#I have three (3) GCSEs (important English exams)

[ineffablehunter]

When I tell you tomorrow is going to be the best day of my life (!)

[meichenxi]

For langblr asks: 7, 10, 11, 18, and 49

Thanks!! This may get long, so I apologise in advance! I’m learning German and Esperanto alongside Chinese, but since my German is fairly advanced and I don’t really learn actively any more (I just read, listen to talks etc - mainly because I have no reason to actively speak German sadly) and my Esperanto is basic I’ll just talk about Chinese. 

7 -  What are some things that you learned about language learning that really improved your studying? 

- Hands down learning about the role of attention in language learning. In an ideal situation, you are exposed to the target feature, then have your attention drawn to it/figure it out yourself, and are then exposed to it in natural language again. I think we all know the wild experience when you learn a word and then magically the universe provides it - and suddenly you know that word forever. I now like to think of word ‘learning’ as incremental rather than binary: recognising a word in a familiar context, an unfamiliar context, and then finally using the word are all different levels of ‘knowing’ that word. What this means in practice is that I worry less about not being able to use all the vocabulary actively that I recognise passively, because I know once I do use it actively that item will be easier to access. So there are two things here: first of all, that I don’t worry if I’m watching or reading something and don’t actively extract vocab from it, because I know that hearing it will make it easier to remember later on; and secondly, that if I ‘pay attention’ to a word but don’t ‘learn’ it because I haven’t seen it in context, that state of not knowing is temporary. The moment I see it in context - sometimes months later, when I had completely ‘forgotten’ that word - I know what it is. So I don’t stress as much about not being able to remember words from flashcards or whatever, because I know that seeing/hearing them in context is what cements that word, not just repetition. 

10 - What are some thing that you love about the language you’re learning?

Oh my goodness. So many things. I love characters; they used to absolutely drive me crazy, but the ability to read after so long being unable to read now just feels wonderfully exciting every single time. I love learning about different components and how they combine together. I love too that the idea of ‘the word’ is tied so intimately to characters: there are psycholinguistic experiments showing that Chinese native speakers learning English show interference effects when two words are presented in English that have the same component (not even whole character!) and it slows down decision making. I love the way that tone and intonation interact and I love seeing how far I’ve come from not understanding how I could express emotion at all. I love what Chinese shows about the power of the second language learner: it’s incredibly homophonous because of limited syllables even with tones, and it’s radical pro-drop, the more formal you are the shorter/more concise sentences tend to be, and when you’re in a different dialect/Chinese language even those useful initials or finals can change and still you know what is being said. It’s incredible. I love the sound of <q> and <j> and <x> and especially the final <ing>. 

The thing I love most about Chinese is its conciseness and elegance. I love learning about different systems of politeness and register and Literary Chinese is just so incredibly concise: if learning modern standard Mandarin is interesting, Literary Chinese is just...it blows my mind. It’s very unique: and I don’t mean this in the sense of ‘oh look how Exotic and Different’, I mean this typologically: it’s arguably the most analytical language in the world and is regularly used in linguistics papers to exemplify phenomena found in such highly analytical languages. I also think the encoding of order-based pragmatics into actual linguistic implicature is absolutely so cool. 

I love the difference registers it has, and I love that it feels such a good language to moan about the bus being late in and also, you know, that kind of poetry which just takes your breath away. I love how the same sentence can be expressed in different registers and how grammar patterns from literary Chinese can be used in modern Chinese. I love how compounding and derivational morphology work in Chinese (it’s absolutely nuts?? and so versatile??) and I love how names carry so much meaning. I love it for its ambiguity and conciseness and completely *shrug* lack of need to express tense or person because you know, if you know you know.

And from a synesthete’s point of view, Chinese is beautiful too: it’s a crisp clear dawn-like language, cool and misty. 

Finally, I love it for what it has taught me. It’s the first tonal language I’ve ever learnt, and the learning curve has been huge. Parts of it have been massively frustrating (we’ll get to that). I remember the week before I went to China for the first time hurriedly trying to learn some phrases, and I just couldn’t get them to stick in my head. I think I practiced ‘good morning’ about 10,000 times and I still couldn't say it right, or remember it. Languages were sort of my thing - I had taken my German GCSE early, done French and Spanish 0-GCSE in one year each, done three language A-levels (Spanish in five months because I dropped out of another A-level, self-taught German) as well as an extracurricular Latin GCSE. I was cocky!! And so not being able to do it was crushing at first and also just, what?? So learning Chinese has taught me patience, and it’s a useful bench-mark now if I ever feel like I can’t do anything. It’s taught me that you just need patience and determination, and that you'll get there in the end. Genuinely, that’s the most useful lesson I’ve learnt in my short life. 

11 - What are some things that you don’t like / find frustrating about the language you’re learning?

Originally, I found both the pronunciation and characters immensely frustrating. I think I’m over those hurdles, and now what annoys me most is the grammar - and if anyone says there is no grammar in Chinese I may just murder you. Chinese grammar is hard because, as I’ve talked about before, a lot of rests on sentence patterns and a lot of it seems to shift in ways that, say, Spanish grammar doesn’t, depending on context, formality and so on. But the reason Chinese grammar is difficult is again because the categories it manipulates are ones that don’t map perfectly onto what we think is being manipulated. So we build representations in our mind and try to learn structures without realising that a lot of it is patterns, not something set in stone. This includes phenomena like topic-marking, fronting, emphasis and so on. The most ‘grammar’-like of Chinese grammar actually is based in large parts in implicatures and the pragmatic-semantic interface, which is very hard to teach. This is why I think that input is especially crucial in Chinese. 

Also, embedded wh-questions are hard. 

As I’m learning more, though, this is all gradually becoming less frustrating. I don’t want to jinx anything and I still have a lot to learn, but I’m feeling cautiously optimistic that the worst is behind me. Things are making a lot more sense now anyway!!!

18 - Have you had any conversations with natives of your target language/s? How did that go?

Haha, of course. I lived in China for six months and then visited again for two months. I also work as an English teacher online and have a lot of Chinese students. I also sometimes chat with other Chinese students in the German classes I was taking. I’m really excited though to go back to China though now that I’m a little bit better and see how I can improve from there!!! I feel like last time I wasn’t really at a good enough level to improve quickly; I think this time would be really hard, but I can communicate well enough that I hope people wouldn’t switch back to English. 

One of the problems I have always had though has been that my pronunciation sounded better than my knowledge of the language - because of immersion. So people always assumed I understood way more than I actually did which was always terrible because I never knew wtf was going on. 

One really really nice conversation I had recently: in my English class, a young girl’s mother asked if I could explain the present simple vs present continuous to her daughter...in Chinese. And regardless of what nonsense I said, the little girl understood! Ahhhh that warm glowy feeling of human connection and accomplishment. 

49 - What are your language goals for 2021?

Since I’m learning quite intensively at the moment, these goals will be appropriately intense. Gulp. 

1) Pass HSK5 (March). This is my biggest goal, and the first time I’ve ever worked towards a language exam so I’m a little nervous. I think it’s do-able (especially with the help of the course that I’m taking, HSK Online), but still large enough to be scary. 

2) Be able to write all words up to HSK5 by hand (July). I have a little more time for this one - normally I don’t think handwriting is particularly important, but since I’m going to be studying in a Chinese university next year with the dreaded 听写 I need to be able to do it. They sort you into groups depending on your exam results, and if I can’t handwrite more than 我 then I’m not going to get very far. How do I plan on achieving this? I’m planning maybe on buying a subscription to Skritter again and working through (I really like them), but most importantly, just handwriting freely in a notebook and building up the habit. 

3) Be able to read at the same speed as the subtitles. I know, I know, most people can. But I can’t lmao so let me practice. 

4) Be in a good place to take HSK6 in early 2022. I don’t actually know if I’m going to take the HSK6 exam: maybe not. HSK5 is only important for me because I need it for a scholarship. But as random as some of the words are, it’s a very good benchmark and a useful list. Considering I’ll have from March until the end of the year, and from the end of June onwards I’ll be in a Mandarin-speaking environment (and be in a Chinese university from August/September) I think it’ll set me up well. It’s way too much to do by the end of the year though, so this goal is just to do as much as I can before 2022. 

5) Read the first Harry Potter in Chinese. Guys, I’m not looking to understand the descriptions of the moat or Hagrid’s beard. But I want to be able to read the dialogue with ease, and be able to dip in and out of the book with ease. 

6) Complete my literary Chinese textbook (mid-year). 

7) Be able to watch shows like Streetdance of China without subs. I can watch some shows already without subs, but I often feel that’s more to do with galaxy-brain thinking, ‘reading the room’ and being lazy than actually understanding all the words. Despite shows like the Untamed having more ‘difficult’ vocab, I find them a lot easier to understand than variety shows etc because the audio is extremely clear and not too fast. Watching Nirvana in Fire without subs will have to be a goal for 2022 lmao; no way will that happen by this time next year. 

8) Learn the top 1000 traditional characters and practice reading traditional more. This is not as hard as it sounds: past about the top 500, many of them differ in very predictable ways. 

And here are three long-term goals I have no time limits on:

1) Read MDZS and TGCF in Chinese. Ahhh. The dream. 

2) Read lots of wuxia!!!!!!! All the wuxia!!!!!!!! Be able to read actual books, imagine.

3) Use Chinese for academic research on Chinese dialects and Tibetan languages. This is kind of...my career path...so! 

Thanks for the ask!! 

[wilstudies]

Get a grade 9 in a language GCSE!

Please note:

1. These tips are almost entirely applicable to any AQA language at GCSE. 2. Modern Foreign Languages at GCSE Level is anywhere from A2 to B1 (dependant on the tier and grade) on the CEFR scale, but, there is no official equivalent.

In November 2018, whilst in Year 10, my teacher saw that I was excelling in French, with my extensive knowledge of tenses and idioms. So, she proposed that I’d do the January mocks, alongside Year 11, despite not knowing more than half of the subject content. Then we’d see where I’d go from there.

I followed the AQA exam board, higher paper. Specification. You can find the Kerboodle textbook I used, here.  

Here’s what I did:

Throughout the year, I was also studying the Year 10 content (Theme 1 - Identity and culture) in class.

In my own time, each month I’d cover one or two units, completing the more challenging activities on each page of the textbook. Luckily, each unit was only 4 double-page spreads long.

In January I completed my mocks. This was the first time I had ever sat in an exam hall, so it was really daunting to be doing it with a bunch of kids who were older than me, even though I knew I had enough knowledge. Overall, I got a secure grade 8, in my mocks, despite not knowing half of the course content.

I also did “pre-exam mocks”, two weeks before each exam. These consisted of specimen papers which are notoriously harder, so my results looked almost exactly the same as past papers, which was upsetting as I couldn’t see that I’d actually improved. But practice is practice!

MY ACTUAL GCSE RESULT: 

With a lot of work. I managed to achieve a grade 9 (the top mark, higher than an A*), which was insane. I’m so, so proud of myself, and grateful for all of the teachers that supported me!!!

^Edit from 25/08/2019.

LISTENING

In my opinion, listening is based purely on practice and knowing the exam technique that works for you.

To practice: 

frenchpod101 intermediate listening comprehension

Going through every specimen track and listening activity I could find - pausing it after each sentence, saying it once in French, then translating it into English. I’d do this in the shower, on the way to school, wherever.

Know your vocab!

My exam technique:

In the 5 minutes reading time: underline keywords and themes in the questions. This time goes very quickly, but I’d also try to jot down a few synonyms in the French section too.

Multiple choice questions: the process of elimination; key vocab; negative and positive tonality and opinion words - watch out for negative structures!

Completing the sentences: note down words said in French or translate each sentence into English in your head, then remember it when it comes to writing it down.

French section: fill each sentence with key French words that you hear. Don’t worry about accents, unless it helps you determine the word.

Remember each track plays twice.

READING

The January Mock: I didn’t know much of the course content, so I struggled with the translation. I also circled and placed a question mark near any words I didn’t know, as it was a mock and my teacher would be able to note down any translations for me. I think what boosted my grade, to a 9 for this paper, was knowledge of grammar.

T/F/NM questions are usually a gamble. Just look for explicit information and know your negative formations.

Texts change their minds often: look out for counter-arguments and opposing exclamations

Use the method of elimination for multiple choice: rule out if there’s no mention. Be wary that a text can mention an option, but say it wasn’t that.

Texts often refer to things mentioned prior.

If you know a certain type of texts are your kryptonite (it was the classical stories with dialogue, for me), then download as many of that genre as you can. Understand the way speech and dialogue works, and the structure, before you tackle the vocab.

Many say skim read and don’t read the whole thing, but I found it easier to translate big chunks in my head as I went along and lightly annotate each text, which just comes with practice.

WRITING

Top tip: don’t go any more than 10% over word limits!!!!!!! Teachers say they have to mark all of it - no they don’t. If you do double the word limit, your last few bullet points could come after the cut-off point, cutting off access to half of the marks!!! 

