Safi

It's not how long you are reading for that's important, its how much you are learning while you read :)

For science type subjects I would read a chapter at a time, make notes and summaries and then read over what I didn't remember the first time. That might only take me 20 mins reading and another 1 hour revising

For English type subjects, read until the words aren't making sense first go...you know when you get tired and you have to re-read something - its time to stop OK :) If you have to read over it multiple times because you're tired then stop reading, its not being productive, do the summaries instead. It might take an hour of reading to get to that point, and then another hour of studying and summarising.

Read when your brain wants to soak up lots of information, when you are fresh and interested. Do summaries and flash cards and such when you are more tired...

and do past exam papers at the end of your study day - what you say!!!! ??????
Do past papers at the end of the day. You are tired and had enough - if you can write a good answer then you will STEAM AHEAD when you are wide awake and alert in the morning. Read over them and refine your answers at another time, say in the afternoon.... read how you did and what type of answer you gave.

Do hard tiring work at night, do difficult work at night because you are pushing yourself harder and faster than you would normally. Do important reading and rewriting in the morning, do summaries and stuff when you are tired and do past exam papers when you are completely tired!

I know, everyone says to study fresh, but that only happens at one time of the day - do work when you are tired and you will be able to handle anything - two exams in one day no problem, a late exam with no break no problem, noisy outside the exam room no problem.....

read when you aren't tired, summarise when you are, test yourself at your worst time :)

To tell you honestly, when I was in high school, I had no problems with my memory or whatever exams I had to take. I could even memorize and recall photographically what I had read. Even if my teacher was discussing while I was writing, still I seemed to hear what she said when I read my notes at home. That clear and excellent I was but now, I find it hard to do like that. My attention span is shortened and my memory has faded as time goes by. BTW, how old are you?

So my personal suggestions are:
1. Clear your mind from unnecessary thoughts. Breathe. Relax.
2. Know what are the subjects needed to be studied.
3. Get the materials necessary like the modules and other needed books/notes for your exam.
4. Review your high school notes.
5. Read the college books (esp. the first year's) used by the school where you want to take an entrance exam in.
6. Take down notes on what you've read esp. the fundamentals and the formulas.
7. See what others are studying and ask from previews examinees about what to focus more.
8. Avoid being stressed.
9. Focus on your coming exam.
10. Have enough rest and eat healthy. Take your vitamins.
11. Relax and be confident during the examination.
12. Read/listen to the exam's instructions. There are a lot I know who are overly-confident because they really know but they don't read the instructions written or being told by the proctor so they still fail.
13. Make it your goal to perfect the exam.

This all worked for me so try it. Sounds easy? Now, start from step one... I will not say good luck because good luck are just for those who don't prepare or gamblers. Be prepared!

Hi Safi.

My advice is to do the following.

1. Take notes as you read, making sure to capture only the critical things (it's very easy to start writing every factoid, which will just slow you down).
2. If the book is yours, you can use a set of highlighter pens to highlight important points. Make up your own system, using green for one type of emphasis, yellow for another, pink for a third, and orange for a fourth. Not knowing what you're studying I can't make intelligent suggestions as to what the types should be.
3. Give yourself a break whenever you finish a particular milestone. This can be a 10 minute get-up-and-stretch break every time you finish a chapter, a 30 minute go-have-a-snack-and-watch-some-stupid-TV-show break every third chapter, and a 1 hour meal-break every 6th chapter (assuming it takes about 45 minutes to read a chapter).
4. When you catch yourself no longer able to pay attention and absorb what you're reading, stop reading and start doing something else to prepare. For example, this might be solving problems, writing essays, etc.
5. Work with a study-buddy and after finishing several chapters, quiz each other on what you read.

Good luck!

Hey! You’re back saf! ;)

Anyway, way back when I’m still at school, I don’t really read more than 8 hour straight. That will just make you feel tired and I’m sure nothing will really come in.

The best thing you could do is to take breaks in between. Like if you have a whole day to read, you could take a break every 2 hours for about 30 minutes then go on and read again. It will make your mind refreshed so what you’re reading really comes in your mind.

Another tip, when you’re reading, make sure you have a pen and paper with you so you could jot down important must-remember facts and info so you could easily look it up at the end of the day. This will be very helpful so you don’t have to read the whole book next time and just have to scan the notes you’ve taken.

Lastly, don’t overdo it. Relax, and don’t stress yourself too much. It’s okay to be pumped up when you’re reviewing but when you’re being too pushy on yourself already, it wouldn’t be good as well so learn to relax once in a while.

There, I wish I did help and good luck! I know you can do that! ^^