HOW I PASSED MY CSS
Have you ever felt that whatever you are reading is going over your head?
Do you feel like despite trying too hard, you are not able to reach the core concepts?
Does it bother you that you try your best at memorising things but still you feel difficulty in recalling those facts and data?
Do not worry. Almost everyone goes through this.
When I was preparing for CSS, I used to dread a number of subjects particularly Pakistan Affairs.
I found it very repelling, dry and boring because of the old dates, and laws which I could never memorise.
The only thing I could recall was one of the fourteen points of Quid. “Sindh should be separated from Bombay.” For me, only this was Pakistan affairs.
But, the kind of a person I am, I looked for solutions and I did find one. It is called “Feynman Technique”.
Today, I am going to share what Richard Feynman (1918-1988), the Nobel Prize winner Quantum Physicist, artist, and a great explainer of science, had to offer.
Richard developed a mental model of acquisition of new information in very simple and concise language. This idea helped him while he was studying at Princeton University.
This technique involves five steps. So let us start with the first one.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟎𝟏: 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭/𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜
Before you take out the book and start reading about any particular topic, write down the topic at the top of the page and then start writing whatever you know about it.
You may write in any format you want. It can be the bullet form or paragraphs, whatever suits your needs.
Once, you are done with it, only then should you start reading about that topic from the source book.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟎𝟐: 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 (𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞)
Teaching something complex to a child is difficult since it puts pressure on your nerves and makes your mind stronger in the process.
Because the children are inquisitive, they keep asking questions as they do not have the ability to understand the complex terms and concepts.
Many aspirants hide their information from others. For some time, I had also done that. It is okay, nothing to be embarrassed.
But from now onwards, you must change this attitude. As soon as you learn something new, teach it to someone else.
Teaching brings clarity. I found this to be true during many teaching sessions.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟎𝟑: 𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭
While learning something new, it is necessary to keep your language simple. There is no need to memorise and use difficult jargon.
For example, instead of telling your partner that British introduced the system of Dyarchy, tell her that the British formed double government in which majority of ministries remained with British Councillors while some of the minor ministries were given to Indian provincial ministers who were elected by Governor.
You can introduce the word dyarchy later on.
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝟎𝟒: 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬
Once you start reading, you will definitely make notes for yourself. But while you revise them, you will come to know that you do not know many things about it.
Ask yourself what you do not know about this topic, what perspective is missing.
One of the best ways to determine that is looking at the past papers. You will find a number of things you miss during preparation.
Identify those areas, and fill the knowledge gap by reading and filling in that information from books, or blogs.
One Final Notes
Clarity is critical to learning. If you still have doubts about the topic, or if it still confuses you, then it is time to revise the way you have read it. It might be because you haven’t understood the subject well.
When I teach Pakistan Affairs to the students, I connect things first. For example, before starting the topic of Khilafat Movement, I ask questions like what was the situation around the world. What was happening in Europe at that time?
Now this question might seem to be irrelevant, but it is not because World War I is directly related to Khilafat Movement in India. (Study it for further information). The point is that you need to ask questions from yourself in order to bring about clarity.
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