In his book, Harun Yahya criticize the evolutionists ideology. He stated that, ape and human chromosomes are not 98% identical but are too different for evlution to explain.

Darwinians were lying to us when they insisted that the genetic matter of apes and humans are 98% identical. During the last 12 years, there has been a steady flow of scientific discoveries informing us that Chimpanzee and human chromosomes are so remarkably different that it is inconceivable for the ape genome to evolve into the human genome.

For example:
In 2000, Nature published a scientific paper entitled “Chimpanzee and human Y chromosomes are remarkably divergent in structure and gene content.” (Nature, by the way, is the most respected peer reviewed scientific journal for evolutionary genetics.)
They found that:
• The human Y chromosome has twice as many genes as the Chimpanzee Y chromosome. Humans have at least 78 genes and Chimpanzees have only 37.
• The Y chromosomes of Chimpanzees and humans are radically different in the arrangement of their genes.
Both of these facts make it impossible for apes to have evolved into humans because there are no genetic mechanisms that would account for the vast differences between the ape and human Y chromosomes.

The two chromosomes are so different it is like comparing the chromosomes of humans to those of chickens.

The Author emphasizes that ape to human evolution is impossible because apes and humans cannot add genes to their genomes. In order for apes to add genes, they would have to have a genetic mechanism to generate new genes and insert them into their chromosomes. But apes do not have any “gene generating system.” nor do apes have a “gene insertion system.” This means that “ape to human evolution” theory is missing the genetic mechanisms necessary for evolution to actually take place. This proves “ape to human evolution” is impossible.

He then concluded that the theory of evolution are a complete violation of reason and logic.

Darwin explains that the nature came into existence by chance. Could chance produce such an organized system from a mud? Can chance make that smallest organized system increasingly complex and produce an entity such as a human being? Can chance teach a monkey to speak, to make compliments, to think, to build palaces, to found civilizations and nations, to build ships and discover continents, to set up laboratories or to perform experiments by investigating the cells that comprise them? What coincidence can endow an ape with a soul? The answer to each one of these questions is very clear and definite: chance can produce neither a human being nor the cell, the smallest component thereof.
“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely breakdown.” (Charles Darwin)

Since evolutionists believe in this impossibility, then let them take a suitable amount of mud and wait for it to produce spontaneously, first a single cell, then amoeba, fish, lizards, horses, apes and finally human beings. Then let them watch those human beings design cars, make discoveries and found civilizations. In fact, even the most dyed in the wool evolutionist knows this can never happen, but they imagine that by making this claim together with Latin terms and a weighty style it somehow becomes credible.

To believe that all the living things we see on Earth, the flowers with their matchless beauty, fruits, flavors, butterflies, gazelles, rabbits, panthers, birds, and billions of human beings with their different appearances, the cities built by these human beings, the buildings they construct, and bridges all came about by chance from a collection of mud, means taking leave of one’s senses. The fact that large numbers of people believe in clumsy bird hacks flying cyrus app such nonsense in no way legitimizes it; on the contrary, it shows that we are looking at a miracle. A miracle took place 150 years ago, when an old man with an amateur interest in biology began to bring a huge mass of people under his influence with the senseless ideas he produced from his imagination during a sea voyage.

RANDOM MUTATIONS: A SOURCE OF VARIATION?

“Mutations are small, random and harmful. They rarely occur and the best possibility is that they will be ineffectual. These four characteristics of mutations imply that mutations cannot lead to evolutionary development. A random change in a highly specialized organism is either ineffectual or harmful. A random change in a watch cannot improve a watch. It will most probably harm it or at best be ineffectual. An earthquake does not improve a city, it brings destruction.” B. G. Ranganathan, Origins, 1988
“In practice mutants die, are sterile, or tend to revert back to the wild type.” Michael Pitman, Adam and Evolution, 1984
• The direct effect of mutations is harmful.
• Mutations add no new information to an organism’s DNA, but cause abnormalities.
• In order for a mutation to be transferred to the subsequent generation, it has to have taken place in the reproductive cells of the organism.

