why is studing english so complicated (1 Viewer)

[reemz]

hey do any of guys know a good advanced english tutor around the western suburbs and that s quite cheap? my english teacher way of teachng isnt that effective for me. if you guys do know a good tutor could you please give me the number.
honestly though why is english so hard?

 

[richz]

try looking in the tutors thread...

 

[c_james]

The secret to english success is that there is no secret. It's all about crafting ad hoc responses, integrating detailed knowledge of your texts, that adequately address the question. Memorised essays are not the way to go, unless you've been given the exam question beforehand. All I've ever done is know my texts inside and out and memorise key sentences or paragraphs for a general essay-type question - the rest comes on the day, in the exam room. An extensive vocabulary, wide reading experience (both fiction and non-fiction) and knowledge of correct grammar are also invaluable.

I'd be wary of getting a tutor. By all means, go for it, but don't get caught in the trap of having an english tutor that simply edits - or worse, writes - essays for you. Make sure he or she perfects your exam technique and increases your knowledge of subject matter, otherwise you're not getting your money's worth.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

lol memorising is the only way to go for me. Last year I didn't memorise my essays for exams and found i could only write a couple of pages for each response, minimising my marks. However, by memorising a pre done essay at home I could write four pages.

The key for pre-done essays is to make sure that at the beginning of the paragraph and at the end you are able to change the wording to suit the question. For example my half-yearly question for imaginative journeys was about 'Fiction being more believable than the truth'. All i did was change the first and last part of each of my prepared paras to mention the word 'Fiction' with links to how it is more believabe then truth. The quotes, structure, word combinations and rel material were pretty much teh same.

But yeah, you've also got to know your stuff pretty well. My prepared response only covered one frontline text not two so in the test i had to make a paragraph up on the spot with the knowledge gained in class.
They can only ask in so many different ways the same idea using just one dot point in the syllabus, thats why pre-done essays Can work if u do them right.

Bah! enough writing,
Cheers and gl wit english.

 

[c_james]

lol memorising is the only way to go for me. Last year I didn't memorise my essays for exams and found i could only write a couple of pages for each response, minimising my marks. However, by memorising a pre done essay at home I could write four pages.

The key for pre-done essays is to make sure that at the beginning of the paragraph and at the end you are able to change the wording to suit the question. For example my half-yearly question for imaginative journeys was about 'Fiction being more believable than the truth'. All i did was change the first and last part of each of my prepared paras to mention the word 'Fiction' with links to how it is more believabe then truth. The quotes, structure, word combinations and rel material were pretty much teh same.

But yeah, you've also got to know your stuff pretty well. My prepared response only covered one frontline text not two so in the test i had to make a paragraph up on the spot with the knowledge gained in class.
They can only ask in so many different ways the same idea using just one dot point in the syllabus, thats why pre-done essays Can work if u do them right.

Bah! enough writing,
Cheers and gl wit english.

Memorised essays are not completely ineffective. However, it's been my experience that the only way to really gain full to near-full marks (and thus a high band 6) is by writing an essay on the spot. A decent memorised essay can, in many instances, achieve a high band 5 or low band 6, but I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of those people who top the state didn't use them.

 

[richz]

u sure james, a lot of people prepare their essays and rember it, or remeber the key points. THat is how they get good marks.... they can just make up anything on the spot

 

[c_james]

u sure james, a lot of people prepare their essays and rember it, or remeber the key points. THat is how they get good marks.... they can just make up anything on the spot

This is simply my personal experience. I've never memorised an essay (unless I've received the exact question beforehand). My classmates, however, are adamant on it - just about all of them memorise their Advanced and Extension 1 essays. I ranked first in both Advanced and Extension half-yearlies both this year and last year.

If you simply want a band 5 or, at best, a low band 6 in English, by all means memorise your essay. If you want a high band 6, I suggest not - you're better off knowing your texts like the back of your hand.

