How can I do well in English Reading Comprehensions HL?

naxmax9

We had an awful English teacher for the JC. Never thought us to answer questions or write letters or any of that stuff and I still got on fine in the English JC HL for some reason (Merit).

I'm awful at comprehensions. I always know what to write but I just don't know how to put it on paper and I always end up writing a big mess. I know you have to quote and answer but I always say things like "the reason why I'm saying this is because" and it just sounds so pretentious. Does anyone have any tips?

Ae86VroomVroom

Like all things in life practice...practice...practice. I don't want to sound trite but practice makes perfect or close enough to it anyway. I got a H1 in English this year and my method was just one comprehension a week. Others might have better solutions either way I wish you luck friend!

spurious

Read and read some more. See how other writers construct arguments, expand your vocabulary.
Read.

pleindespoir

Try typing your essays in microsoft word for the the first past five years of paper and use the thesaurus (right click the word and it will show “synonyms”). This really helped me in being precise which shows a strong level of vocabulary.

Always plan. For the comprehension I don’t find it neccessary to actually write out a plan, but atleast do it in your head.

Use highlighters (different colour for questions 1&2) so you know which points to explain.

Always try your best to show your interest in the text given. This will show through and make your answer interesting . My number one tip for English will be “Always have something to say!” Be opinionated. Have your thinking caps on as if you’re a philosopher. Haha.

I only received B3 in Leaving Cert 2016. But that’s given that I had to learn the paper 2 recommended texts by myself including Shakespeare in a year. (As I did sixth year twice because of medical condition.)

looksee

think - thought
teach - taught

Read, read, read. Not just the required texts, but anything written in good English, and pay attention to word usage and sentence construction. Most paper books that you would find in a book shop are written in good English. Self-publishing on the internet and written-for-Kindle not so much. Almost all chat and discussion you find on the internet is not reliable as good English and will get you into bad habits.

Look at your sentence 'the reason why I'm saying this is because' - why do you think this sounds pretentious? Look up the meaning of pretentious. Offering your opinion is not pretentious, it is what you have been asked to do.

It does have padding words that you could remove, and if you analyse it it does not mean what you think it means. Look at alternatives:

'my reason for saying this is'
'I am saying this because'.

Or just leave out that sentence completely, it is superfluous.

It may be stating the obvious, but 'comprehension' means 'understanding'. You have to read and think about each sentence until you fully understand it. You can take time to completely understand or you can skim over it and assume you understand.

Someone who follows football, say, will watch a match and fully understand why this particular player is now standing at a corner of the field being permitted to kick the ball unopposed. I would only be aware that he (or his team?) has been fouled and is now being compensated - I would have no idea what the foul was, or who did it, or why it had this consequence. I am not even sure that I have even that much correct.

If you are a football enthusiast you will see that my understanding is vague. In the same way a person who has a good knowledge of English will be able to see that your understanding of a comprehension passage is poor. The information you need will be there, you have to look for it.

Finally, practice, and get feedback from a teacher, a grind teacher, someone with good English.

All this has already been said, you have some good advice here. Read and practice.

twiz

Be clear and concise - you can use the PQE (point, quote, explain) structure. One point = one paragraph = 5 marks:)

naxmax9

Thanks for all the pointers!

Kitty6277

twiz wrote: »

Be clear and concise - you can use the PQE (point, quote, explain) structure. One point = one paragraph = 5 marks:)

God, that is something I had totally forgotten about since I did the LC. Would recommend this method to the OP also

What I used to do (and still do if I have any sort of comprehensions in college - I study English) is read the questions first, then read the comprehension. When you see something in the comprehension that basically answers the question, highlight it. If any thoughts jump into your head straight away as to how to answer it, jot down a few key words and then come back to it once you've read through the whole thing and are ready to answer the questions