[SPM] Chinese

[kucingbiru]

instead of whining about the toughness of this paper, why dont we discuss how to best prepare for it. (seems a little garang huh? but u guys have to study :evil: :evil: ).

[bare]

yeah , many student in our school get A1 but only three in our school get A1 for spm for bc last year

[youngyew]

instead of whining about the toughness of this paper, why dont we discuss how to best prepare for it. (seems a little garang huh? but u guys have to study :evil: :evil: ).
Would like to help but can't say much because the format for the paper has changed pretty much since I took it in 2002. I think the best is to let the current candidate exchange tips that they have got elsewhere.

But do we have form 5 members here?

[Padma]

I took Chinese last year and my class teacher told us that according to one of her friends who marked SPM chinese papers,the new policy(starting from that time) is that each and every letter must be written very neatly. 一笔一划都要写清楚，千万不可写?蚯蚓字?。(Sorry for not expressing in english bcoz it's kinda hard to explain in english--those who take SPM chinese should know how to read it.)

The examiner reserves all the right to deduct 0.5 marks for every such 'scribbled' letter. And bear in mind there's no limit to how many marks can de deducted due to such mistake, that means even if u score 80 for your essay, it there is only 160 letters 'not-that-perfectly' written, you will get 0.Also if two same letters are written in scribbled form, it is 2*0.5 marks deducted.

[cra]

hmm, from what i remember, i've attended tuitions, i tried my best and i thought i've done my best, and in the end the result came out bad. it seems that im just not into bc afterall. i dont know how to read, how to pronounce, how to write them, etc. well, most ppl say more reading will improve everything, my case: the more i read, the more blurry i become. tho i do like to read modern poems and short stories in magazines.

[flibbertigibbet]

But do we have form 5 members here?
We will have form 5 members dropping by in great number when it's the scholarships application season again. I myself came in during that season last year. Hah.

For Chinese, it's quite unpredictable. All I can say is do all that you can during preparation and even if the result is not the desired A1, you can still proudly tell yourself that you have no regrets since you have tried your very best. (Ah, crappy...)

It is not necessary to attend tuition class to score an A1 in Chinese if you have a good teacher in school. Try to get hold of Pelangi and Yi(4) Qing(1) [Sorry, currently using a computer without Chinese Star] reference books and do lots of model tests before the exam.

For essays, you'll have to practise writing them and time yourself while doing so. Do not try to spot the questions as you'll get panicky if your guesses were wrong. Instead of spending your time making unreliable guesses, why don't you go through all the formats of the different types of writings and sit for the exam confidently?

There is no shortcut for Chinese. You'll have to read a lot for it. Often, we focus too much on other subjects and neglect Chinese, thinking it is our mother language and that we are familiar with its usage already. But tell you what, that's not always true. A teacher of mine once said, "Many people flunked that subject because of this false notion." and it's up to you to believe it or not.

[cra]

hmm, if it's not compulsory, i'd have dropped it.

[Newsin]

I took Chinese last year and my class teacher told us that according to one of her friends who marked SPM chinese papers,the new policy(starting from that time) is that each and every letter must be written very neatly. 一笔一划都要写清楚,千万不可写‘蚯蚓字’。(Sorry for not expressing in english bcoz it's kinda hard to explain in english--those who take SPM chinese should know how to read it.)

The examiner reserves all the right to deduct 0.5 marks for every such 'scribbled' letter. And bear in mind there's no limit to how many marks can de deducted due to such mistake, that means even if u score 80 for your essay, it there is only 160 letters 'not-that-perfectly' written, you will get 0.Also if two same letters are written in scribbled form, it is 2*0.5 marks deducted.

warh really arh???? yesterday my writing....more teruk than 蚯蚓字 la

[Smilehoe]

hi Newsin, u got a partner. I too, wrote 蚯蚓字....wa, hope that the examiner won't penalise us. :lol:

[Lils88]

My writing is not like earthworm :P (I dun hav Chi programme so just direct intepretion) but i wrote wrong words. Hopt d examiner wont c them.

