languages

6. ENGLISH AND INDIAN LANGUAGES

The objective of these papers is to test the candidate’s ability to read and understand serious discursive prose, and to express his ideas clearly and correctly in English and one Indian language. Standard of these papers is of matriculation. These papers are only of qualifying nature, but at the same time cannot be ignored. If you do not qualify then your other mains papers will not be evaluated. Note that every year there are some candidates who get disqualified. So ensure that you have the minimum knowledge about the languages. The score should only be above 40 and the questions are also set in such a manner that this is not difficult at all. There is no need for any preparation. But do see previous years papers to gain familiarity.

English

Those from non-English medium schools might face some difficulty in English paper. Then the preparation should be made from some standard book. Note that the grammar is not much tested, but it is only the functional knowledge in the language. The pattern of questions is as follows:

• Short Essay

• Reading Comprehension

• Précis writing

• Translation from English to the Indian language and vice –versa.

• Usage and Vocabulary

Tips for Reading Comprehension:

• There are two kinds of reading. One is when you read to educate yourself on some topic. Second is when you find answers to some questions in the content. In the first case, reading is slow as you have to understand every concept. But, in the second case, it is faster as you are only looking for answers to few questions. For Reading Comprehension, it is better to follow the second kind of reading. First read the questions and then read the passage to write answers.

• As you read underline the lines, which contain answers.

• You should write answers in your own composition. Do not copy from the passage.

Tips for précis writing:

• The précis should be written in your own composition.

• Examples, illustrations and quotations of the original passage should not be

included in the précis.

• No idea or point should be elaborated.

• You should not add your own comments of criticisms in the précis.

Tips for short Essay:

More stress should be on the English rather than the content. Sentences should have sound grammatical construction.

Indian Language

Similarly, some face difficulty with the Indian language paper. Ensure that you have functional knowledge in at least one Indian language.