study skills

Hello, #Vivers! Many students who take the Selectivity or the different access tests that we prepare take the English exams. The foreign language, in addition, is core throughout the entire secondary and high school educational section. Today, our English teacher, Sandra, will try to summarize, in 7 keys, some of the most important guidelines to be able to improve your grade in the English exams, whether you are a student in secondary school, baccalaureate, Selectivity EvAU, EBAU or PCE UNEDasiss, or access to Vocational Training cycles.

The 7 keys to improve in the EBAU or PCE UNEDasiss Selectivity English exams, access tests, secondary or baccalaureate

Tackling the study of the subject of English can be very easy if we use all the tools at our disposal. Luckily, we are very influenced by English thanks to music, cinema, or advertising; which will offer us many sources from which to acquire vocabulary and grammatical structures.

1. Grammatical structures

The first thing we must try to improve and acquire are precisely the gramatical structures. We will study them, and then we will try to fix them by performing exercises like the ones we propose in class and in the Virtual Classroom. There are also many pages where we can do exercises online and get the answers immediately.

2. Create sentences

It will also help us to try to create sentences using these new structures.

3. Increasing our vocabulary will help us a lot when preparing our Selectivity English exams

Another essential part of learning English is increasing our vocabulary. For this task it will be crucial that we try to stimulate our curiosity, and look in the dictionary for all the new words that appear in any area of ​​our life. This can happen by watching a series in its original version, reading an article on a social network, playing video games or talking to a foreigner while we are traveling.

4. Create a vocabulary notebook

A good method to retain them is to write them down in a vocabulary notebook. This must be an individual tool and, to be truly useful, we must be constant. As for dictionaries, nowadays it is no longer necessary to have huge dictionaries at home, we can search for words the moment they appear with our mobile phones, if we have an internet connection. There are many online dictionaries, such as the Collins English Dictionary, which is a good option. However, I advise against the use of translators such as Google Translator, since didactically they do not offer us many possibilities for improvement.

5 Read

As we mentioned at the beginning, we can expand vocabulary through numerous ways such as watching series and movies in English, or by listening to music in English, but we must not forget that the most effective way is by reading. We can read readings graded by levels, newspaper articles or magazines on the Internet, without forgetting the exam models that will help us become familiar with argumentative texts. The last step to strengthen the learning of a new word is to try to use it, so it will be important to create your own texts whenever possible.

6. Improving our written expression is very important in our English Selectivity exams

In fact, another essential part of learning English is improving our written expression. We must try to ensure that our written text is separated by paragraphs of introduction, development and conclusion (we emphasize it because it is the most important of all). When we are asked to write, the first thing we must do is organize our ideas in a diagram, relating them to each other and ordering them hierarchically. By this we mean distinguishing whether an idea is primary, secondary or tertiary and whether these ideas give rise to others.

For example, the statement mobile phones are very useful It would be a primary idea that would need an explanation, some arguments that support it, that is, the secondary ideas. To find these arguments we must ask ourselves the reason for our statement. Thus, a possible secondary idea would be: They allow us to access large amounts of information in a matter of seconds and communicate with our peers immediately.. Tertiary ideas are usually examples that help us in our explanation: Numerous applications such as WhatsApp or Google Maps make our work and personal lives easier on a daily basis..

Position Why?

• Statement –> Explanation –> Example

7. The 4 c's

Let's make sure that the text maintains the 4 c's: coherence, cohesion, clarity and concision. Coherence means that it makes sense and is related to the topic at hand. By cohesion we mean that the text is united, that the ideas are well linked to each other thanks to the use of connectors and linking phrases, in short, that we have a feeling of unity when reading it even though we can distinguish different parts. It is also important that our text conveys clarity, that it is understood and that it does not go around the bush or be repetitive, that is, that it is concise. It will be very helpful for us to read texts similar to those we will have to create to familiarize ourselves with the structure that we must emulate.

We hope that this article has been useful to you and that it helps you so that your EvAU / EBAU / PAU or PCE Selectivity English exams, FP, secondary or baccalaureate access tests become increasingly successful.

