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IGCSE English Language

Hi i have been retaking English Language recently.
I really want to aim HIGH
how do I get an A for IGCSE English Language, any suggestions and Tips. PLEASE.
I have been looking at video's and tips that did not help
my exam IS IN TWO MONTHS :frown:

(edited 8 years ago)

3,2, and 1

Component 2,3 and 5

Original post by FaisalNaeem03

3,2, and 1

2,3 and 5

Reply 4

FaisalNaeem03

Original post by Zenak03

2,3 and 5

Are you doing the extended paper?

Reply 5

TheRealLifeBane

Original post by Zenak03

Hmmm, two months and wants to aim high.
Well, you better listen up then.

Short anecdote for confidence:
Despite me starting year 11 of with a D, I worked incessantly and studied intelligently until my coursework was an A*. Unfortunately, I had been entered into the foundation tier, which limits me to a maximum of grade C, and by the time I complained, it was too late. Therefore, I achieved a C at GCSE but was offered a re-sit, which made me worry because the re-sit was all exam and the only way I could get at least a B is by coursework. Especially, since I sucked at English and Arabic was my first language. Consequently, I worked extremely hard and it caused me a lot of stress but in the end, I came out with an A*.

Thus, I will tell you what I did and what I recommend.

1) Go back to basics!

I mean absolutely ensure you know how to use punctuation fully by learning all the different types of ways to use a comma, colon, and semi-colon and so on and so forth. For real. You have to be able to use sentence variety all the time. Have short sentences. Have lengthy, ultra descriptive ones that are so detailed you make the reader feel like the author. Have sentences start in different ways. Have sentences end in different ways.

Furthermore, I suggest you improve your vocabulary but do not go overboard and do not spend too long in the exam trying to impress your examiner with words you are not confident or not well trained enough to use. Personally, if I heard a word in class that I thought was great, I wrote it at the back of my exercise book along with its definition. However, I did not just have it there for display – I actually tried to use it as much as I thought it would be sensible to until it was drilled into my memory.

Now, I have a secret that will improve your arsenal of words/phrases so much I cannot believe we are not told to do this in schools. I created a digital and written thesaurus of my own and update it unremittingly even to this day, as sad as that sounds, which I would bring to out to every class that I had to write in for the same aforementioned reason. Although, I am warning you that it takes extremely long and that this should not be a large part of your concentration and effort. Trust me, if you have all the above, this will instantly make you appear smarter.

2) Be smart At this point, stepping away from appearing smarter, you want your focus to actually be becoming smarter. Here, I am saying know your literary devices and techniques such as metaphors, similes, personification, hyperboles, repetition, sibilance, statistics and what not. Practice varying them. The exam is your only chance to show all the skills you have. Think about it. The examiner is not your English teacher and so he does not know whether you can use more techniques.

Thence, you using just a few or repeating the same ones over and over will make you look like a one trick pony. Apologies in advance for this weak analogy but imagine you were a magician whose life depended on impressing the queen. Would you keep showing her the same card trick? I hope you said no. Or would you keep showing here different types of card tricks? I still hope you said no. On the other hand, would you show her your most impressive card tricks, various stunts, numerous illusions and all the best tricks of the trade worthy for a queen? Yeah, I thought so…

Moreover, to understand what ones to use, you must understand how to approach the task by considering what form of writing is asked or required, who the audience is and what tone and atmosphere must be acquired. In I GCSE particularly, pay attention and read the question multiple times. They often ask that you start with a given sentence and other little things that catch students out. All this will only improve by one thing really: step 3

3) Practice, practice and practice ad infinitum

Self explanatory, right? Oh, and you probably already saw it coming. But know that it is not just practice, it is clever practice. Remember, I did say that while I “worked incessantly”; I also “studied intelligently”.

Do as many past papers as possible and try to mimic the exam and its conditions as much as possible. Literally, I urge that you spend the full duration of the paper in a dead silent area with only the equipment you are allowed to carry into the exam hall. Once you finish one, mark the paper as if you hated your inner soul. Do not be generous at all because odds are that if you think that you did not get a certain mark, it is probably because you did not. You might even get grades so embarrassing you feel that a dog could do better. On the plus side, over time you get to the stage that you continually obtain those top grades despite being overly cruel to yourself with the mark schemes. As a result, you will get much more marks when a real examiner marks your real paper the way it is really supposed to be marked. Upon marking a past paper, understand what went wrong and how you can improve. Truly analyse.

In addition, after doing just a couple of essay questions and papers or whatever have you, you will quickly realise, recognise and spot that there many patterns and trends. Accordingly, you will find better ways to answer the questions even more effectively as a result. So do not be put down if at first get poor outcomes. I used to fail miserably. So again I say: do not be put down if get poor outcomes. Follow through with step 3. Eventually, you will be smiling.

