Category: Study

How To Choose Desk And Study Lamps

Buying desk or study lamps can be almost as personal as choosing a pair of glasses. This is because of all of the lamps that you could possibly purchase these lamps must be easy on your eyes. Your ideal type of desk lamp would be dependent on the condition of your eyes as well as your study or reading habits.

As you might notice, many study lamps and desk lamps on the market have halogen bulbs fitted in them. But halogen bulbs, which are one of the brightest bulbs around, are not the most suitable type of light for everyone. For one thing halogen bulbs are so bright that they can cause contrast and glare to be a problem when you are studying print. You might even see spots of green and red if the glare on the page highlights too much contrast. This is not good for your retinas over the long term and subjecting yourself to this type of eye strain could cut your study time in half. Also some people find that the halogen lamp has a subtle, barely discernible flicker that also strains the eyes.

Yet another problem with study lamps that have the halogen bulbs is that the light is very concentrated and is only really good for shining on one page of a book and not necessarily the contents of your entire desk. But the supporters of halogen lamp cite the advantage that these lamps provides in facilitating focus on reading area while visually blacking out other areas that might distract.

If you find that the glare of halogen bulbs is hard on your eyes then there are thousands of study and desk lamps on the market that take ordinary incandescent bulbs, or energy saving bulbs. If you like a really bright light when you study but don’t like halogen bulbs, you can also try using a full spectrum of light bulb in your desk or study lamp. That way you get the brightness of daylight without the headaches that can be caused by halogen light.

Desk and study lamps with regular bulbs are also available in numerous styles. The design element that seems to mostly define a study lamp or desk lamp is the bendable neck or adjustable arm that is usually made out of plastic or metal. This helps you focus the light where you need it most, however unlike halogen lamps, these more old fashioned lamps also have a bit of a soft glow that helps light up the rest of the room.

Not all desk lamps or study lamps have adjustable arms. A commonly found traditional style that is available in almost every lighting or hardware store has a squat, curved neck. Usually an oblong shade, made of brass or green glass, sheds light on the surface of the desk. This type of study or desk lamp is reminiscent of something that belongs in crime writer Raymond Chandler’s office and definitely has a classic air about it.

How To Learn Hindi Study Tips

You are a busy person and you are wondering how to learn Hindi. Learning a language takes a lot of time and effort. It also takes resources. You’ve set learning Hindi as a goal but you’re not sure how to reach it. Relax. Here are some tips for using good study habits to succeed. This is how to learn Hindi.

First of all, remember that you learn best a little at a time. You will learn more if you study for 30 minutes five times a week than you will if you sit down and spend three hours on Hindi at one time. Break it down even farther, if you can. Spend twenty minutes studying new material at some point in the day and ten minutes reviewing the same material later the same day. In fact, try to squeeze in that ten-minute review session right before bed. Your brain will process it while you sleep and you will learn better.

Secondly, remember to stay balanced in your approach to the language. Spend time on spoken Hindi as well as on reading and writing. Practice the conversations presented in your audio files, but don’t forget to drill yourself on the verb forms and on vocabulary. You don’t have to do it all every day, but over the course of a week, you should be sure to study all parts of your Hindi course. This is the best way how to learn Hindi comprehensively.

Thirdly, focus on things that give you problems. Study them until you learn them. Then they won’t be problems anymore. For example, do you have trouble with a particular verb conjugation? Do you frequently confuse a couple of vocabulary words that are something alike but just a little different? Are there a couple of letters of the alphabet that you get mixed up? All the time? Isolate those problems and learn them. It will make the rest of your study efforts so much easier.

Fourthly, do your work cheerfully. A good attitude will take you far in most aspects of life and learning Hindi is one of them. Take pleasure in learning that beautiful Devanagari script. Enjoy the conversations you learn. Be excited to learn about the cultural and historical background of India and the Hindi language. It’s fun. It’s a privilege to be able to dedicate yourself to it. Enjoy it as much as you can.

