Students are often anxious and concerned about scoring well in the main language examination: English. As the date-sheet on your wall is threatening you, beat your fear with preparation.
Following is a guide for students to attempt and excel in English examination by English teacher Seeta Jaiswar
Beating the fear of unseen passages
Begin reading a few passages every day and solve the questions. It’s not as if there is no need for preparation in dealing with unseen passages. Regular reading of unseen passages will increase your reading speed and help you in comprehending the meaning quickly, as you are practising it.
Use 15 minutes reading time for understanding Comprehension passages because you won’t have much time to devote to these questions later on. Involve yourself in reading with a purpose - you have to answer the given questions after reading the passage.
* Answer the Comprehension Questions very briefly.
* Pick up the answer from the question itself.
* Don’t add your own views if not asked for.
* Also keep underlining the new and difficult words to answer the vocabulary questions.
Making notes and excelling in writing skills
Keep noting the important points when it comes to note-making. Be an active reader, keep thinking about the apt and appropriate title for note-making.
Also remember to intercept with at least 4-5 abbreviations, which can be later given in the last section of note-making. Stick to the format in note-making, commit no alignment and indentation errors, never write full sentences in note-making, and make use of phrases and keywords only.
Do not make any error in the format, let your writing skills part look neat, and use formal language.
Write small and complete sentences with proper punctuations. Three is the right number for paragraphs, in any type of writing skills questions.
Stick to the word limit. But do not be too spiritual about it. In a nutshell, where notice and other short compositions in writing skills require no more than 50 words, in long compositions, 20 words less or more make no difference, here content matters a lot. Brainstorm yourself to organise your material. Write effectively and accurately.
How to make your answers stand out?
There is always a difference between a mediocre attempt and an excellent attempt. Descriptive and Narrative long compositions need rich vocabulary.
Argumentative debates demand taking a stand for/against the topic/statement and use of formal language. In the short stories, the plots must be original-no borrowing or copying from films and popular novels.
Stories demand a sequence of events, characterization, elements of suspense and surprise and conflict resolution in the climax for class ten.
Presentation is the key to scoring good marks in English. Good presentation works positively, even on the mind of the evaluator. Neat, systematic and tidy work is always appreciated.
Grammar is like Math
For class ten, in Grammar, scoring is almost like Mathematics, so solve it with great care and prudence. Do not just mention options but write the whole answer, leave no room for the examiner to deduct your marks. Use no short cuts.
Writing effective literature answers
Literature demands focused answers. Write only what is asked, not the whole story. Underlining the keywords also creates an impression.
Moreover, linking your answers to the question is also important. Use textual vocabulary to highlight the asked information; it will enhance your answer.
Examiners always look for some neologisms (new words) and exceptional answers. So work on your vocabulary at the same time read your text well and several times, so that answers reflect reading capacity and habit and are considered as excellent. Read the question carefully before attempting it. Don’t write the questions.
Write only the answers. Don’t forget to write the question numbers. Write the answer in the same tense in which the question is asked.
Long answer type questions on Character Sketch are frequently asked from the Supplementary book. So do prepare some Character sketches.