4) Exam tips

Following on from where I left off, you will find out the best ways in which to answer the questions. For paper 2 and 3, I ask that you check this out: How (edit) to get PERFECT marks for the IGCSE exam.docx or the linked attachment.

Additionally and in my opinion, I found that for directed writing, highlighting the text a colour for each bullet point then re-wording each highlighted section into my answer always got me full marks. I just manipulated the extract. The only problem is that without step 3 and a decent vocabulary, this takes way long to do. For that reason, I instruct you to repeat step 3 and you can do this better and faster. Rewording the important points to become your own is just so easy but it is to note that certain nouns you and things have to be copied. And oh, I actually mean re-wording not rephrasing. Alright?

One more thing, If you are going to do the speaking and listening exam too, select a topic that you are very well educated about and not one that you just became cultured about either. That is because they will ask a lot of questions. You do not want to be sitting silently or making filler noises as you think of an answer. Also, do not prepare a script unless it is just for the intro, which is just a small presentation before the questioning proceeds. What I do think you should prepare, however, is a few cool phrases and words to say as well as when to say them because if you do not, you probably will leave the exam regretting that you forgot to say them. Sometimes you are permitted to bring in a card with the words you wish on them with a few rules and restrictions. In that case, bring in a card with the words, discourse markers or fancy phrases you know still sound natural and relatively okay to employ in a conversation. If not, do not worry; if you repeat step 3 enough times, the card will be as useless as it was to me whereby I did not look at the card even once.

When it comes to actually speaking, you still need to know what examiners are looking for in A/A* pupils. They want to see good intonation, dramatic pauses, emotion, volume changes and confidence. In other words, they want to see another Martin Luther King. Seriously. Through many rehearsals and constant constructive criticism, it will come to a time where there can be no animadversion. If you do just that, I guarantee you that the will indubitably ace it.

Then, you have the general tips that are still important. For instance, drink water, have plenty of sleep, eat healthily and you know the rest.

Phew. That took very long to write but as a Muslim, I want to help as many people as I can.If you have any further questions, go ahead. Until then, I wish you the best of luck with your exam.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

TheRealLifeBane

Here you go

(edited 8 years ago)

How (edit) to get PERFECT marks for the IGCSE exam part 1.docx516.9KB

Reply 7

TheRealLifeBane

Another

How (edit) to get PERFECT marks for the IGCSE exam part 2.docx274.2KB

Reply 8

TheRealLifeBane

Last part:

Summary Question

This question asks you to identify relevant points from the text on a chosen topic and write about them in your own words.• Read the text• Underline topic in the question• Re-read the text and highlight or underline relevant points– you should be able to find 15• Write these as bullet points for part (a) chronologically. Try to put them in your own words at this point and make sure they make sense because fleshing them out in part (b) becomes easier.• For part (b), put the points into paragraphs (preferably do this last after Writer’s effect).• Use your own words.• Write in the third person.• Do not give opinions, extra details or quotations.• Use connectives to link your ideas.

Top Tips: • Imagine that the examiner has not read the passage. Will all of your sentences make sense?• Include an introductory sentence, which mentions the topic in the question.• Make sure all your points include specific details from the passage.• Make sure that all your points are relevant.• Do not repeat yourself.• Write in the third person.• Try to use a range of connectives, not just ‘also’.• Make sure you have answered both parts of the question.• Watch out! This question is about Passage B.• You may want to answer this question first or second, as it is worth 20 marks, (You do not want to run out of time and automatically lose all those marks!).

Summary- Examiner’s Advice • Only select points, which answer the specific question.• Do not write a narrative, or in the first person, or in any other inappropriate form.• Make points briefly, but in sufficient detail to make it clear what they mean.• Do not copy whole phrases from the passages.• Write no more than one side of average handwriting.• Write in an informative style and never comment on or add to the content of the passage.• Be careful to include only the information that answers the question.• Make each point only once.• Do not generalise the content of the passage.• In order to find the precise information to answer the question, re-read the passage after reading each part of the question. Summary- Writing

Mark-scheme

In this question, you can gain 15 marks for Reading. You simply need to include relevant points from the list in the mark-scheme in your own words though nouns are excusable.

Marking criteria for Writing (concision, focus, use of own words): In part (b), it is just about acquiring the remaining 5 marks because the 15 is from the notes. Examiners just need to see:• your own words are used throughout• SUCCINCT phrasing (use as few words as possible to get a point across)• no repetition• formal third person writing• all 15 points and slightly more while being CONCISE • good chronological paragraphing and sentences structure variety (obviously) • no spelling or grammar mistakes• BRIEF and comprehensive work (exclude introduction s and conclusions)

And done

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 9

Zenak03