TIPS FOR ENGLISH

The only way you can improve English language skill is by reading more and by practising more. This skill can only improve only over a period of time and there is no short term strategy for it. Read on as many subjects as you can. Try to write down the summary after you have read a topic. Keep a dictionary handy, consult it whenever required. Try to put more stress on comprehension instead of speed at initial stages. To improve comprehension you will need to keep a diary of new words and refer to it as many times as possible. Use flash card for new words. Note down different usage of the words. Read the dairy everyday for 15 minutes. Try to use these new words in your day to day work. Check different usage of the new words. To improve speed, minimise the number of eye fixation while reading , that is your eyes should be moving continuously along the text you are reading. Don't speak out as you read, most of the people speak the text out when they read, this reduces the speed. Speed of some of people increases when they move their finger along the text they are reading, but for some it may have negative impact. Check it out yourself which one is more helpful to you. You may experiment by reading two different pages of a same book in the two different ways and by keeping track of the time.

When attempting the RC section, have a quick look at the questions that you have to answer before you start reading the passage. This will help you in knowing about the passage and what you are suppose to look for in it. You may even decide, if you want to attempt the passage or want go to the next one just by reading the questions and the given choices. Though it will take some time to master this, but it will really help. Selection of passage is very important. It is usually not possible to solve all the passages, of RC section during the exams. You can easily skip one and sometimes even two passages and still clear the exam. Underline/highlight the important points in the passage as you read, this will later help you in answering the questions. You will notice that usually the first line of the paragraph gives you enough hint of about what is inside the paragraph. You should have a knowledge on wide range of subject and good vocabulary to manage to fare well in this section, and this will come through practise over a period of time. Stay calm don't loose heart just because you could not solve a few RC's. CAT is all about relativity, may be the RC was really tough and abstract for most of the candidates to solve. You need to find, how did others fare in that test.

You should select the paragraph on which you have some prior knowledge. Like if you are a doctor, any passage on medical would be easy to solve you, or if you have interest in automobiles any passage about cars would be easy for you to solve. Spend a few minutes to decide if you want to solve the passage or not. This can be done by going through the questions and the first line of each paragraph in the passage.

ARRANGING SENTENCES INTO LOGICAL PARAGRAPH:

The best way to solve these questions is by method of elimination of choices. Read all the sentences first, you will surely find a definite link between any two or more sentences and then eliminate the choices which do not fit the sequences and reduce the number of choices.

TIPS FOR ESSAY WRITING :

- Think for few minutes before you start writing and jot down the main points you want to cover in a rough page.

-Give a brief introduction to the topic in the beginning and conclusion at the end.

- Arrange your sentences to present clarity of thoughts.

- Stick to the topic, don't deviate too much or get bogged down on one aspect of the topic only.

- Use appropriate, meaningful and correct words. Don't try to use fancy words which don't fit in the sentences , just for the sake of using these words. Stick to the word limit

- Make sure spellings are correct and sentences are grammatically acceptable.

- Manage your time.

HOW TO IMPROVE FLUENCY IN ENGLISH :

Fluency in English can be improved only by speaking more in the language. If you are good in writing and speaking is the only problem , you can do it within a year. You need to put yourself in an environment where English is used more often than your mother tongue. The problem why you are not able to frame words properly is that you are thinking in your mother tongue and then translating it to English language while speaking. Other reason could be low vocabulary level. 10 to 12 months of presence in an English environment will be enough to make you start thinking in English language rather than in your mother tongue.

HOW MUCH VOCABULARY DO I NEED ?

Well you need to know almost the whole dictionary. Though this may be not possible but the more you know the better your chances are. Usually the words used in recent magazines, newspapers and recently published books are more likely to be examined..