A Question of Probability

A probability of 1 chance in 10950 to form a single useful protein. Robert Shapiro, professor of chemistry at New York University and a DNA expert, calculated the probability of the coincidental formation of the 2000 types of protein found in a single bacteria (there are 200,000 different types of protein in a human cell) to be 1 in 1,040,000.97. Could it be that a cell was formed under the conditions of a primordial earth ravaged by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and thunderstorms?
“The likelihood of the spontaneous formation of life from inanimate matter is one to a number with 40,000 noughts after it …it is big enough to bury Darwin and the whole theory of Evolution. There was no primeval soup neither on this planet nor on any other, and if the beginnings of life were not random, they must have been the product of purposeful intelligence.” Chandra Wickramasinghe, University of Cardiff, Wales
No evolution in Quran
We created man from a mingled drop to test him, and We made him hearing and seeing. (Surat al-Insan, 2)
The Theory of Evolution Is a Deception of Satan, and Satan’s Deception Is Weak

God reveals in the Qur’an that Satan has vowed to turn people away from the true path, to deceive them, to make them believe in nonsense and perversions, and set snares for them:

“I will lead them astray and fill them with false hopes. I will command them and they will cut off cattle’s ears. I will command them and they will change God’s creation.” Anyone who takes Satan as his protector in place of God has clearly lost everything. He makes promises to them and fills flappy bird them with false hopes. But what Satan promises them is nothing but delusion (Qur’an, 4:119-120)

In another verse God reveals that Satan says he will never be able to mislead His sincere servants (Qur’an, 15:39-40).

It is easy to free oneself from Satan’s snares. All one has to do is to think honestly. Anyone who thinks honestly will see that the claims of the theory of evolution are untrue. Evolutionists, too, would see this manifest truth if they could free themselves from the effect of their own circles, their concerns to the effect that “If I say I do not believe in evolution what will my colleagues think of me?” and will cease to believe in such an impossible scenario as evolution. In one verse God reveals:

As for those who guard against evil, when they are bothered by visitors from Satan, they remember and immediately see clearly. (Qur’an, 7:201)

GUIDELINE UNTUK MENGHAFAZ AL QURAN

PERSEDIAAN SEBELUM MENGHAFAL :
1. Membersihkan diri dari segala hadas.
2. Memakai wangi-wangian.
3. Bersugi atau memberus gigi.
4. Berwudhuk.
5. Memilih mushaf yang biasa digunakan seharian.
• Pastikan tulisan mudah dibaca.
• Sebaiknya menggunakan mushaf rasm uthmani.
6. Memilih tempat yang sesuai untuk menghafaz Al Quran.
7. Memilih waktu yang sesuai untuk menghafaz Al Quran. Waktu yang
dicadangkan:
• Selepas subuh.
• Selepas maghrib.
8. Pilih guru yang ingin anda perdengarkan bacaan dan hafalan anda.
9. Perbetulkan niat untuk menghafal Al Quran.

CARA MENGHAFAZ :
1. Tentukan had bilangan ayat atau mukasurat yang hendak dihafal.
2. Bacalah ayat yang hendak dihafal. Pastikan bacaan tersebut betul dari segi
tajwid dan sebutan.
3. Ulang bacaan dengan disemak bacaan tersebut supaya tidak ada kesilapan
setiap kali ianya diulang.
• Bilangan ulangan ayat yang dicadangkan adalah sebanyak 60 / 30 / 10 /
dan lain-lain bersandarkan kepada kemampuan ingatan seseorang.
• Semakin banyak ayat diulang semakin mudah ianya dihafal dan kekal
lebih lama dalam ingatan.
4. Sebaik sahaja selesai ulangan bacaan tersebut dan anda berpuashati dengan
bacaan tersebut, mulakan dengan mengulang ayat yang pertama yang ingin
dihafal sehinggalah berjaya menghafal ayat tersebut.
5. Kemudian berpidahlah ke ayat yang kedua. Ulang langkah yang sebelumnya
sehingga selesai hafalan ayat yang ketiga.
6. Ulang hafalan ayat satu kemudian diiukuti ayat yang kedua.
7. Selepas anda yakin ayat satu dan dua telah dihafal dengan hafalan yang
sempurna mulakan hafalan dengan diulang langkah yang digunakan pada
ayat yang pertama dan ayat yang kedua. Kemudian susuli dengan urutan ayat
satu dua dan tiga dihafal serentak.
8. Ayat yang berikutnya juga dilakukan langkah seperti ayat satu dua dan tiga
sehinggalah sampai ke had yang telah ditetapkan ( cth : 1 ms / 1 ‘ain ).
9. Ulanglah keseluruhan hafalan sehinggalah benar-benar yakin hafalan
tersebut sempurna.
10. Perdengarkan bacaan kepada guru atau kawan yang dipilih.
11. Apabila ingin memulakan hafalan yang baru, ulang terlebih dahulu hafalan
yang lalu, barulah dimulakan hafalan yang baru dengan cara yang sama pada
hafalan yang lalu.
12. Hafallah setiap ayat dan alunkanlah ia dengan penuh tadabbur dan dengan
penuh kesungguhan serta niat untuk memahami dan memelihara kalam
Allah.

