Faculty of translation theory and practice department of translation theory and practice

Think positively about yourself. Before and during a test, many people begin having doubts about their knowledge and ability. If these doubts are allowed to persist without being checked and transformed into positive statements, your anxiety will undoubtedly increase.

Dress for success. Often if you feel confident and positive about the way you look, these feelings will transform into your actions and thoughts. You are also likely to acknowledge but then quickly disregard negative self talk that occurs during a test.

Come to the test prepared. This does not only apply to academic preparation. Just as important is the need to bring the materials that will be needed for the test, including books, notes, concept cards, pencils, paper or any special test response booklets. If you forget such materials, you could feel less empowered and even defeated before the test ever begins.

Acknowledge your role as a student in the test situation. Remember that the test is not a race between the students within the class. Instead of focusing on WHEN individuals finish the test, you should focus on HOW you are finishing the test.

As you begin the test, you should preview the test to see what types and how many questions need to be completed. Then, you should spend a minute or two planning how long you will spend with each problem and/or section of the test. Finally, you should question if enough time is being allowed to finish each question with special consideration given to answer essays or more difficult problems on the test. In addition, you should feel comfortable and confident that you have the right and responsibility to ask questions during the test, in particular, you should ask questions where you may have some confusion about the wording or directions of a question. In any case, however,you need to be sure to ask a SPECIFIC question. In this manner, the teacher will not likely feel that the you are "fishing" for an answer.