Learning Vocabulary

 

Learning vocabulary is one of the two most important things you can do to prepare for your real estate license exam (the other is getting lots of practice answering questions).  There are three ways that this can be done effectively.  The most effective way is to have someone quiz you, and its really effective if it’s someone who likes torturing you.  They can quiz you from a textbook glossary.  In one study session, they should always give you the word or term, and you would give the definition.  In the next study session, they should read the definition and you would give them the term or word.  The person quizzing you should also jump around, so you are not getting the terms in any kind of order.  If you get one wrong, they should keep coming back to that (after about ten words), so you have to get it right before they will stop asking you.  This forces you to learn the term.

 

The next most effective way is by using flash cards.  Then you can inflict the same type of punishment on yourself, without someone’s help, er, I mean, then you can utilize the same techniques to learn the vocabulary on your own.  Some books have flash cards included, or you can make them on your own.  If you are making them on your own, you should start early, as this will be time consuming if you do it all at once.

 

When you are using flash cards, go through the entire stack every time you study (if you don’t have that much time, going through some of the terms is better than not doing it at all).  Keep the terms or words all facing one way, and the definitions all facing the other way.  The first time you go through, look at the terms and guess the definition.  The next time you go through, look at the definition and guess the term.  Then, the next time, go back to looking at the term or word first.  Every time you study, alternate from the way you did it in the previous study session.  There are two different thought processes involved with learning the vocabulary each way.

 

As you go through the stack of flash cards, if you get one right, you can put the card aside.  If you get it wrong, put the flash card back in the stack, either at the bottom, or somewhere in the middle, so that that card can’t leave the stack until you know the definition of that word.  The next time you study, start with the entire stack of flash cards again.  Periodically mix the cards up, so that you are not learning words in a certain order.

 

The last way of studying is to do it straight from the glossary.  Here you can utilize the same technique that you did with the flash cards.  The main disadvantage is that you can’t change the order that you are learning the terms, and you may have a tendency to learn things alphabetically, but struggle a little when you see the word by itself.

 

Start at the beginning of the glossary, and completely cover the page with a piece of paper (thick enough so you can’t see through it).  If the glossary has more than one column, use two pieces of paper, so the second or third column remains covered while you are doing the vocabulary in the first column.  Look at the first word, look up and guess the definition.  After you guess, slide the cover down just far enough to see if you are right.  Now here’s the thing you won’t like, but it will really make you learn your vocabulary.  If you get one wrong, start all over again (see there’s a reason my “General Quiz” is so annoying).  Don’t just guess the one word again.  For this to work, you have to go through ALL of the vocabulary up to that point again.  If you get through any page, without any mistakes, three times, then you don’t have to go back to that page until the next time you study.  If you are pressed for time, instead of going back to the very beginning, just go back to the beginning of the page you are working on, although this will be a little less effective.

 

Every other time you study, cover the entire page and slide the cover up to reveal the definition.  Then look up and guess the term.  This has the same effect as flipping your flash cards over.

 

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