SELEPAS MENGHAFAL :
1. Berdoa agar dikurniakan keberkatan dalam hafalan. Antara doa yang baik
untuk dibaca :
“ Ya Allah Rahmatilah kami dengan Al Quran, jadikanlah ia pemimpin , cahaya
dan petunjuk dan rahmat bagi kami.
Ya Allah ingatkanlah kami apa yang kami dilupakan , ajarilah kami apa tidak tahu
dan berikanlah kami rezeki membacanya di sebelah malam dan di sebelah siang.
Jadikanlah ianya hujjah bagi kami wahai Tuhan sekalian alam”.
2. Pastikan Al Quran sentiasa dibaca dan diulang selalu. Pastikan setiap hari
ada jadual mengulang dan jadual hafalan yang baru.
3. Berusaha untuk memperbaiki bacaan , memahami makna, hukum dan
hikmah yang terkandung di dalam setiap ayat.
4. Berusaha untuk beramal dengan setiap perintah yang didatangkan dan
berusaha menjauhi setiap larangan yang terkandung di dalam Al Quran.

TABIAT MEREKA YANG INGIN MENGHAFAZ AL QURAN
1. Sentiasa di dalam keadaan bersih dan suci.
2. Sentiasa berjaga-jaga daripada termakan makanan atau minuman yang
haram, begitu juga yang syubhat.
3. Rajin bangun di waktu malam untuk berqiyamullail, membaca Al Quran dan
menunaikan solat malam.
4. Mengelakkan daripada melakukan perkara yang sia-sia sama ada dalam
bentuk perbuatan atau percakapan serta menjauhi perkara yang dilarang
oleh Allah sama ada dalam bertuk percakapan atau perbuatan.
5. Menjaga tingkahlaku dan percakapan seharian.
6. Rajin berpuasa sunat.
7. Memastikan niat menghafal Al Quran sentiasa kerana Allah bukan kerana
habuan dunia dan sebagainya.
8. Menjaga hubungan baik dengan Allah dan manusia.

10 TIPS Untuk Bertudung LABUH

1) Mulakan dengan memakai stokin kaki dan sarung lengan. Biasakan memakai baju yang longgar dan melepasi punggung. Tukarkan penggunaan seluar jeans dengan seluar slack yang longgar.

2) Cari dan sertailah kumpulan usrah yang benar iaitu yang diyakini agama naqibah (ketua usrah) nya serta hala tujunya selari dengan syariat. InsyaAllah.

3) Perhebatkan langkah menyertai majlis-majlis ilmu seperti kuliah maghrib di Masjid, ceramah-ceramah oleh ustaz/ustazah untuk menambah input dalam diri. InsyaAllah, akan bertemu sahabat-sahabat baru yang baik di majlis-majlis tersebut.

4) Bersungguh-sungguh memperbaiki ibadah-ibadah asas seperti solat, puasa dan sebagainya. Boleh rujuk ustaz/ustazah, sahabat-sahabat yang diyakini agama, kitab-kitab fardu ain, ataupun mendengar ceramah-ceramah online (kalau boleh, semua ini seiring).

