People with non photographic memory

Hi,

While I am not even half way through the CCENT text, I am afraid that by the time I am done reading the rest of the book, I would remember little or nothing from the previous chapters.

With a full time job and other family obligations, I can only spend no more than 10 hours per week for the exam prep. And this time limit compounds the problem.

I would like to hear fellow member's remedies to the problem. One of the solutions that I have implemented is "divide & conquer" approach (i.e. take the CCNE exam in two parts)

Thanks

rogers42

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Shan Gee

rogers42 wrote:

Hi,

While I am not even half way through the CCENT text, I am afraid that by the time I am done reading the rest of the book, I would remember little or nothing from the previous chapters.

With a full time job and other family obligations, I can only spend no more than 10 hours per week for the exam prep. And this time limit compounds the problem.

I would like to hear fellow member's remedies to the problem. One of the solutions that I have implemented is "divide & conquer" approach (i.e. take the CCNE exam in two parts)

Thanks

rogers42

Hello rogers42,

There is only one part to the CCENT, which is ICND1. Completing the other exam, ICND 2 would get you your CCNA. I would stick to doing these exams seperately if you don't think you can study for both parts of the exam. It is also easier because you have more time on each exam when you take it seperately. The only downside is that you have to pay extra (which shouldn't matter).

I would recommend purchasing a textbook like Sybex, get their latest CCNA book. It's really helpful. Study it and understand it.

Write down a study schedule and jot down times that you want to commit to studying. This will make it much easier for you to get started. Now is the time to study. Even 10 hours per week is enough.

I'm planning on starting my own blog which helps people with CCENT. I'll be posting what I learn daily, this way, by explaining what I learned I don't forget the material. It helps me with reviewing. I also get to teach other people in the process too.

dynamik

Make flash cards as you go. Writing information down helps cement that knowledge in your mind, and they make excellent review tools. Always start out your study session with a quick review. If you have problems, review the material in the book that night instead of going forward. 10 hours a week is better than none. Just stick with it, and you'll be done before you know it.

mgeorge

Fortunately, many people have this problem, if you have problems keeping ya self motivated reading a book, or remembering what you read previously, you should look into CBT Nuggets. watching CBT's, then reading then doing labs helps alot.

ITdude

mgeorge27 wrote:

Fortunately, many people have this problem

Huh?

Netstudent

Staying on gear 24/7 helps me remember. Seeing the outputs first hand as you type in the commands will help with the photographic side of remembering.

networker050184

Before I start my study for the day I always review what I have previously gone over. I use the quick reference sheets form Ciscopress. I don't hear much talk about those on here, but they are a very key recoursce in my review. You could always read the end of chapter summary as well for a quick review. As long as you keep reviewing you don't have to worry about a photographic mermory. It will burn itself in there eventually.

mikej412

ITdude wrote:

mgeorge27 wrote:

Fortunately, many people have this problem

Huh?

Since most of us face that problem, we're all qualified to answer the question

Repetition is the key to learning the material.
Review the intro/summary/and questions in a chapter.
Read the chapter, using the intro/summary/and questions as a guide to what's important.
Take notes
Answer the questions.
Read the chapter again if it doesn't make sense.

That's also why most of us will recommend 2nd books and/or Videos/CBTs -- the more looks at the material, the better. But don't just don't passivly sit back drinking beer watching videos -- Learning is an Active Process.

If you start with videos, try to match the videos sections with books sections. If you do an entire CBT first, build an outline and/or take notes and/or fill those notes in with the book material. Then review the videos when you finally to to the relevant chapters.

Then review so that you don't forget what you learned. Review some of your old notes in rotation, and your most recent notes before going back into a chapter. And review again after finishing a chapter, before starting a new topic/section/chapter.

And part of the repetition process is actually trying out commands and exercises and labs hands on with real hardware or (if you have no choice) a simulator. Write your own "command reference" of the commands you've learned and some of the popular options -- even if its just "sample configurations." Don't forget the commands you'd use to verify a configuration, and the commands you'd use to debug. If you're motivated (and have real equipment) you might print out sample command outputs to study and review later.

And check out the exam blueprint while you're studying and "check off" the topics as you think you cover them. And check them again later when you find more material that could also be included in an exam topic. Anything in the blueprint that sounds "hands-on" should be something you've practiced in a lab (or on a simulator) and should be able to do.

Then there are the "practice exams" -- I used the Cisco Press Flash Cards to study and review and finally tried the practice exams that came with them. I'd do a bunch of questions and after I missed a few, I go review the topics -- then try some more questions. I'd repeat that until I finished all the questions or couldn't take it anymore -- but I'd be above 90% on my one pass through the questions and that was enough to pass the exam easily. I probably missed more questions because of boredom and lack of attention -- but I'd go review until I could face more questions.

I also would review the Reference Sheets that used to come with the Cisco Press Flash Cards (on the CD) -- so I also think the new ones you can buy for $10 directly from Cisco Press on the web site are definitely worth it. I'd review those while doing the practice exam questions, and sometime highlight the topics asked in the practice exams -- but when I noticed they were almost all highlighted, I stopped highlighting and just reviewed the entire Reference Sheet the night before.

