English is one such subject that the student either dreads or loves, especially at class 10 board exams. English is also one subject which becomes important throughout life, irrespective of the course and career choices in the later stages. So, it is very important to score a good mark in the CBSE class 10 English paper. Let’s see how this can be made easier.
- Analyse the exam pattern
- The class 10 English paper is divided into four units- A, B, C, D. looking into each section, A is comprehension, B is writing, C includes grammar and D includes literature. When we look at these four units objectively, we can say that reading and grammar are two sections where one can score a complete 100. Try to lose as few marks as possible in these and practice them thoroughly.
- Literature is also a subject where one can expect a high score, even if it is not 100. With adequate practice and revision, one can easily score anything above 90% in this section too.
- Similarly, writing also can fetch a good score of 90 to 95% with adequate practice.
- For section A:
- Section A is the reading unit, and this section can be easily made a high scoring area simply by practice. Try to practice at least 15 to 20 reading passages before the exam.
- The most important part of reading is the ability to not lose focus while reading. Since it is easy to get distracted, you will need to practice maintaining your attention span.
- Understand the passage and the theme in the first reading. Then, move to the questions. After reading the questions, read the passage once more to look for the answers. You can also read it a third time to find any points that might have been overlooked.
- Practice improving your vocabulary. This part requires prior preparation as it cannot be done overnight. It only comes through everyday reading of books, newspapers, blogs and other English reading material. This would add new words to your dictionary which will greatly improve not only your answers in English paper but also other subjects.
- For section B:
- Section B mainly comprises of writing and grammar. As mentioned before, grammar can be a great area for scoring a 100. Writing, with practice, and guidance in the right direction can also be improved to a great deal.
- Learn the formats. Be it letter writing or essays or anything for that matter, there is a particular format that is to be followed. Learn this well as it carries marks. This is a scoring area.
- Make sure your writing is well-planned and coherent. While writing a passage, think ahead of time as to what you want to include in it. Make points if necessary to use as guidelines. Make sure they are cohesive and have correct grammar. This will give a polished touch to your writing instead of looking like a jumble of thoughts.
- Write fast but write neatly. This may not be the most important aspect, but neatness and legibility play a role in pleasing the examiner. Clear and neat handwriting will definitely sway the examiner into giving more marks.
- For section C:
- Coming to grammar, read and understand the rules and implement them while solving the exercises. Keep practicing the grammar exercises in the given book as well as other supplementary books.
- Practice solving mock papers and previous years’ papers. Set aside time to solve these papers as if they were a proper examination. Then, look at the answers to understand and learn from any mistakes. Over time, you will see that your grammar automatically improves.
- For section D:
- Read the textbook carefully. The NCERT textbook with all its chapters has to be studied carefully. Do not directly jump to the summaries of the lessons. Each and every line is important, especially for the question and answers and the extract-type questions.
- Write down the general theme of each chapter. This is very important as there will be a question regarding this. Even if there are no direct questions, a lot of points can be formed from this.
- Learn the names of the chapters with their authors. This becomes very important while writing answers. Practice the names with correct spellings so that you do not lose marks while writing them.
- Once the textbook is completed, you can use supplementary reading material like NCERT solutions for class 10 English Footprint without Feet. Make sure you read and understand the text and answer the questions at the end but do not memorise the content.
- Be conscious of the allotted marks and allotted time.
- If the question is worth 2 marks, there is no meaning in writing half a page. The total marks will still be only 2. In such situations, make sure that all the points are covered without expanding the answer too much. This will save time and allow you to have enough time for other longer questions.
- While writing the paper, do not sit with one question for a long time. This eats away the time for other answers. Start with the objective and small answers. Then, move to literature and reading. Start writing at the end so that you would have completed all the major scoring sections with enough time at hand.
- Maintain the presentation of the paper.
- As mentioned above, this applies to all sections of the paper. A neat paper makes the examiner want to read the answers. Even if your answers are perfect with all points, if the examiner is fatigued or put-off by just looking at them, there are chances that you might receive a lower mark than a neatly presented paper.
So there you have it, folks! Stay confident, prepare well, follow all these great tips and hacks and complete the English exam with flying colours!