5) Perbanyakkan membaca al-Quran & mentadabbur (mengkaji) maknanya. Tidak ada gunanya pembacaan al-Quran tanpa memahami isinya. Milikilah tafsir mini sebagai teman karib.

6) Apabila hati sudah semakin kuat, semakin sudah yakin dengan pilihan yang dibuat (untuk berhijrah lillahi taala) maka, perlahan-lahanlah mulakan langkah untuk memperbaiki penampilan. Mulalah memakai baju yang menutupi peha (mencecah lutut). Paling popular, T-shirt Muslimah. Namun, hati-hati, seeloknya pastikan ukurannya mencecah lutut kerana T-shirt yang tidak menutupi peha berpotensi untuk menampakkan bentuk peha jika dipakai dengan seluar.

7) Mulakan dengan memakai tudung bidang 50 (melepasi bahu). Pinkan secara lurus. Kalau dipinkan silang ke dada, kelihatan agak singkat. Kebiasaannya muslimah memilih untuk memakai Tudung Turki atau Tudung Mesir.

8 ) Setelah semakin selesa, mulalah memakai pula tudung Tudung Turki/Mesir/Bawal bidang 60. Tudung jenis ini kebiasaannya labuh mencecah siku dan menutupi punggung. Sebenarnya, tudung jenis ini pun sudah memadai untuk menutupi aurat dengan sempurna. Namun, agak renyah sebab penggunaan pin.

9) Dalam pada berusaha menjaga penampilan, langkah 1-6 masih dipraktikkan dengan istiqamah (berterusan). Iman ditingkatkan, ibadah diperhebatkan, akhlak dipermantapkan. InsyaAllah.

10) Kemudian, setelah bersedia untuk memakai tudung labuh berjahit, bolehlah mulakan dengan berselang-seli dengan Tudung Turki/Mesir bidang 60 sebelum istiqamah dengan tudung labuh berjahit. Serta kurangkan pemakaian seluar serta mengantikannya dengan memakai kain. Memakai t-shirt muslimah dengan kain tidak ada salahnya. Bahkan lebih manis dipandang mata.

DR HJ MOHD SHAFIE

Profil Peribadi Pengasas Kaedah Al-Huffaz

Dr Hj Mohd Shafie, seorang akauntan bertauliah yang berjaya memformulasikan teknik hafazan sehingga 4 orang anak beliau juga huffaz serta menjadi johan Hafazan peringkat kebangsaan.

Anak sulung dari tiga orang adik beradik. Berasal dari Melaka dan dilahirkan pada 28 April 1963. Mempunyai 13 orang anak.

Pendidikan awal di Masjid Tanah English School, Melaka. Kemudian menyambung pelajaran di Sekolah Menengah Datuk Abdul Razak, Seremban. Seterusnya menyambung pengajian tinggi di London School of Accountancy, United Kingdom dan kembali semula ke tanah air dengan kelulusan ACCA (Association Chartered of Certified Accountant).

Beliau kemudiannya berkhidmat sebagai akauntan di beberapa buah firma. Di samping itu bertugas sebagai pensyarah sambilan di UKM dan UiTM.

Usaha menghafaz Al-Quran yang beliau lakukan bukanlah sejak kecil. Ia bermula ketika beliau sedang menuntut di London. Akhirnya beliau berjaya menghafaz 30 juzuk ketika berumur 30 tahun. Antara guru-guru talaqqinya dalam hafazan ialah Ustaz Asmungi Al-Hafiz, Ustaz Muhammad Jim Al-Hafiz dari Mali, Afrika dan Ustaz Abdul Rauf Al-Hafiz dari Al-Azhar, Mesir. Manakala dalam bidang ilmu tajwid, beliau berguru dengan Y.Bhg Dato’ Haji Hassan Azhari.

