Language Exam Techniques

Supposedly, these are the skills you need to function in an English speaking country, and here are the skills you need to prove that you have these skills.

Paper 2 – Reading (Three Questions)

NOTE ON READING

The most important overall thing that you should pay attention to across this paper is to write what you are thinking down. Write down everything that crosses your mind. When you are secretly commenting on how things lack common sense in the paper, or when you think a character is stupid, or when you believe it to be bad writing, write it down. I have been victim to implicitly thinking implicitly on this paper without showing it for too long, and this is exactly what they are looking for.

NOTE ON WRITING

This paper also grades you for the quality of your writing. For this, read more libros. If you have no time, read Pale Fire by Nabokov and copy his style in which you use advanced words and syntax to intimidate the examiner. Either that, or you can quote authors exhaustively, or pay tribute. Maybe that’ll help.

Question 1

1. Read the question before the excerpt. Extract CARPF – Content, Audience, Register, Purpose, Form from the question.
2. Read the excerpt with the question in mind.
3. On either the first or second reading, highlight the points you want to make from the passage.
4. Check that they are separate points. (However, GCSE has this weird logic about separate points, so good luck.)
5. Upon writing, infuse yourself into a mood in which you are the greatest, most expressive and fluent prosier of the century. Use complex words and sentence structures to integrate ideas but also make ideas very, very, very clear.
6. One paragraph per bullet point, five points per bullet point. Include introduction and sign-offs as necessary.

Question 2

This question is especially painful because they are asking you to analyze bad writing. However, there are tricks to it.

1. Pick the most out-of-place words. They are imagery. If an air-conditioner is being described and the word ‘bird song’ pops up, analyze that.
2. Write it as you would a regular unseen.
3. Make sure to include an ‘overall’ thesis at the top of each paragraph.
4. Never include more than four words.

Question 3

1. Again, read the question before the excerpt.
2. As you read and highlight fifteen points, make sure nothing repeats off of each other.
3. Organize. Organize points into umbrella ideas and use them to write your summary.
4. Summarize away, using your own words and concise sentencing.

Paper 3 – Writing (Directed, Creative)

Question 1 Directed Writing

Do this question as you would do question 1 of Paper 2. However, this is supposedly easier to do because you can include your own points. You are mainly graded on making explicit and implicit points.

1. Read the question before the excerpt. Extract CARPF – Content, Audience, Register, Purpose, Form from the question.
2. Read the excerpt with the question in mind.
3. On either the first or second reading, highlight the points you want to make from the passage.
4. Think about the points you can derive from the passage.
5. Use bullet points. There should be an equal spread between bullet points.

You should use 10 minutes to plan and 50 minutes for actual writing.

Question 2 Creative Writing

You could also do argumentative or something else, but my school only taught descriptive writing. It is the easiest out of everything and it’s the easiest to make interesting for the eyesore examiner.

Choose a question quickly and copy your favorite author. Copy copy copy away, the words they use, the sentence structures they like, the paragraphing, the style. Show your individuality and flair that you shamelessly stole from a group of literary giants. Show it.

If English is not your native language, translate proverbs, idioms and sayings in your native language to English as they’ll likely provide good and unique imagery that will certainly impress a (likely British) examiner.

Make sure to describe and not narrate, show not tell, use the five senses, extend your imagery, use motifs and metaphors if possible, but mostly, copy your favourite author.

It’s also important to make your writing cogent and cohesive. This means to have a clear structure, such as zooming in and panning out. Make sure that the progression is logical.