Creative Guidance – Learning Strategies – Inspirational & Educative Articles

Learning Strategies to Maximize Retention:

One of the most difficult things to understand about learning is how to retain, remember and recollect information long after you have acquired it. It goes without saying that any competitive examination requires you to remember wide range of information from various sources. The difficulty is never in grasping the information; the difficultly almost always is in retaining that information and recollecting it.

This is where a few simple learning strategies will help in enhancing your ability to learn, retain and recollect information. First a few basic things about learning; there are two fundamental streams of knowledge. Knowledge acquired through emotions and factual knowledge acquired through repetitive learning.

All the information we gather around us can be grouped into two main categories of emotional and factual information. The way we grasp emotional information and factual information are very different and it is important to understand this difference. If you are able to clearly understand the difference between these two streams of information, it becomes extremely easy to remember and recollect.

Emotional information is always remembered through thought associations and personal experiences. Emotional information can only be understood and experienced by connecting it to our personal experiences. The more deeply one is involved in the emotional content, the easier it becomes to remember and recollect it.

For example there is a lot of difference between reading about the Bhopal gas tragedy and living through it. And yet when you are reading about it, if you are able to experience the pain and suffering of the people; understand their story and connect with it; it becomes that much easier to remember what exactly happened that day.

This type of information is purely emotional and requires great involvement and intensity while reading about them. The more involved you are, the easier it becomes for your mind to form thought associations that make this type of reading real, hence very easy to remember. So the simplest way to remember an emotional content is by feeling the experience and making it real.

The second type of factual information can only be remembered through repetitive learning. Remembering names, dates, places and events can best be done if you are able to come back to it again and again. It is impossible to remember factual information through emotional connectivity. You have to develop a system of learning that allows you to come back to factual information again and again till it becomes a part of your memory.

In short, divide your learning into factual and emotional content. Approach both of them differently. This will allow you to remember, retain and recollect information very easily.

Daily English Vocabulary Capsule Day 16

Things Can Only Get Better

Despite a slowdown, there are now early signs that global investment growth may be accelerating.

Overall investment growth in the top five developed markets (DMs) and top 10 emerging markets (EMs), excluding China, slowed significantly in theaftermath (परिणाम) of the global credit crisis. In China, although investment growth has remained higher than in other economies, it almost halved in pace in 2015-16 relative to the 2000-07 period.

However, there are early signs that global investment growth may be accelerating. Particularly in DMs, investment growth seems to have troughed(गर्त में होना) during 2Q16 and is now likely to recover meaningfully in 2017 and 2018.

Investment trends in DMs had been sluggish, with persistent deleverage sluggish, with persistent deleveraging pressures holding back aggregate demand, which resulted in lowflation. The disappointing growth and inflation outcomes, in turn, had adversely influenced the corporate sector's expectations on future growth and returns. However, after six years, the DM private sector is now exiting the deleveraging phase.

Home-Made Demand

In particular, the US household sector, which was at the epicentre of the credit crisis, has finally stopped deleveraging since 2Q16. As a result, DM domestic demand growth should rise further, which will raise inflation expectations. Indeed, import volume growth has already recovered in asynchronous (समकालिक) fashion across the US, Europe and Japan.

As output gaps continue to narrow, wage growth is gradually accelerating across DMs, lifting inflation expectations. Monetary policy also remainsaccommodative (helpful in bringing about a harmonious adaptation), especially in the US and euro area, where real policy rates are still below the neutral rate, even as the US Fed has begun to reduce accommodation.

At the same time, fiscal policies have turned moderately expansionary in the US and Japan, and stayed broadly neutral in the euro area during 2016. Along with the fact that the worst of the disinflationary pressure in DMs is now behind us, there should be faster reflation in the group.

In short, the reflationary policies that had been taken up have begun to kick-start a positive feedback loop of accelerating growth, rising inflation (moving closer towards central banks' goals) and increasing return expectations, all of which are driving a recovery in investment. In and of itself, the accelerator effect should mean that an improving growth environment should be conducive to a pick-up in investment growth.

In EMs, there is a transition from a prolonged period of adjustment (201316), triggered first by the `taper tantrum' and then a sharp fall in commodity prices, to a recovery phase. By now, most of the EMs have experienced a significant improvement in macro stability -current account balances are higher and inflation risks are lower -and the productivity dynamic. EMs should benefit from an improvement in DM domestic demand.

Considering that DMs still account for 60% of EMs' exports, this should result in a more conducive (सहायक/हितकर) growth environment for EMs. Moreover, EMs have built an adequate buffer (प्रतिरोधी) of real rate differentials with the US, which should ensure that their recovery isn't derailed by a gradual rise in US rates. Within EMs, commodity-exporting countries had been a major drag on global investment and trade growth during 2015-16. However, following deep adjustment and a bottoming out of commodity prices, they should see a significant improvement in investment growth, even if staying below 2003-07 levels. EM commodity importers ex-China, on the other hand, have suffered from a subdued (मंद) global trade environment post-credit crisis that was accompanied by a steady decline in capacity utilisation to levels similar to the 2008 lows for key EMs (where these data are available).

Investment Hits Great Wall

India is part of this group and had experienced a similar drop in capacity utilisation rates. For this group, a pick up in manufacturing exports should help to improve capacity utilisation and drive a recovery in investment with a lag in 2018. Finally, in China, a continued slowdown in investment growth due to the structural shift in its growth model is expected.