Melalui pengalaman yang dilaluinya, beliau telah merekabentuk satu sistem hafazan yang dinamakan Al-Huffaz bagi membantu sesiapa sahaja yang berminat menghafaz Al-Quran, baik kanak-kanak mahupun dewasa, dari kalangan yang sedang bekerja atau bersara, sama ada telah mengenal Al-Quran atau masih belum dapat membaca.

Latar Belakang Pendidikan Penceramah:

PhD. Contemporary Islamic Thought ( H.S – USA )
ACCA (London School of Accountancy UK)
Diploma Pengajian Usulluddin (UM)
Syahadah Tahfiz al-Quran (Mal – Msr)

Kisah 20 sen je…

Masuk2 opis, termenung skjap..muhasabah diri sbentar. Sayu mengenangkan kejadian sebentar tadi..Bersyukur atas nikmatMu. Alhamdulillah..Kalau kita terasa susah, ada lagi yang lagi susah. Dan mereka tak pernah merungut, kerana mereka tahu, rungutan mereka tidak akan kemana..Allahhurabbi..

Tiap pg,sblum sampai opis, akn sy berhenti beli nasi lemak di simpang tak jauh dari rumah sewa. Pelanggan tetap pcik tu kononnye (^_^) dan sy pasti akan muncul di sekitar jam 6:30pg. Dan setiap kali berhenti membeli, setiap kali itulah juga anak kecik bernama Ashraf berusia 9 tahun akn membeli nasi lemak di gerai yg sama dgn lengkap berpakaian sekolah. Setiap kali kami membeli diwaktu yg sama, akn sy byrkan nasi lemak yg adik ini mahukan. Pd sy,apalah sgt harga Rm1.50 untuk dikongsi bersama adik comel ni.. Dan dlm kesayuan suaranye, dia tak putus2 ucapkan terima kasih.Mungkin inilah peluang yang Allah berikan utk sy bersedekah. Pernah sy bertanya pdnya, berskolah dimana, awalnye keluar berjalan kaki ke sekolah dimana tinggal dan sbagainye. Katanye, dia bersekolah agak jauh, 25-30 minit berjalan kaki, sbb tu kena keluar awal. (terkenang anak2 sedara dirumah yg sebaya dgn Ashraf, semuanye serba tersedia, walaupun tidaklah semewah mana,tp lbh beruntung dari adik ini..Kesian adik ini..)
Setelah hmpir 3 minggu berulang alik dari umah Ayah Bonda di Kajang (masih dlm mood raya kononnye), maka 3 minggu jugalah sy tak membeli nasi lemak pcik dan tak berjumpa dgn Asyraf. Hinggalah pagi ni, sy memulakankan kembali rutin membeli nsi lemak pcik. Tapi, sy pelik kenapa Asyraf terus berjalan tanpa berhenti di kedai pakcik mcm selalu..sy belikan sebungkus dan sy berhentikan kereta sy disebelah Ashraf.

Jiha: Ashraf~~!! akak tggu ashraf td. knape x beli nasi lemak? dah boring nsi lemak pcik? (cuba bergurau). Nah akak belikan satu.
Ashraf: eh, kak jiha..lama x nmpak.trima ksh byk2 kak. Ashraf igt k.jiha dah pindah. bukan dh boring.Tapi..(muka sayu)
Jiha:ehh..nape mcm sedih je tiba2 ni..jom akak hntr p skolah nk?? (setelah 2-3 kali sy bertnya, barulah adik ini bersuara)
Ashraf: Ashraf tak ada duit nk beli. Sbelum ni mak bagi RM1.50 sehari utk sekolah pagi dan petang,blhla Ashraf beli.Tp, minggu lps mak terpaksa potong duit belanja sebab ayah sakit. Mlm td mak potong lagi sebab mak kata minyak naik, mak perlukan duit lebih untuk tambang ke tempat kerja. Ashraf ada RM0.80 je kak jiha.Takpe la, Ashraf beli karipap je disekolah nnt. Ashraf tak boleh tumpang kak jiha..mak pesan jgn tumpang org.Jangan susahkan org. Nnt mak marah. (sayu dn jujur ank kck ni bercerita. ku tahan air mata dr meleleh mendgr ceritanye )

