SPM English: Part 2

How to Ace that Test!

The method you should use to improve your command of English is largely dependent on two things, your current proficiency/fluency level and how much time you have left to your main goal which is SPM. If you usually get As or Bs, you can just use the fast method. If you're getting Cs and below, use the slow method if you've got the time(6 months or more) and the fast method if you don't. Basically the general rule of thumb is no matter your proficiency level, the slow method is best. 

Fast and Furious

For all my fellow procrastinators out there. This is for you.

• Read summaries for all the poems, short stories and novel.
  -Try to read the full novel if possible cause it makes it easier to remember
• Memorise the formats for the most common types of essays.
  -Formal/Informal Letter, Article, Report, etc
• Read a lot of English books, newspaper articles or even stalk friends with good English on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
  -*whispers Or... you could just read my blog posts ;D

*The fast method for English will not be as fast or effective as the BM one cause I hate the idea of memorising essays cause it's a waste of brain space if the question is altered.

Slow and Steady (... wins the race. )

You would need at least 3 months to see any significant improvement to your exam results but it'll all be worth it when your English becomes da' bomb!

• Talk more in English
  -Ask your friends with good English to speak to you in English only and explain why.
  -Or just keep replying them in English(regardless of what language they are speaking) until they  take the hint.

• Watch the English news shows on CNN, BBC or TV 7 if you don't have Astro

• Watch English movies and series

• Turn on the English subtitles for everything you watch

• Read some English books/comics. 

• Write English essays and asking your teacher to mark them and explain your mistakes to you.

Watching English movies and series is fun way to improve your English. You can put on subtitles in the language you are fluent in(BM, Chinese, Tamil, etc), if you can't keep up with the speed that they talk. After you get better in English, you should move on to English subtitles. Your final goal should be to be able to watch the movie with no subtitles at all.

Recommendations:

• Movies
  -Inception, The Martian, Ghostbusters, Anastasia, Disney/Pixar movies
• Series- How I Met Your Mother, Hot In Cleveland, The Nanny, Friends

English books can help you increase your vocabulary immensely and give you a rough idea on how sentences should be structured.

Recommendations:

• Hardy Boys series
• Enid Blyton books
• Ronald Dahl books
  -I liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Harry Potter series
• School library books
• Classics
  -tend to have the hardest English because a lot of words are outdated but you can get shortened/abridged versions if you find it hard to understand the unabridged ones
  -My favourites: The Count of Monte Cristo, Black Beauty, Animal Farm, Robinson Crusoe

For comics, you can try..

• X-Venture series
  -my cousin's favourite
• Manga(Japanese comics) like Doraemon or Detective Conan
• Horrible History & Horrible Science
  -I loved this cause it was funny and doubled as study material for Sejarah & Bio cause it covers some of the same topics but with a more fun approach

OTHER HELPFUL LINKS

Uni Digest
How to Improve Your English