next best steps for you...

You've been on the Get Better Grades eCourse for a while now.

Now that you know what focus on your grades can do, it's time to
take what I call your Next Best Step.

I've given you 6 modules absolutely FREE to show you how powerful
these strategies can be, now it's time for you to take one of the
next three options.

You have 3 choices:

*** Option 1 *** GET BETTER GRADES

Buy my bestselling e-book that has been translated into 3 languages
and used by students from 29 different countries from around the
world, in primary, secondary, high school, college and university.

It's Your Next Best Step and you can download it within the next
3 minutes

====================================================
Click here to download the bestselling
Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort

http://www.Get-Better-Grades.com

=====================================================

*** Option 2 *** BECOME A SPEED LEARNER

Cut to the chase and get right into SPEED LEARNING with my 1-hour
Speed Learning techniques that will help you INSTANTLY - today or
tonight - RIGHT NOW. At your computer.

Consider it a 'Master Class' to give you the edge you need to get
better study habits that will relieve your stress and make school
work more enjoyable.

====================================================
Click here to access the video streaming program

http://www.SpeedLearningVideo.com

====================================================

*** Option 3 *** BECOME A SPEED READER

Become a Speed Reader within the next 2 hours - GUARANTEED. It's
the most powerful study strategy you can acquire. Imagine if you
ONLY doubled your reading speed...

That means you save HALF the time you currently spend reading.
Studies have shown that the AVERAGE high school student spends
10 hours a week reading and it's 15 to 20 hours for college and
University students.

That means you could save ONE HOUR A DAY.

ONE HOUR you can spend reviewing your notes, solving problems or
getting some sleep for a change!

I know what it's like being a student - I completed ALL of my
degrees FASTER than most students and my post-graduate degrees
were all done WHILE I WAS WORKING FULL TIME.

Speed Reading is the ONLY way I was able to get that done and not
kill myself doing it.

posted by bok miah

How to build study endurance and stamina

Are you one of those people who always places more importance on
recreation rather than studying? Do you tend to put your studies
off until tomorrow?

If you are, who could blame you, because nobody in their right mind
would want to stay in studying, rather than having a fun night out
on the town with their friends!

But if you learn how to study smarter, it can make the study
experience all the more enjoyable.

As humans, we all prefer the fun things in life rather than the
monotonous chores we're faced with. The only problem though, is
that putting things off until the next day will nearly always
result in MORE STRESS!

Here are some tips that will help you to make study easier and more
effective, so you can study less and make more of your leisure time:

1. Write down and maintain a "Study Priority List"

A list not only helps to ensure you don't forget anything, it also
allows you to work through tasks in a logical order.

2. Do the worst jobs first.

While many people like to get the small, easy tasks out of the way
first, before tackling the big important ones, in reality it works
the other way around. Providing you tackle all the worst jobs
first, the small jobs will be a breeze and before you know it,
you'll have quality free time on your hands.

Learning how to attack the big stuff first takes a bit of willpower
to start with. Make a conscious effort to do it for just 7 days
and chances are, you'll never go back.

3. Block out time to tackle specific tasks

Likewise, if you have a specific task which you know will take
longer than average, make a commitment to tackle it at a certain
time and make sure you've set aside enough time to do it.

And remember - what works for someone else may not work for you.
In Chapter 5 of "Get the Best Grades with the Least Amount of
Effort", I explain why this is and what to do about it.

posted by akmal

Kelas, do you study a foreign language?

Do you study a foreign language?

Foreign language learning is typically associated with a heap of
rote learning, memorizing vocabulary and all sorts of obscure
grammar rules...

No wonder most people give up on foreign languages before they
get good enough to make it "interesting".

Well, the other day I came across a course called "Rocket Languages"
that is hands-down the best way I've seen to learn a foreign
language, without boring yourself to tears.

I signed up to the free introductory lessons in Spanish, and
before you know it my very rusty Spanish started to come flooding
back.

If you're already studying a foreign language, or you've always
wanted to pick one up, now is your chance. Below are the links
to the most popular Rocket Language courses.

(On each page, down the right hand side of the page, there is a free
introductory course signup option).

