Note-taking is a skill that we use in many walks of life: at school, university, and in the world of work. However, it will be obvious to many people that they have not honed the skills needed to get the maximum potential from their note-taking, so here are 10 tips on how to be an efficient and successful note-taker. These can apply equally to taking notes from someone else’s verbal presentation or from a written text.
1. Don’t write down every word
The whole point of note-taking is to be able to summarise information in a different, shorter form to use later. Therefore if you try to write down every word of a lecture or book then you will soon get behind and lose the thread of what is being presented to you.
Listen closely to everything and write down specific words that will trigger your memory.
2. Decide what is important
Listen/lookout for key phrases such as ‘the most important factor is…’ which is like a large signpost directing you to the fact that a vital piece of information is coming up and instructs you to ready your pen to take a note of it. The author or lecturer you are working with will have their own particular style and phrases that you should look out for, so become familiar with their signposts.
For academic international exams, dates, places, numbers, names, and other specific details are the most important details to take note of as they almost always refer to one of the questions in the test.
In addition, write down the following pieces of information in your notes:
- The topic of the conversation or lecture
- Key points, reasons, and examples
- Important terminology and phrases
- Different speakers’ opinions, questions, and reactions
- Any solutions or suggestions
- Any decisions made
3. Be an active listener/reader
It is easy to drift off and lose the thread of a lecture or written argument, so try hard to maintain total concentration.
4. Use symbols and abbreviations
When you take notes you will not have time to write in full sentences, and sometimes the information comes so fast that you cannot even write full words. Learn and use abbreviations and symbols (Refer to diagram below) when taking notes as this will increase the number of useful notes that you can make.
5. Write Neatly and Clearly
Keep your notes organized and neat, especially when taking notes for international exams such as the TOEFL or IELTS. This way, once you’ve stopped taking notes and are answering questions, you’ll have no problem deciphering your handwriting and following your train of thought.
The best way to organize notes is to write down question numbers. Doing this lets you immediately know which notes correspond to which questions on the exam and reduces your risk of confusing your notes for other questions and prompts.
Within your notes, use lists and charts. For lists, use either bullet points or numbers to keep track of steps in a process, points for or against something, solutions, examples, etc. If there are multiple speakers or sources of information, try drawing a chart with two columns. These columns can be used to summarize what different speakers say (in audio clips) or what different resources (such as a reading passage and a lecture) talk about.
Here’s an example of two charts that you could make for a TOEFL listening clip.
6. Revise your notes as soon as possible
When doing general notetaking for study (Not for international exams), do not simply take your notes and then file them away and forget about them. The best use of your notes is to read over them a short time after and perhaps re-write them again, more neatly, or in a different order, depending on how or why you want to use them. This will help you to use the information actively and it will stay in your memory for longer.
7. Be consistent
If you are listening to an hour-long lecture, don’t be tempted to take a lot of notes for the first 10 minutes and nothing at all for the rest of the session. Make sure you pace yourself and gather information consistently throughout the lecture. A good lecturer will provide quality information throughout their lecture slot, so don’t lose concentration.
8. Improve your handwriting
Do not be so immersed in note-taking that you forgot to notice that your handwriting has become unreadable! Remember to write or type clearly and legibly throughout, however, tired your hand becomes.
9. Forget spelling and grammar (as long as your meaning is clear)!
This is the one time in academic or professional life when no one is going to blame you for a few spelling and grammar mistakes. Achieving perfection in these areas is not important; rather, focus on the gathering and recording of information. And if that means your spelling and grammar has to slip, so be it!
12. Where possible, write everything in English
Though you may be tempted to jot down notes in your native tongue when taking an international exam, it’ll generally be more convenient to take all of your notes in English because then you won’t need to waste any time re-translating your notes back into English as you answer questions.
That being said, there may be cases in which it’s faster and easier to make a quick note in your own language. Whilst it`s negative to take all of your notes in a language other than English, if your native language uses a word that’s significantly shorter than its English equivalent, or if you’re struggling to recall a particular English word, it’s OK to make a brief note in your own language. Just be sure you’re primarily taking notes in English for the sake of clarity and consistency.
11. How to avoid plagiarism and use paraphrasing instead
This is an issue, especially when taking notes from written texts or when conducting research. Do not copy down material from another source without putting it in quotation marks and noting its origin. If you do, you will forget that these words are not your own, include them as yours in a report or essay and then you will have committed plagiarism. If you do not want to use someone else’s words, while you are note-taking make sure you paraphrase (i.e. put a passage into your own words). If you do this at the note-taking stage, there can be no confusion later on.
12. Practice Your Note-Taking Skills
The only way to become a better, faster, and more accurate note-taker when taking any of the international exams is to practice, practice, practice! Watch academic documentaries on Youtube or search the internet and find academic papers to read. But no matter what you watch or read, have notepaper and pencil with you and take as many notes as you can.
The 100 Most Important Slang Words for Achieving a B2 to C2 Level of English.
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Enhancing Advanced Writing Skills Through the Use of Synonyms.
Tips for Learning Vocabulary in Context.
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