If you want to put all these tips into practice, visit our page exam models. In it you will find EvAU / EBAU / PAU or PCE English selectivity exams from recent years with which you can practice and test your knowledge. And if you want to be up to date with the latest news about our school and the activities we carry out, visit our the profile of Instagram. See you at the Academy!

Hello, #Vivers! Most of the entrance tests for which the students of our Academy in Madrid prepare, such as the Selectivity of both EvAU and PCE UNEDasiss, include Language and Text Commentary in their core or general phase exams. This subject is a general core subject in ESO and Baccalaureate. In general, it is a difficult subject for students.

Today, our Language teacher, Ana, will try to summarize, in 7 keys, some of the most important guidelines to improve your grade in the Language and Text Commentary exams, whether you are a secondary school student, high school student, EvAU/EBAU/PAU selectivity or PCE, or access to vocational training cycles, in Madrid or any other Autonomous Community.

The 7 keys to doing a good Selectivity Language exam EvAU EBAU PCE UNEDasiss, access tests to FP, secondary or baccalaureate

Taking a good Language exam is easy, if you know how. Let's see some guidelines that will help you prepare and solve a language exam correctly:

1. Invest time in reading the text as many times as necessary until you understand it.

It is important to read the questions first and then read the text. Read each of the questions that you are going to have to solve. Take a general look at the entire exam to keep in mind what they are going to ask you. Spend a few minutes on this activity.

When approaching the text, keep in mind that reading the given fragment several times is not wasting time, but rather investing it. It is better to spend a few minutes to understand it correctly than to start answering hastily. In this regard, a good first comprehensive reading will save you time. After it, you will have been left with the general idea of ​​the proposed text. In a second reading you can underline the main ideas and, as you have already done that initial reading of the exam questions, you can underline those things that you already know will be useful to you. The third reading will be a check.

The exam sheet is yours. Writing down what you need in it will save you multiple “walks” from the questions to the text and back to the questions.

2. Pay special attention to literature.

Get organized beforehand, schedule your study. Studying the topics “at once” will prevent you from getting a clear idea of ​​what happens in each period and who the most important names are. Make your own chronological axes and diagrams to help you retain and remember the content at a glance.

Do not worry about telling those data that do not condition the literary production of the moment, as you will take up space and waste time. Focus on the great historical or social events that have an impact on a literary level, they are the only ones that give notice.

3. Practice argumentative texts, they are the most frequent.

If you take a look at the latest calls, the exams they propose are journalistic texts, opinion articles. Becoming familiar with them will help you improve your reading comprehension and synthesis skills, expand your vocabulary, and grasp the structure of the text more quickly...

Furthermore, frequently reading argumentative texts will be especially useful to prepare the question in which you yourself must write your opinion in a cohesive and coherent manner on the proposed topic.

4. Take care of both spelling and handwriting.

As you well know, spelling errors are penalized. Pay special attention to the accent marks and put them as you write the word, not in the final review of the text.

5. Control time and space.

One of the biggest problems with this test is the time available. Get ahead of the issues as much as possible (as explained in the first tip). Write down the answers to the development questions schematically so that when you go to write them you don't go on longer than you should.

6. Answer all the questions.

A blank space never scores points. Even if you are not 100% sure, try to answer all the questions on the exam. Reason, relate what they are asking you with what you know well, be logical and brief.

7. Final review.

There are probably some spelling errors due to the speed with which we respond. Setting aside a few minutes for a brief final review will be tremendously useful. Maybe some of those ideas that you knew but couldn't remember (name or work of a certain author) come to you at this moment.

We hope that you put these simple tips into practice so that the results in your EvAU, EBAU or PCE UNEDasiss Selectivity Language exams, FP access tests, secondary or baccalaureate exams, in Madrid or any other Autonomous Community are every day top. If you want to practice before the exams, you can visit our section exam models, where you will find models from the different tests of recent years. And if you want to stay up to date with the latest news about our school and the activities we do, visit our the profile of Instagram. See you in the classroom!