[Newsin]

well...i have alot of cancel off too ,and i wrote over 700+ word...it says there 400-600 only...i wonder ok or not arh...the kementerian like to suddenly change stuff one..
just hope that the mark require to get A isnt as high as last year....80 for A1 right?

btw....what question did you choose for essay?
i pick 3...the advertisement one

[Smilehoe]

i think it is okay to write up to 700+ words, my teacher said that we can just ignore the 400-600 criteria, no marks will be deducted for writing more words. But writing too long may get on the examiner's nerves cos he will hv to spend more time on it. I also chose title on advertisement.

[Newsin]

well its a habit d haha
i hope my writing wont drive him/her up the wall :lol:
i wrote about the cigarette advertisement..affect ppl to smoke(bad side)
then expensive stuff's advertisement..waste money(bad side)
then the tak nak and kesihatan's advertisement(good side)

i wonder if i'm correct to wrote like that

[y_benjie]

To be specific, to get A1 for last year, you need at least 87 marks.

I wrote the number 4th, about 1000+ words.

[youngyew]

For those who don't have Chinese input program on your computer, you can still type chinese by using this webpage: http://drliew.net/webime/index.html

Anyway, from reading the previous posts, I guess the question for the "advertisement" essay was "the pros and cons of advertisements"?

[Smilehoe]

y_benjie wrote:
To be specific, to get A1 for last year, you need at least 87 marks.

I wrote the number 4th, about 1000+ words.

For me to get above 87 is almost impossible, but i would like to know the cut offpoint for A2. Thanks.

[Newsin]

Anyway, from reading the previous posts, I guess the question for the "advertisement" essay was "the pros and cons of advertisements"?

its the "effect of advertisement to teenager" or something like that la

87 for A1..quite impossible for me..my highest record in school was 72 only :(

[y_benjie]

If you manage to get 75 marks and above, then you're safe for an A2.

[Tasslehoff]

Hm, this thread brings a thought to mind.. why are other subject's cut off mark for A1 so low compared to BC? most are around the 70's, namely 75

My chinese characters aint like earthworms.. they are more like blockish LOL guess I'm alittle square headed when it comes to BC. My roman letters are more earthwormish. :P

[Newsin]

Ermm..because not much bumiputra take chinese??
Or because its easy(i dont think so)

[Tasslehoff]

Ermm..because not much bumiputra take chinese??
Or because its easy(i dont think so)

hoho! I sense something there :P

[chenchow]

For Mandarin, there are many from Chinese Independence School, as well as many from SMJK, take SPM Mandarin subjects. What is its effects? Basically, these students learn Mandarin, write Mandarin, listen to Mandarin, speak Mandarin, as their first language.

With this bunch of people taking Mandarin, and also the notion of many of those not in this category to think that mandarin is tough, the number of people taking Mandarin are quite few. With that situation, the quality of those that take this subject is very high.

As our SPM is graded by curve system, so the only way to lower the cut-off point for Mandarin in SPM, is to have many of those who are not that proficient in the language to take the subject. It would be a chicken-and-egg situation.

[Newsin]

Ermm..because not much bumiputra take chinese??
Or because its easy(i dont think so)

hoho! I sense something there :P

:lol:

curve system again-_-

Hey u know what...yesterday i overheard someone ask another person should they coming to take Add maths exam today or not
"Eh,tomolo u want come and sit for the test meh?ahbo dun wan la...sure dunno how to do one"(translate from chinese)
Haih...nowadays the students :(

i think that the most important thing is --- the style of writing .

Once you can grasp the whole idea of writing an essay , ummm...like....including really good vocabulary , proverbs ... the BC paper should be ok to you . Haha...that was my way of doing it , and i got >80 all the time , hope it helps .