90 WORD - 99 words maximum! About 20-25 words per bullet point.

150 WORD - 165 words maximum! About 75 words per bullet point.

Which brings me to mention, that you must cover every bullet point: those are your content marks, which cover about half the marks of each question.

90 WORD Question (16 marks)

Content - 10 marks: Making sure your writing covers each bullet point enough.

Quality of Language - 6 marks: Using interesting vocabulary, such as “malheureusement”.

Stick to about one page.

If you’re giving an opinion, great, just stop there. If you explain it too much, you risk going over your word limit.

150 WORD Question (32 marks)

Content - 15 marks: Every. Bullet. Point. Detailed.

Range of Language - 12 marks: get in those adjectives, idioms and grammatical structures!

Accuracy - 5 marks: correct basic tense conjugations (present, past, future simple/future proche)

In order to hit all of these I came up with a mnemonic checklist, and it scored me full marks in a specimen paper I did for my teacher! And I made it into a cute phone background, so I’d start to remember it, I still can now, hehe! You can find it here. If that doesn’t work, then download it here.

SPEAKING

Know your question words! (x)

For the roleplay and photocard, my teacher printed off me a load of practice cards in bulk and annotated two or three every day, using the planning techniques mentioned below.

Roleplay - 2 minutes; can be any theme. 

When planning, try to avoid writing out answers, but just keywords and gaps for you to fill in with pronouns or articles etc.

Keep it brief, one sentence per bullet point, but cover each part of each bullet point. 

Photo card - 3 minutes (aim to speak for at least 2). 

Plan with a small spider-diagram of nouns, opinions, anecdotes etc. for each known question. 

Use one or two prepped anecdotes for the prepared questions - e.g. where you went last year, who with, what you did. 

For the unknown questions, keep it short and sweet and fill up any time with opinions and reasoning.

General conversation - 5-7 minutes. 

Lie and make up stories! Be creative and use the words and structures you know.

I was a little extra and I prepared every theme as flashcards. You can’t get away with only revising your chosen theme! 

I made flashcards that could cover several types of questions: I had bullet points of topics and keywords on one side and a sample paragraph on the other. 

Pretty sure I made about 80 flashcards oops.

I also went through the mark scheme and see which areas I could secure marks in and which areas I needed to improve.

VOCAB

Learning vocab is SO important!

I started by making spreadsheets of jumbled word lists from the specification and doing a colour-coded match up. 

You can access a pdf of all of the vocab grids here. There might be the odd word missing due to copy-pasting errors, but if so, don’t stress, just look it up in a dictionary and note it down - sorry in advance!!!

Then with the vocab that I had to look up in a dictionary, I added to a Quizlet and wrestled it into my noggin. 

You can find the Quizlet here.

Remember that:

sauf - except

puisque - since

presque - almost

GRAMMAR

To me, learning tenses was like learning formulae for maths. So find a way to learn rules like that, if it’s easier for you.

e.g. Conditional Tense = subject + (future/conditional stem + imperfect ending)*

*note that future stems are the same as conditional stems.

Know your DRMRSPVANDERTRAMP verbs, and their past participles. These verbs go with ÊTRE and always agree with the subject.

Know your auxiliary and irregular verbs.

MUST KNOW: avoir, être, aller, faire, vouloir

HELPFUL: devoir, pouvoir, vivre, boire, voir, dire, savoir

OTHERS: mettre, prendre, venir, écrire, lire, recevoir

I learnt these by making flashcards, and then brain dumping them on paper over and over again until they stuck - my teacher thought I was insane, madly scribbling away.

Memorise some key structures that can be used in writing and speaking. 

If you want 7+ structures, find them here.

MISC TIPS

Always write notes about improvements and errors in practice papers and mocks.

Find a native french internet friend.

In my opinion, music, movies and TV shows aren’t great for revision. However, if you begin to understand them, they are a great confidence boost.

I highly recommend the Skam France series, which you can find with and without les sous-titres (subtitles) here.

And here’s my french music playlist on Spotify.

MORE ASSISTANCE

I’m happy to offer my assistance to anybody who needs it, pop me a dm or an ask if you think others will find it useful too. 

Here’s some ways I could help:

Finding some resources about a certain topic (videos, worksheets, mindmaps) - I have them all backed up hehe

Sending you some of my past answers

Sending you pdf of my general conversation/irregular verb table flashcards

Marking practice answers

Talking to you in french

Etc. etc.

Thank you for reading! Please reblog to help any others that might find this useful. If any of the links are faulty, please pop me a dm, and I’ll get them sorted asap!! 🥐

-Wil x

[morganapengdragon]

An English guide to fanfic 1

So I've read a lot of fic set in England lately, by writers who don't have anyone to 'brit pick' what they've written. But everyone deserves to be able to write stuff set in this hellhole of a country so if you don't have/want a brit picker but still want some general advice I'm gonna make a series of posts which might help with making your fic sound a little more natural. I'm gonna start with education because that's the one I've seen people have most problems with.

This is a long post so be warned

Education

There are 3 main parts of the school system (for comprehensive schools in England, I know it's different for rich people and people in Scotland/Ireland/Wales).

Primary school:

Primary school spans ages 4-11 and the years are

Reception: ages 4-5

Year 1: ages 5-6

Year 2: ages 6-7 (some schools make a split after this point, with the younger years referred to as 'infant' school and the older years referred to as 'junior' school)

Year 3: 7-8

Year 4: 8-9

Year 5: 9-10

Year 6: 10-11

A couple of information tidbits:

A lot of schools teach sex education in year 5 and 6. They tell you what sex is and what periods are. The year is split into boys and girls. They don't really talk about gay people, trans people or contraception.

It's not very common now but some schools will do a SATS exam in year 6. The grades go from 1-5 with 5 being the highest. They mean nothing but we all used to get stressed about them anyway.

Kids can also choose to do an 11+ exam if they want to go to grammar school. I never did it so I can't help you there. Some places in the country put more emphasis on the importance of grammar school than others (looking @@@ Kent) and some places don't have any grammar school at all.

Hard hitting insults when I was a kid were things like 'nerd' and 'weird'. We don't really use 'geek' much. 'Damn' and 'hell' aren't swear words here and kids will sometimes say them.

Most primary schools have uniforms

Secondary school:

Secondary school ages are 11-16 and the years are

Year 7: 11-12

Year 8: 12-13

Year 9: 13-14

Year 10: 14-15

Year 11: 15-16

There are 4 MAIN types of secondary school (afaik)

Comprehensive schools (like the one I went to) are your standard school. You just kind of have to live close to it to get in.

Grammar schools work kind of like comps but you have to pass the 11+ exam. Not everyone takes this exam (I never did, my closest grammar school is fuck off miles away). Apparently you get a better education there or something. Idk man but they like to make fun of the local comprehensives.

Private/public school. You have to pay to go to these types of school. I don't really know the ACTUAL difference between private and public but from what I can tell, public is more expensive and fancier. I think their version of primary school is called prep school?? All of the years work differently and every time a public school kid tries to tell me something about their education its gets more confusing. Rich people.

Boarding school. This is basically a private school but you live there and it costs more money than all of my possessions put together. There are quite a few, with some of the most famous being Eton, Harrow, Winchester etc. They are usually either all boys or all girls schools (those three are all boys schools). Rich people.

More detailed infos:

Year 7-9 is referred to as 'lower school' with 10 and 11 being 'upper school'

The exams taken in year 11 are usually GCSEs. These used to be called O-levels for some reason and lots of older people will sometimes call them that by mistake.

Kids choose which GCSEs they want to do at the end of year 9, and start learning the material in year 10.

Maths, science and English are all compulsory and make up 5/6 GCSEs (one maths, two English, two or three science).

Most people do about 10 and can pick from all of the other subjects what they want to do.

We don't really have a 'locker room' culture????

It's quite common for people to go to all girls or all boys schools.

Schools here are nowhere near as big as American schools. We probably won't have high budget theaters or particularly large sports areas.

I've never heard anyone talk about 'funding'???? Just assume nothing is funded, arts and sports alike. We do lots of fundraisers for anything expensive like rugby tours or school productions.

We still have that weird culture thing where like if you're smart then you can't be popular or play sports???? Strange.

Sitting at a specific table at lunch time isn't really a thing. Actually most people brought lunch from home and then would just sit somewhere outside. A lot of the buildings would be closed during breaks.

Not many people really drive to school.

Sixth form/college

After you finish secondary school most people go into either college or sixth form (or a sixth form college). Years are

Age 16-17: sometimes called year 12, sometimes called lower sixth, sometimes called first year

Age 17-18: year 13, upper sixth, second year

Sixth form:

Some schools have an attached sixth form. A variation of the school uniform is often worn, or students will be asked to wear smart clothing or something

There are also sixth form colleges which are a bit more informal, less of a school environment. Students usually tend to wear their own clothes and call teachers by their first names. They're usually viewed as well.

The qualifications earned at the end of year 12 are called AS levels. They count partially towards your final A level grade. Students usually do 4 and drop one at the end of the year. You can do more if you want tho (I did five and died). You can do whatever subjects you want. Like. Literally nothing is compulsory. You wanna do art, music, dance and anthropology? Fuck it why not?

The highest AS grade is an A. B and C is a pass. D and E are fail marks. U stands for ungradable i.e you got so few marks that your exam isn't even worth a grade.

At the end of year 13 you do A levels. You need 3 to get into uni. Some people do 4. They always regret it.

Grades for A levels are the same as AS but they go up to an A*.

Some schools do a thing called the International baccalaureate. I don't understand what it is and frankly it scares me. I don't know how it's graded or what you need for uni. It's a mystery.

Sixth forms can be comp/grammar/Private/boarding same as secondary school.

College:

You can do a bunch of different types of qualifications. Most popular are usually B-Techs and Diplomas.

You usually only study one subject as opposed to four.

From what I gather, the point in doing a B tech is it's more practical and less theoretical and aims to help you get the skills necessary to go straight into the work force.

Unis kind of have to evaluate B-techs fairly, but they don't like them.

Nobody thinks very highly of B-Techs unfortunately bc they're considered to be less academic and easier. Idk if that's the case but there you go. People will sometimes refer to shit versions of other things as 'B-Tech'. For example, Pepsi is just B-Tech Coca Cola. Boris Johnson is a B-Tech Donald Trump.

I know nothing about the grading system for either of these qualifications im sorry.

In a sixth form college there will be people doing A levels and also people doing B techs all in the same building.

University:

I won't go too much into detail but basically you get a degree at the end of it and degrees usually take 3 years to complete. Years are first year, second year, third year etc.

Some courses are longer and some people will do a year in industry in their third year, making their overall degree time 4 years.

Tuition is currently £9,250 per year. I have never met anyone who hasn't gotten a loan for this.

Most people also apply for a maintenance loan. You get money proportional to your family income. The highest is about £8,500 per year. Idk what the lowest is. Some people choose not to take out this loan and their parents give them financial support instead.

The pay back plan for these loans is super lenient, doesn't affect your credit score and is wiped clean after 35 years. Most students think of their loan as more of a tax than a debt (tho we all still cry about it).

People don't live in dorms. We call them halls of residence (or halls for short).

Most people don't live in halls after first year, they leave and find shared housing.

Most halls aren't catered.

Most halls don't have shared rooms.

Because we study so few subjects at A level, we do have this system in the UK where you take a bunch of different unrelated subjects in your first year and then decide on your major later. Instead you apply for a programme already knowing your major. So when I applied to university I applied to the BA French and German Linguistic Studies course at a number of universities.

Different courses have different entry requirements. So it's easier to get into uni to study History than it is to study Maths.

Each 'class' is referred to as a module, and all of your modules are usually related to your main degree title.

Stereotypically STEM students think that humanities students are dumb. Humanities students think STEM students are arseholes who don't know how to read so if you wanna have that kinda jock/nerd type rivalry but in uni then humanities/STEM is quite a good one.

We call all of our lecturers by their first names. Sometimes we go to the pub with them. I watched a documentary about gay porn with one of them. It's chill.

I've never seen anyone show up to a lecture in pyjamas. People would think it's weird.

We refer to clubs as 'societies'. I love being part of the Musical Theatre Society. It's sounds so much more impressive than club.

The English version of Ivy League is Russel Group. The most prestigious Unis outside of Oxford and Cambridge tend to be: Durham, St Andrews (Scotland), Imperial, LSE and Warwick.

Slang and Groups

We don't really use the word 'jock'. In my school we called those guys the 'Rugby Lads' because they all played rugby.

We don't really use the word preppy/peppy whatever because I literally don't know anybody who is like that.

Try 'Drama kids' instead of Theater kids.

The kids who do drugs and don't come to school are called road men. Even the girls. To do road is to deal drugs but you don't really hear people say that much.

If we can't be bothered to say a teachers full title we will usually call them 'sir' or 'miss' but not really ma'am.

'Hall Pass' isn't a thing.

Our school did have prefects but fuck if I know who they were. They didn't really have any extra responsibility or power.

