How to Study for an English Exam

Examination of any subject is an intense experience and if you are not sure about how to prepare for the exam, it becomes stressful and even baffling. English exams are of different types depending on the level and type of exam, i.e. whether it is a grammar paper, dissertation, literature paper or composition paper. There are many strategies that are common and work for all the examinations of English language.

1. Study the sentence structure and the use of subject and predicate in a sentence. A sentence is a fragment or a phrase if it is not complete with a sentence and the predicate.
2. Learn the use of vocabulary words that are common. Learn the root words that are used to create multiple words. For example, understanding the meaning of ‘spect’ (see) makes it very easy to get the meaning of the words such as a spectator, introspect, retrospect and inspect.
3. Writing down the words along with their definitions do not help if you do not use those words in your own sentences. It means to relate those words to your own life and use them in sentences making the meaning out of them and making them workable words. This is important to bring the words to your active vocabulary and internalize the concepts that are represented by the words rather than a crammed
4. Presenting words of others as yours is considered plagiarism, so you should check your paper for plagiarism on a good plagiarism checker and also check the length of the document on a word counter.
5. Read the poems and the quotes that have been read in the class. If it is a short poem, read the whole poem considering the meaning of it and the tone it is presented in. If it is a novel or a longer poem, take the key quotes and passages and read them.
6. Discuss the quotes and the poems with your friends or someone who knows about them. Check the notes and make sure that they convey proper meaning of the poem or novel to a person.
7. Read the introduction and other notes that you have created related to the texts that you are to learn.
8. Re-read the notes and edit them where necessary. If the notes are created during the class, then it is important that you first review them critically and then learn them.
9. Read the theme or the central idea of the poem or novel. It is most often asked in the exams. Even if there are other questions, they are mostly related to the theme and central idea of the text.
10. Check the online guides and summaries as there are many websites that present you with precise and accurate summaries and guides of the poems, novels, and plays. Sometimes, when you are short on time, it is better to read the summary of the text though it is always the best to read the whole text.
11. Some details need to be memorized or crammed such as the dates of the events in the text, names of the characters and names of the places mentioned in the text. You can also make a mind map of the events, names and other details. These details prove very useful in the exams as there are many questions that revolve around such details and they can be used as a raw material if you know the theme of the text.
12. Check for the study guide and any other guide that your teacher may have provided during the classes. Sometimes there are key questions in these study guides and you can have a good guess of the questions that are important and that can appear in the exams.
13. Check the syllabus that you have to study for the examination and plan your learning according to that syllabus only.
14. Class notes are also an important source to know what was mostly focus on in the class. The teachers usually spend more time on the things and concepts that they think are more important. They also put these in the examination.
15. It is also a good idea to meet your teacher before the examination. If you are not able to ask anything directly from the teacher related to the exam, then you should attend the classes just before the examinations. Sometimes the teachers drop the hints for the things that are important and that also show up in the examination.
16. Ask the teacher that you want to do good on your exams and ask for any advice that they may have to give you. This way the teacher would not take it as you are asking for the questions that would be there in the exams but he or she can suggest you the questions. Listen to the advice of the teacher very attentively and let them complete the conversation before you ask something more related to the exam.
17. Check the previous year papers of the course to get an idea of the question that commonly asked in the exams. There are many questions that are asked on a regular basis and feature in most of the exams.
18. Associate with the students and friends who can come up to you to study and who can have some ideas or guesses related to the question that can be asked in the examination. There are students who can be better than you on the subject or may have a good relationship with the teacher and know what kind of question is the teacher likely to put in the exam.
19. Your friends may have some good notes on some subject or topic so ask them if they can provide you with the notes and also offer the notes that you have. In this way, exchanging note can prove beneficial to both the parties.
20. If you cannot meet your friends in person, you can always make a phone call and discuss the different aspects of any novel or play. It is the best way to get new insights and views related to a topic and increase the inventory that you have related to the subject or topic.

Jessica Gross

I’m Jessica Gross. I read and write every day on various topics related to society, culture, academics, business and lifestyle. Also, I have been working as an academic consultant for Assignment help for more than a decade. You can catch me on twitter.