Puasku pujuk utk hntr ksekolah, akhirnye dia beralah..Ye, mmg jauh sekolahnye. PJS7 ke Kampung Lindungan..Gigihnye die berjalan kaki kerana ilmu. Tanpa menghiraukan bahaya diculik dan bahaya dilanggar kereta sewaktu melintas jalan besar. Gigih juga anak ni bersekolah dari seawal 6:30 pagi hingga 6 petang setiap hari hanya dengan berbekalkan sebungkus nasi lemak..Ya Allah.. (T_T) Dan isu minyak, bkn kita shj yang terkena kesan dari kenaikan harga yg HANYA 20sen tu, tp juga ank2 kecik yg tak tahu apa2 ni..kerana mereka bkn dari keluarga yg senang (org senang merasakan 20 sen tu hanyalah dicelah gigi shj). Tapi bagi org2 yang tak berkemampuan, kerana 20sen, mereka tak mampu lagi utk membeli brg2 asas dan mknan seperti biasa. Dari nasi lemak terpaksa bertukar kepada sekeping karipap satu hari…

Manage your Study Time Differently

Long study sessions are hardly my favourite thing. They start well, but after a while my attention drifts and I end up granting myself a ‘short break’ on the Internet. You too?

Studies have found that the longest most adults can concentrate on a task is 20 minutes. After that, our attention tends to drift and we need to re-focus on the task, or else take a break. If you’ve found it hard to stay focused and productive, here’s an alternative approach to time management that has worked wonders for me.

Start by writing a list of everything you hope to achieve during the day, and then work out how many hours you are going to study. Divide your study time into 15 minute increments and work out how many 15 minute units it will take to complete each task (be realistic).

When you sit down to study, make sure you have a watch or clock nearby. Every quarter hour you change study tasks, which will allow you to stay interested and achieve things on your to-do list. If you give each task your full attention for 15 minutes at a time, you’re likely to be far more productive than in a distracted 30 minutes. Every 30 minutes to an hour, have a five-minute break.

This approach is also good for last-minute assignment crams. The key here is to not treat the assessment as one task, but divide it up into different, smaller items. So for the first 15 minutes you might check the subject outline for guidance and write an essay structure. The next 15 minutes may be spent writing an introduction. The 15 minutes after that may be spent checking sources for quotes and footnoting them.

I love this time management strategy is because it accepts that your brain is going to get bored and lets you change it up.

Some people like to use this strategy to manage their entire day (although obviously 15 minute increments aren’t applied to activities like sleep and eating). If you normally don’t plan your every waking moment, avoid feeling over-scheduled by starting with a timetable for just your daily study and working up from there

Ten Ways to Improve your Class Presentations

By using technology to aid, rather than deliver your presentations, you’ll be able to focus on delivering your message clearly and in a memorable way… which brings me to my ten hot tips for improving your use of technology in class presentations:

1.Let your prepared notes guide your presentation, not your PowerPoint. Be tempted to not even look at your PowerPoint.
2.Remember that you’re talking to a human audience, not to PowerPoint. People like to hear you speak slowly, clearly, and with a bit of expression and body language.
3.Invite your audience to think, rather than absorb your content.
4.To that effect, use simple and thought-provoking media. Short quotes, an interesting picture or video, an anecdote, or a funny slide titles will bring your audience’s attention to the topic.
5.Use less text on your slides. There’s nothing worse than having to read an entire paragraph of a judgment from a projector screen, or listening to someone read what’s already in plain sight.
6.For that matter, use less everything on your slides. I don’t want to see tables, graphs, text, some vaguely relevant picture, and a surprise clip-art man exploding onto the screen. I just want to be able to think about what you’re saying without being distracted.
7.An interesting presentation does not need garish colours, designs, animations, or fonts. At the same time, it does need to be more interesting to look at than a plain Word document.
8.Be consistent in your slide designs. Yes, PowerPoint is so flexible, but I really want to focus on your content, not your skills in data layout or graphic design.
9.Try something different to PowerPoint altogether. Check out Prezi, a popular alternative to PP.
10.Remember the Golden Rule: use technology to aid your presentation, not to actually deliver it!