I don't know much about the cutting point of the curve for A1 but i guess if you try your best ( really work hard ) , no matter what result you get , you'll feel good .

Haiz...cross my fingers and hope i can score an A1 in chinese !!! To those who took the chinese paper too , the best of luck ; for those who are going to sit for the SPM this year , work hard !!!

P/s : i still think that Chinese is important nowadays , eventhough scoring an A1 isn't that easy . Having the ability to read , write and understand another language helps a lot , especially when we are living in the borderless world .

[ohmygod]

to get an A in Spm in Chinese is not that hard, i think.
Well, 87 for an A1, i think it's just a rumour.

I took it 2003. When the results came out, 1/3 of my class get A1 in Chinese. Most of my classmates got an A1 or A2. Many of them didn't do actually that good in the internal examination in school. (60-75 marks). So, for those taking SPM chinese, don't worry so much lah.

For those who are going to take Chinese this year. Here is my opinion. For the composition part, avoid writing narrative essays or descriptive essays. Because they mark the paper according to certain scheme, writing these kind of essay is easily beyond the scheme. You are very likely to be considered "out of topic". Unless you are very sure what the question is asking and what they want.
Writing argumentative essay is an advantage if you have good analytic skills and normally you won't be classified as "out of topic" unless you are very careless.

SPM is basically exam-oriented. It's not that hard to ace all subjects as long as you capture the the secret of it. For the language subject, reading is the best tool to improve. Especially English and Chinese, your language standard can be easily known by looking at your essays.

For Bahasa Melayu, you can depend more on your tuition teacher or "stealing" ideas from others.

[hedonist_7890]

For the composition part, avoid writing narrative essays or descriptive essays. Because they mark the paper according to certain scheme, writing these kind of essay is easily beyond the scheme. You are very likely to be considered "out of topic". Unless you are very sure what the question is asking and what they want.
Writing argumentative essay is an advantage if you have good analytic skills and normally you won't be classified as "out of topic" unless you are very careless.

OMG.....argumentative essays? But i have been writing descriptive essays all the time! What should we do actually to write good argumentative essays? Should we use bombastic words more often or focusing on the contents?

[hercules]

to get an A in Spm in Chinese is not that hard, i think.
Well, 87 for an A1, i think it's just a rumour.

I took it 2003. When the results came out, 1/3 of my class get A1 in Chinese. Most of my classmates got an A1 or A2. Many of them didn't do actually that good in the internal examination in school. (60-75 marks). So, for those taking SPM chinese, don't worry so much lah.

For those who are going to take Chinese this year. Here is my opinion. For the composition part, avoid writing narrative essays or descriptive essays. Because they mark the paper according to certain scheme, writing these kind of essay is easily beyond the scheme. You are very likely to be considered "out of topic". Unless you are very sure what the question is asking and what they want.
Writing argumentative essay is an advantage if you have good analytic skills and normally you won't be classified as "out of topic" unless you are very careless.

SPM is basically exam-oriented. It's not that hard to ace all subjects as long as you capture the the secret of it. For the language subject, reading is the best tool to improve. Especially English and Chinese, your language standard can be easily known by looking at your essays.

For Bahasa Melayu, you can depend more on your tuition teacher or "stealing" ideas from others.

Only 2.3% of the students got A1 for mandarin for this year. :oops:

[ohmygod]

OMG.....argumentative essays? But i have been writing descriptive essays all the time! What should we do actually to write good argumentative essays? Should we use bombastic words more often or focusing on the contents?

I think for argumentative essay, bombastic words are not that important...(descriptive essay needs more...), i would say content is more important. And if you have good content, and your essay is error free, then it should be not hard to get good mark.


Only 2.3% of the students got A1 for mandarin for this year. :oops:

well...sorry, made a mistake about the percentage. My class last time got 36, I think about 8 or 9 got A1. But the rest, most of them got A2. Well...I was from sekolah jenis kebangsaan, which is basically chinese-educated background.