School uniforms are a thing in most schools. The things people did to make themselves seem cool were things like rolling their skirts up super short, wearing the rugby ties on match days, trying to get away with shoes that don't TECHNICALLY break the rules but are deffo not allowed, wearing as much make up as they could get away with, without teachers noticing. Our school was p strict on uniform tho in comparison with a lot of schools in my area.

If your accent doesn't fit the standard for your area it will affect you in some way (depending on your accent).

Homeroom is called registration

Gym is sometimes called the sports hall

People don't really go to school matches unless they're dating sb bc we don't have bleachers.

Home ecenomics was called Food Tech and Textiles in my school

Woodshop or whatever is called DT (design and technology)

People don't get as involved in extracurriculars in school (but they do at uni).

We DO have houses and we get points given to out houses like in Harry Potter but unlike Harry Potter literally nobody gives a fuck. In my school they added a whole new house and moved everyone into new houses and literally nobody noticed and nothing changed.

There is a BIG difference between comp schools and all of the other kinds in terms of culture. I didn't know this until I went to uni and started joking about the time some kid started throwing chairs in RE (religious education) or when so and so tried to set our French teacher on fire and literally all of the grammar school kids were like O.O WTF.

Slang and school culture will also vary a lot depending on where you live. I live in East London which is not a very well off area but it IS in london so my experiences would match with that.

Everything is completely different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland so like.... Sorry.

[eabhaalynn]

So you want to be a doctor...

Congratulations on even thinking about this career path! It is undoubtedly a noble one, and one which will be very rewarding. You probably love science, you probably already work super hard at school, and you’ve probably got your own personal motivation that I will never properly understand. All of these are admirable, and I know I was in your position not too long ago.

Over the next few years, and probably over the last number of years, you will have some life experiences that will be truly incredible. These experiences will be inextricably linked to your career choice, and you should be so grateful to have them. My own volunteering in my community, with the FRIENDS group, is probably the most formative experience of my life. It is definitely what inspired me most to be a doctor, and I miss it to this day. More recently, I have got to see incredible doctors at work, both in the UK and US. They are such incredible communicators, saving and changing lives every single day – I am overwhelmed with gratitude and I don’t doubt that these experiences will change your life for the better.

But today, we have to be realistic, so here is the rest of what the last three (give or take) years have taught me about trying to be a doctor…

You almost certainly can do it.

I did my GCSEs at a school where not many people do medicine, and the ones who do are the ‘geniuses’ who don’t know what anything short of an A* looks like. You should all know that I am not one of these geniuses, at all. In fact, I barely remember what an A* looks like. So, as you may expect, when I announced my career plans to my fifth-year careers teacher, she told me that I ‘wasn’t academic enough’ for medicine and would never get to the interview stage of the process, so I’d be better off trying something else. My predicted GCSE grades were fairly unremarkable; 2A* 6A 2B. However, I am far too stubborn to listen to any career’s teacher, so I did try. I tried far too hard and did unexpectedly well at GCSE. Two years on, I am in a fairly similar academic dilemma; but this time I have a firmly accepted offer to study medicine. It’s all about progress. So, what I’m really trying to say is that if I can get a medicine offer, you can too. And please don’t listen to careers advisors who try to tell you otherwise.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

It’s almost exam season, and you’re going to work so hard and do so well, whatever stage you’re at. After exam time is summer time, and that’s when you’ll have time to have a really good think about what you’re getting yourself into, and why. (I know and fully understand I am only an upper 6thand have no right to talk about medicine as a degree or career – just the application).

Using my own personal experiences, here is what the application process was like for me…

SCHOOLS

Yes, this is a bizarre one. But essentially, I changed schools for medicine. I was THAT committed to the cause. And I promise the application process will still leave you feeling like you want to study anything but medicine.

Personally, I wasn’t too torn up about leaving, but it can be a really big deal. Certain courses require certain A Levels – and for the courses I wanted to apply to I really couldn’t have stayed. This isn’t make-or-break stuff, but it’s not something I gave much thought to until it was almost too late.

GCSEs

These are important exams. Most medical schools will either rank them standalone or on a point system before they interview you. You should definitely study. These are also probably the last exams you’ll sit at school where your hard work is almost guaranteed to pay off – so you’re better off putting in the work now. Better GCSEs would have made my sixth form experience infinitely easier, and worse ones could have made it far more difficult. They are not, however, an ultimatum. They do not define you or your ability to be a doctor.

VOLUNTEERING AND WORK EXPERIENCE

If you’re volunteering to get into medicine you’re doing it wrong. But volunteering for the good of your community and for the good of others, even for the sheer experience of it, is probably one of the greatest things you can ever do. Start as early as you can, and put in all the hours you can, while you can. Some experiences won’t be brilliant, but they’ll be worth it (and some medical schools need it.)

As I mentioned earlier, work experience is incredible, but it can be difficult to organise. Start contacting doctors and healthcare professionals you know as soon as you can. They were very accommodating to me – they’ve all been where we are. It can also be quite consuming, while my friends were making big money in retail, or with their talents (sailing and music namely) I was making tea in hospitals, unpaid. Again, this isn’t a big deal at all, it’s just not something I would ever have considered.

OPEN DAYS

Medicine isn’t the kind of vocation that you can decide to just stay at home to study. You need to accept that if you live in Northern Ireland, ¾ of your choices will not be in Northern Ireland. I am a wee bit apprehensive and so I spent a great deal of my sixth form experience travelling up and down the country, visiting all sorts of medical schools I was thinking about applying to. This has clear financial implications, and I completely understand that it is not accessible for everyone. It’s definitely not a necessity, but its something I’m really glad I did.

Not all medicine courses are the same, not all cities are the same. You’ll be spending five or six years of your life at these Universities, so you’re better to do your research on them rather than wasting a space on your application.

AS LEVELS

Lower Sixth was the hardest year of my school career. I was in a new school (which I love), studying new subjects (which I love), and yet I was really struggling. All of the medical schools I was applying to specified 4 AS levels in their entry requirements – so it was never going to be a fun year. Looking back, I don’t know how I did it. It was far more to handle than upper sixth has been. Study subjects you love, and just accept now that you will quickly stop loving them – especially chemistry. Try to balance a personal life too, because that only gets more difficult with time. In Lower Sixth, I was in a relationship, kept up my volunteering, and even had a job until Christmas. Your academic attainment will probably not be what it was previously, but that’s okay, it will come in time. Surround yourself with all the support you can, get a library membership and use it. Buy textbooks and get a tutor if you need to – again I know this has its financial implications. And please know that you will survive the year.

UKCAT

This is where the shit really hit the fan for me. It will make your A levels look like P5 English. My school were fairly supportive, and even then, I was still left largely to my own devices. I sat mine fairly early, and I’m so glad I did, because it really does have the potential to ruin your summer. Allow a solid three weeks to cram, there are brilliant resources online, and some books available. Again, if your financial situation allows, there is an amazing course that Kaplan run every weekend through the summer and it boosted my score significantly.

There is also the BMAT that certain universities require, I didn’t sit this myself but it’s supposed to be more academic based than the UKCAT. It’s also sat on a single date in October, by which stage you have already applied, and know your UKCAT score and how it sits compared with the average. I wasn’t willing to take the risk and didn’t like the uncertainty, but it is entirely personal choice.

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Do yourself a favour and write this in June. I am a firm believer that lower sixth exams finish early for a 4000-character long reason. I am one of the lucky ones and wrote my personal statement in one draft. There aren’t many people in my position, and I am well aware of how many people were so fed up and drained by this following AS Levels. But it’s so much easier to handle then than it ever could be in September. It’s also not nearly as long as you think it’s going to be – and that just makes everything harder.

UCAS

I sent away my UCAS application on Monday, 10thSeptember 2018. By that Thursday, I had received my first offer to study Genetics at Glasgow. Without meaning to sound arrogant, I could probably have got five non-medicine offers back within the week. But applying to medicine was a completely different ball game. My final ‘UCAS Application Status Notification’ email came on Wednesday 3rdApril 2019. Just a week short of seven months later. It was a rejection from a medical school. My third rejection.

Those UCAS emails give you the sort of fear that isn’t really comparable to anything else. The feeling of being rejected from a University who has met you, spoken to you, and marked your personality as unworthy, seems very personal. It does hurt, but no more than any fall out or heartbreak would. It just hurts differently because it’s a whole institution that has rejected you. This isn’t pleasant, but it is a reality for the majority of applicants and offer holders. So, if it does happen to you, just know you’re not alone.

INTERVIEW

I was very naïve going into the interview stage. Of my four choices, I had three interviews, within three consecutive weeks. I have one offer. Two of the interview processes were friendly, and they were manageable. The third was a truly awful experience. Thus, I think it’s fair to say that the interview process is variable. All of my interviews were in January, right in the rush of A Level work, I even had my attendance reported because of them. MMIs themselves can be fun, especially with relatively supportive examiners. But there is so much preparation required for a medicine MMI and the reality is that you can place in the top 20% of one University and the bottom 20% of another with very similar interviews. They take their toll on you, and are physically exhausted, between travelling, early mornings and the workload of the preparation. It is also, I believe, fair to say, that it can be quite emotionally destructive to have your personality scored and analysed in such a manner.

A LEVELS

Only when applying to medicine do a-levels feel like an after-thought. At this stage, I feel like I have been put through the ringer by this application, and to even get an offer has been more than I ever thought I was capable of. But you do need the 3As, in some of the hardest subjects and exams that boards can write. Its easy enough to forget that, but it is an immense amount of pressure, and it is still my present.

So you want to be a doctor…

I am so grateful to have got this far with my medicine application, and I do genuinely hope I get to study it in September.

There is so little accessible information regarding the details of the process and how to approach it without losing your head over it. I don’t think anyone has cracked it yet, and if they have I wish they’d write a post about it instead of this one.

Ultimately, you have to take care of yourself first. It’s what your doctor would tell you to do. You are more important than any and every stage of this process, and your own mental and physical health should come before every career choice you make. I hope to see you on the ward someday! But even more than that, I hope you get to be everything you aspire to be, whether you decide medicine is for you or not.

[overachievering]

Play to your strengths

Use your experiences during GCSEs to help you understand what you are capable of doing. What subjects were easiest to understand? What did you do best in? Sometimes even ask what teachers would I like to have for two more years? For example, although I did very well in biology, I didn’t do it as an A level because I felt there was too much content to learn and its nearly impossible to ‘work out’.

Also think about subjects/skills that come up in other ones. This can be important when picking subjects you’ve never done before. Maybe don’t pick physics if you don’t like math for example. If you found it hard to keep up with coursework, don’t do a subject that requires it at A level as no one will chase you for it. Have a look at the exam and syllabus to see what type of questions they ask (but don’t if this will scare you).

Pick what you find interesting

2 years for just 3 subjects in depth can mean you might have rough bumps when you don’t feel like doing the work. This was a problem for people at the final stretch before exams. It will be a lot better if you actually like your exam at this stage. Forcing yourself to do a subject will only make you resent it more and make it that much harder to find the will to study. 

Use your subject combinations to your advantage for universitry

This is most important if you are looking at more competitive universities/courses. Make sure you check that your subject choices will allow you to do the course you want at the end of the two years. If you are unsure of what you want to do just yet there are subjects that can help you keep your options open. If you can say that you would like a STEM degree then at least two from Math, Physics, Chemistry and Biology is good. More competitive unis will recommend 3. I’ve seen at least one from History, English Literature and languages recommended for essay based subjects. Art and social science courses don’t mind math and science but it’s not the same vice vera. If you know what course you want to do you can pick more specialised subjects like computing or electronics but make sure your uni doesn’t mind them compared to more traditional choices. 

Four Subjects?

In my opinion, don’t do 4 subjects to A2 Level unless two of those subjects are Math and Further Math. More likely than not, you will just be giving yourself more work to do and may not have any effect on your offer. It’s better to get AAA than AACC. If you are doing Math and Further Math then I would recommend four subjects if looking at more competitive unis. I’ve seen some feel that those that are unable to deal with doing three subject in their final year (because most doing these two do math in the first year) can’t deal with the workload of their courses. 

My inbox is open if you have more questions!

[oh-my--dais]

My completely unsolicited advice for doing your GCSEs (or any other official examination for that matter) - it's super long so if you cba to read, just read the bold :)

1. PRIORITISE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!!!!! Please read the whole but because the story is important bc there are mini lessons as well. My God, I wish someone had told me this as I was doing my GCSEs. This one's coming first because it is by far the most important. I had some family shizz going on which spun me into a spiral of depression, to the point where I didn't even care about things happening in my life. I completely dissociated from my friends, and when none of them did anything, I felt even more depressed and the anxiety started settling in that they didn't like me. And whilst I hope this doesn't happen with anyone else (my friendship group was fairly toxic and everyone was very self-absorbed, so that could have been partially responsible). But at the same time people won't be able to know what's going on if you don't tell them you need help.

