any suggestions on studying
I have been out of school for 20 some years and now I am in Spanish 101. I study and think I am getting the hang of it but as soon as the professor gives me a test, my mind goes blank 
. I have tried writing sentences, making my own flash cards and now using this site but nothing seems to be helping. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 
6 Answers
Hi Lady. You may like to read a prior thread on this same topic.
I find studying little and often works better than one big session. I also try to study the things I'm interested in, rather than to study for tests, and then the tests largely take care of themselves.
I know you can't control the subject of your tests, but I mean that if you concentrate on the things that matter to you - your hobbies, your daily routine, the place where you live, your family - those words will stick better in your mind than arbitrary lists of vocab, and verb endings.
Then you'll be able to apply all the things you've already learnt when you take your tests.
I was out of school for 20-odd years too, but if you can find a way to immerse yourself in what you're learning and make it relevant to your circumstances, it all gets easier.
Don't study the night before or the day of a test--do something relaxing instead and get a good night's sleep. When I was a TA, I told all of the students to do this. Very few followed my advise, but those who did were amazed at how much better they did. One guy went from a D on the midterm to an A on the final even though he had comparable understanding of the material both times.
I used to have that problem, what helps me learn is by staying on this forum alot. How do you think you learn to speak your native language? By hearing your parents and friends speak it. Same on here, the more your around fluent people you'll get better.
No matter what you are studying the more tests you take the better you are at taking tests. I would find some old tests or sites that mimic the model fo the tests you are taking in your class and work them to death.
Some of it is mastery of the knowledge. SOme of it is mastery of the technique of test taking.Anxiety interferes with both. So the more you expose yourself to anything that produces anxiety the less anxious you will feel.
Congratulation on continuing learning as a lifelong process.
