Language exam not to be taken lightly

Rajesh Kumar Singh

Board exam preparations are in full-swing right now. Whether a student is appearing for Class X or Class XII board exams, his main motive is to excel in every subject with excellent marks. Most of the students pay more attention to technical subjects like maths and ignore English. But if one prepares well for the English exam, it can turn out to be a high-scoring subject. A well-planned and systematic strategy will help students to score exceedingly well in their English exam. Following are some useful tips for students that may help them prepare well for the English exam 2021:

 Comprehension is the most high scoring part of the paper. So read your comprehension passages carefully. Before you start reading, read the questions first. This will give you an idea of the answers while reading the passage. This also saves time. And remember, time is of utmost importance during this exam.

Focus on improving your writing skills. Enhance your grammar and widen your vocabulary by reading the newspaper daily. This will help you in attempting the writing section effectively and will even help you in scoring good marks in this section as good vocabulary and grammatically accurate sentences is what the examiner is looking for. 

Solve sample papers and previous year exam papers as much as you can. These not only makes you hands on with the exam pattern, but will also give you an idea of the questions asked in writing section and reading section. So solve previous years papers of at least past 5-10 years.

Prepare important notes for yourself to revise at the last moment. These notes may include the names of poets and authors. Notes on character sketches and central themes can also be prepared. They will help you in last minute preparation for the exam and are often asked.

Learn thoroughly the formats of letter writing and summary writing. Practice these formats repeatedly so that you don’t forget them during the exam. While writing the letter, make sure you write an impactful introductory and concluding paragraph. This will create a striking impression.

Try to cover your syllabus completely. At least read each and every chapter twice or thrice so that you know what all is there in the chapter and are able to write the answer in the exam even if you haven’t learned it well. If you find a particular chapter too difficult to learn, just give it a good read and understand the basics. Never ignore your textbooks and class notes. Give importance to the guide books as well.

Make a time strategy in advance on how you are going to divide your exam time among different sections and how much time you’ll need to allot to each question. Manage your time well during the exam and try to finish the paper at least 15 minutes before the exam ends so that you have enough time to revise your answer script. You can even test yourself and your time strategy by solving sample papers daily.

Writing the paper is as important as studying for it. Neat and legible handwriting is a must. Underline every important point in the answer so that the examiner is able to find crucial points easily and allots you marks accordingly. Avoid spelling mistakes. Avoid crossing word limit also as it doesn’t give a nice impression to the examiner and wastes a lot of time.

Be systematic while writing your answers. If you are choosing to do a particular section first, try to do all the questions under it according to the serial order. This will not confuse the examiner and he won’t have to search your script for the answers. If you are unsure about an answer, leave a space and carry on with the next. You can later think and write the answer in the empty space.

Be alert while reading questions. Sometimes students miss out important points mentioned in the question. Also, a question may have two to three parts and if you don’t read it carefully and completely, you are likely to miss out those pointers. Many students often make a mistake of reading the questions in a hurry and don’t understand what is being asked. So, be specific about your answers.

Revision is a must! Try to finish your paper at least 15 minutes before it the end time. Give your paper a thorough read, check your spellings, check the serial order of the questions. Also check whether or not you have mistakenly left a question.

The writer is Founder and MD of Kunwar’s Global School