Just came across this video from AsapScience about how to study smarter instead of longer.
As a full-time employee it is hard for me to find time to study outside of work. This video gave me some interesting tips that might make it easier for me to keep up with my studies while also doing my best at the regular job. I hope it can be of help for you too :)

Here is the transcript of the video:

Time for school! And it's no surprise that many of us are determined to study smarter instead of longer. But which study tips and tricks actually work scientifically and can help you get those perfect grades? First up, research shows that study sessions are most effective in small short chunks. Instead of cramming in a 10 our study session. It's much more effective to spread it out into twenty thirty minute sessions over a few weeks. This is because your brain is better at encoding information into the synapses in short repeated sessions as opposed to one large one.

And this is why even learning different skills whether it's swimming tennis or a singing lesson often follows the same format. And well cramming and pulling all nighters maybe a ritual, it turns out that this is linked to the lowest grades. After prolonged nocturnal study sessions, reasoning and memory may be negatively affected for up to four whole days. Instead, setting up specific times in a day or during the week just to study, primes your brain by creating a routine and over time studying actually becomes easier as your brain is trained to learn in those moments.

And while many of us spend hours passively rereading our notes or highlighting a text book, studies have shown this to be an effective. It doesn't improve your understanding of topics nor does it link key concepts together. It can even be detrimental as it draws your attention to less important information. Flashcards on the other hand are proven to be excellent memory reinforcement’s tools. Whether it’s during scheduled study time or drying off times like a bus ride home.

It also helps to have a specific goal for each study session. Instead of aimlessly studying, pick one aspect of focus on. Whether it's balancing chemical equations or learning how to conjugate French verbs. If you can't explain it simply then you don't understand it well enough. In studies where individuals were asked to learn a passage and then half were told that they would be tested on the material while the other half were told they would have to teach it to other students, participants expecting to teach it did much better at understanding the main points. When you're expecting to teach, your brain organizes the information in a more logical-coherence structure.

Of course practice practice practice. Not only do you practice test your brain in the environment but even if you make mistakes they help identify gaps in your knowledge. Practice tests have also been shown to increase confidence thereby leading to better performance. So where should you be studying research shows that having a designated secret spot for study that's well equipped with every tool you might need is best. Just like setting times this primes your brain for studying. Have an awesome study playlist? Not so fast. While some studies have shown that certain types of classical music can help improve concentration, a recent study has shown that learning with rhythmic background noise can be detrimental to focus and those not using music fared much better.

And if you haven't already, put away your phone! This is a no-brainer but your text and social media notifications severely decrease concentration. Of course exams can be extremely stressful so if you want some tips on how to deal with exam anxiety, check out our ASAP thought video which breaks down some tips for that . Link in the description.

And a big thank you to TD Bank for sponsoring this video. If you're heading to campus this fall, click on the link below or visit td.com /student to see how TD CAN help you start school with a plan. We know how tough it can be getting buried in books and bills and TD has some great solutions for you. Be sure to check it out and subscribe for more weekly science videos.

My Korean textbook

The entrance to Seoul Academy

The reception at Seoul Academy

Our classroom

I had two different teachers on the different days, and because I was the only one in class I got to practice my Korean a lot.! I think that it is advisable to already have a certain level of Japanese before taking the class though, because that is the language you use when your Korean is insufficient. But it is possible that Seoul Academy also has teachers that are fluent in English.

Introduction of the teachers at Seoul Academy

Map to the school

Although the course is over I'm considering taking classes there again once I come back to Japan in the end of March. I'm worried that I'll be too busy since I start working in April, but if not I'll definitely take their courses and try to improve my Korean further.

In the modern society it seems that a lot of us are stressing around, either it is school or work that is demanding our time there is simply always something that needs to be done. Even when one has decided to learn a new language it is not always easy to find the time or the right method to actually go through with it, and therefore I have collected some of my favorite ways of learning languages in this post, in hope that it might benefit some of my readers as well.

1. Use your useless time
My father always told me that the ones that gets really good at something, are the ones who practices when others don't. Do you want to learn a new language, but feel that you don't have time? Well, then let me ask you this: Don't you commute to school/work almost every day? Do you clean your house? Do you cook your own dinner? If your answer is yes to any of these questions it means that you certainly have time to learn a foreign language too. All you need, is a listening device, such as an iPod. There are many good programs out there, both pricey ones such as Pimsleur, but also totally free ones too. If you have access to iTunes you should check out their language learning podcasts, which comes in many different languages.
Exchange the music on your iPod for a language podcast, and you can start learning a new language right away!

2. Have fun with it!
There are many ways you can add a bit of language learning to time that would otherwise have been waisted. You can easily use a fun activity, such as watching a movie, to learn a language. Avoid dubbed movies, and go for the real thing! If you need subtitles at first, that's of course fine. It will still make you used to hear the new language, and eventually you will start recognizing words as well. When I was younger I liked to watch English movies with English subtitles. That way I could hear the English words at the same time as I could see how they were written. Nowadays I use http://www.cuevana.tv to watch English dramas with Spanish subtitles, and it gives me a satisfaction knowing that I can pick up new words at the same time I'm enjoying for example a new episode of How I Met Your Mother..

3. Get a tutor!
Learning a new language can be even more fun if you have a friend or a tutor who can help you a bit along the way. Especially if you are in a country where you don't have the chance to practice your desired language on a daily basis, it might be a good thing to get to know somebody who is fluent in the language you want to learn, so that you can ask him/her questions or even have somebody to talk to in the other language. If, however, there is no such person in your vicinity, then don't panic - there is still hope. Livemocha is another great Internet page where you can practice new languages at the same time as you have the chance to communicate with other members from all over the world. This gives you an unique opportunity to get to know people who are willing to help you getting better in whichever language you are interested in.!

4. Drill the vocabulary
However, sooner or later you have to face the fact that you need a lot of vocabulary in order to speak another language. For some languages this part might be easy, especially a lot of European languages are related, and if you already are fluent in Spanish you'll probably find learning French, Italian or Portuguese just a few steps away. However, there will still be new words to learn, and if you - like me - are aiming at completely different languages such as Japanese, Korean or Chinese, then you definitely should make sure you have a good flashcard-program to drill the new words.
Here I would recommend Mnemosyne, which might seem like a normal flashcard program, but where you can rate your answers from 1-6, and the program will automatically repeat the words you are bad at more often. For those out there with iPhone etc, check out the iSRS-application.
With these programs it is possible both making your own flashcards, or to download ready-made vocabulary packs from Mnemosyne's Internet page.

5. Don't be afraid to speak up!
..Which might be easier said then done for a lot of people out there. But the truth is, NOBODY becomes fluent in a foreign language without making mistakes along the way. Just admit it, you will make mistakes along the way whether you like it or not. If you don't try, you'll never make it.


Do you have any other advices for learning foreign languages, or do you simply have a comment about the learning methods mentioned above? Either way, please don't hesitate to leave me a comment!
(^o^)／