How to Prepare for a Tutorial at the Last Minute

Needed to catch up on the latest episode of Suits? Participated in a procrastibaking marathon? Spent more than a few minutes giggling at memes? Did that looming property assignment mean that tutorial preparation took a back seat? Or did you just forget that you had a tutorial until it was too late to commit to any meaningful study?

I’m not going to give you a lecture on how terrible your study habits are… After all, the saying “if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail”, isn’t always gospel law.

Few law students can say that they’ve fully prepared for every tutorial since the start of law school Despite how invincible and perfect you perceive your law student self to be, you’re only human. As you know, required readings can, and often do, exceed 100 pages when you’re studying numerous law subjects. If you only have a few hours before your tutorial, don’t try to read all of the pages. In fact, don’t even touch your textbook… yet.

Firstly, read over the tutorial problems. These will tell you which aspects of the readings require more focus. Next to the questions, make notes as to the area of law you need to look into, and the elements required, if you know them. If not, look up the legislation or go find the elements in your textbook. Skim read the relevant tests and some case authority, and you’re good to go.

If your readings require you to read cases, consult case notes first. This way, you’ll get the general gist of the case without having to trawl through a tower of pages. Then, make a brief note of the facts, and skim through until you find the ratio of the relevant judgment(s). While obiter is important too, don’t dwell on it unless the tutorial question specifically asks you to discuss it.

You’re in a rush so bullet points for answers are understandable, but you should go back and fix these up after your tutorial. This way, you won’t form a bad habit, and you’ll thank yourself come exam time.

Obviously your answers won’t be super detailed and meticulously formed, so don’t be afraid to be honest with your tutor if you cannot expand on them. Your tutor won’t kill you (let’s be honest, a murder charge doesn’t look good on anyone’s record!) Whilst he/she won’t be impressed, you’ll scrape through the tutorial and receive some marks for attendance and limited participation… Every little helps, right? Plus, if your tutor grills you on something, at least once the burn soothes, you won’t be forgetting that point any time soon.

While some tutorial preparation is better than none at all, you can’t survive the semester on emergency prep alone, so make sure you step up your game for next class. Also, ensure you catch up on anything you missed in your studious haste, or risk drawing blanks in your final exams

How to Be More Productive

It’s the pointy end of semester, that terrifying couple of weeks each year where exams seem like they might actually become a reality. But when you’ve been coasting for most of the semester, discipline seems to elude you, and you get the sense that you’re losing a lot of study time, although you’re not sure where it all goes. Here are some productivity tips to help you find more hours in the day…

Plan and prioritise
A study timetable helps to ensure that you’ll finish studying in time for exams, but it will also help you to prioritise your commitments and makes it easier to say no to fun distractions that could probably wait until after exams.

Whenever you think of an activity that you’d rather be doing (such as watching all four seasons of a TV series or procrastibaking five different kinds of cake) put it on a list. You’ll be able to do some of these activities as a study break, and the things that have to wait until post-exams will help to motivate you.

Work out where you can share the workload or where things can be delayed
Law students tend to be pretty determined to do everything on their own, but it’s just not necessary. Write notes with a study group and find other ways to share the work.

People often say that tasks are urgent, but it’s rare that everything on your ‘do now’ list actually has to be done straight away. People are generally understanding of your study commitments and are happy to wait; all you have to do is explain the circumstances to them.

Avoid Technology
This may be a bit controversial, but technology isn’t 100% essential to a lot of study tasks. You need a laptop to research and write an essay, but you can print off journal articles to read and draft essays to edit.

Working on a computer brings temptation, namely from the chirping noises of Facebook and Gmail chat, so wherever possible turn off your laptop and focus on the task at hand.

Most of us are in the habit of opening Facebook/Twitter/email every time we sit down to start working on a computer. This is a massive time waster. By the time you’ve finished answering emails or updating your status, the study motivation has disappeared. Schedule technology as a reward and put an end time on it. If Facebook is set as your homepage, change it.

