In the beginning of the first year of junior high school, everything is new learning, so the main focus is on “developing skills (learning, memorizing, and inputting).” As you progress, you move to the stage of “maintaining skills (reviewing and outputting)” what you have already learned. There are about 1200 English words in junior high school textbooks. The majority of what you need to do to master these words is basic repetition, which is simple and boring. But you have to memorize them. In the first and second years of junior high school, 80 to 90% of the time is spent on learning new words (developing skills), and 10 to 20% on reviewing (maintaining skills). Balancing “developing skills” and “maintaining skills” is important in junior high school studies. The difference between “developing skills” and “maintaining skills” narrows as you progress, eventually becoming a 50/50 balance. However, as the entrance exam approaches, “maintaining skills” becomes the main focus.
In junior high school studies, it is important to continue practicing the basics every day, even if it’s just a little bit. You will forget what you have learned. It is important to develop the habit of making what you learned that day your own, assuming that you will forget it. And then, repeat it. It is important to do the same things every day, at the same time, and in the same place. To study effectively, you shouldn’t have to force yourself to think; if your body moves before your mind does, you can consider that you have successfully formed a habit. Teaching what you have learned to someone else is also a highly effective study method. Teaching someone else (outputting) what you have learned (inputting) leads to the organization of knowledge. And this act of teaching someone else results in a more certain and organized memory.
During the exam preparation period, it is necessary to understand the overall picture of the exam. Understanding the overall picture makes memorization smoother. Choose easy-to-understand materials that provide an overview, and studying will be more efficient. From a broad perspective, look through the exam scope of all subjects in the textbooks and first grasp it as an image. When you start studying for entrance exams, it’s widely considered most effective to begin by actually solving past entrance exam questions (past papers) as early as possible. This allows you to understand what kinds of problems you ultimately need to be able to solve. Knowing the level of the questions that will be asked will increase your motivation to solve problems on a daily basis. Past papers often involve a lot of repetition of fundamental concepts, and mastering these basic problems will guarantee a high score on the actual exam. By knowing what kinds of problems you ultimately need to be able to solve, you can determine the direction of your efforts. This eliminates the need for wasted effort.
