You could also make flash cards too if you have lots of blank papers. All you need is a piece of paper or an A4 size sheet and cut it in equal sizes. You can also buy a hole puncher and a binder ring for standard sized flashcards. Or, most office supply stores sell plastic cases designed to carry flashcards.
If you’re studying for a test, make sure you know what information is going to be covered on the exam. This way you won’t waste time writing down facts that have already appeared on previous exams or might be on future ones.
This practice not only helps you focus the scope of what you’d like to include on your flashcards, but also aids in memorization. The repetition of rewriting the information a few times makes you more likely to remember it during your exam. [3] X Research source If you don’t have time to rewrite your notes, go through them and highlight important facts, concepts, dates, people, and definitions that you want to include on your flashcards.
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Flashcards are most effective if used for learning dates, vocabulary, historical events, scientific terms, processes, equations, and information that’s easy to memorize. Don’t use flashcards for in depth analysis. If you’re studying WWII, for example, don’t try to use your tiniest handwriting to fill a whole card with an analysis on the events that caused the war. Instead, try breaking the information into smaller chunks on various cards with factual information such as: “In what year did World War II begin?” on one side, and “1937” on the other side.
For instance, if you’re learning French, instead of putting “Hello, goodbye, and good evening” on the front side of one card and “bonjour, au revoir, and bonsoir” on the other, break these up into three separate cards with “hello,” “goodbye,” and “good evening” on one side, and “bonjour,” “au revoir,” and “bonsoir” on the other.
For example, say you’re trying to quiz yourself on the end of WWII. Instead of writing a card that has the question on one side: “What treaty signified the end of WWII?” and then “The Paris Peace Treaties” on the other, try rewording to “In 1947, this treaty caused the end of WWII” and then “The Paris Peace Treaties” on the other side. This way, even if you get the side with more information, you can fill in the “this treaty” with the correct information.
Make sure the image you choose correlates to the information on the card. For example, if you’re writing German vocabulary cards, don’t draw a picture of a rainbow next to the word for boy. These don’t have to be great works of art! Even a small sketch that relates to the text will be a great trick for remembering information faster. Note that it’s easier to add visuals on digital flashcards than those made by hand.
Even if you’re studying a subject that warrants hundreds of flashcards worth of information, try to break your deck into smaller units. For example, if you’re taking a class on Jane Austen, make a deck of 20-30 cards for each book that you read instead of randomly cramming information from all the books onto 100-200 cards. [6] X Research source
Set an alarm on your phone for a few different times a day to remind yourself that it’s time to study!
An advantage of making flashcards by hand is that you can carry and study them anywhere, which you may not be able to do with digital flashcards.