Anyway, I lost contact with all of my friends and I hung out with them because they were there and I didn't want to be alone, but I wasn't invited to any of their gatherings. In the end, after my exams had finished, I told my mum about how I was feeling, bear in mind I'd completely shut everyone out of my life, and she got me seeing a therapist, who I still see on occasion. But it helped SO MUCH, I wish I'd done it before the exam season started because I literally didn't have any motivation to get out of bed, let alone revise. So go speak to someone, it can be a close friend, a parent, a sibling, or even a teacher, don't think you have to get a therapist if you can't afford one or anything. But telling someone about how you're feeling will definitely help.

Bear in mind also that I didn't even realise how bad I was being affected until recently after I got out of my funk, I genuinely thought I was fine at the time (the reason I spoke to my mum was that I was having awful panic attacks before my exams, which were partially brought on by the insane amount of coffee I was drinking to counteract the insomnia).

Wow that was long.

Tl,dr; Speak to someone about the way you're feeling, and recogise that you might not be doing ok and keep your friends close.

2. Don't be afraid to cut out parts of your essays. This is so so so so so important when it comes to essay writing. Even if you think it's a good point, don't be afraid to cut it out. Examiners want to see that you're able to be consice and are able to select the most important parts. English literature coursework, my draft was SEVEN PAGES, front and back, three times the word count, and my teacher just handed it back to me and said that she wasn't marking all that but so far it's very good. So I went home and cut out 6 of the 9 body paragraphs and guess what?

One hundred per cent!

A similar thing happened in my actual Eng Lit exam where I only wrote two body paragraphs and when I told all my friends they kinda looked at me like "errrr" because it was obvious that I hadn't written enough but guess what?

One hundred fucking per cent, again, the first person to do it in my school for 5 years.

So get your points your main points and select the ones which you can put the most analysis into (because that's where you get your main marks).

3. Choose your A-levels wisely. Please please please, for the love of God, DON'T do what you're good at at GCSE. Do subjects which you enjoy and are genuinely interested in, I don't have an anecdote for this one, well I do but I think that's just the main point: if you just do subject purely because you're good at it, you will HATE it at A -level, trust me on this, choose subjects which you wouldn't mind reading a non-fiction book about, or enjoy learning about/would learn about outside of the syllabus.

4. Schedule your revision timetable around your extracurriculars. If you cut out your hobbies/are changing your regular routine too much, you aren't going to be able to stick to it, and set a limit for the amount of revsion you're allowed to do each day and have rest days ever so often (I did 4.5 hours a day with a rest day every 4 days).

5. Practice papers are your best friend. Exams aren't testing what you know, they test whether you're able to apply that knoweldge to other situations, this is something you'll definitely need to know for maths. A boy I know got 11A* in his exams (bearing in mind that the standard for most schools are 9/10 GCSEs i.e. he took an extra exam for which he taught himself the course), and he said that he only ever revises by doing practice papers. He isn't just one example, everyone who I know who got at least 6A*s said that they just used past papers.

I also watched a Ted Talk about how practice papers are the most effective revision technique.

Hope this helped :D

[help-im-a-medstudent]

Hi- I'm a high school student and I'm seriously thinking of applying for medicine in the UK. I would love some help/advice for preparing right now (classes and stuff!). Thank you so much!!

Hello! 

From your message, I can’t quite work out if you are already from the UK or not, but the entry requirements are the same for UK and international students, so I’ll give you a general overview if that helps :)

it’s great that you’re thinking early about this, as it gives you time to prepare and research whether studying medicine is definitely for you. Things to prepare for can be split into different parts, as a medicine application is a big thing!

1. Subjects and grades

For UK students, A level (or the equivalent in Scotland etc) chemistry is usually a requirement, along with another science (biology is not necessary to do medicine, and I know a few people in my year who dropped it and haven’t struggled at all). Minimum grades tend to be AAA, although some universities require more.

This is a really helpful document for entry requirements in 2017, although it may change in future years (they publish one each year, so have a look for it when you come to applying). 

If you are an international student and aren’t sure what universities require, have a look at each individual university, you may also need to take an IELTS to check your English is fluent enough to study, although it may not be necessary. 

2. UKCAT/BMAT

These aptitude tests are used differently by universities, but you have to take them in the year you are applying (UKCAT you take before you apply, BMAT afterwards.) I’ve made a post about how universities use the UKCAT, the BMAT is used by Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London, Keele, Brighton & Sussex and Lancaster. 

To prepare for these you might want to look on their websites and do practice questions, I had a book of practice questions which I worked through for both, and the BMAT you might want to look over and revise your science knowledge (I hadn’t done physics in over a year so did a bit of revision, although when it came to the exam, unless the physics questions were really obvious to me, I cut my losses and left them, because the test is also about speed) 

3. Personal statement

Start to think about your statement, or rather what you want to include in it, for example why you want to study medicine. I wouldn’t start to write it until the summer before you apply, as it helps to have it fresh in your mind for interviews and also you might not have done all your experience. 

There are some really good advice posts out there for statements, here’s a masterpost, and here are my own tips, but i found that looking at someone else’s statement didn’t help (and i’m fairly sure a lot of other medblrs would agree!) 

4. Volunteering/experience

The best thing to do to prepare for applying is get voluntary work and possibly work experience on top of that. Some good places to go to are hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, clubs for children with disabilities, there are so many opportunities and it is great fun. You learn a lot, try and do something for a longer period of time. not only does this show commitment, but the relationships you build and the insights you gain are amazing. I learnt so much and I’ve been in situations in placements that i’ve been better prepared for because of volunteering. It’s not just something you ‘need’ to do for your application, you should enjoy it and genuinely learn from it!

Experience can be tricky, with observing doctors etc. My advice is if you don’t ask you don’t get. Write a letter with a bit of a personal statement where you sound eager and enthusiastic and send it to lots of places. I didn’t have any family/friends that were doctors, but I sent the letter to my childhood allergy consultant (I hadn’t seen them in 8 years and they barely remembered me) and he gave me details of a doctor in the hospital that organised week long placements on paediatrics which was incredible. Don’t think you are bothering people, doctors are on the whole more than willing to help people that want to do medicine and the worse they can do is say no. 

5. Research the universities

There are 32 medical schools in the UK and it can be quite daunting to narrow them down to the four you want to apply to. Here’s how I did it. 

I wrote a list of all of them then crossed off the ones i definitely didn’t want to go to because of location (All of the London ones, the one in my home city and the ones in Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland, as they felt too far away for me). 

I then looked at the course. There are three types of course in the UK:

PBL - problem based learning, mostly self-directed study, with small groups where you look at a case and research it, before discussions and round ups with a tutor. This isn’t for everyone, and universities do it differently, have a look online and see if it’s something you might enjoy

Integrated - most medical schools have integrated learning. All of them do it differently, for most it means you learn with a mixture of lectures,small group discussions, clinical cases and practical sessions, with some clinical experience and talking to patients in the first 2 years. It can vary as some schools focus on systems of the body, and learn everything (e.g. cardiovascular physiology, anatomy, what can go wrong, drugs and treatments, then move on to respiratory) and some focus on all of physiology before doing anatomy etc. again, have a look at the websites

Traditional - The 5 (or 6 in some university cases) years are split quite distinctly into ‘preclinical’ and ‘clinical’, with little patient contact in the preclinical years, the classic examples of this course are oxford and cambridge

After that, look at entry requirements, some are stricter than others in terms of GCSE grades, UKCAT scores etc. Don’t get too hung up on these though, and if you aren’t sure, just email the enquiries page. It can be useful to look around universities, but I wouldn’t do this until you have narrowed it down to 4/5, as travelling to open days is expensive. Try and get a feel for the campus, the city, have a look at accommodation and talk to current students (they aren’t normally too biased, they will quite happily tell you the good and bad points about their course - they know it’s important to be happy at uni, and they aren’t going to get paid extra by the uni for saying nice things!) 

Hopefully this has helped, if you have any other questions, just send an ask or message me directly!

Good luck! :)

[humaniores]

the ultimate guide to surviving and thriving in school | by meliaora

since i’m beginning college this september, i wanted to share my ultimate guide to surviving and thriving in school this academic year. in my GCSE’s, i received three 9s (A**s), five A*s and one B. i used to help fellow students in their studies and i thought i might help any students approaching a new year at school and wanting to succeed. i know the studyblr community is all about sharing advice, so i thought i’d create my own comprehensive guide to becoming the best student you can be this autumn! strap in, folks: this is going to be a long one! 

1. PREPARING FOR SCHOOL during summertime, it’s important to take the opportunity to rest up and have fun before the new school year. however, you should also set aside time to complete any preparatory tasks set either by your teachers or yourself. always get this out of the way first so you can enjoy your summer fully and not worry about getting things done in the last week of august. for example, if you need a new uniform, go shopping in the weeks after you break up as the lines will be shorter. watch out for back to school offers on stationery and never procrastinate your summer homework. my advice is always read at least one of the books on your ‘further reading’ lists - these will come in handy especially in the english and humanities subjects when writing essays. summer homework should help introduce you into what your classes will be like come autumn and are a chance to show off what you already know, so do a fair amount of research and try your best!

2. PACKING YOUR BAG it may not seem like it, but being fully equipped can really affect how well you do in your studies. if you don’t have something as simple as lunch money, a sanitary pad or a red pen, your day might not be as productive as it should be. here’s a short list of things i’d recommend to keep handy in your bag:

composition books for the day’s classes

textbooks

bullet journal / school planner

notebook

pencil case / pen case

binder

reading book / library book

sanitary pads / tampons*

keys

travelcard *

lunch money *

lip balm

tissues *

medication, for allergies and pain relief

prescribed glasses *

scissors & tape

it’s also key to have the right stationery in your pencil case. i know it’s tempting to buy out the entirety of the nearest stationery shop, but really, you only need to get what you know you’ll need. personally, i keep the following with me:

black pen (two if it’s exam season)

red pen for underlining / important notes

green pen for self assessments

ruler (15cm)

a highlighter *

a pencil

a rubber

a sharpener

maths equipment *

index notes *

for both lists, i’ve added a * for any items i think depend on the student. if you don’t have allergies, tissues aren’t a priority. if you walk to school, a travelcard is naturally out of the question. so tailor the list to your personal needs, and you’ll be sure to be equipped for anything school throws your way!

3. MORNING ROUTINE it’s important to start every morning off right, and this includes weekends. try not to press snooze on your alarm - this will make it harder to get up and out of bed. if it helps, try to put your phone or alarm clock on the other side of the room: by the time you’ve gotten out of bed to stop it, you might as well get up anyway. open up your curtains wide and open the windows if it’s nice outside. drink a cold glass of water and stretch a bit. make sure to always eat something before you start the day - it doesn’t have to be a ‘proper’ breakfast like cereal or toast, but it should be enough to get you through to lunchtime. 

once you’ve eaten, wash your face, brush your teeth and brush your hair. even on days when you plan on taking a break and just watching netflix, you should do these little things to get alert and feel happy to start the day. if it’s a school day, get dressed and leave home early - punctuality is key and allows time for you to organise yourself before your first class. if it’s a rest day, plan out what you want to get done and get set on your tasks; sometimes the tasks can be as simple as relax for an hour or listen to music, or you could choose to get an assignment done and read 50 pages of a novel. it’s up to you, but you should always try to start right away. use the 5 second rule - count down from 5 and start after 1. counting down means you can’t procrastinate the task any further and 5 seconds is so quick, you’ll get started in no time.

4. ORGANISATION one thing i find incredibly important is organisation. whether you’re a bit messy and never know when class is or you’re already quite on top of things - organising your life even better will always improve your performance and the way you view the school experience. the key to getting everything in order is making sure each item and activity has a time and a place.

let’s start with places. you’ll need to know where all of your textbooks and exercise books are when you pack your bag, so keep them all together - in a drawer, on a shelf, by your bed, it doesn’t matter. just make sure they have a designated area and return to it. all of your homework and notes that don’t go into your exercise book should stay in a file. i personally keep one folder at home for each subject and then transfer the necessary sheets into the one binder i keep in my bag when i need them. this way i can free up space in my bag - though this technique is for those with sharp memories (and the daring).

then, of course, it is important that each task and event has a time. this is really the most important part of organising in my opinion, because time management is a skill that you will need up to university and beyond. first, you need to set a timetable - make a physical copy if you want to! i prefer having a reference to stick up on my wall (and it’s really fun to colour code each class and activity). fill in all your classes and extracurriculars, then fill in the times it takes you to travel, get ready in the mornings and prepare for school in the evenings. when that is done, fill in the gaps! you don’t need to be too specific; i classify mine quite simply into breaks, rests, study periods and exercise. so long as you designate appropriate times to valuable activities, you should be fine!

you also need a journal or planner of some kind. i swear by my bullet journal, but apps such as ‘school planner’ on android are an actual godsend. this is where you will jot down deadlines, tasks, events and exams. apps are really good for this because they will automatically sync everything onto one calendar, but the good old fashioned paper planner is wonderful too - it really depends on your style! every evening you should be able to glance at your planner, pick your outfit and pack your bag, all ready for the next day.

5. FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL whether you’re off at a new school or this is your last year, every september is an opportunity to change your approach to education. my biggest piece of advice is to be someone you’re happy and comfortable with. you may want to reinvent yourself completely - and that’s fine - but don’t strive to be something you’re not. if you’re quiet and comtemplative, there is no pressure to be the loudest one in class; the same goes the other way around. you’ll probably be much happier being yourself, and people will definitely love you for who you are.

having said this, you can always use september as a fresh start if you were unhappy with your past years in education. the best way to get off on the right foot is to be prepared, punctual and positive: have all of the materials required, always be early and try to keep a positive outlook on anything you’re asked to do. this way all of your teachers will know that you want to do well in their classes and you will attract others who also value their success this year. if you remember this approach during your first week (even if it is really scary!), you’ll begin your year perfectly.

6. SCHOOL LIFE before we get into the real study tips, we should quickly touch upon the other aspects of life at school: 

friendship - this is something that a lot of people struggle with at school. not necessarily making friends; everyone finds friends eventually. what people often find difficult is making the right friends. i’ve known a lot of people who want to do well but their friends don’t, so they find it holds them back. or they might really like their friends but have disagreements or fights that make them stress out and lose concentration. the fact is, finding friends who you can love and rely on is an important part of school life and you will experience problems with them. but don’t let this deter you! your real friends will stick with you through the good and the bad, and when worst comes to worst, you might split up. but that’s a part of growing up. if you outgrow someone - that’s fine. if you want a different type of friendship (or relationship), that’s fine too. do what is best for yourself and you’ll never go wrong.

extracurriculars - oftentimes an optional choice for students but vital nonetheless. if this is your final exam year and you’ll need all the time you can get, i wouldn’t stress over any clubs or classes besides booster sessions. however, if that’s not the case, i would seriously recommend taking an extracurricular for the first term at least. not only are they great for university applications, they will help relieve the stress of schoolwork and serve as a fast-track to making friends when you don’t know that many people. you could take something that links to your chosen subjects or aspirations, or just try something new. if you aren’t sure about commitment, take a club or class that only lasts a set number of weeks or just one term. that way you can drop it when the time is up without disappointing any teachers or peers. however, if you pick something you know you’ll really enjoy, you’ll hopefully keep the club all the way until summer! 

finally, teachers - the worst part of school for some and the best for others. i really have only one piece of advice: make friends with your teachers! not only will this help you when you’re struggling with an assignment or do poorly in an exam, a teacher can be one of the kindest and most interesting people you’ll meet at school. i’ve always had good relationships with my teachers and i have had no regrets. you can tall about the subject further or just get support with personal issues - sometimes, my teachers have honestly saved my life. so try to get to know your teachers and keep your mind open. you never know what you might learn!

7. IN CLASS okay, now we get to the real studying tips! when in class, it's important to transfer all the important information being discussed or presented into your book. this doesn't necessarily have to be exhaustive - if you write in length about one point, you'll miss out on the rest of the learning! instead, try to make brief but understandable notes using abbreviations or symbols; bullet pointing under different headers can help to separate ideas clearly. some teachers will pause to let you take down what is on their slides, but others will continue. try to prepare for the latter by writing as they talk. keep your class notes as minimalist as possible: this is where you are most information-based, so time spent on making them pretty is time wasted. most importantly, self assess any quizzes or written work - if you don't know where you went wrong, you can't grow.

during class, your teacher might hand out materials that they want you to read. if it helps, highlight all the key terminology and phrases as you go along (i find this especially helpful when reading rather large blocks of text). look up any words you don't understand, or if there isn't a dictionary, discuss it with a peer before asking the teacher. when reading, try to figure out the purpose of being given the text. is it simply information your teacher wants you to learn? do they want you to form an opinion, or analyse the author's opinions? sometimes they might want you to complete a task or talk about it with a partner. always try to understand what you are supposed to learn from what you are doing, or else you are just following instructions blindly.

class discussions are always my favourite part of any lesson. challenge yourself to participate - a lot of exam spec. calls for a clear opinion on the material and you can gain this from listening to and debating with other students. get into the habit of engaging with your classmates because they might approach the work in a way you haven't. this applies to the STEM subjects too; sometimes you might disagree on what the right answer is, or they might show you another way to work something out. it's very possible that they know something you don't, so take advantage of that! the only way to learn is to interact, so get involved.

8. STUDYING AT HOME ok, time to study. open your curtains, clear your workspace and lay out your equipment. try and keep a glass of water or another healthy drink of your choice on your desk for you to sip as you work. set your pomodoro timer or listen to some background noise - the 'tide' app and 'noisli' website work well for both - and turn to a fresh page. then get started…

the first step of learning at home is doing your homework. this could be prep work for your next lesson, reading or just a task set by your teacher to complete by a certain deadline. whatever it is, make sure it's recorded in your planner or on your phone, including any details and due dates. then, whenever you get study time, attempt it straight away. my theory is that waiting until a later date means you don't get any time to relax properly, and also leaves you unable to seek help if you don't understand or something is wrong. doing it right away gets rid of so much anxiety and allows you to get the well needed rest you deserve, rather than wasting time worrying about what is due when. when it comes to tasks, present your work neatly and treat it like classwork that is going to be marked. many people don't take homework seriously, but it can demonstrate to your teacher what you know and what you are struggling with. and always, always, get any readings done. not online summaries - the actual book. the teacher will know, trust me.

the next step is to start studying. this is going over your classwork at home, reading outside of your material or creating revision notes. you should try to read over your classwork at least once a week to make sure you remember what you've learnt and clear up any issues with understanding. once you know you understand what is taught in class, you could look into the work on a deeper level: in the sciences, this might mean learning the concept in more detail; in the humanities, it could mean reading about context. whenever you feel like you've learnt all that you have to - and want to - learn, you should start to revise. revision is more helpful at the end of a module because you will be able to fully summarise the information. at the beginning, you will probably want to work through each individual lesson and this is too much to read through and revise from effectively. for one subject, i turned 2 years worth of learning into a 4 or 5 page booklet that i revised from, and i was able to get full marks in the exam. essentially, studying really comes down to you, but you have to tailor it to your needs and abilities - and the subject you're doing. i'll talk more about that later.

9. DREAM TEAM / STUDY BUDDY before i talk about exams, i thought i might mention 'dream teams' and 'study buddies'. at my school, a motivational speaker came and talked to us about the value of having a team of people around you who can ensure you keep up with school and work hard. these will usually be people in your classes who you might check up with from time to time to make sure that you are all completing assignments and staying on top of things. i actually took this advice and it was genuinely helpful during exam time - we would meet up some weekends at the library and tutor one another, working through different subjects depending on who was best at what. eventually, we'd even stop other people distracting people in our dream teams in class because we were genuinely wanting one another to succeed. however, finding a whole team of people who can meet up regularly could prove very difficult. this is why you might decide to have a study buddy instead. they serve the same role as a dream team but you can talk to or meet up with them more since it's only the two of you. you might not even see each other most of the time - my study buddy goes to a different school and studies different subjects. but so long as you keep each other going and genuinely want them to do well too, you should both really succeed.

10. EXAM TIME aah! exams! this is obviously the part most people worry about and usually where most people want advice. when it comes to exam revision, you have to figure out what makes you work best. this means you need to know what types of learning are effective for you. if you prefer to watch videos or see what is going on for yourself, you're a visual learner. or you might need to do experiments and make models if you're more hands-on. it doesn't matter if you remember information in a less conventional way; what does matter is that you are able to find out what way that is.

then you need to base your revision based off of what subject you are doing and what type of exam it is. if it's an oral exam, there is no use practising essay writing; if it's an art exam, you might not need to stack up on flashcards. once you've matched everything up - subject, exam and technique - here are some methods i'd recommend using to revise.

a) flashcards have a lot of information to remember? does the subject involve a bunch of specific details or topics, for example, a science like chem or bio? then flashcards are the right choice for you! get your revision guide, textbook or class notes together and read through them. jot down only the most important parts - cut out any filler words or sentences that you know you don't need to understand the concepts. do this for each chapter and then use these to make your flashcards. split up all your cards so that you have an equal amount of cards per chapter. then for each chapter, use one side of a card for each topic. (note: you may need a lot of flashcards if there are many topics, but try not to use more than a side a topic. be short and simple - this is the point!) once you have finished, collect them all together in order and read through them whenever you need to jog your memory. try to test yourself on any parts you don't remember after you read through. these are really helpful for reminding yourself of content before attempting past papers! an online alternative like quizlet is also super helpful for quotes if you studying subjects like english, as you can look over them on the way to and from school with ease.

b) timelines, mindmaps & posters if you study a subject where lots of information is centred around certain themes or ideas, a mindmap or poster might be the best technique to use. it is also really helpful for people who learn visually. to make a timeline, draw a line down the centre of your paper and pick a start and end point - in subjects like history, they usually provide these in the spec. then write down all the events that happened in the timeframe, connecting each one to the line so it meets it at the correct year. you could even colour-code events into groups (like social, political and economic events) so you can make connections at a glance. a mindmap can be made by writing the theme or topic in the centre of the page, then creating branches for each sub-topic. each sub-topic usually extends out even further, with three or more branches being connected. once this is done, you could link bits of information using coloured pens or highlighters. finally, a poster is usually about one particular sub-topic that you could go into detail about. it could include pictures, diagrams, fancy headers - you name it! this is more of a creative task, so if you like art, you might prefer this type of revision.

c) post-it notes a shorter and simpler method is to use post-it notes. these are best for small bites of information - key words, quotes, etc. write down a bunch of post-it notes and stick them all over your room (or better yet, your house - with everyone else's permission) in places that you frequent often. you'll see the note and likely read it without thinking, helping jog your memory through repetition. could be very helpful in the language subjects if you need to know items and rooms! my friend has german parents so they labelled different household items in german so she could practise for her exam - why not try it too?

d) past papers it is always a good idea to try past papers as part of revision. not only does it help you get used to the formula of the paper, you can test your knowledge and skills so you know what you need to strengthen as part of your studying. you will probably attempt past papers in class buy definitely do them at home also. this technique is pretty straight-forward, but i still have a couple tips to make sure you get something out of it. first of all, practise it within the time limit. if you run out of time, draw a line under your work or swap pen colours, then complete the paper when you find the time. unless you get used to the timings, your time management in the actual exam will fail you and you won't show your full potential. secondly, mark harshly. if you aren't sure if you deserved that mark, don't give it a tick or a half mark. scrutinise your work so that you know the minimum grade you could get if you keep working at your level; it's better to mark under than over. finally, always try your very best. i knew too many people who would give 50% and claim they'd "actually try" in the real exams: this will not work out! don't be afraid to try your best and fail - this is how you get better. if you don't try your best and you do poorly, you'll never know if your best is good enough to pass.

e) summaries this technique is somewhat similar to flashcards, but for those who prefer notes that stay together so you can revise whole topics really quickly. divide everything into topics again, as you did for the flashcards, but this time, choose the key trigger words that make up each section. essentially, it's like making bullet point notes but even more minimalist - use words, acronyms, symbols, anything to explain bits of information in the smallest space possible. write everything down from each topic in this way - you should be left with a booklet of a few pages that will trigger your memory of the details. this is for when you really know the content though - beware if you haven't fully learnt it!

f) revision guide naturally, you should use your revision guide to study for your exams. however, you could also misuse them in revision, which could easily waste your time and effort. don't just simply read through your revision guide - not only will you probably fall asleep, you probably won't retain most of the information. try to engage with the text - highlight keywords and phrases (only important ones - don't highlight the whole book) or underline important passages in red pen. when you highlight certain words, you will automatically read them when you see the page, making your revision much quicker. when you underline sentences in a bright colour like red, you're forced to actually read the text and understand it instead of skimming absent-mindedly. complete the activities in your revision guides and try to get any revision workbooks available too. active revision is the best revision. when you've finished a session, write down everything you can remember about what you've read, then compare it to the actual content. whatever you've forgotten, revise next time.

g) videos need more visual revision techniques? videos can be really helpful if you can't really grasp a concept. there are channels on youtube like crash course that provide educational content that might tie into your course. type in the topic you're studying and voila - loads of videos that can explain it for you. pick ones that you know you can access mentally - sometimes a university-level lecture on derivatives isn't actually going to help you more than a 5 minute video with diagrams and bright graphics. don't bother watching something too hard or too easy - click off as soon as you know it isn't right. if you do find a good video, try to engage with it as much as possible - take notes, test yourself, etc. you never know, you might learn something new to use in your exam!

h) quote competitions this is a bit of an unusual one but it's one i liked the most before my english exams. once you have learnt the key quotes from your text, challenge a friend to a quote competition. you start by giving a quotation and they have to respond with a different one. keep going until someone repeats a quotation, says one incorrectly or simply runs out. these can go on for quite long if you have both revised well - me and my friend would practise while lining up for the exams and neither of us would lose by the time we had to go inside. you can also up the ante a little by adding extra rules: make them say the scene or chapter, the speaker or the context. this is a nice competitive way to check your knowledge and a good way to show off your memory of 'macbeth' or 'the great gatsby', if that's something you'd like to do.

i) teaching someone else my last tip is, in my opinion, my best tip: teach someone else! find someone that either knows nothing about it or doesn't understand it yet and explain it to them. this doesn't even have to be someone who can understand you - tell your phone, your dog, your baby sister… it doesn't matter! your teachers only know the material so well because they have to understand it well enough to explain it to someone else. so become a teacher yourself! i ended up teaching a lot of peers in all of my subjects; i even set up a temporary revision booster for classmates about 'macbeth' because i'd studied shakespeare for so long. it's good for your cv, it's good for the people you help and it's good for you, because that way you are making sure you understand and remember the material while you do the same for them. anyway, who knows when you might need help? when you've been revising well enough according to a regular timetable, you will be 100% ready to ace all your tests. breathe regularly before your exam, smile and tell yourself that you will do amazingly - this is proven to improve your performance - then walk in and take your seat. while in the exam, work quickly and neatly, thoroughly read through and attempt all questions, then check your work at the end. so long as you know the content, the skills and the timings, you should be able to really succeed. and if you feel like you're lacking confidence, know that everyone here online believes in you and wants you to do well.

