Establish your goals. What is it you want to do? What is it you want to become? Why is it important to you? Without specific goals how do you know where you are going or when you get there? The goals you set will provide meaning and direction to your studies.

1. Try making short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals. Make goals for one course. Make goals for one year in school. Make goals for three years in the future.

2. State your goals clearly and positively.

3. Make your goals specific and observable/measurable.

4. Set a time frame for your goal. This helps you keep moving and working.

5. Aim high. A challenging goal will be much more rewarding than one that takes little effort.

6. Write your goals down. Post them on the refrigerator or bulletin board. Make them visible.

7. Compare your goals with the goals the instructor has for the course, and the goals the interpreter training program has. Do these goals match? Dovetail? Or conflict? If you notice that your goals and the instructor's or the program's, are not the same, make an appointment with the instructor or program advisor to discuss the differences.

8. Periodically review your goals. They may have been accomplished, they may have changed, they may need revision, or they may no longer be necessary. Rewrite them an necessary.

Organize and plan your study schedule. The expectation in college is that students spend two hours studying for every hour spent in class. For a class that meets 2.5 hours a week that means five hours of study per week. Students in the interpreter training program spend eight hours a week in class and can expect to spend AT LEAST sixteen hours a week outside of class studying. But we all lead such hectic lives. Where can you find the time to study? It takes organizing and planning.

1. For one week, keep a time inventory. Record everything you do during a day. Then, look for patterns in how you use your time. Consider your priorities in your life Where can you cut back? Where can you insert a study session? What things are you spending the most time on? When are you most productive? Are you spending the majority of your time on the priorities? Are you scheduling the priorities at your most productive times?

2. Make a calendar to record events, deadlines, tests and other important dates coming up during the semester. For the crucial items, go back one and two weeks before and put warnings on the date. "One week until Mom and Dad’s anniversary." "Two weeks until the portfolio is due."

3. Design a study schedule. Then, keep it! Don’t wait for inspiration to strike – it usually doesn’t. Practice self-discipline. Many times you will find that once you have gotten into the activity or study, it really is interesting, challenging, and enjoyable.

4. Most people work better with shorter, more frequent study periods. Or with breaks during longer sessions. Think of it like interpreting, a complex task requiring alertness, multiple-tasking and processing, and physical strength and stamina. It is common for assignments over two hours to be shared by a team. This is because we acknowledge that our effectiveness as interpreters is compromised after long periods of work. Most teams rotate every twenty to thirty minutes. This is based on research about the effectiveness of interpreting over time. The twenty to thirty minute rule might be a good one to try in your study schedule.

5. Don’t procrastinate. Do it now! Research has shown that without review, after two weeks the average student forgets approximately 80% of what was covered in class. Cramming is not real learning. It is only trying to remember a large amount of material for a short period of time. You cannot "cram" for a language or a skill. If you wait until the night before basketball try-outs to start practicing your free throws, you will not make the team.

6. When doing a long-term assignment, plan out the steps and assign them deadlines. Break it into doable pieces, and complete them according to your time line.

Overlearn. Continue past the point where you can just barely recall or do something. Continue past the point where you can do that thing without struggling. Continue to the point where you can do it without thinking about it. Then you know the language lives inside of you.

Control your study environment. Select a place. Stock it with the necessary materials and equipment. Make sure there are no distractions or routine interruptions that could give you an excuse to stop studying.

Join study groups. This gives you the practice and feedback you need to develop better language skills. It also gives you a broader perspective on the subject, a support system when you need it, and a gentle kick in the behind if you start dragging your feet.

Maintain your overall physical and mental health.