A pick-up in external demand will help to improve capacity utilisation and provide a more favourable environment for investment. But policy makers are now focused on maintaining financial stability and better managing the debt-disinflation challenge, which entails toleration of slower GDP growth and, thus, a further slowdown in investment growth.

To be sure, structural challenges including high debt levels, weakening demographics (reflected in a rise in the global age dependency ratio) and the productivity growth slowdown will continue to weigh on global potential growth and the corporate sector's return expectations. As a result, while a meaningful cyclical recovery in investment in 2017 and 2018 is expected, the rate of growth is unlikely to rise to pre-credit crisis levels.

These challenges are prevalent (व्याप्त/प्रभावित) not only in most of the DM economies but also in several emerging economies.In this context, structural reforms such as market and product deregulation as well as fiscal incentives (प्रोत्साहन/प्रेरक) to boost investment can play an important role in driving stronger growth in investment.

Three key risks to the continued recovery in investment growth need to be monitored: one, policy uncertainty -any aggressive monetary policy tightening or under-delivery on fiscal support tax reforms in the US; two, protectionism and its impact on business confidence; three, a major slowdown in China's economic growth and drop in commodity prices.

Courtesy: The Economic Times (Global Economy).

1. Aftermath (noun): The consequences or after-effects of a significant event. (परिणाम)

Synonyms: Repercussions, After-Effects, Impact, Outcome, Backwash, Corollary.

Antonyms: Cause, Source, Origin.

Example: Although the aftermath was daunting, nothing could compare to the moment that the tornado struck the building.

2. Trough (noun): The low point in a business cycle/ a point of low activity or achievement.  (गर्त)  

Synonyms: Bottom Point, Nethermost, Nadir.

Antonyms: Top, Highest, Peak, Crowning.

Example: After the demonetization, the economy was expected to be troughed, but it did not happen.

Verb forms: Trough, Troughed, Troughed.

Related words:

Trough (verb): (गर्त में होना) 

3. Synchronous (adjective): Existing or occurring at the same time. (समकालिक)

Synonyms: Coeval, Coexistent, Concurrent, Coterminous, Simultaneous, Contemporary.

Antonyms: Asynchronous, Non-Contemporary, Non-Simultaneous.

Example: The synchronous arrival of a baby sister and loss of a beloved grandmother strongly affected the family. 

Verb forms: Synchronize, Synchronized, Synchronized.

Related words:

Synchronize (verb) – समकालीन होना

Origin: from Greek sunkhronos, from sun- ‘together’ + khronos ‘time’) + ous.

4. Conducive (adjective): Making a certain situation or outcome likely or possible./ to cause or produce something.  (सहायक/हितकर)

Synonyms: Accessory, Contributive, Productive Of, Facilitative.

Antonyms: Useless, Adverse, Hindering, Unhelpful.

Example: The declining number of available positions is conducive for the highest unemployment rate in decades.

Verb forms: Conduce, Conduced, Conduced.

Related words:

Conduce (verb) - Help to bring about (a particular situation or outcome).

5. Subdued (adjective): Quiet and rather reflective or depressed.  (मंद)

Synonyms: Somber, Downcast, Depressed, Low, Gloomy, Despondent, Dispirited.

Antonyms: Cheerful, Animated, Effervescent, Rosy.

Example: The subdued nature of the economy manifests the wrong adopted policies of the government.

6. Prevalent (adjective): Accepted, done, or happening often or over a large area at a particular time/common or widespread.  (व्याप्त/प्रभावित)

Synonyms: Extensive, Widespread, Rampant, Rife, Pervasive.

Antonyms: Rare, Limited.

Example: These days, laptop computers are prevalent on university campuses.

Origin:  from Latin praevalent- ‘having greater power’, from the verb praevalere.

7. Incentive (noun): A thing that motivates or encourages someone to do something.  (प्रोत्साहन/प्रेरक)

Synonyms: Inducement, Motivation, Motive, Stimulant, Spur, Impetus, Encouragement.

Antonyms: Discouragement, Hindrance, Deterrent, Prevention, Block.

Example: The greatest incentive I have for losing weight is my desire to share a long and healthy life with my family.

Origin: from Latin incentivum ‘something that sets the tune or incites’.

8. Tantrum (noun):  An uncontrolled outburst of anger and frustration. (झल्लाहट/आवेश)

Synonyms: Outburst, Flare-Up, Blow-Up, Paroxysm, Frenzy.

Antonyms: Happiness, Peace, Calm, Contentment.

Example: In a tantrum, Elspeth destroys her magic mirror, the source of her magic powers.

9. Accommodate (verb) - Fit in with the wishes or needs of. (के लिये उपयुक्त होना)

Synonyms: Fit In, Serve The Purpose, Meet The Needs.

Antonyms: Unsuit.

Example: When the new prison is built, it will accommodate eight hundred inmates.

Verb forms: Accommodate, Accommodated, Accommodated.

Related words:

Accommodative (adjective): (helpful in bringing about a harmonious adaptation)

10. Buffer (noun): A person or thing that protects somebody or something from being harmed by another/ a person or thing that reduces a shock or that forms a barrier between incompatible or antagonistic people or things. (प्रतिरोधी)

Synonyms: Cushion, Bulwark, Shield, Safeguard, Hedge, Defence.

Example: The wine glasses came with a cardboard around them to buffer any shock from shipping.

Verb forms: Buffer, Buffered, Buffered.

Related words:

Buffer (verb) - Lessen or moderate the impact of (something).