ESL WORKSHEET - Study tips

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

STUDY TIPS AND TRICKS

LinguaHouse

Jan. 13, 2025

Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2-C1)
Type of English: English for Teenagers
Tags: Education, Teaching, and Learning; Problems and Solutions; Challenges; Exam Preparation; Giving Opinions; Making Suggestions; Video Talk; Vocabulary Lesson; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 01/13/2025

The topic of this lesson is study tips. Students will watch a video containing 13 study tips and will learn vocabulary from the video. They will discuss their own tips and give advice. The language point is a useful language for giving and receiving advice. There is a roleplay to give advice on different problems. There is an optional homework task which includes practicing one of the tips. (by J. S. Fox)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Speaker 1
I hate silence when I’m studying so I have to put on some music. But then halfway through a song, I get curious about the lyrics and so I look them up and then I start looking at the singer on Wikipedia and then the next thing I know I’m watching a video about goat farming in outer Mongolia and I realize I haven’t studied a thing.
I do like watching videos though so I try to find some fun videos on the topic I’m studying. I find it helps to get different explanations of the same thing. Plus it’s usually more entertaining than reading the textbook over and over. But sometimes it becomes a form of procrastination. That’s definitely true.
Speaker 2
I usually highlight the textbook and write notes of the things I want to remember. But sometimes when I’m highlighting I think everything is important and so practically everything on the page is highlighted. So it defeats the purpose really. And sometimes I just memorize stuff without actually understanding.
One thing I find helpful with that is studying with my sister. We keep each other on task, mostly anyway. And because we are doing different subjects we try to explain stuff to each other. I find if I can’t explain it to her then it’s usually because I don’t know it well enough myself. It’s really useful to see where your gaps are. And if my sister isn’t around, I try to explain things to my cat.
Speaker 3
I study first thing in the morning because my brain is fresh and I’m just too tired by the end of the day and I can’t concentrate. I try to enter at least three things from my study session into my flashcard app. Then I use it when I’m on the bus on the way to school. The app uses spaced repetition so it helps me remember. If I know the card I won’t see it for a while. But if I get it wrong it will show it to me again the next day. I find it really helpful.
I do read and reread the same pages of my textbook. I don’t think it really helps me remember much but it just feels like I’m doing something right.
Speaker 4
I used to just read my textbook over and over again. It sort of worked a little bit but it just felt like the information was only half stuck in my brain. Then I read a tip about how doing mini-recall tests helps you learn. Something about how it makes the brain work harder.
Anyway, I started doing it and it really worked. I read a paragraph in my textbook and then I say the information out loud or write some facts out. Then I write some of the key information into my notes as questions, like: ‘’Who was the first man on the Moon?’’ just as an example. Then the next day I try to answer the question before I look at the book again.
The other thing I do which is not so good is to study with the TV on. Sometimes it’s just so boring that I switch on the TV for company. Of course, then I get distracted and start watching whatever is on.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Speaker: Our brain can potentially memorize 2.5 petabytes of information, which is roughly the equivalent of 3 million hours of YouTube videos. In order to use some of that staggering capacity a little more effectively when you learn, here are some tips that are based on widely accepted research by neuroscientists and learning experts.
Spaced Repetition
To maximize your learning, study short but often. Neuroscientist proved that synapses, the million billion connections in your brain that make you remember and understand stuff, grow mainly at night when you are asleep. This means that it is more productive to study regularly with sleeping breaks in between. Try it. Practice something for 15 minutes every day and you’ll be surprised by your progress within just weeks.
Find Your Own Style
While listening to the history teacher, Tom scribbles images and Jane finishes 1 kilo of nuts. Some enjoy watching videos over reading books, others study with friends and some like sitting in silence among a million books. Everybody is different.
Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep and dreams are vital to processing and storing new information. A Harvard study showed that students who had a good night’s sleep remembered their study materials 35% better than those who studied in the morning to take a test in the evening.
Focus!
If you tend to procrastinate, which means that you tend to switch from doing something hard like studying maths to something easy like browsing the web, protect yourself from distraction. One way of doing this is to shut down your mobile phone or go to a quiet place like a library.
Pomodoro Technique
Set a timer to 25 minutes when you focus entirely on your studies. When the timer rings, relax for 5 minutes. If you want to continue just set the timer again. The small breaks in between are relaxing and motivating to keep going.
Hard Stuff First
Do the things that are difficult first. Because if you are like most people, you have the strongest willpower in the morning. Once you are done with the hard stuff you will feel better for the rest of the day and probably more motivated to get other things done.
Exercise, Meditate and Converse
There are few activities proven to grow your brain however physical exercise, regular meditation and good conversations apparently do exactly that. They lead to the creation of new neurons inside your brain and therefore grow its potential.
Go Places!
You can create deeper memories of a subject by learning in a richer environment that offers more visual clues. In an experiment two groups of students had to remember random words. One group changed the classroom while studying, the other didn’t. The group that studied in two different rooms (one was small and windowless, the other big and bright) was 40% more likely to recall the words later.
Take Fun Seriously
Whatever it is, find a fun way to practice. Modern learning science believes that positive emotions are very important for increasing your learning potential. So do yourself a favor and have a good time!
Space Your Studies
In order to remember things for a longer time, repeat the material in spaced intervals. Facts or vocabularies for example are best learned if you review them the first time 1-2 days after the initial study and then again after 1 week and after 1 month.
30% Read 70% Recite
If you have one hour to learn to recite a poem or prepare for a speech spend 20 minutes of the time on studying the text and 40 minutes on practicing to recite. This ratio usually leads to the best results. In the case of an emergency, put a glass of water next to you. Take a sip whenever you lose it.
Instant Self-Test
After you study finish up with a quick quiz. Immediate recall in form of a test or a short summary on what you’ve just learned can increase retention by as much as 30%. Because it’s much harder for your brain to reflect than to read, that extra effort creates deeper traces in your memory.
Don’t Force it
Motivation is like hunger. You cannot force yourself to be motivated just like you can’t tell someone else to be hungry. So, if you are not hungry right now, don’t worry. Take a break and do something else.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/english-for-teenagers/study-tips-and-tricks. Accessed on February 18, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.