Top 10 Ways to Get Good at Jeopardy!
Do you ever wonder why contestants in Jeopardy are able to memorize an enormous number of facts? The answer is simple: memorization and practice. Maybe these two words may not stick right into people's heads. This list goes a bit more on detail on how people usually get good at this seemingly hard show.
Arguably, Wikipedia is one of the best sources for learning various topics - that's common knowledge. What some people don't know is that there's a "random article" button that can take you to very interesting pages after a few cycles of monotony.
People are always saying how Wikipedia is unreliable, but they don't know what they're talking about. It's a fantastic source for learning endless facts.
Memorization is not the only thing that should be prioritized - speed and logic play a major role in being decent at the show. Sporcle contains many quizzes that cover an abundance of topics, be it geography, television, language, history, or any other subject.
Do them for several hours a day to ensure enough knowledge is absorbed into your mind. Alternatively, you can also use Quizlet, which is another good website. You can also test your general knowledge on websites like Trivia Trainer.
If you want to take your knowledge to the next level, there are also quiz bowls that you can compete in.
I'm not just saying to watch Jeopardy, but watch it religiously, including the previous episodes, and whenever a new episode comes up. Not only will this shower you with trivial facts, but it also gives you an idea of how questions are categorized and asked.
This is what many people do when preparing to be good candidates for the show.
It could be practically any book, but books covering trivial facts are usually the best ones. Classic literature such as Shakespeare and even the Bible are recommended as they tend to pop up quite often. Poetry also counts as it tends to appear occasionally.
If you don't have proper study habits, there are books that will equip you with better techniques to effectively study through an ocean of information.
Most of us skim through paragraphs and wonder why we forget most of the content we read. Taking notes forces us to pay attention to the details, thus making it more likely to recall the information. Revising is also key for long-term memory. Simply put, basic studying habits play a major role in this.
It's always important to identify which subjects you are weak in if you want to be better at grasping clues. If you're strong in history and science but weak in geography, presidents, or any other subject, definitely prioritize that. Even if it's not your strongest interest, you won't regret it if you are picked as a good candidate.
Curiosity is something that might be harder to maintain compared to the other tips stated on the list, but it helps you have a deeper understanding of a topic. One key to maintaining curiosity is to have an open mind and let your interests lead you to other pursuits.
Basically, exploring new subjects you haven't heard of before can sometimes spark a lightbulb.
This is another good medium for gaining knowledge on various subjects.
Flash cards aid you in memorizing things. Since Jeopardy is knowledge-based, you will need to absorb a myriad of facts, and flash cards are a great tool for revising. Websites like Quizlet and Anki have pre-loaded sets that are sufficient to equip you with Jeopardy knowledge.
This is a fan-made website that covers hundreds of thousands of questions in many subjects, stretching from the 80s to the current day. This is also a good alternative to binge-watching episodes, as both methods can keep you up to date.
The Newcomers
If you watch enough Jeopardy, you can recognize how frequently word clues pop up. Not just the vocabulary, but this is also essential to get a grasp of etymology as you may stumble on some word origin clues, a large part of which come from Latin roots.
Much like Wikipedia and books, documentaries have a volume of knowledge in them as well as being entertaining - both of which are easy to digest. If you're not much of a book reader, documentaries can be a good substitute, but it's usually better to juggle other methods.