Hello, #Vivers! Mathematics is one of the most important subjects in any educational system. So much so that most of the entrance exams to higher education have this subject as their core subject, which appears in ESO and Baccalaureate. Today, our Mathematics teacher, Charo, explains to us the 7 keys to adequately prepare Mathematics exams in a video that can be useful for secondary school, high school, EvAU EBAU or PCE UNED selectivity students, or access to vocational training cycles. .

For many people, the word mathematics causes dizziness and nausea, but we know an infallible remedy against this discomfort. With a spoonful of 'The Good Professor' syrup and the following tips you will make the symptoms disappear.

The 7 keys to passing the Selectivity Mathematics exams EVAU EBAU or PCE UNEDasiss, access tests to FP, secondary or baccalaureate

1. Practice every day for 30 minutes

To get a 10 body you have to exercise throughout the year. In the same way, to have your brain in shape you have to study regularly. An essential requirement to master the subject of Mathematics is practice. Training daily is essential to achieve operating fluency and to consolidate the acquired content. Doing a couple of exercises every day related to the content seen in class or writing down your notes are very useful strategies to ensure passing. I recommend that you start by doing problems that you have already solved. Face a problem only when you know how to do all the exercises solved. For this advice to be effective, before starting to practice, try to have a good understanding of the content that has been explained in class. Ask your teacher any questions. It is possible that while you are reviewing new questions arise, if so, write them down and tell the teacher in the next class.

2. Read the statement carefully and, if you can, draw a drawing

If you want to face a problem and not die trying, try:

• Read the exercise carefully, as many times as necessary, to find out what they are asking of you. Many times we know how to solve the problem, but since they speak to us in 'Aramaic' and we don't understand it, we don't solve it. Conclusion: translate the statement into your language.
• Once we have understood the problem we proceed to collect the information it contains. A good trick is to analyze each sentence separately, since each phrase will provide a series of different data.
• Even if you are not Picasso, it is recommended that you make a diagram or a drawing that reflects the problem (in analysis and geometry it is an almost mandatory requirement). Generally, representing the data, in addition to helping us understand the exercise in greater depth, allows us to find the solution or solutions for it. In fact, in many cases graphical representation is supported as an answer.
• Finally, take out your arsenal of formulas and get to work. We only have to connect the information obtained to respond to what they ask of us.

This point is especially important when facing Mathematics exams, whether they are Selectivity EvAU EBAU or PCE UNED, an access test to training cycles or a secondary or baccalaureate exam, since in the exams it is the most We get nervous and make more mistakes by not reading carefully what they ask of us.

3. Check the calculations

A maxim of the Mathematics exams, whether EBAU or PCE, is to review the calculations. Between the nerves and the tiny keys of the calculator, the difficult thing is not to make mistakes. It is advisable to do a review at the end of each exercise and not at the end of the exam. If the review is not done progressively, it is easier to get lost and not realize the mistakes we have made. Personally, I think it is preferable to do two problems well than to do five wrong. Another important detail is to try to be clean and orderly. The teachers value it very much.

4. Be careful with the calculator mode (DEG or RAD)

Imagine how horrible it would be to have taken a flawless exam and have all your calculations wrong due to poor programming on your calculator. To prevent this from happening, make sure your most precious tool is in the correct mode. Remember that your calculator must have the 'DEG' mode activated if the angles you are going to perform in the operations are in degrees, and have the 'RAD' mode activated if the angles are in radians.

5. Matrices and determinants

As you already know, there are certain strategies that must be handled with ease, since we will surely need to apply them at some point during the exam. In relation to the block of matrices and determinants, calculating inverse matrices and solving determinants are two things that you have to know how to do with your eyes closed. There are several ways to find the inverse matrix of a matrix, but it is usually calculated using a formula that involves the adjoint matrix of the transposed matrix and the determinant. I suppose that after reading this paragraph you have gotten chills, so that this does not happen again, review these concepts. Another essential tool is the famous 'Sarrus Rule' which is used to calculate determinants of dimension 3×3 (order 3). You have to know how to solve determinants of any dimension, but order 3 determinants are the ones that appear the most in the exercises.

