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Urdu gcse edexcel

Does anyone know how the urdu gcse edexcel higher tier speaking exam actually goes because I don't really understand how the exam will be like and I'd also like to know how to revise for it because I've been looking at the papers and it seems difficult and I have like a month and a half to revise for since I spent alot of time on the reading, writing and listening. I'm quite worried that I won't be able to achieve high marks since I'm aiming for a 9 but the 2024 grade boundaries were quite high and I don't really know what to do. I speak English at home but I know how to speak urdu and I'd say I'm somewhat fluent but there's just some topics that I just can't form sentences on for example i can't really explain a story in urdu I just find it hard!!

Reply 1

Hi do you have any advice for writing urdu?? My exam is in May and so I have 2 months left.

Reply 2

Original post
by hmueen49
Hi do you have any advice for writing urdu?? My exam is in May and so I have 2 months left.

I think mostly you should just try to expand on the points they provide, like for the 70 - 90 word one literally atleast 3 to 4 lines is enough for each point as long as you stay in the word limit. Practice a bunch of papers and do them again and again because you can probably make use of the things you've written before in other papers, also you need to practice your urdu grammer like female and male words, which words use this kind of letter and which don't, there are alot of YouTube videos that you can search which will help, also even asking chatgpt can help aswell with stuff since some YouTube channels done explain well. Check examiner reports, some will have examples of what students have written and you can get an idea of how you want to write, so for example I saw the examiner report and this kid had written things that were not related kinda to the points and he wrote a bunch of words in full English but he still managed to get a 13/20 in the 70-90 word one. Also if you'd like to fix your handwriting then I highly recommend you just search for some simple stories in urdu and just copy them onto paper it will help fix your handwriting.

Reply 3

Original post
by hamna22
I think mostly you should just try to expand on the points they provide, like for the 70 - 90 word one literally atleast 3 to 4 lines is enough for each point as long as you stay in the word limit. Practice a bunch of papers and do them again and again because you can probably make use of the things you've written before in other papers, also you need to practice your urdu grammer like female and male words, which words use this kind of letter and which don't, there are alot of YouTube videos that you can search which will help, also even asking chatgpt can help aswell with stuff since some YouTube channels done explain well. Check examiner reports, some will have examples of what students have written and you can get an idea of how you want to write, so for example I saw the examiner report and this kid had written things that were not related kinda to the points and he wrote a bunch of words in full English but he still managed to get a 13/20 in the 70-90 word one. Also if you'd like to fix your handwriting then I highly recommend you just search for some simple stories in urdu and just copy them onto paper it will help fix your handwriting.
Also I'm not sure if it's 70-90 words but it's something like that for the 1st question in the edexcel paper I'm pretty sure it's similar for aqa

Reply 4

Also for the Urdu speaking I would recommend checking the specification of edexcel. There are 3 sections : picture description, role play , and a conversation (this is mainly from the theme you have picked but also some questions may be from a different theme)

Reply 5

Original post
by hmueen49
Also for the Urdu speaking I would recommend checking the specification of edexcel. There are 3 sections : picture description, role play , and a conversation (this is mainly from the theme you have picked but also some questions may be from a different theme)


To check in detail the mark scheme stuff for speaking look at the spec

Reply 6

I think you should start watching shows in Urdu as well, especially cartoons that involve basic sentences

Reply 7

Or in Hindi with subtitles or any Pakistani dramas on YouTube may help but they tend to include more higher vocabulary

Reply 8

Original post
by hmueen49
Or in Hindi with subtitles or any Pakistani dramas on YouTube may help but they tend to include more higher vocabulary

Thank you! I did start watching some and I can speak the basic urdu! It's just I think my forming of sentences doesn't make sense but I'm working on it thankfully

Reply 9

Hi what theme have you picked for your speaking exam? I picked identity and and culture. If you picked the same could you tell me what you’re going to talk about for 3 minutes?

Reply 10

Original post
by hmueen49
Hi what theme have you picked for your speaking exam? I picked identity and and culture. If you picked the same could you tell me what you’re going to talk about for 3 minutes?

Hey, sorry I didn't see this, but I had my exam today. I picked theme 2, and for me, theme 1 was my non selected theme! I think I did okay, but I was nervous, and I'm just really hoping for top marks!! and im also kind of worried how they mark since i havent ever heard an example of speaking so im not sure if i did well enough

Reply 11

Original post
by hamna22
Hey, sorry I didn't see this, but I had my exam today. I picked theme 2, and for me, theme 1 was my non selected theme! I think I did okay, but I was nervous, and I'm just really hoping for top marks!! and im also kind of worried how they mark since i havent ever heard an example of speaking so im not sure if i did well enough

i picked local area, travel and holiday, and then i got identity and culture

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