Fifthly, recognize your accomplishments and reward yourself for your success. Learning Hindi is fun and exciting, but requires dedication and work. Congratulate yourself for the effort you make. Every time you finish a lesson or a unit, every quiz you take, and every conversation you have with another student is a milestone on your path to your goal of speaking Hindi. So rent a Bollywood movie or take yourself out to your favorite Indian restaurant every time you pass one.

You’ve set yourself the goal of learning Hindi and you are working towards it. Congratulations! Isn’t it fun? Keep it up. You are discovering how to learn Hindi.

Study Tips For Competitive Exams

It is not an easy task to study for any exam. Pressure of the exams, the anxiety of preparing for the exams and doing well in the exams, the environment outside and many other distractions can come in the way of preparing for the exams. This pressure is much more for competitive exams like NCERT, CAT, Law Entrance Exams, CET, Medical Entrance Exams, etc. Hence these require extra concentration and efforts from the students. One of the reasons for this pressure is that there are thousands of students who appear for the various competitive exams. Being better than these students and scoring higher marks is not an easy task. How should one study for such competitive exams then? How should one know if they are studying right for the exams? Given below are some tips to prepare well for competitive exams:

Subject

This is the most important part of studying for competitive exams. You should be sure that you have chosen the right subject even before you start preparing for the competitive exams. Are you sure you like the subject that you are studying? Do you think you will enjoy it all your life? Getting an answer to this question is most important because if you choose to study the wrong subject, you will be stuck with it all your life and may not even do well in the exams as you will not enjoy studying the subject.

Determination

Determination is the key to studying for competitive exams. Once you have made sure which subject you want to study and have applied for the exams, stay determined to complete the course, no matter what the difficulties and distractions are. Your levels of determination should be consistent throughout the preparation for the exams. If not you can get distracted and will not be able to prepare for the exams.

Study Aids and Study Materials

Another important aspect of preparing for competitive exams is to choose for the right kind of study materials for studying. Make sure you are referring to the right kind of books and study aids. Nowadays there are a number of textbooks and study aids available in the market for competitive exams. You can even buy competitive exam books, sample test papers and study aids online to prepare for these exams. At least 2 to 3 hours of studying everyday is important to succeed in these exams. This can mean sacrificing television, time spent with friends, shopping and other things.

Study Hours

Once you have the course decided and have the study material to use, the next step is to decide on the study hours. Success in exams can be attained only if a sufficient amount of time can be invested in studies. Many people apply for competitive exams when in college or when they are employed. This does not give them enough time to study. Keep your mind calm and cool when you sit to study as a stressed mind will only make it more difficult to remember what you have studied.

Study Regularly

It is not just important to follow a time table to study. It is equally important to follow the time table regularly without missing a single day. Make a routine for studying and stick to it even if it means just 2 hours a day.

Set a Strategy

Entrance Exams are always a combination of two or more subjects. You may find some of these subjects easy and some difficult. Set a strategy for your studies so that you spend more of your time preparing for the tougher subjects.

Coaching Classes

There are a lot of coaching classes today that cater to different entrance exams. These coaching classes do not guarantee success in exams but can help you succeed by giving you extra help and material to prepare for exams. But just attending coaching classes is not enough. You will have to put in the effort and try if you want to succeed in these exams.

These are some of the tips that will help students do well in competitive exams.

Why You Should Go Study Russian In Russia

While some jobs require applicants to be able to speak and write in English, other jobs require people to be multi-lingual. And in our modern times, being able to speak a language other than a native language or English can be a very reliable arsenal in securing these jobs. A very interesting language in this case is the Russian language. Spoken by more than 150 million people, it sits at the top 5 most popular languages around the globe.

People who wish to learn how to speak or write in Russian have several options especially now that media plays a big part in sharing information across the world. People now have choices, from buying a CD teaching them how to speak Russian to logging on to the internet and learning Russian online. Of course, the old way of doing it is still there. If one wishes to lean how to speak Russian, he must study Russian in Russia.

By breaking down several aspects that differentiate the two, it will be easier to determine which one is more efficient, the traditional way (to study Russian in Russia) or going online.