Pick a language below:

SPANISH
http://3702155-9m-7v7-jxmbjvniz7i.hop.clickbank.net/

FRENCH
http://6c64f6166qt46c5prfflg1eo26.hop.clickbank.net/

JAPANESE
http://60513-3z4m6xwj4gxw41q91ca3.hop.clickbank.net/

CHINESE
http://65793923wdwz3izjo4ldkipldg.hop.clickbank.net/

ITALIAN
http://8c69aby72ltz-jvbwrkhrzok2z.hop.clickbank.net/

GERMAN
http://a3d4az2-vkx27d-cq748mb9u49.hop.clickbank.net/

I promise you, this will be the easiest way you've seen to become
fluent in a foreign language you've ever seen.

posted by ikhwan

How to read 6 times faster on screen

By now you know that my speed study strategies are all about
how to get the BEST grades with the LEAST amount of effort.

NOT the best grades with the MOST amount of effort -- what would be
the sense in that? If you like working hard for its own sake, you
already know what to do -- just do MORE of what you're already doing.

But if you want to get better results with LESS effort, then you
need to adopt better STRATEGIES for learning and absorbing
information.

For example, do you know how fast the average person reads on
a computer screen?

100 to 150 words per minute.

I read 900 or more words per minute on screen - 6 to 9 times faster
than most people. And that's not because I'm any smarter than other
people. It's all thanks to a better strategy that I came across
about a year ago.

The strategy I use is software program called "Rapid
Reader". Rapid Reader crunches screen-based text (whether PDF,
MS Word, HTML (web) format) and makes it very easy and comfortable
to read at HIGH SPEED on screen.

You ALREADY know how to read at super-high speed, with a little
help from Rapid Reader. I'll prove it to you with this demo:

=====================================================

Try It Right Now: Read at 600 Words Per Minute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrZOvrCh2Yw <-- go here

=====================================================

See how EASY that was?

You just read 4 to 6 times faster than your other classmates, with
no additional effort (in fact, many people find Rapid Reader easier
than normal screen reading, because you don't have to move your
eyes so much).

The way Rapid Reader works is very simple.

Once installed, all you do is press a button on your screen and it
automatically converts the text into "Rapid Reader" format.

It is brilliant for absorbing large chunks of Wikipedia text or
long web pages, without having to print, and without having to
read and re-read each line like most people.

I was so blown away by Rapid Reader that I contacted the company
and asked them to make the software available to my clients and
friends on a preferential basis.

The price is under $50, but heck, if this tool can immediately
make your reading speed 400% faster, that's a tiny price to pay.
After all, this is a skill you can use for the rest of your life!

posted by faidhi

How to highlight for maximum retention and results

Do you use a highlighter when you speed read? Have you ever highlighted so much 'important' stuff that you end up highlighting more of the page than not? Have you ever wondered 'how do I know what is worth highlighting and what's not'?

I've done the same, myself. In fact, I used to highlight a lot of what I read on the page - not being sure what was really important and what was just important.

Until one delay realised that I was wasting my time and not really remembering much of what I highlighted anyway. On top of that, the stuff that I did highlight was often not even in the test!

The reason for this is because the FIRST time you read and highlight anything, it's hard for you to know what's important and what's not. Plus, you end up reading slower and you highlight more often. And that's if you read normally!

When you speed read AND highlight, chances are that your reading speed will be slower than your usual speed and you will highlight two or three times more. Which means you'll waste a lot of time reviewing and highlighting.

Because I know this, I advise students who learn to do speed reading to NOT highlight while speed reading something for the first time. And here's why...

When you read anything for the first time, it's only when you finish the chapter that its meaning becomes obvious to you. You then understand what the important bits are that you will need to remember (and highlight) and you will be able to recognise these points in the text.

More than likely, also, these important bits may have been different than what you would have highlighted when you started reading.

Now, I'll tell you what works best for me and for thousands of other students. These strategies I teach take time to implement, and the key is to TRUST them as you apply them.