[tar3panDa]

For the composition part, avoid writing narrative essays or descriptive essays. Because they mark the paper according to certain scheme, writing these kind of essay is easily beyond the scheme. You are very likely to be considered "out of topic". Unless you are very sure what the question is asking and what they want.
Writing argumentative essay is an advantage if you have good analytic skills and normally you won't be classified as "out of topic" unless you are very careless.

OMG.....argumentative essays? But i have been writing descriptive essays all the time! What should we do actually to write good argumentative essays? Should we use bombastic words more often or focusing on the contents?

nope.. not necessary muz be argumentative essays.. if u think u can write better in descriptive essays, then go on.. juz like wat i did, and i got A1 too.. :)

[hedonist_7890]

For the composition part, avoid writing narrative essays or descriptive essays. Because they mark the paper according to certain scheme, writing these kind of essay is easily beyond the scheme. You are very likely to be considered "out of topic". Unless you are very sure what the question is asking and what they want.
Writing argumentative essay is an advantage if you have good analytic skills and normally you won't be classified as "out of topic" unless you are very careless.

OMG.....argumentative essays? But i have been writing descriptive essays all the time! What should we do actually to write good argumentative essays? Should we use bombastic words more often or focusing on the contents?

nope.. not necessary muz be argumentative essays.. if u think u can write better in descriptive essays, then go on.. juz like wat i did, and i got A1 too.. :)

Is the marking system more favourable for argumentative essays? What I am afraid is the examiner dislike my storyline and marked it as out of topic in the end...

[jian2587]

frankly my chinese ain't that good, but getting A1 for this subject should lend some credelence to me to talk about it.

It's not true that Narrative essays decrease your chance of getting A1. From my observation, to increase your chances of getting A1, you must:

1. Not use bombastic words (Very important, good students tend
to use a lot of them, and they always backfire)
2. Write neatly (Most good students do not) (read: NEATLY)
3. Write simple plots (for narrative essay) (read: SIMPLE)
4. Provide justifiable statistics (for argumentative/factual essay)
(So you must read a lot of news) with their sources as well
5. Not write too long (500-650 is good enough, with max at 700)
6. Coherent arguments (for argumentative/factual essay)
7. Not write overly romantic or emotional/sentimental
(humanitarian/family/friend is encouraged, with very simplistic but
nevertheless touching narration) (for narrative essay)
8. Proper organization of contents

I got C+ for chinese during f4, and was a bit banana-ish (my parents and sister are english-ed) eventhough I was from chinese school. My chinese was very very bad; I can construct sentences using only very informal tone)

Nevertheless, I improved myself by expanding my vocab, attempting to write in a more formal tone (for argumentative/ factual essay), write more essays, etc.

And I got A1 finally.

For question 1, try to do transcribing instead of letter. Transcribing passages into different types yield a lot of marks easily.

As for the other paper, it's very important, too. A wrong understanding of the passages will have all your answers screwed up and cost you a lot of marks.

All my other friends who are really way way way better than I do in chinese but nevertheless got A2 instead), after a brief analysis, differ from me in these ways:
1. They used a lot of bombastic words.
2. They tended to write creative essays (creative essays are essays that exhibit creativity in sentences, order of sentences, format, etc that sometimes show disorganization). In other words, they don't follow mainstream writing. (I know mainstream writing is boring, but they work all the time)
3. They wrote letter for question 1 (I'm the only one who chose transcribing) Considering that I'm only one of two who got A1 out of 300 plus students taking chinese in a prominent chinese school in my town), this is plausible (that transcribing passage yields higher score), not to mention I consistently score higher in practices if I do transcribing instead of letters.
4. They were Over confident.
5. They were afraid of taking the more prosaic and dull approach (in writing essays) which I supposed yields higher marks. Just follow the normal essays in those essay guide books, no matter how lame they are.