CLOSING THOUGHTS doing well at school is a big task and it can be a lot to undertake even though it comes with a large reward. if you're struggling, then talk to someone about it. a friend, a teacher, a guardian - anyone who will listen. you may think that you can't do it because of this illness or that problem, etc. etc., but trust me, you can. it's not going to be easy; "if it was easy," eric thomas once remarked, "everyone would do it." let me let you in on a little secret: during my time at school i was in and out of hospital, had to bury a close friend and once had a year-long attendance of around 80-something percent. i had a really difficult time, especially in my final year when i took my exams. but i walked away with amazing results and that was because of one thing - i wanted to do it and i knew i could. so if you don't feel that way yet, i'll do it for you. i want you to do it and i know you can. so good luck this year, and i hope you all tell me about your amazing results in the summer!

[natalia-km]

Firstly congrats on your fantastic gcse results you should be really proud 😄🙌🏽 As I'm sitting my exams the coming year ( 😭 ) just wanted to ask if you have revision tips for me in regards to the main subjects ( i.e. Maths, English etc ) Please and thank you 😊

Thank you so much!

I’m more than happy to give any advice any time :)

This post is very long so I’m sorry lol. If you can’y read the whole thing I also did a summary at the end. 

Maths:

 Repetition is key, start by doing some past papers given to you by your school and get used to doing three 1 ½ hour papers. Identify your weaknesses and keep practicing. Keep practicing past papers and problem solving booklets you can find online as the new types of questions are heavily based on problem solving and combining units e.g. algebra with graphs. For revision I went through my past papers and looked at the questions I got wrong and what I didn’t understand. Honestly just doing past papers in maths after learning all the units is the best way to revise. I did past papers really from the start of year 11 all the way to the exam.

Some useful websites that I used (I just wrote out the questions you do not need to print everything) 

http://justmaths.co.uk/2015/12/21/9-1-exam-questions-by-topic-higher-tier/

http://www.mathsmadeeasy.co.uk/gcsemathspapers-9-1.htm

Some content on different exam boards may vary but maths is maths and virtually the same on all exam boards. I sat Edexcel and my school offered these books that come in three. I really recommend these as say, for example, pg 51 on inverse functions in the revision books matches pg 51 in the work book. When we had spare time in class or have a spare 10 minutes it is really helpful to complete a page of fractions or something. There is also a book called past papers plus with exam questions in the exam format (if that makes any sense lol) Which is what I used the most. My copy had loads of mistakes but if you buy a new one I think it will be fixed (haha get your act together edexcel) 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/REVISE-Edexcel-Mathematics-Higher-Revision/dp/1447988094

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revise-Edexcel-Mathematics-Revision-Workbook/dp/1292210885/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KS8EGP0PE8821S279NYQ

https://www.amazon.co.uk/REVISE-Edexcel-Mathematics-Higher-Practice/dp/1292096314/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=H1KM6NPHSEEMHT303AVW

If you are aiming for 7/8/9 a really useful site is churchill maths, your school has to be registered and pay a license or something, which my school was, and you can access so many maths papers. I think there are 9 sets of three papers or more. They are really hard and take a while to get on their level as they have multi step problems and problem solving. These are really good as they start at the difficulty of the middle of the regular paper and go up. This is really helpful for the exam as the easy questions will seem really easy and the hard questions will not feel so bad.

When you practice every question write down the equation(s) you are going to use. You do not get a formulae sheet so you just have to learn them off by heart. Every question I did in class and homework I wrote down the relevant formulae and them slotted in the numbers and etc etc etc. By the time of the exam you’ll look at a trig question and know the cosine rule off by heart and it will make your life so much easier.

English lit.

 oh the bane of my life. I have seen each exam vary from exam board to exam board and it does vary with different books you have been given. I studied Great expectations, Macbeth, Blood brothers and conflict anthology on Edexcel, the papers will be different on AQA and OCR and if you study different texts.

A major revision tip is to read the text properly before you start studying it in class. Then I would re read it but only skim through it and properly read the main chapters that have a very important scene at around christmas time and leading up to the exams.

LEARN YOUR QUOTES. Flash cards are great, I categorised quotes by character and theme and just wrote them over and over (but that style works for me and may not work for you). ½/3 word sentences are easy to remember and are concise to slot in where you can. e.g. Macbeth is referred to as a “tyrant”. easy one word quote that you can develop.

For english the time restrictions are ridiculous. Omg it was literal hell. When you do homework like write an essay on the significance of the witches in Macbeth look at the timings you have and try doing the essay in the time. 

And to save your should learn the timings per question it will honestly save you from spending so much time on one essay and leaving none for the next questions. 

In the exam I was quite sneaky and drew the timings on my watch so I could see when I had to change question which was a life saver *prayer hands emojis*

Instead of kind of learning the whole text sub categorise the information in the questions (I know I didn’t explain that well but hear me out). For example in for Macbeth my essay question was the significance of the witches, and in Great expectations it was the importance of location. What I did was categorise Character, Theme and setting. 

I didn’t revise setting and it came up so don’t skip it. Depending on the question it will require 4 or 5 paragraphs so learn 4-5 points for each theme and character. When revising just learn a one sentence point that you can quickly recall and develop in the exam. Flash cards are reallyyyy useful in this. I used mine literally in the car going to school on the exam day.

e.g. The significance of Ambition in Macbeth.

1. Lady Macbeth’s Ambition is the driving force to kill duncan

2. Macbeth realises that ambition is futile without an heir so it leads him to murder Banquo

3. leads Lady Macbeth to her downfall

4. Macbeth murdering Macduff’s family is his ambition to kill Macduff and restore peace. 

These are very short points which can be expanded upon. :)

For the poetry there’s 15 poems. Don’t bother learning 15 I learnt 5 and got by. It is impossible to learn all 15 but read and analyse all of them in class so you get a good general idea of what they are all about and how they use structure and punctuation etc. I linked them together by theme e.g. No problem, half cast and class game all go together. In your categories learn one or two that can be compared to anything. I learnt no problem, belfast confetti, cousin kate, exposure, charge of the light brigade and what were they like. If you’re not doing this exam board or anthology collection these titles may not mean anything to you but you get the jist of it. 

For each learn the structure, rhyme scheme, imagery and punctuation so in the exam you can recall the poem you select to compare to and the main points. 

Finally for english literature learn for each essay question what is needed, some will need context (19th century fiction doesn’t) some want writer’s intention and effect on reader. but putting in context where you can will not hurt.

English language:

I found this really hard so I’m not really an expert as such. For revision learn how many paragraphs are needed for each question and practice with time limits. Practice highlighting text and picking out key information and language, structure and form. Remember to comment on all three of language structure and form for the relevant questions. I think it is really useful to read chapters of 19th century fiction to get used to the language as it’s in paper one. Honestly reading one or two chapters of a the sign of four, pride and prejudice, the woman in black or anything you can find is really helpful. 

Paper 2 i think is non-fiction, you can’t really prepare for the texts but practice planning the question is the best revision for this paper. For the long comparison question practice finding similarities and differences in language structure and theme. I did this over and over again for different combination of texts. 

For imaginative writing just practice writing an opening, one paragraph and an ending for different questions (I got examples from my teacher like write about a time you ere scared or write about a time you had to work hard for something) Learn a few really good vocal to slot in here and there but not too much so you sound like a dictionary. My favourite was Megalomaniac and I kid you not I used it in every possible place I could. 

Science (?) 

I was still on the old system and I’m not sure if it is changing for your year? Free science lessons on youtube was basically my saviour and past papers are your best friend. For biology it is just repetition of vocab and systems, I used a lot of acronyms and silly little jokes here and there. For chemistry keep practicing the maths part because that is where a lot of marks can be gained e.g. calculating moles and titration. For physics I just practiced lots of maths questions? I didn’t do too well in physics but *shrugs*

How I worked is I wrote up the lesson neatly the day after the class, before a test I would review it and during revision I condensed the information onto ¼ of an A4 page (I didn’t find flash cards big enough and hard to draw diagrams and stuff) and repeated condensing of information so it got to a pint where each type of cell had their own ¼ A4 page for themselves.

In summary:

Maths: Repetition, repetition, repetition. Write out equations for absolutely every single question you do. Past papers/specimen papers/9-1 hard questions booklets you can find online.

English lit: Learn how many points per question, examiners love a good introduction and conclusion (2 sentences will do fine) but it’s not the end of the world. Flash cards for each theme, setting and character. Learn the key context, structure and imagery of a handful of poems that can be compared to a number of different poems. Quotes, Quotes, Quotes. Shove them in where you can. One or two words quotes are ideal as you an easily embed them.

English Language: practice planning your essay answers for the longer questions (spend no longer than 3 minutes doing this) when annotating extracts don’t write out full ideas or sentences of the extract it wastes time and that sheet is not marked. Just write down a few words for a point you can use. Imaginative writing plan your answer for no longer than 5 minutes, remember to use punctuation, varied sentence length, vary sentence starters and do not be cliché e.g. and it was all a dream *pukes*. 

Science: Write down every formula you use for every calculation question e.g. moles=mass/RFM, Moles=volume x concentration in chemistry. practice past paper questions. LEARN UNITS THEY CAN GAIN A MARK. e.g. J or Hz. Acronyms are a life saver for remembering complex systems like the kidneys in biology. Silly little things help too. e.g. remembering the blood vessels in the heart I think VAVAVA  (Vena cava, right Atrium, right Ventricle, pulmonary Artery, pulmonary Vein and Aorta.) 

General: Find a system that works, for me it is just writing things over and over again. You may find the leitner system useful (link below) or mind maps. Find what works for you and don’t listen to a teacher telling you to do revision a certain way because “variation helps” which is a complete lie. Just find what works for you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C20EvKtdJwQ

Also prioritise, subjects you do value as much can wait a day, for me German was not as important as maths so i spent more time on maths than german (as an example) but don’t completely abandon a subject because you will get stressed.

I hope this was of some use to you and maybe you can pick out a few things to help you revise. This year will be tiring but it will pay off on results day, trust me. My main tip is to just keep on top of work and get things done asap. Good luck with your exams this coming year I believe in you! 

- Natalia x

[hablo-leo-escribo]

Hey everyone! I’m a current year 13 student preparing for my first year of university so I thought I’d ask my friends for any tips for new year 12s and put together a post with all our advice for anyone going into sixth form this year. Some of the tips (eg about UCAS etc) might be helpful to year 12s going into year 13 as well 😊 I’ve seen a few of these posts floating around but they were very US-centric, so I thought I’d make one specific to the UK education system in the hope that that can help some people.

NB: I went to sixth form at my previous secondary school, so it’s possible that some of these tips will be slightly different from the experience you get from an independent sixth form college, but it may still be helpful. I took AS and A2 levels in French, Spanish and Music, and a linear two-year A level in English Literature, as well as EPQ. I’m aware that specifications are always changing, but if anyone needs any specific help with those subjects feel free to message me 😊

Choosing your subjects

Yes, it’s probably too late for this if you’ve already got to the end of year 11, but during September of year 12 there’s usually some degree of finding your feet and it shouldn’t be impossible to change your subjects if you suddenly realise you’ve made a horrible mistake.

Pick subjects you like and/or have a reason for studying. A levels are tough, so if you go in with a passion for a particular subject, a will to learn something new, or a specific goal in mind (eg getting onto a particular career path), motivation will come more easily.

Having said that, it doesn’t matter how much you like a subject, around April-May of year 13 you will still find yourself, at least once, crying on the floor of your bedroom, surrounded by empty chocolate wrappers and dense piles of revision notes, wondering why you didn’t just run away to sea to be a pirate when you had the chance. It’s a normal part of sixth form life. Just let it happen, and keep going.

If you’re one of those people who always cracks under the pressure of exams, you might want to consider taking creative subjects. A couple of my friends only took subjects like art, photography and textiles which were almost entirely coursework-based. Equally, if you hate ongoing projects and would prefer an exam-assessed course, those are ones to avoid!