* When CHOOSING to highlight something, you need to trust your instincts - to highlight LESS than you THINK you should...
* Highlight ONLY those items you feel you're not going to remember automatically. Yes, I know this takes judgment on your part.
* You have to trust yourself. Start with MORE highlights and REDUCE them as you get better at CHOOSING what to highlight.
* You'll soon know what you MUST highlight versus what you WANT to highlight. These are not often the same thing.
* You can TEST what I suggest - sometimes highlight WHILE you are speed reading and then AFTER... You determine what works best for you.
* IF you are the EXCEPTION, that's OK - DO what works for you, but DO IT because it works, not because you THINK it works.
* To KNOW IT WORKS, you have to track your time and comprehension BOTH ways, otherwise it's a value judgment and chances are you will be biased and wrong in your self-assessment.

posted by syahmi 0thman

How to study subjects you HATE

The first is you THINK you are interested in the subject matter,
but the reality is you're not. If you were, you'd have no trouble
starting. I'll prove it to you.

If you are a stamp collector and you start to read about the new
issue of the new Olympic Stamps for the London Games - you have no
problem with focus, attention or retention do you?

That's because you're INTERESTED.

The challenge we all have as students is that every academic
program has courses we don't like. I remember hating Thermodynamics
in Engineering School, Chemistry in College and Multi-variate
Statistics in Business School (Ph.D.).

But y'know what?

YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE. It's part of the curriculum and you have
to pass the course to get the diploma and the degree.

I suggest you do THAT homework FIRST. Get it out of the way. DON'T
DO WHAT YOU LIKE FIRST. That is a recipe for disastrous grades - it
will increase your chance of failure BECAUSE you'll spend MORE time
on what you like and not enough time on what you don't like...

Don't do it.

Of course, that's easier said than done. But if you start studying
what you don't like, you'll feel RELIEF and a LOT LESS STRESS.

We all have to study stuff we don't like - we NEED TO. We need to
be aware of things because that's what education is all about.
There is NOTHING you can do about it, EXCEPT to get it out of the
way FIRST and QUICKLY.

If you want to get through the boring subjects quickly, get your
hands on my "Speed Reading Video Program" so you spend LESS time on
the subjects you hate.

[ Read more about it at http://www.SpeedReadingVideo.com ]

Speed Reading forces you to focus and concentrate and get it out of
the way in a fraction of the time. Imagine spend HALF the time on
chemistry, physics or geography... How cool would that be?!?

That being said, the SECOND issue you have is with confidence and
self-esteem.

That is a lot harder to deal with. If you are keen to
deal with this, I have a colleague who can help you get a
breakthrough. Her name is Yvonne McIntosh and she offers
"Breakthrough Sessions" for $97 that she can do over the phone or
Skype. She's based in Australia but deals with clients from all
over the World.

Visit her website if you want to overcome the self-esteem issue
quickly:

http://lifeleaders.com.au/breakthrough.html

If you don't choose to have the "Breakthrough Session", all you
need to do is stop putting pressure on yourself and focus on the
fact that whenever you LEARN something NEW, it's by definition
something YOU DON'T KNOW.

It takes time and effort to learn something NEW.

One of the strategies I teach is to start at the beginning. For
example, for Statistics, I bought a book called "The Cartoon Guide
To Statistics" to get the basics in a FUN WAY.

I bought this as a Graduate School Student to help me with my MBA
and Ph.D. courses.

I'm serious. I did the same for other subjects as well.
The "For Dummies" series of books is a great place to start
whenever you're intimidated with a subject.

posted by goat

Melt away stress by beating procrastination

Procrastination is a problem that wastes more time than any other
study "habit". Procrastinators know it's a BIG problem, but they
often find it hard to break the habit.

This edition of the "Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount
Of Effort" gives some practical solutions for kissing goodbye
to procrastination.

** How to melt away stress by beating procrastination **

We all procrastinate, but higher achieving students do it much
less and therefore get better grades with much less effort.

Overcoming procrastination requires that you KNOW WHY you're
procrastinating.

One of the top reasons is that you MAGNIFY a problem or "To Do" item
automatically, without knowing it. You actually make the problem
bigger than it actually is!

I'll prove it to you - just try the tasks below:

* Firstly, make a list of 10 things you NEED TO DO this/next week

* Secondly, make a list of 10 things you DID last week.

Now compare the two lists. I guarantee you that your TO DO list for
this/next week looks HARDER and LONGER TO DO than your previous
week's list, even though it is similar.

Am I right? So how do you get around this?

It's simple, if you follow my easy strategy.

