How to Prepare for English in Competitive Exams?

First of all, you should know:

1.    English section question asked in competitive exams are just to know your language communication skills, not your mastery over the subject. So, if you are thorough with basics, it is more than enough.

2.    Develop interest on English language, NOT just because you have to clear the exam, but because it helps you to communicate with others professionally. Many people have narrow planning and they just prepare in exam point of view. This is not correct strategy in case of language preparation. Even if such method helps in getting marks, it will not be helpful in further course of life i.e. during job and professional interactions.

3.    Know how to communicate in English and practice it regularly. Only this will bring you confidence and command over the language.

4.    Practice a lot of model questions. You can’t get a point settled into your mind just by reading one question. It is necessary to practice a lot of model question on each type of topic, in order to gain mastery over the subject.

5.    Once you are perfect with the language, you need not worry about the questions from this subject. It will be a cake-walk for you. After gaining considerable command over the subject, just practice the model papers. This will boost your confidence a lot.

6.    Take out all fears about English, from your mind. Most people (to my surprise, even those who have studied English medium since childhood) are fearful about English questions in competitive exams. Chill….exam is for checking your skills, not intended & not designed for hurting you. If you are interest on the language, gaining mastery and getting marks are not big things.

7.    Forget all your reservations like ‘I am from rural background’, ‘My first language in school is not English’, ‘I studied in local language medium school’, etc etc. All such reasons are NOT really the reasons behind poor performance. Even if you have studied in local language school and if you are from rural background also, you still have opportunity to learn the language and score marks. It is just the fear/apprehensions about the language that is making you fail. So, remove all such fears from mind and prepare for English afresh. Be sincere in your attempts.

8.    Perfect grammar rules. They are just simple rules that govern how a sentence should be. They are not any complex set of mathematical formulas to fear about. As like your mother-tongue language has grammar, English also has its own set of rules. Learn them and practice them in your daily life. You can soon become master of grammar.

9.    Read every sentence, listen to every word with much focus for grammar. This will eventually make you perfect in finding out your own errors and use the right kind of grammar.

10.                       Reading English newspapers, talking to friends in English (peer group members), and most importantly, think in English (whatever you think inside your mind, talk to even yourself in English), and practice speaking in front of mirror. These are age-old tricks to master a language, and they are very much proven strategies.