Study Tips

• Study actively on a daily basis. You will learn more of the language (and retain it) with twenty to thirty minutes a day of studying than if you try to cram it all in the night before an exam. Foreign language learning is a cumulative process; if you don't study regularly, you will have big gaps in your knowledge and will fall behind.

• Rule of thumb: Put in two hours of study for each hour of class time - for most students that's 10 hours per week of study, in addition to attending class.

• Check to see if you really know the material by quizzing yourself without using your book.

• Check your vocabulary recognition by writing down the words, then reviewing the ones you've missed.

• Make up songs, silly rhymes, acronyms, and word associations to help you memorize.

• Conjugate verbs on paper, then check your answers. Then, practice saying them out loud (without looking at your paper).

• If you have a hard time saying a long word or sentence, break it into smaller units; get comfortable pronouncing each syllable or word until you can string the whole thing together.

• Involve as many of your senses as possible. Write down words. Listen to and practice accent, tone, and rhythm. Pronounce words and read out loud. Speak with friends and classmates, or talk to yourself. Speak and think in full sentences, using the phrases, expressions, vocabulary and grammar that you are learning.

• Study with a person or a group that is doing well in the class.

• Not all of these tips may work for you; experiment to find the ones that work best.

• Study the grammar and vocabulary before the instructor presents it in class. Some class lectures will be given in the foreign language. That means that not only do you have to understand the material, but you also have to understand it in a foreign language! It will help you tremendously to better understand the lectures and to absorb the much material if you have grappled with it and tried to understand the grammar and the examples on your own from the textbook before your instructor presents it.

• Keep up with your workbook assignments. After you have studied the corresponding grammar or vocabulary section in the text and you have reviewed your class notes, you should do the workbook exercises without looking at the text or your notes! When you are finished, go to the answer key in the back of the workbook to check your answers.

 
Photo on left: "Floralis genérica' sculpture, Buenos Aires, Argentina, photo by Professor Holly Colville
Photo on right: Nightlife in Buenos Aires, Argentina, photo by Professor Holly Colville

• Complete the homework assignments. Your instructor writes exercises to help you to think through and practice some of the more challenging grammar points. The homework sheets help you to identify trouble spots, and some exam questions may be modeled on these and/or may use the same format. 

• Carefully write the essay sections of the workbook. Think about the question, organize your thoughts and write them down, and look up any necessary vocabulary before the exam, you should improve your writing. In the early stages of language acquisition it is best to keep your writing brief and focus on accuracy rather than length. Use vocabulary and grammar that you have learned rather than rely heavily on a dictionary to express creative ideas. Your instructor would be happy to review these writings with you during office hours in advance of the exam.

• Organize your time and set your priorities. A foreign language course will take up a lot of your time. If you think that you don't have enough time to study and complete the assignments, ask yourself how much time you spend watching T.V. or talking on the telephone. If you are working forty hours per week, and are taking twelve units, and you have a family, realize that something is going to suffer. Perhaps you might look into cutting down on your work hours. Or, you might have to drop a class or two. That's O.K. Part of your education is learning how to make those tough choices. You will not be a failure if you can't do everything! And you certainly don’t have to complete your course work at Citrus in two years!

• Seek help early if you don't understand. If you think that you might even remotely struggle in this class, get a tutor right away! Don't wait until the eighth week of the semester to get help, for by then it will probably be too late. Study with someone in the class that has a firm understanding of the material and is doing well; studying with a Spanish speaker usually doesn't help. Form study groups and study together on a weekly basis. Also, see your instructor for extra help. You don't have to sit in his/her office for a full hour to get help. Many times 10-15 minutes is all that is needed to answer a question, clarify a point, or review a writing assignment.

• Don't make excuses. If you are not making improvements in the foreign language or are not getting the grades that you want, honestly ask yourself if you are putting in the necessary time and effort to achieve your goals. Not everybody is good at everything; some people will have to study twice as hard at a particular subject to do half as well as someone who has a natural aptitude for it - that's just as true for foreign languages as it is for math, science, history or music. If languages don't come easily to you, you are going to have to work extra hard to survive in the class, which means an extra commitment in time and energy, which you may or may not have. If you find that you don't have the time and energy to devote to the challenge of learning a foreign language, then you should consider taking this course at another time when you have fewer commitments.