A lot of people who appear for any banking exam, are petrified by English language; but in any field, in this section too, there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. Different people take different route to success; what may be right for you may be wrong for someone else. It is thus most important to first gauge your ability (or inability) related to this field and then come up with a strategy that suits you master this section.
Getting Correct English – Books and Newspapers
If your English is not the best, the kind that gives you sleepless nights, one thing that you have to realize is that this is not the time to master this language. Its like a person scared of swimming learning to conquer the English channel in the first attempt. The best strategy for you at this moment should be to take up certain activities that might help you get that qualifying marks required in this section. Reading good English newspapers will have a dual benefit effect on your banking preparations. It will help you get better at this language and will also improve your general knowledge. This is called smart studying. Some amount of English practice from some known books like – “High School English Grammar and Composition-by Wren and Martin”, “Word Power Made Easy – by Norman Lewis” or “30 Days To A More Powerful Vocabulary – by Wilfred Funk” can help you beat the English heat. These books can help you improve your general grammar and add valuable marks to your score.
How to Attempt English Section – Right Approach
For the other group of people the battle is a bit less traumatic and sleep at night a bit more peaceful. People coming from English medium background who pride in their English need a different approach to this section. Marks scored in English is not added to the overall marks and is just used for qualifying purpose, this needs to be borne in mind while attempting this section. Yes, you can score 50 out of 50 but do you really need it? If you are sure of getting anywhere above 50 percentage, get that and move on to the other section. Do not showcase your mastery over English language in a banking exam, save precious time here and use it in sections where you can add a few marks to your overall score to improve your chances of getting an interview call. Being practical is more important than being proud about your perfect English score.
Attempting English Section – Right Time
English as a section should be used as a stress reliever, meaning that the human brain, like the human body, needs rest after some serious mental work. After attempting the Quantitative Section or Reasoning the mind gets a bit tired, this is the time to attempt the English section as here you either know or don’t know the answer. There is no way that heavy mental exercise will help you get an answer to a English problem that you do not know the answer of, as in the case of reasoning or quantitative problem. So the mind can relax a bit during this section and get ready for the next mentally exhausting section. This I personally found out to be a very useful tip in succeeding in a banking exam. This approach is good confident about English Section else may back fire.
What to Attempt – or Skip
One more tip I found useful was to skip the comprehension section all together. Reading a comprehension takes a lot of times and there is no guarantee that you will be able to get the questions based on the comprehension right. Why waste time in that when you are confident of your language skills. Time in any competitive exam is more precious that even diamonds.This technique however should be used by those who pride their English language and have no problems in conversing in English. This tip is not to be used by the first group of people who need every bit of marks to get the qualifying marks required for this section. There is no point scoring brilliantly in all other sections and not getting the qualifying marks in this section.
Conclusion
English is like the ghost in the cupboard for so many of us. We all know it but we are scared in bringing it out in the open in public scrutiny. Do not be scared of English in any banking exam. The questions are of a very basic level and are not meant to test if you know the oxford dictionary by heart or not. It is just used to test your basic language skills as a large part of costumers that you meet, will converse with you in this language and you must be knowledgeable enough to comprehend their question and reply to them in a manner in which they understand you.
All these are personal advises and should be taken with a pinch of salt. As I said before, there is no “one size fits all” technique. English is a funny language and I hope that you rather then getting scared of it, first start enjoying it. If you can enjoy it, you can definitely conquer it.