6. Geometry

Geometry is one of the oldest sciences. The Babylonians and Egyptians were the first to use this branch of Mathematics to solve problems in everyday life.
Knowing and using certain geometric strategies can be very useful, not only to pass our exam, but also to solve real-life problems. Handling the scalar product, the vector product and the mixed product is important, since it will help you, among other things, to be able to calculate areas and volumes. Likewise, knowing how to construct the different geometric elements (points, lines and planes) and calculating their relative positions and distances is also relevant. I advise you to make a summary of all the formulas so you can consult them at any time.

7 Analysis

Like geometry, the analysis of functions is one of the most appreciated parts of Mathematics since we can visualize the possible solutions to the exercises through their graphic representation. Possibly what is most difficult is deriving and integrating, but with a good teacher and a good table we will not have any problems. You just have to follow the rules and practice. You also have to know how to calculate limits, among other things to be able to represent functions (calculation of asymptotes, study of continuity and differentiability...). This implies knowing the types of indeterminacies that exist and the different strategies that exist to resolve them. If you manage to manage yourself in these two areas, you have most of the work done.

I hope that this is the beginning of a great friendship with Mathematics and that these tips will help you pass your EvAU EBAU or PCE UNEDasiss Selectivity Mathematics exams, FP or secondary or baccalaureate access tests. If you want to practice with real exams, visit our page exam models, where you will find exams from previous calls for all the subjects of the different tests. And if you want to be up to date with the latest news about our school and the activities we carry out, follow us on Insta.

For my part, it has been a pleasure to be able to offer you my help. Remember that studying Mathematics is like studying a language, at first we don't learn anything, but as we progress we end up understanding. And believe me, it is very useful to know math.

Hello, #Vivers! Most of the entrance exams to higher education, in the social sciences and humanities itinerary, have Geography as a specific subject. This subject is specific to the ESO and Baccalaureate itinerary. In general, it is a subject that requires the student to master a series of specific techniques. Today, our Geography teacher, Elena, explains the 7 keys to properly preparing the Geography exam, a video that can be very useful for secondary school, high school, EvAU, EBAU or PCE UNEDasiss selectivity students, or access to training cycles of superior grade.

The 7 keys to doing a good EvAU EBAU or PCE UNEDasiss Geography Selectivity exam

1. Learn to solve practical exercises:

The Geography subject is theoretical and practical. Its exercises are fundamentally based on theory, but it is preferable to follow a script when approaching them.

There is a great variety of practical ones, we could say almost infinite, but nevertheless there is a series of them that are the ones that are repeated the most in exams and are the most characteristic of each topic.

The exercises that you should look at performing whenever you study geography are the following, and we can divide them into: graphs (climograms, population pyramids, river regimes, cliseries and sectorials) and maps (hatched or choropleths and weather maps). .

If you take these practices into account and study how they are carried out, you will have a lot to gain in Geography.

2. Know the definitions:

We have commented that Geography is theoretical and practical. In the theory section you can obtain endless definitions.

The definitions always appear in the exams of this subject, but we must study them or even extract them from the syllabus since they can clarify the content of what we are talking about a lot. A good geographer has to know how to define anything. So that we don't have to memorize them all, it is best that we understand what it means and define them in our own words.

3. Learn the political map of Spain and Europe:

Maps in Geography are basic. We can remember what we have studied throughout our lives and if not, let's take the opportunity to get to know Spain and Europe.

You have to learn the Spanish Autonomous Communities and provinces and the countries and capitals of Europe, so that we can even see the positive side and see the useful side for future trips, etc.

Geography students for PCE UNEDasiss normally have special problems memorizing these maps. To study them, atlases can be used, but if we want to use new technologies, there are interactive maps on the Internet that would make our study easier.

4. Learn the Spanish physical map:

As we have said before, maps are something basic and important. Just as you have to learn the political map, you have to recognize the relief of Spain. For example, the most important rivers, the highest peaks, mountain systems...

We can use both the atlas and interactive games on the Internet.

5. Correct management of geographical vocabulary:

Even if we are not geographers, we must know how to explain ourselves adequately, using a rich vocabulary adapted to the subject. I give an example so that it is clear: “the provinces at the top of the map”, this form is not correct, it should be said “the provinces of the north of the peninsula or the provinces of the north of the peninsula”. This is achieved by reading the topics and listening to the teacher so that we can see how he expresses himself.

