Get your fundamentals right to enter English league

Updated on: Friday, February 10, 2012

'Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to?' Clarence Darrow's famous words don't haunt Eepsita Mishra. She's among the toppers in her school - Amity International, Saket - and she's not jittery about the Class XII board exams that are fast approaching. In fact, she is eyeing the 90% bracket.

This year, Class XII board exams will open with English. And Eepsita hopes to make a good start. "A good beginning has a bearing on the rest of the exam. And since English is one of my favourites, I am really hopeful of scoring high," she says.

Eepsita is very methodical in her preparation, and has been religiously following her teachers' tips. She has focused on the fundamentals and has been learning how to attempt various sections of the paper - passage reading, literature, long-answer questions and the like. "One has to read more than once to comprehend the gist of the passage correctly, and this comes only through practice. It's important to read questions properly. For literature, one has to do thorough reading. And while attempting longanswer questions, the value points must be underlined. In poetry, each sentence can be a question in itself, so a thorough understanding is necessary," says Eepsita.

She adds that a comprehensive study of sample papers and previous years' question papers also helps. But what will be her strategy a week before the exam? She will go in for "intensive revision" in the last five days. "I am restricting myself to NCERT textbooks, as reading other reference material might confuse me. The format prescribed in the NCERT is what we will get in the final paper," she says.

Not leaving anything to chance, she is also dedicating time to keep herself updated on the recent developments through newspapers and news channels. "Question papers have passages from current affairs, so I keep myself abreast of the recent developments. This will help in understanding the issue presented in the passage, and my answers will have depth, too," Eepsita says.

She is also working on her presentation skills to improve her chances of getting high marks. "Presentation matters in literature apart from the language. My parents and my teachers have helped me attend to areas that need improvement. I'm confident of improving upon my pre-boards score of 83%," says Eepsita.

Times of India

Get your fundamentals right to enter English league

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