Cambridge Igcse English Language Exam Top Tips

Top Tips

It is my experienced opinion that students who start with question 3 then go on to question 1 then 2 are more successful. This is because question 2 is worth the least amount of marks and should be left till last. Also, Q1 and 2 require the student to read the same text so you would want to complete the questions one after the other.

Question One-Directed Writing

Understand it!

Read the question and ask yourself about WWW

What is the purpose of this text? Who should I be writing as (in what tone)? What text am I being asked to write?

Read it!- highlight the key words in the three bullet points (these show you what you should be looking for) in three separate colours then work through the passage line by line and highlight relevant material as you go in the right colour (quotes which help you answer each bullet point). Plan it!- as you highlight each relevant point you should annotate it with the `two pronged attack`. This means you should ask yourself what the quote means (remember you have to write in your own words) and for the second prong you should ask yourself: `so what?` What does this quote show you? You have to develop your ideas to get into the top two bands. Write it!- write in order of each bullet point. Paragraph one should be bullet point one, paragraph two should explore bullet point two and paragraph three should cover bullet point three. Make sure that you start your writing as directed in the question and start each paragraph with a re-wording of the bullet point. MAKE IT EASY FOR THE EXAMINER. Don`t forget to write in your own words and develop your ideas with thoughts and feelings. For example: `I couldn`t find a light switch` could become `I couldn`t find a light switch and so I felt scared and alone in the dark.`

TEXT TYPES

Report (This is different to a Newspaper Report)

Think about your style, often reports are quite formal and be aware of the audience of the report.

Give a heading:

Report to the Marine Society about a recent expedition.

Use the bullet points as subheadings of your report: How my companions and I fell overboard and landed on a submarine. How I feel about the discovery of the truth about the legendary monster. My concerns about the captain and the existence of a vessel such as this. Try and include as many factual details as you can from the text (in your own words where appropriate). Although you would normally include solutions in a report, you should stick to what the bullet points are asking you to write about.

News report

Give a headline (often this will be provided for you) E.g. Horror Plague Overwhelms Village. Give a sub headline to show that you understand the overall content of the text E.g. People of Maslam are in despair over rodent invasion. Newspaper reports often have Who? What ? Where? When? at the start. E.g. The Villagers of a place called Maslam have experienced a horrific plague of mice this week. You can use subheadings (reword the bullet points in an exaggerated newspaper style). If you choose not to then you should start each paragraph with a re-wording of the bullet point. Expert or eye witness comments inside speech marks add detail E.g A local villager Greta Marple (32) stated that: It s the worst thing that has ever happened to us. We were afraid to leave our house. Do not write in columns.

Articles

These are often more personal than news reports and give the writer s view clearly.

Give the article a title (often this will be given to you)

Make the topic of the article clear in the opening sentence. Use subheadings (use the bullet points given to you). Use your imagination. Depending on the style of the magazine article and the detail of the text.Letter

There is no need to give an address. They will tell you how to begin it but you should end it appropriately. Write in paragraphs guided by the bullet points given to you.

Dear Mother, = Love, ..

Dear Mr Smith, = Yours sincerely, .

Dear Sir, =Yours faithfully, .

Interview/dialogue:

Read the question carefully to work out who is giving the interview and who is answering the questions. Try and write in an appropriate tone for each person. Use the bullet points to structure your writing. You do not need subheadings but you should keep track of how much you are writing. Remember that you should write 1 to 2 pages and you should cover each bullet point evenly. Therefore each bullet point should take up a third of your overall piece. Don`t spend time counting the words to make sure you are within the word count. You should set your interview out as shown below remembering to go on to a new line each time. Use a capital letter after each colon and end your sentence with a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark. E.g.

Reporter: How are you feeling now?

Ann s mother: We are just relieved that she is safe.

Journal ( Diary)

Start with the sentence which you are given. Write in first person. Pay careful attention (in the question) to when you are writing this journal. Is it a long time afterwards or immediately? Use your inference to try and find out how the person who you are writing as is feeling. Structure your writing in three sections (one for each bullet point). Use a topic sentence to show that you have understood what the bullet point is asking you to write about. Go into detail- facts and figures from the text and then develop (attach an emotion etc.)