Logging on to the internet and keying the words on a search engine is usually the first step for people who have been used to learning stuff online. Get the keyword in the search bar and voila, you will have hundreds and thousands of results for the taking. It is very efficient at a certain level because it no longer requires traveling, getting a visa and the endless search for which school offers the better courses in helping a student learn the Russian language. All thats required is a working computer and an internet connection. The downside to this is, the learning is only retainable for a certain amount of time, like any other teacher-student set up, the information the student acquires during class tend to be wiped out once the classes are done. Only a few people are able to remember the information shared and practice the application.

On the other hand, a teacher-student classroom setting, while having the student situated in an area of native speakers, in this case having someone study Russian in Russia, the information acquired during classroom hours is never really lost. The student is on a constant learning process because he would be inclined to test this newly acquired knowledge while having a vast amount of resource, such as people who are fluent in Russian. The student would be able to practice conversational skills, sentence construction and even writing in Russian without having to look for someone very specific.

Of course, in order to efficiently study Russian in Russia, one must be well prepared to adjust to the weather and culture. Learning the Russian language maybe hard at the first but repetition is the key. Like any task in this world, it may take some getting used to, but things will get easier as the days go by. Russian is very interesting and it is never too late to try and learn a new language.

Kiwi Fruit Consumption May Aid Sleep According To Taipei Medical University Study

A sleep study conducted at the Taipei Medical University in 2006 concluded that consuming two kiwi fruits one hour before bed resulted in a statistically significant improvement in sleep onset, duration, and efficiency in adults with self-reported sleep disturbances. This study hints that kiwi fruits may aid sleep in addition to the many health benefits they already confer.

The kiwi fruit is an exotic tropical fruit that is rich in vitamins, fiber, minerals, and nutrients. The kiwi also contains flavonoids, carotenoids, potassium, and antioxidants as well. Just one of these small fruits has more than 100% of the daily recommended dose of vitamin C. One study showed that eating kiwis was as effective as aspirin at thinning the blood without the negative side effects of intestinal bleeding and inflammation. Another study showed that children who ate kiwis regularly had fewer asthma related symptoms. The study reported 44% less incidence of wheezing, shortness of breath was reduced by 32%, severe wheeze by 41%, night time cough by 27%, chronic cough by 25%, and runny nose by 28%.

The sleep study, which involved 24 subjects aged 20 to 55 with self reported-sleep disturbances, lasted five weeks. The methods of the study involved a sleep questionnaire and a sleep diary, which measured sleep quality, time to bed, time of sleep onset, waking time after sleep onset, time of getting up, and total sleep time. The subjects were instructed to fill out the sleep diary within 30 minutes of waking.

The results of the study were surprising. After the subjects sleep diary data was reviewed, it showed that consumption of two kiwi fruit one hour before bed increases in total sleep time of over thirteen percent, an increase of sleep efficiency of over five percent, and a decrease of almost seventeen percent in time to sleep.

This study is shows that there is a potential for kiwi fruit to aid sleep, and that more studies concerning kiwi fruit and sleep need to be conducted to gain a clear picture of just how effective a sleep aid kiwi fruit are. If subsequent studies can confirm these findings, it will add another health notch into the belt of this already miraculous fruit.

Other techniques that can aid sleep are to avoid tobacco and alcohol an hour before bed, do not eat a big meal before bed, and do not drink too much water before bed. The mattress that you choose also has a big effect on sleep as well. There are a few types of mattresses including innerspring, memory foam, and latex mattresses. Innerspring is the most common and cheapest, while memory foam is the softest. Latex mattresses are not cheap but they offer great support and long durability. So for a great night if sleep, heed this advice and you will surely find yourself drifting right off to sleep.

Source:
Lin, H., Tsai, P., Fang, S., & Liu, J.. (2011). Effect of kiwifruit consumption on sleep quality in adults with sleep problems. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 20(2), 169-174. Retrieved January 26, 2012, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 2402606271).