12beatechie

rogers42 wrote:

Hi,
While I am not even half way through the CCENT text, I am afraid that by the time I am done reading the rest of the book, I would remember little or nothing from the previous chapters.

I would suggest you to write down the important points that you have hard time digesting and review them will make you get them in your head.

With a full time job and other family obligations, I can only spend no more than 10 hours per week for the exam prep. And this time limit compounds the problem.

I totally understand your situation because it was pretty similar to mine and it took me more than a year to get my CCNA. I remember I only have like 8-10 hours per week for studying. You have to come up with a solid plan and commit to it and not to mention to come up with more time especially weekends and late nights to achieve your goal.

Hope that helps, best of luck!

networker050184

Most of us have a full time job and a family. Some are even college students as well. What I did to help make time was to study in the morning. Then I try to catch some more study at lunch or when ever I have down time at work. Then I watch a CBT or review the chapter before bed. I am willing to sacrifice a little sleep in order to get some extra study time in.

miller811

Find a way to devote more time to the task at hand. No pain no gain. I had toyed around with getting my CCNA for years. I had bought current books 3 times over a 3-5 year period. The sunsetting of the current test gave me all the motivation I needed. I studied at least 200 hours over a 30 day period: work/study/sleep (yes, I have all, if not more obligations than you currently have) and nothing else. I passed the test on the first try. I did purchase the package from Chris Bryant ( I would highly recommend his material and learning style), and used that in conjunction with Cisco Press and Cybex books I had bought in the past. I also had a lab setup in my house with gear that I had borrowed. The intense reading, sutdying testing, and troubleshooting paid off.

Hope that helps, the sacrifices you make now will be worth it after you pass the test.
Good luck

ITdude

I am taking a study break as I read this and I second what other learned people have said here. I have found that the more senses you can involve in your studying, the more it will reinforce things:

visual-obviously audio, and do not forget the physical act of writing down notes and doing hands on with real equipment and seeing the feedback you get goes a long way in reinforcing the concepts. By the way, even if you never refer to the notes you write(not recommended) the actual process of just writing the notes will help you remember things better.

Also, I have found making up my own little abbreviations for terminology or related groups of terminologies helps me to remember things better.

Good luck, as you can see from the above you are not alone

rogers42

Thanks evreybody for the tips, the suggestions, and the motivation.

rogers42

elvant

quote

Yes, repetition is the key. Even for mike's post, I have to repeat again to remember all the points.

Beside, getting FOCUS on your study is also very important. I'm not the kind of person who can sit for hours for a single book. Try switching your study material every hour or so. For example, read a book for an hour, then switch to lab for an hour, then video for the next hour. Take a 5-10 minutes break in between to refresh yourself. You would find yourself focusing most of the time and asorb more. Hope this woulld help

rogers42

wengyau, this makes sense.

Thanks

rogers42

japlasma

mikej412 wrote:

But don't just don't passivly sit back drinking beer watching videos -- Learning is an Active Process.

Very good study tips you guys! I just found how Mike put this one to be funny

BigTone

ITdude wrote:

mgeorge27 wrote:

Fortunately, many people have this problem

Huh?

Since people have this problem companies have came up with solutions... ex: CBT Nuggets/Testout/etc.

itdaddy

But don't just don't passivly sit back drinking beer watching videos -- Learning is an Active Process.

man is that me....hahahaaha

make me laugh my butt off !
NOT!

steveo1985

itdaddy wrote:

man is that me....hahahaaha
make me laugh my butt off !
NOT!

hahhaha oh how borat made the NOT!!joke funny

tmlerdal

What has helped me the most is in the CiscoPress books the CD's that came with it for when I did the CCNA and CCNP courses. The CD's all have some practice questions on them and more importantly the questions before and after each chapter. I'd take every set before and after I read each chapter. Depending on how my scores compared, I'd either re-read the entire chapter, or go back through the areas I missed until I knew the topic before moving on.

But don't just stop there. Everyonce in awhile, go back to the the chapters before and take the questions again. Make certain the information sticks.

I agree, videos, CBT's, web forums, cisco.com, the blueprint, etc. all great references. Don't forget some hands on makes a difference too. If you can get your hands on some equipment, the better. I was lucky and had plenty of spare or retired equipment at work to setup most of the labs I wanted. Run some debugs, watch the logs, if you are good with a packet analyzer, take some traces, it all adds up in the end.

tmlerdal

Had another big suggestion that I thought of last night while reading my BGP book. Don't forget to come up with little devices to help you remember things. Like "All People Seem To Need Data Processing" = Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Networking, Data Link, Physical.

I know there are more out there and when a co-worker and I were working on the exams, we started making up our own.

Julie Jones

For memorizing details that I just don't care about or use in troubleshooting (ethernet standards and the like) I find homemade flash cards very helpful. Just making the cards up helps, then I go through them several times, eliminating the ones I learn as I go.