Wednesday, March 18, 2020

How to Concentrate in Class

How to Concentrate in Class A class can get boring and you can get distracted. Your professor is long-winded, your best friend is hilarious, or your cell phone keeps going off. But learning how to concentrate in class is imperative to getting a good grade and actually learning something. Here are some tips for how to concentrate in class when the distractions seem like too much to handle. How to Concentrate on Class 1. Sit Near the Front The front row isn’t just for the nerds. (Although being a nerd is really, really  cool because nerds tend to end up ruling the world).  Sitting in the front of the class will automatically help you concentrate because it takes away any distractions (whisperers, texters, coughers, etc.) in front of you. 2. Participate The people who have learned how to concentrate know that they need to participate actively in class. Engage the teacher in conversation. Raise your hand for every question. Start a discussion. The more engaged you are with the lecture, the more you will want to concentrate on it. So, it is a way of fooling yourself into concentrating. Trick yourself into getting interested even if you cant imagine that you could be. Youll surprise yourself by how interested you really are if you give it a shot. . 3. Take Good Notes Get your pen working to keep your mind focused. Many kinesthetic learners are jittery – their brain doesn’t connect that they are working when they’re just listening. If you’re one of those people, and you can find out here if you are, then move your pen and take good notes during the lecture to help you concentrate. 4. Turn Off Your Phone If you really need to concentrate, then turn off your phone completely. No cheating by setting it to vibrate! Nothing will jar your concentration more than getting a text from a friend or a notification from social media during a lecture. 5. Eat a Healthy Breakfast Hunger can be a big distraction. It is tough to concentrate when you would rather be raiding the buffet at the your local restaurant. Grab some brain food before you head to class in order to get rid of a very obvious distraction. 6. Get a Good Night’s Sleep For maximum concentration, make sure you have slept at least eight hours. I know it can be tough to do, especially in college, but your concentration will be almost gone if you are fighting fatigue. Get some shut-eye so you can pay attention to the things that matter most. 7. Reward Yourself If you really have trouble focusing in class, then reward yourself at the end of class for paying attention. Indulge in your favorite latte, add five bucks to your â€Å"saving for shoes† account, or even just give yourself mini rewards throughout the class period like a piece of candy or a brief phone check if youve concentrated for fifteen minutes. Give yourself something to work for besides your good grade if that hasn’t been enough of a motivator. 8. Get the Jitters Out If you are an antsy person – one of those kinesthetic learners – and your teacher is not able to allow you to move in the classroom, then make sure you have gotten your energy out before class. Run laps around the library. Take the stairs everywhere you go. Ride your bike to class. Use some of your energy beforehand, so you can concentrate during your class period. 9. Change It Up If you can feel your ability to concentrate starting to slip, then change something. Get a new pen from your bag. Cross your other leg. Stretch. Tense and flex your muscles. Take a moment to give yourself a brief break from the monotony. You’ll be surprised how well this works to get you back on track.

Monday, March 2, 2020

Quasi, the Queer Qualifier

Quasi, the Queer Qualifier Quasi, the Queer Qualifier Quasi, the Queer Qualifier By Mark Nichol What, exactly, does the prefix quasi mean, and can it stand on its own? The term, from Latin, is used as a qualifier to denote that something resembles or is like something but is not exactly equivalent, and, yes, quasi is an adverb. Quasi often appears in phrasal adjectives as a more formal alternative to â€Å"kind of† or â€Å"sort of†: A quasinomadic culture, for example, is one that has some but not all characteristics of a purely nomadic society. Something quasihistorical is based on fact but partly or mostly fictitious, such as the tales associated with King Arthur. A quasimilitary organization is one that resembles a military organization but does not function under the authority of a formal government, such as a rebel militia, or does not have a military function, such as the Salvation Army. (Words beginning with quasi are often seen hyphenated, but the hyphen is unnecessary.) Quasi may also, on its own, modify a noun, as in â€Å"quasi leader† (such constructions are often unnecessarily hyphenated), or even, rarely, a verb. The name of Quasimodo, the titular protagonist of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is related. Because, as an infant, the character was abandoned at Notre Dame on Low Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter, he was named after the first words uttered during the Catholic Mass held on that day: â€Å"Quasi modo geniti infants† (â€Å"as newborn babes†). (I had always assumed the name means â€Å"half formed.†) Two words, one common and the other obscure, are based on quasi: Quasar is a contraction of â€Å"quasistellar radio source† (Merriam-Webster hyphenates quasistellar, but for consistency, I’m closing it), and quango is an acronym for â€Å"quasi-non-governmental organization†; it’s also employed as a prefix in quangocracy and quangocrat. Quasi is also seen as the first element in the odd British English term quasihemidemisemiquaver (styled semihemidemisemiquaver in American English), which refers to the extremely short 128th note in music. The shortest named note is the demisemihemidemisemiquaver, or 256th note; hemidemisemiquaver is the name of a 64th note, and demisemiquaver and semiquaver, respectively, denote the two next-shortest notes in British English. (In American English, they are referred to simply as 32nd and 16th notes.) The prefixes semi-, demi-, and hemi- (the first two from Latin, and the last from Greek), meanwhile, all mean â€Å"half† (the first two can also mean â€Å"partly†). Semi is perhaps best known to readers of American English as the abbreviated term for a large tractor truck that hauls freight; the full term is semitrailer, which refers to the trailer with no forward wheels that is attached to such a truck. Demi appears in words such as demigod, the label for a lesser god, and demimonde (French, literally â€Å"half-world†), which denotes the culture outside of polite society. Hemi, among other usages, precedes sphere to refer to one-half of a planet or other globe-shaped object. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.Work of Art Titles10 Terms for the Common People