Choose your subjects wisely and don’t chop and change too much. When you pick these subjects you’re going to be stuck with them for the next two years. If you realise you’ve made a mistake your school may allow you to switch, but do that as early as you possibly can so you don’t miss too much curriculum. I would say October of year 12 is the absolute latest you should be trying to switch your subjects.

Similarly, if you aren’t a certified mega-genius, don’t take more than three A levels. I did and Oh Boy did I regret it. It severely restricts your time and puts you under a lot of stress, plus you generally only need three subjects to get into uni. If you’re really keen to have an extra on top of your three, consider taking EPQ if your school offers it.

Lessons

Try to have a good relationship with your teachers, they’re your most valuable resource. Depending on what subjects you’re taking and how big your sixth form is, you might end up with quite small class sizes (my biggest AS class had 15 students, which was the same size as my smallest GCSE class). So you’ll get to know your classmates and teacher better, but equally, lessons will be more painful if you don’t get on with the teacher.

Do wider reading for your classes whenever you can. This particularly applies to subjects like English, but it can help boost your understanding and enjoyment of any subject – especially if you’re thinking of going on to do it at university.

If you have to give presentations in class and you’re not a fan of public speaking (let’s be real, who is?), always prepare a handout. That will save your audience’s wrists from speedy note-taking, but it will also give them something to focus on so they won’t just be staring at you, which will probably make you feel less self-conscious.

Learning to reference books and articles properly is probably one of the most useful skills I’ve picked up in the whole two years, it’s worth spending some time on.

Coursework/EPQ/other large, ongoing projects: start working early and plan out your time. I cannot stress this enough. Break down your task into chunks, eg for EPQ that could take the form of planning, researching, drafting, refining and presenting your findings. Then give yourself a deadline for each of those and stick to it!

Start a groupchat for each of your classes! You can help each other with queries, plan revision sessions, stress together the night before an important deadline and just get to know each other better.

Organise your goddamn folders and try not to lose them? You’d be surprised how common this was in my sixth form. Keep it in your locker if it’s not in your bag or at home, don’t just leave it lying around your common room or study area – especially if you’ve got a common design of folder, like a generic black ringbinder.

Make notes as soon as you learn something. Taking notes in class is the best way – they don’t have to be beautiful (you could write them out again later as a form of revision, with lots of colour to help you remember things), you just have to get the info down on paper.

If you don’t understand something, keep emailing the teacher until they help you.

Exams

Don’t be afraid of taking a new specification. It is scary to be the first or second year group ever to take a certain exam but you’re not alone, students across the country will be in the same situation. Even if your exam board seems useless or impossible, your teachers are qualified to prepare you for it, I promise. I found the lack of past papers and example material to be the hardest part, but in that situation you just have to improvise. See if you can pinch and adapt a similar essay question from a different exam board, for example.

Revision is horrible but it has to be done. If you study as you’re going along throughout the year (eg reviewing all your class notes at the end of the week) it will seem like less of a chore.

Find fun ways to revise, that work for you! Lots of people swear by flashcards as you can put bitesize chunks of information down and just whip them out to go through whenever you have a spare 5 minutes. You could record yourself reading your notes and make your own revision podcasts to listen to just before bed, make giant revision posters… One of my friends even got some glass pens so she could write on the door of the shower!

Switch up your environment and go for walks between revision to help clear your head.

If you can find it online, print off the specification for the course you’re doing and use it as a checklist so that you know exactly what you need to know.

Exam technique is almost as important as the actual information you need to know. Get as familiar as possible with the different types of questions you’ll have to answer, how this will be marked and what weighting of the final grade it carries.

It’s a long way off for you guys, but for any current year 12s reading this: use the summer between 12 and 13 wisely. Make revision notes for the topics you covered in the past year. You don’t have to spend heaps of time on it, the trick is to keep reviewing the information in little bites so when study leave rolls around next year you won’t feel like you’re drowning in stuff you don’t know.

I probably don’t need to say this, but don’t start watching a series during exam time...

Time management

Don’t pull all-nighters, it’s never worth it. If you’re in the sort of position where you feel you need to pull an all-nighter to get your work done, there’s something wrong with your workload or your time management. Speak to someone for help with whichever of these it is.

Don’t do what one of my mates did, which is develop an unhealthy dependence on coffee and Red Bull. If you’re relying on caffeine to get you through the day, you are not getting enough sleep.

Use your free periods wisely for the love of God. When exam time rolls around you will regret every hour spent napping in the common room or dicking about on Snapchat instead of working, trust me. Time out is important, but save it for your lunch break.

Don’t make a habit of skipping school. You know when you need to take time out and when you could probably push on and keep going. 100% attendance is not necessary to pass a course, but remember that you can’t learn shit when you’re not actually there.

Know when your deadlines are. Double and triple check them and write them everywhere. When you get into your UCAS application this will be particularly important because you can’t just beg for an extension – if you miss it, you miss it. Get into the habit of doing things sooner, rather than later.

You could try setting your own deadline 3 days before the real thing so that you’ll work to get it done with time to spare. That way you’re prepared for any unexpectedly time-consuming tasks.

CV-building

You may not feel that you have a whole lot of free time with your workload, but it’s important that you put aside some time (particularly during year 12, before things get really intense the following year) to do some good old Character Building so that when it comes to personal statement time, your only hobbies aren’t watching Netflix and refreshing tumblr. This could take the form of learning a new skill – a language, musical instrument, coding, whatever – outside of school hours.

Volunteering also looks good to employers and universities, particularly to those who (like me) don’t have time for a part-time job. You can show you’ve had a position of responsibility and given back to the community as well.

Extra curriculars are worth it. Completely aside from being good for your CV and your personal statement, they’re also loads of fun and when you’re in sixth form you get loads of opportunities that the lower school just doesn’t get, running clubs and bands as well as just participating. As a sixth former I’ve done conducting, stage managing, and played in the orchestra of my school’s musical, but you could get into sports, art, drama, whatever you like.

Your school will probably grant you a week off at the end of year 12 for work experience – use it well! Try to get involved with something that’s as closely connected with your chosen area of further study or employment as possible, or if you can’t do that, try and turn whatever you end up with to your advantage. I was looking for language-related work experience but ended up in insurance, so the whole week I was there I specifically asked for tasks relating to the company’s international relations.

Any language students interested in work experience abroad, have a look at this website. They organise work experience for you in France, Spain, Germany or Italy - I went during year 12 and it was amazing.

It’s not essential to get a part-time or Saturday job, especially if it’s going to interfere with your studies, but I would advise finding a way of gaining at least some financial independence from your parents. Personally I picked up money by tutoring younger students, babysitting and feeding my neighbours’ cats on a freelance basis. It’s just something you can put on your CV and helps you gain experience of budgeting for yourself, which will all be useful when you leave home.

Applying to uni

When it comes to applying to uni, take it seriously and start early. Do your research and talk to current students wherever you can, try and get an honest opinion.

It’s not necessary to go carting off around the country to visit every university you even consider applying to – this gets expensive and time-consuming after a while! Some universities host virtual open days, and most are represented at UCAS fairs and events – there are other ways to get the *feel* of a place.

Send your personal statement to EVERYONE. I’m not kidding. I showed mine to my parents, my aunt, my subject teachers, my next door neighbours, my school’s UCAS adviser, my best friends, my cousins, my head teacher… It all helps you get the best draft together. That said, remember that everyone’s opinions on these things is going to be different and above all, it has to be a *personal* statement – don’t put in anything that you’re not happy with.

Equally, don’t write down stuff that you can’t stand behind! If you say you’ve read a particular book, make sure you’ve actually read it!

Uni interviews are scary, I won’t lie to you, but don’t let that put you off from applying to the big-name universities or competitive courses. If your grades are good enough and you have a passion to want to go there, you should go for it! If you want to know what it’s like to go through the Oxbridge interview process, go ahead and send me an ask 😊

Stress busting

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Whether you’re struggling with something academically or need help with your workload, or if it’s a personal problem like mental health, there will be someone who can empathise and help you. They want to encourage your independence, but that doesn’t mean you have to deal with everything on your own.

No matter how stressful A levels may seem, remember that all you can do is try your best, and that’s all anyone can ask of you. There is no point in working yourself to death for A*s if it’s going to make you miserable.

It’s okay to put your mental health first, take some days out here and there to decompress, and practise self-care. I’m not saying skip school whenever you feel like it, but don’t wait to burn out before you let yourself take a break, or you’ll make yourself ill.

Eat breakfast and get a good night’s sleep. Just look after yourself. Don’t sacrifice your basic wellbeing in favour of good results, no grade is worth it.

Talk to your friends about how you’re feeling and share the stress. My friend group all send pics of our pets to the groupchat whenever someone’s feeling particularly down or stressed, just as a little way of cheering that person up. Be there for each other and work through stuff together.

General stuff

If you have a locker, use it. If not, try to minimise the amount of stuff you have to carry around on a daily basis. You can’t lug four bulging lever arch files around school every day without damaging your back.

Don’t be that one person who’s always borrowing pens, paper or lunch money from other people. Just don’t. Take responsibility for having your own supplies.

If you’re on studyblr already then I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but get a planner. It may just be a coincidence, but I’ve found that my friends who have a physical planner or bullet journal where they can write down their tasks have all turned out more organised than those of my friends who chose to use the apps on their phone instead.

Keep your study area orderly and organised. Tidy room = tidy mind. If you’re someone who really struggles with this (I personally can’t keep my room clear for longer than about 3 days at a time!), consider studying out of the house, at the library or somewhere similar.

Your performance in year 12 can and will affect your uni predictions, even if you don’t do AS levels. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your first year doesn’t count.

It’s great when you turn 18 and you’re finally able to start going to licensed premises and drinking *legally*, but don’t let all that freedom go to your head. Use your common sense – know your limits, don’t abandon friends on nights out, have a designated driver, don’t get drunk on a school night, the usual.

Identify people who distract you, and avoid them when it comes down to it. You can quickly narrow down the people who will be proactive and do something when they have a problem, and those who would rather just complain about it. The latter group are just going to waste your time.

Last tip! From personal experience, sixth form will be stressful as hell. But it can also be some of the most fun you’ve ever had in school, and your time will go crazy fast! Make the most of it and enjoy 😊

That’s all I can think of so far, I hope it’s helpful! Please feel free to message me with any questions or concerns about anything I’ve said, or equally, if you can think of any tips for new year 12s that I didn’t include on this list go ahead and add some.

Have a relaxing summer everyone and good luck for next year! xx

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This is a rough guide to the English School System! This is based off my personal experience, so it isn’t going to be true for everywhere and everyone. However, I have been to multiple schools in multiple places in England, so it should be pretty accurate. (I hope.) Give this a like or reblog if you found it useful, and I’m always around if you have any further questions! Love you <3

Nursery

This isn’t mandatory, but the majority of children will attend nursery. This is basically just a toddlers group. 3-4 years old (although I know some groups / people that will start when they’re 2)

Primary School

Reception or Foundation Years. (Changes name between schools. The year before Year 1, usually consists of playing in sandpits and drawing stuff. In some schools you have to wear a uniform, and in some you don’t.) 4-5 Years old

Year One. (The first year of school. You’re in the infants, which is basically the lower primary school. This year you just learn basic spelling and maths and writing skills, but you still do a lot of playing and activities as well.) 5-6 Years old.

Year Two. (The second year of school, or third if you’re including reception. This is you’re last year in the infants, and all your teachers use this as a way to persuade you to behave. “you’re going into the juniors now, you’ve got to act like a big kid!!!” This year you do less play and more work, but it’s still an enjoyable year. There is a little exam at the end of it but nobody takes it seriously.) 6-7 Years old.

Year Three. (You’re finally in the juniors!! Honestly there isn’t much difference lol, it’s just how the school curriculum is set up. So the infants is Key Stage 1 and the juniors is Key Stage 2. But you finally feel like a big kid because you’re in the juniors now!! This year is more serious work.) 7-8 Years old.

Year Four (There’s nothing special about this year lol. You’re not the little kids but you’re not the big kids either, and you might even start getting homework. *gasp*) 8-9 Years old.

Year Five (So close to year six!! The teachers are preparing you for your final year of Primary school, but honestly it’s still pretty chill. You’re definitely getting homework at this point. You’re so jealous of the year six’s but you know it’s only a year away.) 9-10 Years old.

Year Six. (Your last year is finally here!! You feel like the best and oldest people in the world. This year is a lot more work as you’re being prepared for SAT’s. The teachers make it seem like a big deal, but I’ll let you in on a secret. They don’t matter at alllll lol it’s total bullshit. It’s good preparation for secondary school though. At the end of the year, you sit an exam in Maths, English, Reading. Sometimes Science too. Once they’re over you’re super happy. Then the end of the school year comes and you’re sad cause you have to leave your friends. However you’re super happy because high school!!) 10-11 Years old.

Secondary School

Year Seven. (This is your first year of high school. Super exciting for the first week but then it just sucks. Everybody changes that year and suddenly fitting in is super important. There’s always a couple of exceptions. There’s a lot more homework and you actually have to move between classrooms which isn’t half as fun as you thought it would be.) 11-12 Years old.

