GKHow to prepare general knowledge
General knowledge cannot be crammed in a night, but it can be built in ten minutes a day. Here is a simple method that works for school quizzes, scholarship tests and competitive examinations alike.
1. Know the two kinds of GK
Static GK is knowledge that does not change, or changes rarely: capitals, rivers, national symbols, inventions, important dates, the Constitution. Current affairs are recent events: new appointments, awards, sports results. This site covers static GK, because it stays true and forms the larger and surer part of most tests. For current affairs, read a newspaper daily.
2. Learn by topic, not at random
The mind holds on to facts that are linked. Take one topic at a time, such as the states and capitals of India, and finish it before moving on. Twenty linked facts are easier to remember than twenty scattered ones.
3. Test yourself instead of re-reading
Reading a list again and again feels like study, but it fools us. What builds memory is the effort of recalling. So read a topic once, then hide the answers and try to say each one. On this site, use "Hide answers", the flash cards or the practice quiz. Every wrong answer shows exactly what to revise.
4. Come back at growing gaps
We forget most new facts within days unless we meet them again. Revise a topic the next day, then after three days, then after a week, then after a month. Each revision takes less time than the one before. The daily quiz on this site mixes all topics, which gives this kind of spaced practice by itself.
5. Make hooks for hard facts
- Stories: Gujarat's capital is Gandhinagar, named after Gandhiji, who was born in Gujarat.
- First letters: the colours of the rainbow are VIBGYOR.
- Maps: find every place on a map. A capital you have pointed to is hard to forget.
- Pairs that confuse: write them side by side. Largest state by area: Rajasthan. Largest by population: Uttar Pradesh.
6. Keep a small notebook
Write down only the questions you got wrong, with the right answer. This "mistake notebook" is your personal revision book. Before a test, read only this.
7. Use spare minutes
Five questions while waiting for the school bus, a quiz with a friend during recess, one topic before bed: small, regular sittings beat one long Sunday session. Quizzing with family or friends is the most enjoyable way of all, and explaining an answer to someone else fixes it in your own mind.
8. Check doubtful facts
Some facts change (a new state, a new record) and many wrong "facts" travel on social media. When two sources differ, trust your current textbook or an official website. If you find an answer on this site that seems wrong or out of date, please tell us through the contact page.
A ten-minute daily plan
- Two minutes: read one topic list aloud.
- Three minutes: hide the answers and test yourself.
- Three minutes: take the practice quiz or the daily quiz.
- Two minutes: write the missed questions in your notebook.