Talk (speech)

Start with the sentence which you are given. If you are not told how to start it remember to greet your audience E.g. Good morning fellow Marine Scientists (this will show the examiner that you know who you are speaking to). Write in first person. Pay careful attention (in the question) to the purpose of the talk and make sure you address this. E.g. Is it persuasive/informative/formal? Structure your writing in three sections (one for each bullet point). Use a topic sentence to show that you have understood what the bullet point is asking you to write about. Go into detail- facts and figures from the text and then develop (attach an emotion etc.)

Leaflet

You probably won t get this text type but there is a small possibility that you could.

Think about your style, often leaflets are quite formal or persuasive-who is the leaflet aimed at? Give your leaflet a heading:

Visit The Delightful Dorset.

Use the bullet points as subheadings of your report: Where you can stay in Dorset. What you can do for entertainment in specific towns. The sort of accommodation that people can choose.

Try and include as many factual details as you can from the text (in your own words where appropriate). You may want to make up a website or phone number at the bottom to help guide people to further information.Finally: relax, you are well prepared. Keep track of your timings and remember that Q1 and 3 are worth twice as many points as Q2. Good Luck! J

Question Two

It is helpful to draw your answers in a PEE grid. You don`t get any marks for writing in this question and it is only worth 10 marks so don`t spend too much time on it. Read the question and annotate the correct paragraph with a square bracket and what you are looking for in it. This will help keep you focused. Make sure that your point is a re-wording of the question with detail. E.g. in the Mock where you were asked about the appearance of the beast you could have written The Beast appears to be like a large cat. Choose a phrase which has a few words in it. Don t try and explain quotes which are a sentence or two long it is not effective time management. E.g. Startlingly large black feline . Remember that you get half marks (5) for explaining what the vocabulary means and explaining a basic effect e.g. The word feline means cat-like which suggests that the beast resembles a large cat perhaps a jaguar. (Yes it really is that simple). Better answers develop explanations and use terminology E.g. the adjective large and the fact that it was startlingly so suggests that Nicole was frightened by its size and the fact that it wasn t a creature you would expect to see on the moor (could develop further to explore the fact that she was remembering that image just before she saw it). Remember that this question is only worth 10 marks and you should spend no more than half an hour on it. In fact it is probably best to leave this question till last. Don t worry too much about going over the page allowance on this question as the nature of the chart means that this will happen. You should, however, try and make your first two columns (P and E) really thin. Be careful about counting paragraphs in the text. Don t count the ones in italics. Include three PEE s for A and 3 PEE s for B unless you are told a specific amount of phrases to explore. It is better to do 2 for A and 2 for B than 4 for A (if you don`t have time) Remember to write whether it is a point for A) or B) in the margin. Remember that your grid is a wonky donkey grid. Your explanations are where the most amount of detail should be. Don t get worked up about drawing the lines either- time is of the essence.

Question Three

You need 15 separate points in total for this question so you should be looking for 15 separate ideas (hence the 15 in a circle).

Even if you find more than 15 points you will not get more than 15 marks. Read the question carefully: what are you looking for? You will gain marks for your bullet points and these do not need to be written in your own words. They do need to be written in your own words when you transfer them into the summary paragraph though. Tick your bullet points off as you include them in your summary paragraph. Try and group ideas. E.g. in the Bodmin Moor summary you could have grouped ideas about the countryside together and then ideas about the remoteness together. Some points will require inference and it is important that you do not repeat points. E.g. in a question about the hazards of Everest the rain making the rocks slippy and moss on the rocks amount to the same hazard (moss which is slippy when wet by the rain). Remember that you should adhere to the word count required. Remember that you are not being asked to include everything you know, you are being asked to summarise. This means that you need to be succinct and say a lot in not many words. Give an overview at the start of each paragraph that links to the question. E.g. Overall Bodmin Moor is a very bleak sounding place .. Complex sentences and discourse markers/ connectives are your friends in this type of question. Use your own words where possible. A window =A window but remote=not many people live there/desolate.If you finish early, check your work through carefully. Don t forget your highlighters!!