6. Take care of order and cleanliness:

If you have to answer long questions referring to certain sections of a topic, you must try to take care of the wording; It has to have an order and take care of coherence between the parts. In addition to submitting the exam clean, without any blemishes. To do this, think before answering, organize your ideas or even use a blank sheet of paper to clarify yourself.

7. Check for spelling mistakes:

Geography has many words in capital letters such as rivers, mountain systems, provinces,... (Ebro River, Central System, Cáceres,...) so review the exam before handing it in to rectify any errors you find, we do not want to lose points in this way.

We hope that it has been useful to you and that you can get the most out of it when preparing your EvAU/EBAU/PAU or PCE UNED Selectivity Geography exams, or FP access tests. If you want to practice with real exams, visit our page exam models, and if you want to be aware of the latest news about our school and the activities we carry out, visit our Insta profile. I'll see you in class!

Hello, #Vivers! The subject of History of Spain is one of the subjects that students in our selectivity preparation courses usually find most difficult to study. It is a mainly theoretical subject, in which there are a large number of dates and data to memorize. But to help you prepare for the exams, whether they are Selectivity EvAU/EBAU/PAU or PCE UNED, today we bring you a video in which our History of Spain teacher, Ángel, shows us the 7 keys to a correct learning of The subject.

The 7 keys to preparing the EvAU/EBAU/PAU or PCE UNED Selectivity exams in History of Spain

1. Reading comprehension

History of Spain is a fundamentally theoretical subject and therefore requires a lot of reading. When reading the topics, the most important thing is to understand the process and the events that occur. We have to think of the subject as a movie, in which we are going to see a series of characters that are intertwined with some events. This will make it easier for us to understand when we read it and thus we will avoid falling into memorizing the subject without understanding what he wanted to tell us.

2. Outlining

As the subject of History is very extensive, in order to be able to specify the concepts and clarify ourselves, it is very convenient to resort to outlining, that is, making outlines of each section to help us synthesize the content. We can have this scheme in our head even when we take the exam and thus maintain order in the development of the question.

3. Internal structure: 

The themes of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries have an internal structure, that is, all these themes have an introduction or preamble that places us in the action, they are followed by the causes of the events, then the process itself (normally they are processes politicians who are going to change the course of events) and finally some consequences (these are linked to a political group opposed to the process that has occurred). If we take this into account we acquire a global vision of the events and these themes, since they are repeated in everyone.

4. Delete our opinion

It is inevitable in History to make political judgments about what happened in the past and even position ourselves on one side. This is something that always needs to be eliminated from our exams. There is no need to make value judgments or give our political impression, since History must be analyzed objectively. Furthermore, the person reading our test may not share our opinion and may not like what he reads. So, our opinion is our own and understand that an exam is not a time for debate or confrontation.

5. Basics  

The contents to prepare for the EvAU History exam, like the others, have a series of basic concepts and technicalities that must be handled to develop an appropriate language for the subject. There are not too many of them and they are also repeated, but you have to be very clear about them so as not to confuse them, because in conversations outside the historical scope that they can hear, but they do not have the same meaning or they are not even being used appropriately, such as, for example: Liberalism or Old Regime.

6. Memorize

In the first key I commented that you should not memorize the subject and “let go” of what you have read like an automaton, that is a bad study habit. First it is always to understand/understand what we read, but next, we do not have to learn them and for that we have to “memorize” it and then translate it. But we must keep in mind that here the term memorize is not a purpose but a tool.

7. Use of chronological axes

In History there are many dates that place events. You do NOT have to learn all the dates, not all of them are necessary, but they are important to organize the concepts. For this, it is best to make some chronological axes at home with the basic ideas and thus we can see the succession of facts and ideas. They will help us a lot to situate ourselves and to be able to later develop our scheme.

We hope that you can get the most out of it when preparing your EvAU, EBAU or PCE UNEDasiss Selectivity exams in Spanish History. If you want to practice with real exams, visit our page exam models, and if you want to be aware of the latest news about our school and the activities we carry out, visit our profile of Insta.