 

[richz]

ok, but basically u'll know the question. For eg. For king lear, the question will be based on different interpretations.. so u just prepare sumthing around that

 

[FinalFantasy]

The secret to english success is that there is no secret. It's all about crafting ad hoc responses, integrating detailed knowledge of your texts, that adequately address the question. Memorised essays are not the way to go, unless you've been given the exam question beforehand. All I've ever done is know my texts inside and out and memorise key sentences or paragraphs for a general essay-type question - the rest comes on the day, in the exam room. An extensive vocabulary, wide reading experience (both fiction and non-fiction) and knowledge of correct grammar are also invaluable.

I'd be wary of getting a tutor. By all means, go for it, but don't get caught in the trap of having an english tutor that simply edits - or worse, writes - essays for you. Make sure he or she perfects your exam technique and increases your knowledge of subject matter, otherwise you're not getting your money's worth.

for ppl as good as u, dun need to memorise essays...
but for ppl like me, i will die if i dun have an essay memorised for da exam lol
even if i know my texts and stuff.. i won't be able to write properly during da exam..

 

[c_james]

ok, but basically u'll know the question. For eg. For king lear, the question will be based on different interpretations.. so u just prepare sumthing around that

Of course, I never claimed you shouldn't formulate some theses and an idea of what you're going to say - that's a given. What I disapprove of is writing something roughly 1000 words in length and memorising it down to the last word, and I know many people who do this. Memorising key sentences and maybe a paragraph or two is fine, but nothing more.

Going into the exam with a prepared essay is, more often than not, dangerous. The questions are not always the same from year to year, especially on the AOS paper. This year in Extension, a strange question concerning "historical reality" cropped up on our paper. Needless to say, everyone with a prepared essay was screwed.

 

[richz]

lol, me too, English is a subject where u talk about bulshit, i dont understand it....

 

[richz]

Of course, I never claimed you shouldn't formulate some theses and an idea of what you're going to say - that's a given. What I disapprove of is writing something roughly 1000 words in length and memorising it down to the last word, and I know many people who do this. Memorising key sentences and maybe a paragraph or two is fine, but nothing more.

Going into the exam with a prepared essay is, more often than not, dangerous. The questions are not always the same from year to year, especially on the AOS paper. This year in Extension, a strange question concerning "historical reality" cropped up on our paper. Needless to say, everyone with a prepared essay was screwed.

lol, thats what i hate thats why i always hope for questions which i can adapt my essay to. :uhhuh:

 

[Eagles]

Its only as complicated as you make it.

Reverse cause and effect. It will be what you think it will be.

 

[reemz]

lol thanx guys so many differnent responses but im still i need 4 destperste help! my prob is if i memorise something wat if i get a quest i cant relate my essay on? thats wen ill blok out and faint! see i can bullshit my way in talkin, i can get myself out of anything but wen im writing bull thats a prob, so memorising seems a good tactic though hmmm and please dont speak about king lear god noes how much i hate that, and now emma! that book is so borin did any1 actually read that i cant stand it ! but thanx guys again , but if anyone has a tutoir number can i please have it thanx

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

lol thanx guys so many differnent responses but im still i need 4 destperste help! my prob is if i memorise something wat if i get a quest i cant relate my essay on? thats wen ill blok out and faint! see i can bullshit my way in talkin, i can get myself out of anything but wen im writing bull thats a prob, so memorising seems a good tactic though hmmm and please dont speak about king lear god noes how much i hate that, and now emma! that book is so borin did any1 actually read that i cant stand it ! but thanx guys again , but if anyone has a tutoir number can i please have it thanx

There is some risk in memorising essays if you do it wrong. Just make your essay OPEN so it is easily adaptable. Have your quotes, rel material, sentence combinations, structure and that sought of thing done already. English question usually are vvery open so don't worry. I suggest looking through the past few hsc exams and look at the question for each module from those exams. Most are very open and similar to that of the previous years. You still need some skilll in english to quickly integrate the question into your essay but in my opinion, thats better then creating an essay from scracth in 40 odd minutes.

Cheers

Oh btw, I got my marks back and came first in my half yearly exams for english. Admittedly my school isn't exactly a fancy grammar school but still, it goes to show that memorising essays earned me a mark which I'd be happy with in the hsc, a high band 5 ish.