How to study efficiently: The Cornell Notes Method

Find more free advice on how to take good notes here:

TRANSCRIPT

Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video I am going to teach you an amazing way to listen and take notes. This method I am going to teach you today is really, really going to help you, and I know this because I use this method myself, and I found it has really, really helped me when I was in university, during meetings, during all sorts of different situations. This method really works.

So, first, before I teach you about the method, I want you to think about yourself and I want you to think about: When do you take notes? Okay? So, when do you listen and when do you take notes? So, some of you might think... Maybe you're in university, maybe you're in college, maybe you're in high school, and you have to listen to your teacher talk, and you have to take notes to help you remember what they are saying. Maybe you've graduated and you're working in a business, and you have meetings and... Or presentations, and you also need to take notes. So, this method will work for whether you're working or you're studying. Maybe you're taking the IELTS or the TOEFL, this can also help you on the TOEFL test in terms of improving your listening and taking notes.

So, how do you take notes? Okay? I know some students, they watch their professor or their teacher talk, and they use their computer, and they just type everything their professor or teacher says. Is this something you do? Maybe you write your notes, and you write every single thing your professor says down on a piece of paper, or anything somebody says. Well, there are a couple of problems with these methods, and I'm going to explain to you some of the problems now. So, for people who like to take notes by computer, there are some advantages of this. You're able to type really quickly and you're able to get a lot of what you hear down on your computer, and it's easy to save. But the problem with this is it's a type of passive listening. So, a lot of the times you're not actually using your brain to interpret what you're listening to, and you're not actively listening. You're just copying word for word, you're not actually doing anything active with the material you're listening to. So, working with a computer-and I've seen this in my university-a lot of students also end up going on Facebook during the lesson or lecture. So, a lot of the times they get very distracted. When they should be listening, they're actually not.

So, for me personally and I think for a lot of people, using a computer to take notes is not the best method. Again, for some people it might work, but for a lot of people it doesn't. A lot of the times it's actually better to take notes by hand, and the reason is when you take notes by hand, you have to think about what you're writing because writing takes a bit longer than typing. So you're organizing the material, therefore it's more of an active way to listen. Okay? And they've done psychology studies on this, and they do find that taking your notes by hand is often better than taking notes by a computer.

So, today I am going to teach you a way to take notes by hand using what is called "The Cornell Method". This method was developed at Cornell University, and a lot of universities actually encourage students to use this method because it is very good. So, what is the Cornell Method? Okay, well, I'm glad you asked. So, I have here an example of how you would organize your paper. Imagine this is your paper that you take your notes on. What you can do is you can make a box just like this where you have a box where you write the title and the date of the lesson, you have a square or a rectangle here, you have a rectangle here, and you have a rectangle at the bottom. Okay? So, in total you have-one, two, three, four-four different rectangles.

[dariyanefllearningcentre]

When I start taking notes in any university lesson, I usually use my cellphone to record the voice of the professor during the lecture, this is the best way as you don't miss any words in the lesson and after getting back home I play the record and begin writing down my notes and the entire summary of the given topic.

[ejd]

I graduated from Cornell in 1976 and I used this method (slightly modified by the end). It worked well.

[DillardTvee]

I have 10 years of college. This system learned in my 2nd year, turned me from a C/B student to an A student in undergrad and grad. 30 years later, I still use it and teach it

[oseatamburella]

I got 10/10 on the test.

Very interesting and helpful lesson! I’m gonna divide some papers into sections and apply the Cornell Method to the contexts in which I’m involved.

I really like to follow your lessons. Thank you very much Emma!!!

[ToadGamingSubscribe]

thanks i took a lot of notes on how to take notes

[JeffRyman]

I wasn't aware of the Cornell method when I was either an undergraduate or graduate student, but in graduate school I found a method that worked for me. I would take the best notes I could in class. Then on the same day I would rewrite those notes to make them more complete. I used the textbook, if any, and at least one other textbook to help myself understand the material as I was working on my rewritten notes. I figured out that my most effective method of learning is to physically write the material on paper. Somehow that implants the material in my brain. That was before the advent of personal computers. Now in retirement I am trying to learn (or relearn) some materials through self study and I have found that typing the material for my notes is not as effective as the act of writing on paper. Your mileage may vary.

[matheusmascarenhas]

This kind of video is a special way of learning English without noticing you're doing it, especially because of the subtitles and the text attached, which is ver helpful to beginners.

Congratulations for adding value to all these people that follows you and your colleagues from EngVid, one of my favorite channels.

In Portuguese, one of our most common ways of saying regards/take care/etc is "sending": hug(s).

So "hugs" for everyone from EngVid!

[elrwack]

If you are writing questions, main ideas or topics in the left hand column first, then you are not making Cornell Notes, but rather 2 column notes. They are only Cornell Notes if the notes are taken on the right hand side first, and then once the notes are completed, the questions are formed afterwards. Ideally, the notes should be reviewed and revised before the questions are done. One of the purposes of Cornell Notes is to be looking at the information multiple times so it that it is lodged in the brain. Another major reason for making CN is that you are analyzing and synthesizing the information, thus gaining a deeper and more complete understanding of the material. There is nothing wrong with taking 2 column notes; however, they are not Cornell Notes and they don't serve the same purpose.

[MohamadNoorRizal]

Thanks, very helpful!
I am more comfortable using my laptop to take note, especially using OneNote application. This method can also be applied too in OneNote. We can create two columns to separate between key ideas and the details. Also we can easily add picture from internet. The best part is this application uses cloud storage so you can check your notes from all of your device. :)

[dalenjurgens]

This is awesome! I am 52 this year, never been good at note taking. This will help a whole lot!

[nolabrah]

I'm a returning adult student starting this week and I've been pretty nervous about my note taking skills. But this video really gave me some ideas on how I can improve those skills! Looking forward to putting this to practice! Thanks, Emma! :)

[nealbangia]

Thank you very much. I am from Montréal and I was never taught this method. However, I did develop on my own a rough idea of how to take notes that I was never able to finalize, but I think that your video just cinched it for me, so I am really very grateful!

[ikonhero]

Very useful. I'll be going back to school soon after a break of 20 years. Good to hear that writing notis is still better practice than using a laptop during a lecture.

[anee]

You are doing an outstanding job, Emma! I really love u. Please keep teaching us like that always and always!❤

[jasons.]

I haven't try this method yet, but I will try this next school year, I also suggest to put "Possible Questions" on this method and answer them on your owm based on your understanding. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS MA'AM, THIS IS THE BEST VIDEO ABOUT THIS I'VE EVER WATCHED.

[samirahsamir]

This video help me A lot wAllahi. I got headache coz of how my teachers teach me i couldn’t understand it but now better than before Alhamdulilah 😊🤗

[alinadaych]

Thank you so much ! I am in middle school, but l got a writing assignment to write a narrative using my own notes. The Cornell method helped me take notes quickly more efficient and organized. Definitely a thumbs up from me!

[beilahe]

Thanks so much for your video. I can listen clearly when doing listening exerciese through critical listening, but it's a little bit hard for me to catch up the videos when listening and taking notes at the same times, even I can miss much important information needed to take note. After studying your instruction, I also find out what my matters are, it turns out that I just need to take note key words or main points and don't need to take full sentences or all things professors talking about. This way helps me be comfortable during the listening process and also have time to think critically when listening and acquiring anything spoken from others.

[psblad]

Mind maps!! I have used it for 40 years and it is outstanding!!!

[الفضائيناميك]

thank you teacher, im studying on university of literature english, and i understand the lessons only of you, no once even in university, thank you Very Much teacher