Chunk down your "To Dos" into EASY, DIGESTIBLE PIECES...

You know the joke, "How do you eat an elephant? ... One bite at a
time". I explain this in more detail in my book,

http://www.get-better-grades.com/

but right now,make a list like the one below and see how it feels
to chunk it down.

For example:

"Study for Physics" can be broken down into:

* Rearrange my lab reports, class notes and other documents
* Read Chapters 16, 17 and 18
* Highlight the chapters and extract the key points
* Research last week's lab subject to better understand it for the
exam
* Review last year's midterm exam question
* Re-write my notes and create a MindMap
* Keep my physical desktop clean with ONLY what I am
studying
* Remove unnecessary trinkets and paperweights on my desk
* Straighten out my books so the bookshelf looks neat
* Dust, clean or wash my desk/table

[Note: Having a clutter-free study space is VERY IMPORTANT!]

You get the picture. The thing is UNLESS you deal with this
magnification problem, you'll keep hesitating and procrastinating
about things you really need to get done to make your study time
more effective. You can't get top grades unless you do what needs
to be done.

By making things look SMALLER,EASIER and QUICKER to do, you'll get
MORE done, yes, with LESS effort! But more importantly you'll get
more confidence and your stress levels will go down - WAY DOWN.

Just remember - you are the one HOLDING the magnifying glass!

This tip is just a starting point - many, many more study
strategies are revealed in more detail in my book "Get the Best
Grades with the Least Amount of Effort"

http://www.get-better-grades.com/

I'll continue to keep you updated with occasional strategies and
tips to help free up your time so you can be higher up the class
with less hard work.

Onward and upward!
Dr Marc Dussault

posted by Abra

How to approach essay questions with ease

Essay style exams are becoming increasingly popular in both job and
college applications. This is because essays show an applicant's
ability to think logically and clearly. If you're going to be a
taking an exam like this, keep these 7 things in mind to help
improve your score.

1. Read Each Question Carefully

When you're working on an essay style exam, take a look at each
question and determine the topic and type of answer needed. Read
the question very carefully. Often, test takers simply scan
questions and then start writing, thinking that they'll save time.

However, that's the worst thing you can do. Take a few minutes to
completely understand the question so you can answer it correctly.
If you need to, circle the key words in the question so you can
glance at it every so often to make sure you stay on topic.

2. Give Your Ideas Room to Flow

When you first sit down and begin to read the question or
questions, you might start thinking of responses right away. That's
fine. Take a moment to jot these ideas down the margin of your test
booklet. Use short phrases or even single words that will help you
remember your initial thoughts. Doing this will help you release
creativity and clarity that you might otherwise spend on
remembering your original thoughts. Because you have these thoughts
written down, you can simply let go of them. Just take a moment to
capture every thought that comes into your mind as you read through
the questions.

3. Use the Stress

It's natural to experience elevated stress during an exam as you
work hard to process information faster than usual. Even so, you
can use this to your advantage. Focus completely on the test before
you and tune out any other noises or distractions in the room. If
you focus completely, you'll have a much better chance of saying
exactly what you want. Stress can help you think and form logical
thoughts faster when you're working. So accept the stress as a
positive, and let it work for you.

4. Use an Outline

On average, it takes about 2 minutes to outline an essay and that is
time very well spent. Once you thoroughly understand the question
and have jotted down a few immediate thoughts, sketch an outline
for the essay to follow. The subheadings of the outline will turn
into the first sentences of your paragraphs, saving you time and
making it easy to establish a logical progression of thought.

5. Control Any Urges To Ramble

Using an outline will also prevent you from rambling. The person
who will be reading your essays has been trained to spot rambling.
Stay focused at all times and use your outline as a guide. State
your key points and move on. Don't elaborate on the topic just to
fill up white space on the paper.

6. Time's Up

When the allowable time is up, immediately stop and go on to the
next question. Don't waste any time putting the "finishing
touches" on your essay. You may need this time to complete the
remaining questions. The questions might even be getting
progressively harder so you need to force yourself to move on.

7. Finishing

You may not be satisfied with your finished essay and this is a
completely normal response. Essay-style tests don't have definitive
answers, like multiple choice tests do. Keep in mind that the
scorers of your essays understand the time limits you were under
and therefore are not looking for perfection. You will be scored on
your progression of ideas and the ability to communicate your key
points. Stay focused during the exam and you will finish well.