Take care of yourself
All work and no play makes for a moody, unproductive law student. Always make time to sleep, eat properly, exercise, shower, and do the things you love. Time out is important, even when exams are days away, so set aside an hour or two for relaxation.

Taking regular breaks is important, and you may also need to vary where you study to stay refreshed and motivated.

Focus on one thing at a time
Multi-tasking seems incredibly productive, but while it feels like you’re doing everything nothing is actually finished. Focus on individual tasks and it will take less time.

Group similar tasks together
Some tasks are repetitive. Whether it’s writing sort case summaries, or answering emails, group them together and get it done quicker.

Do some easy tasks
If you’re feeling like you’re not making a lot of progress, do a couple of quick, easy tasks to help you feel like you’re powering through the work.

Know when to stop
You want that set of notes to be perfect but you have two other subjects to write exam notes for, and you haven’t even looked at practice questions yet. Average preparation in all subjects is better than perfect preparation for one exam. Don’t be a perfectionist and give your other topics some attention.

Give in to procrastination
Even with all that willpower, sometimes you just have to get it out of your system. Watch the rest of that series or finish reading that book. Chances are you’ll feel guilty the whole time and be totally motivated to get back into study.

Five Tips for Making Study Sessions more Exciting

At the start of semester, there’s nothing more exciting than getting back into all of those readings and assessments… right? But once you’re back in study mode, holding on to that study motivation becomes a challenge. Here are some tips (bribery methods) that I’ve discovered over the years…

1. Have the best stationery anyone has ever seen
All law students love stationery, and you only get to experience the true awesomeness of the various colours and applications of stationery by using them. So every semester I get a ‘kit’ of brand new stationery that I use only for law school. Feeling organised and supported by my assortment of pens and page tabs, those thick textbooks suddenly don’t feel like a challenge anymore.

2. Don’t rush for deadlines: sometimes you have assessments, but remember that learning is for your lifetime
Avoid tunnel vision that comes with orientating your study just around assessment due dates. You will never regret doing your readings properly (that does include skim and speed reading where appropriate) and understanding concepts well the first time round.

Remember that your core subjects do have a fair amount of overlap – think of time saving as a big picture challenge and study actually becomes easier as you progress into your degree. That’s right – you can make law school easier.

It’s also worth considering summer or winter school. The shorter teaching period means you can focus on only one or two subjects. While it’s intensive, keeping yourself in study mode means it’ll be easier to get back into university life after a break.

3. Study a topic of personal passion
Don’t take elective choices for granted. It’s all too easy to select electives that appear to have ‘easier’ assessment or that involve less contact time. But ask yourself: will you enjoy the subject? Will it engage you? Studying something that you have a genuine curiosity about turns study into a pleasure (and typically, into higher grades).

Also, if the subject area is a long-held passion of yours, chances are that you’ve already done a lot of reading about it and will grasp the topics quicker.

4. Know what you need to be studying and prioritise
It’s something all students are told, but following it is another thing. Knowing for certain that you are checking off a list of items that must be studied and reaching each as a separate goal is actually kind of exciting when you think about.

Why? Because you have set yourself an end point for each main topic or task. This takes away the gloomy feeling of ‘this will never end!’. Plus, when you have accomplished one of your goals, you now have some time for a break to catch up on your TV viewing.

5. Exercise, Healthy Snacks and Breaks
A healthy body and mind is the foundation for a less torturous study session. Studying when you’re feeling well allows you to get the work done more efficiently and to produce work of a better quality.

So always remember: sleep for energy (no energy drinks!), regular short breaks to de-stress and snacks for brain fuel (you can have a bit of chocolate, it’s okay!). Admittedly, I’ve completed study sessions while working my way through a large pizza by myself a number of times. So I understand how hard keeping to healthy brain foods can be.

If these tips don’t help you to get through your weekly workload, remember that effective study sessions lead to more spare time for doing fun things. Keeping yourself motivated and setting goals that help you to get through your study efficiently leads to spare time for shopping/eating/sleeping/partying, without the guilt that accompanies procrastination.