tutoring in mathematics, science, and overall academic confidence building. Daron has over eight years of teaching math in classrooms and over nine years of one-on-one tutoring experience. He teaches all levels of math including calculus, pre-algebra, algebra I, geometry, and SAT/ACT math prep. Daron holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and a math teaching credential from St. Mary's College. This article has been viewed 50,694 times.
96 votes - 93%
Co-authors: 7
Updated: October 20, 2022
Views: 50,694
Categories: Study Skills
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