For more study strategies that get results in the real world, get
my book, "Get the Best Grades with the Least Amount of Effort" at

http://www.get-better-grades.com/

Onward and upward!
Dr Marc Dussault

posted by naq

Read Before You Go To Class

Reading the course material before you go to class is a simple way to absorb, understand and remember the material with much less time and effort OVERALL than you otherwise would. Most people go to class and are hearing the content for the first time. They may not be familiar with some keywords or technical terms. They spend most of the time getting their head around all this new material as they struggle to put it into a logical order or "framework".
Once that framework is in place, they begin to actually UNDERSTAND the material being taught. When the class is over, this process is often incomplete. So how can they begin to study or reinforce what they never understood in the first place! They can't -- it takes MUCH more time to revise partially - understood material, resulting in poorer study efficiency and results.
Consider the alternative: When you briefly read the course material prior to your class, you start to become familiar with the concepts. You come across newwords and terminology. You look at a few sample questions. You might even make a couple of notes of questions to ask. Then when you get into class, everything seems familiar. You're hearing everything for the second time and you begin to remember and reinforce key points. Then you leave the class with a pretty good understanding of the topic. It takes much less time to revise and review information, and you have plenty of time to read ahead of the next class!
Try it. Read ahead before going to class and see how much EASIER everything becomes.
Posted by: Pak G
Note:
This writing was mailed by: Dr Marc Dussault

Getting The Best Grades

Pak G found an url (http://www.get-better-grades.com/) on tips how to get good grades with the least effort last April. Pak G gave our class e-mail so that Dr Marc Dussault can e-mail the tips. A number of e-mail came into our in-box. On of them is as follow (I made some editing):
The first strategy on Getting The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort is "How NOT to Focus Your Energies on Important AND Urgent Tasks."
Have you ever found that you actually get the most work done when you have the least time to do it? Do you find yourself NOT completing the work you're supposed to do, when you have ample time to get it done? But then when you're given short sharp bursts of urgent timelines, you excel above and beyond what you ever expected? If you can identify with any of these situations, you'll definitelyVbenefit from managing your tasks using the "Urgent/Important" model.
There are four kinds of tasks: (1) Not Important and Not Urgent; (2) Not Important and Urgent (3) Important and Not Urgent; (4) Urgent and Important. If you spend time on the WRONG type of task at the WRONG time, all you'll do is escalate your stress and reduce your results. On the other hand, if you learn how to deal with each category of task, you'll get better results across the board while also making the urgency "work for you".
Here are a few scenarios so you can see for yourself how to treat different types of tasks to MAXIMIZE your results.
1. "Not Important and Not Urgent"
Example: You have a book report to hand in at the end of the semester. It'll take you 10 to 12 hours to read the book and 4 to 5 hours to write the report. You have 3 months and it's worth 10% of your final grade. You should get started as soon as possible so it doesn't become urgent and create unnecessary stress.
2. "Not Important But Urgent"
Example: You have a quiz tomorrow but you haven't reviewed anything. It's worth 5% but you need every mark you can get. You should have done this in-between other things when you had thetime. Now you will feel stress and anxiety that could have easily been avoided... "Cramming" becomes the only option, and it has been proven that cramming is far more STRESSFUL and far less EFFECTIVE than the strategies I reveal in:http://www.get-better-grades.com
3. "Important But Not Urgent"
Example: You have a project that is worth 35% of your final mark. It's due in a month and you estimate it will take you 20-25 hoursto complete. Once agains, what you want to do is avoid rushing and trying tocomplete the project at the last minute. You want to scale down thetasks into smaller bite-size chunks to make it easier to getstarted as soon as possible.
4. "Important and Urgent"
Example: You have a final exam in two days, it's worth 70% of yourfinal grade. You haven't put in enough time - so much new material to cover you just don't know where to start. Panic starts to set in. This is *not* where you want to be spending your time. You want tospend as much time as possible on the *important but not urgent*issues. Of course, this takes planning and preparation (plus better strategies for getting the best results with the least amount of effort).
Posted by:
Pak G