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3. Learn the Special Vocabulary
- University of Wisconsin Press
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Learning Tips 7 LEARNING TIP 3 Learn the Special Vocabulary Every course has its special vocabulary. You'll study faster if you isolate those words and learn what they mean. Sometimes a word you know well suddenly takes on a specific meaning, and for that course all other meanings are wrong. Watch for these words especially; they're tricky. (For example , specific means one thing in our sentence above, but in specific gravity it means something else.) Keep 3 x 5 cards close at hand when you listen, read, and review. Each time the book or your professor defines a term, write the term on one side of the card and its definition on the other. This has two advantages: (I) writing makes more of a dent in your memory than just reciting; (2) you've started a permanent cram file for tests. Sometimes you'll find a new term that isn't defined by the teacher or the book. It's probably one that was defined in a previous course most of the class had. Before you settle for the dictionary definition, ask a professor. It may turn out to be (1) something he'd better teach the entire class, in which case he'll be grateful, or (2) a clue to a big gap in your preparatory learning-maybe something you missed In twelfth grade because you were home with the flu. There's more to vocabulary than words. Math, science, even social science courses rely on basic symbols. Make sure that they, too, go on your vocabulary cards if they're new to you. Formulas are basic vocabulary in some courses. Do you know how to read graphs, tables, charts, diagrams , drawings, and photos? If you've never learned, see if your school study center gives a short course you can enroll in. It's tempting to skip over these illustrations, but that's like skipping the book introduction. Like the introduction, illustrations are put there to help you, not the author. If you 8 STUDY SMARTS stop and figure out what they mean, you're guaranteed to remember what they tell you. (We'll have more to say about why these visuals are such memory imprinters in Remembering Tip 8.) What do you do if a book seems like it's all written in some special vocabulary? (Many times, we've felt as if we were over our heads in long sentences that made little sense.) Usually, it's not your fault but the fault of bad writing. Some authors, especially in education and social sciences, spew out a large amount of jargon. Sometimes you can make sense of it if you read it aloud. Sometimes it's worthwhile to search for a more clearly written book on the same topic, and to read the appropriate part of that one first. Your instructor may be able to point you in the right direction. If not, ask for help from the department chair or the person who chooses books for similar courses. Especially if you're not interested in the subject, try to find an easier book that explains it. You'll do much better on exams if you understand a simplified idea completely than if you only partially understand a complicated one. ...