Year Eight. (This year is pretty chill. You’re not new anymore, and there’s no stress either.) 12-13 Years old.

Year Nine. (You finally have to start picking your GCSE subjects. Until now, you’ve been taking every class your school provides. Now you have to pick just three you want to take, as well as doing all the mandatory ones: maths, english lit, english language, science. Picking is super difficult and they make a huge deal out of it.) 13-14 Years old.

Year Ten. (You finally get to stop with the dumb subjects you hated, but now the workload has doubled and you no longer like the subjects you were doing before. It’s not awful though. There’s no exams, but you do have mock exams at the end of the year.) 14-15 Years old.

Year Eleven. (Your last year of secondary! At the end of the year, you take roughly seven exams, and you get your marks back a little after the end of the year. In each subject you’ll get marked A* - F. If you got higher than a C in everything then you’re good to go! If you got less than a C in Maths or English then you’ll have to resit the exams. Now you’ve just got to say goodbye to your friends and head off to college.) 15-16 Years old.

College

Please note: You don’t have to go to college, but the majority of people do. However, you do have to be in education until you’re 18, so other choices would be an apprenticeship or other qualifications I know nothing about, but you can easily google. (College Alternatives UK. Google that and you’ll find all sorts of alternatives.)

Year Twelve / First Year of College (Year Twelve is only used in the context of a Sixth Form, which is where the college is part of a high school. In a college, it isn’t thought of in years as such.) Don’t worry, this isn’t college in the American sense. In some places, it’s just an extension of their high school (also known as Sixth Form), and for some it’s a whole new place, but in the same town usually. You narrow down your subject choice to three. This could be English, Graphic Design and Law. Food Tec, Drama, Computer Science. Math, Science, English. Whatever your college provides, and whatever appeals to you. Pick three subjects that you think will help. Some university courses require certain A levels so keep that in mind.)

Year Thirteen / Second Year of College. (You have to take your A levels and the pressure is on. All your workload has been tripled and you’re probably regretting your existence. During this year you need to start applying for universities as well. At the end of the year, you take your exams. And then you’re done with education!!)

University

I can’t really explain Uni because it differs a lot. What I will tell you is that we don’t have double majors (duel honours is a thing but it isn’t common) and we don’t do roommates or dorms in the same way americans do.

You get your Bachelors degree (which usually takes 3-4 years.) Then you can get yours masters. (Another 2.) And then a PhD. (3 years.) Most people will only get a Bachelors but many do go further.

Applying for university is done through UCAS. It basically uses a point system, but you can read more about it here.

I hope this was somewhat helpful!!

[laurendormanblog]

Blog #35: A Personal Blog

Hello readers,

If you’ve read any of my other blogs, you know that they’re not personal blogs. An account on Instagram called simplepolitics posts daily updates about the COVID-19 situation in the UK, plus some occasional updates in other areas of the world, but the UK is their main focus. I always credit them at the end of my blogs as I just want to help spread updates about the current pandemic. 

I have two personal blogs, one is the introduction to my blog and in another, I talked about how I personally felt about the closures of schools in the UK and the cancellation of my GCSE exams. 

So today, I thought I’d write another personal blog. This one is going to be about lockdown and how I’m finding it.

Schools closed on Friday 20th March and Boris Johnson announced lockdown measures on March 23rd, which was 57 days ago. 

In “Blog #17: Closure of Schools (My feelings)”, I spoke about how I felt hearing my exams were cancelled and that schools were closing until further notice, so I won’t talk about schools any more. 

So, it’s been 57 days since the UK has been in lockdown and as a 16 year old teenager, it has felt like so much longer, especially as I have a boyfriend whom I haven’t seen in person since schools closed and miss dearly. And although I’m dying to see him, I know that we both have to continue isolating and following the MP’s rules.

However, if it appears that lockdown could be extended for a much longer time or an official message is put out, we both may have to consider meeting whilst social distancing. We’ve said that although it’ll be extremely difficult and heart-breaking, if it comes to it, we might want to consider it so we can see each other.

I’ve had a mixture of good and bad days, as I’m sure most other people have as well. But it’s important to stay positive and maintain a sense of hope, otherwise getting through this will seem much harder. 

In one of my other personal blogs, I talked about my daily routine that I do during weekdays. Although that’s stayed the same, there are some other things that I’ve started doing. 

Before lockdown and COVID-19, I had an out of school drama group called Pauline Quirke Academy (PQA), where I had three classes I would take: Musical Theatre, Comedy & Drama and Film & TV. As well as these sessions, we would learn songs for events, learn and rehearse for shows/performances etc. 

Because I’m unable to attend this drama group now for obvious reasons, they have released a PQA Virtual Academy. So the person who runs the PQA group that I attend (PQA Norwich) does an Instagram Live Video every Saturday morning at 10 AM, he does shout-outs that students send him prior, explains what the workshops are etc. 

The workshops can range from competitions to learning a new song or dance, filming something funny or even learning how to do drag makeup. We’ve been very lucky to have some West End performers teach some workshops, such as Lauren Drew (Heathers UK and Six), Liam Doyle (Hairspray) and more. 

I’ve also been playing a lot of Minecraft with my younger sister recently, which I used to be very into when I was younger, so it’s been very fun to get back into it again. I also play a lot of Call Of Duty, I have Modern Warfare (the most recent COD), Advanced Warfare, Black Ops 3, WW2, Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered. I think so far my favourite campaign to have played has been either Advanced Warfare, Modern Warfare Remastered or WW2.

Among those games, I have WIPEOUT OMEGA, Driveclub, Gran Turismo, Sonic Forces, Minecraft Story Mode and Batman Arkham (I’ve not played this).

I’m trying to read more as well - I’m currently reading To Kill A Mockingbird and the copy I have is my mum’s copy from her English Literature GCSEs, so as I read, I get to see the various annotations she’s made. I also have Jane Eyre to read, which was a book given to me by my grandma for Christmas.

So that’s all for today, I think. Thank you for reading! :)

Lauren Dorman

[ytvisuals]

(Article taken from Great Ormond Street Hospital Website)

Being deaf in a world of sound

From chattering friends, to blaring music, and mobile phones, we live among constant sound. So how do you cope in a world of noise if you’re deaf or hard of hearing?

We find out about life as a deaf teenager from Madalena, aged 16. Plus expert tips and advice from Sarah Summerfield of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID).

Normal life

There are 35,000 deaf or hard-of-hearing children in the UK, and more than 90 per cent are born to hearing parents with little or no experience of deafness themselves.

Like 16-year-old Madalena. She was born deaf into a hearing family, and wears a hearing aid in her right ear to help her hear some sounds.

“Being a deaf person in a hearing world is normal to me because I do everything that hearing people do like going to school, going shopping, chatting with friends and going out, ” says Madalena.

How your ear works

Your ear is made up of three parts. Sound waves are collected by the outer ear, and pass through to the middle ear, where your eardrum makes them vibrate.

These tiny vibrations then enter the inner ear, or cochlea, a small tube filled with liquid and tiny hairs (nerves). It’s a delicate mechanism, so when it doesn’t work as it should, there can be a number of reasons.

Causes of deafness

What causes deafness in the first place? Basically, there are two types; conductive deafness and sensory-neural deafness.

Conductive deafness

Conductive deafness means that sound can’t pass freely to the inner ear. It can be caused by build up of ear wax, an ear infection or glue ear in babies. With this type of hearing loss, sound becomes quieter but not distorted. It’s usually temporary.

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(Article taken from Great Ormond Street Hospital Website)

Sensory-neural deafness

Sensory-neural deafness means the tiny hairs in the inner ear (cochlea) are not processing sound effectively. So the hearing is not only reduced, it can also be distorted. Sometimes it’s caused by infectious disease such as rubella or meningitis, birth complications, or regular exposure to loud noise.

Early diagnosis

Often the cause of deafness is unknown, so it’s very important that deafness in children is diagnosed as soon as possible.

By the age of three, hearing children have a vocabulary of about 700 words, while a child with undetected hearing loss only has about 25 words.

Full support

Madalena feels that being deaf has some drawbacks, but not many.

“There are some things that I can’t do like listening to music, talking on the telephone and talking with a person behind the counter in a shop,” she says.

“But I go to a deaf school, which I love as I like to learn there because I get full support from my teachers. Also I can chat to my friends and sometimes I get to miss a lesson because I have an audiology appointment, which is great!”

Don’t believe what you hear

There are several daft myths about deafness but one of the most common is that if you shout, the deaf person can hear you better! Think about it. Do you like being shouted at? And also, when you shout, your voice becomes distorted. It’s far more important to speak clearly.

The other myth is that deaf people only listen selectively, a bit like somehow ‘not hearing’ that the washing up needs doing but always hearing that there’s one more slice of pizza. That myth isn’t true either.

Remember that sensory-neural deafness is complex. It can mean the person might only hear certain pitches. Or the background noise may be too loud for them to understand. Or they might just be very tired from concentrating on lip- reading.

Make yourself heard

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(Article taken from Great Ormond Street Hospital Website)

Sarah Summerfield, of RNID, says that deaf people don’t all communicate in the same way.

“Some people with milder hearing loss use a hearing aid, depending on how noisy their surroundings are. People who are severely deaf may use both a hearing aid, and sign language. Some profoundly deaf people prefer to just use British Sign Language (BSL) as hearing aids are of little benefit to them,” she says.

If you’re not sure of the best way to communicate – ask!

Madalena adds: “Don’t give up if you don’t understand each other at first, as you can always find a different way to communicate, like writing things down.”

Stressed out

Madalena sometimes gets stressed because she misses information that hearing people take for granted.

“It was announced on the speakers that the tube would be going in a different direction and most of the passengers got off the tube, but I didn’t because I couldn’t hear the announcement and I missed my stop!” She remembers.

She also gets fed up when there are no subtitles on TV: “I can’t understand what’s being said and I often have to ask my family – who are all hearing – what’s going on, and then tell me but it’s not ideal.”

Top ten talking tips

Sarah, of RNID, has some top tips on communicating with deaf or hard of hearing people:

  Even if someone is wearing a hearing aid, it doesn't mean that they can hear you. Ask if they need to lip-read you.

  Make sure you have the listener's attention before you start speaking.

  Speak clearly but not too slowly, and don't exaggerate your lip

movements as this can make it difficult for them to read your lips – use

natural facial expressions and gestures.

  If you're talking to a deaf person and a hearing person, don't just focus

on the hearing person.

  Don't shout. It's uncomfortable for a hearing aid user and it looks

aggressive.

  If someone doesn't understand what you've said, don't just keep

repeating it. Try saying it in a different way.

  Find a suitable place to talk, with good lighting, away from noise and

distractions.

  Remember not to turn your face away from a deaf person. Always turn

back to your listener so they can see your face.

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(Article taken from Great Ormond Street Hospital Website)

  Check that the person you're talking to can follow you. Be patient and take the time to communicate properly.

  Use plain language and don't waffle. Avoid jargon and unfamiliar abbreviations.

Feel the noise – protect your hearing

Going to music clubs and gigs can seriously damage your hearing. A recent survey by the RNID revealed that 90 per cent of young people had experienced tinnitus (ringing in the ears or head) and dulled hearing, and 58 per cent didn’t realise they were signs of hearing damage. A lot of this is because of loud music exposure.

The organisation Don’t Lose the Music aims to help young people protect their hearing. But they’re not about turning the music down. Instead they have a huge range of specially designed earplugs that filter sound rather than blocking it out.

And by the way, don’t think you can ‘toughen up your ears’ by repeated exposure to loud music! It doesn’t work like that.

As Ministry of Sound DJ Allister Whitehead says: “People do get tinnitus and take it from me – I know a lot of people who got it. It is the last thing you need in your life and you never get rid of it. Do you want to be able hear in five years’ time?"

Don’t forget

If you’re worried about your hearing it’s always best to get it checked out, rather than hoping it will go away on its own. Your GP will look in your ears using an otoscope. Or you might be asked to listen to sounds using headphones.

If any problems are detected, you may be referred to an audiology clinic or the ear, nose and throat department of your local hospital for further tests.

Big plans

It’s pretty obvious that being deaf isn’t going to stop Madalena from doing what she wants to do.

“One day I would like to join a deaf football club as one of my friends plays in one and it looks like fun,” she says.

After her GCSE exams in English, maths and ICT, Madalena plans to study

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(Article taken from Great Ormond Street Hospital Website)

travel and tourism: “Being deaf won’t stop me from one day setting up a travel business that will help other deaf people to travel the world with others who are deaf, and have access to interpreters who can interpret different languages into British Sign Language (BSL).”

She reckons there are a few advantages to being deaf too: “I can sleep without hearing any sounds at night, and no one can disturb me while I study in public unless they tap on my shoulder!”

http://www.cpft.nhs.uk/Downloads/DVD-Documents/Equality/Thursday%20Being%20deaf%20in%20a%20world%20of%20sound.pdf