[jiingjiunn]

to write a good story....
yes, use simple words.. [it worked for me....]
Use simple plot as well, but twist it in a wicked way...[but dun let anybody die]
use simile to decorate your story.. [it is effective]

[Innocent]

To be specific, to get A1 for last year, you need at least 87 marks.

I wrote the number 4th, about 1000+ words.
No wonder I got only an A2 for Bahasa Cina last year. I came from Chinese Primary school and scored the best grade (A) for BC consistently in my UPSR and PMR. In form 4 and 5, BC was one of the easy-to-score subjects for me. I even took part in Mandarin debate competition...

Message from my true story: You never know how well / bad would you score in your SPM Bahasa Cina. It's unpredictable!

[dtchaikovskytbe]

hi there....is there anyone in here take Kesusasteraan Cina(kc) as well??.....apart from memerizing..is there another way of studying KC?...

[Davidlew]

hi,wat u think will come out this year for mandarin paper?Wat ur teacher spot?

[Cloudy]

hi there....is there anyone in here take Kesusasteraan Cina(kc) as well??.....apart from memerizing..is there another way of studying KC?...

I think memorising everything is the only way, but if you read more about the story/the history, it will be easier. Especially if you love it..

[Xon]

heys any help to gt A1? latest tips plz...

kesusasteraan? wahlao,the general oredy cannt stand for it...u guys dare take kesusasteraan...bravo!!!

[tAdpOle]

any good exampls of BC essays ??? send to me...
thanks...

[lvting]

omg .. yesterday BC Essay Vy hard to write le .. dono gt LI TI ma ??? haizz...

[davidchak]

In my experience, I dont write narrative essay.

SPM chinese essay is based on impression mark, if you are writing narrative essay, it is sometimes hard to catch the teacher's attention.

My suggestion is that write story, or creative essay, that is the only way you can catch their attention.

[Eng]

I got A2 for my SPM Chinese paper... Whenever I write essays, I always choose the narrative type and make up all the stories I want. One of my friends always write something like the grandma died, grandpa died..or parents died...this kinda of drastic plots.. She always get very high marks, because her plots are fresh and original. I think SPM Chinese they look more into your language skills, like whether you've used the correct phrases and words. Ming ju jing hua and famous quotes are very helpful in getting more marks. Read more newspapers, for me it helped the most.

[sNaiL0810]

Erm...i am a 2006 SPM batch student...
sad to say...i socred a B3 for my chinese, juz FYI , i was the second best student in my class with flawless essay writing technique...still, i get such bad result!!!
anyway...always choose the story to write coz the teacher whomark ur paper might have bias with ur point on other essay....

[lyeen]

hihi everyone!!
i m facing spm tis year n i found it very hard for me2 gt A1 for EST n BC....anyone can help me??

juz share ur technic or experince on answering n scoring the paper...maybe u can oso share wat ur teacher tell u 2 score the paper...bcs my skul dun hav any marker or experinced teacher... :cry:

oh ya!!anyone can teach me how 2 gt a1 for GCE?? any guidelines??

i hope tat gt someone tat wiling 2 share ur essay ( either bi , est or bc) wif me...i realy wan2 take a look at high quality essay...
i m very sure tat u all r gud writer ...:lol:

if gt anyone tat r willing 2 share ur essay wif me, pls pm me wif ur essay..thanks oo!!

GOD BLESS U....

i copied the thread "est and bc tricks and tips" here. leaving that to be SPM EST alone,so that it will be more focus.

SO dont feel shock with the content about EST here. thanks.

Xon

[chiachean]

I m last year SPM student, i scored BC a2, and EST a1, hope this can help:

bC--do well in the part that u can prepare, like 名句精华， 句子的类型....and the grammar part...

yet, the essay, read the question carefully before answering.
I have been out of point (文不切题)for many times and scored very low mark.. :oops:

est--do well in your objective part. in the fill in the information part, take the KEYWORD only, not taking the whole sentence.....

the essay-->just including all the points given, i mean ALL!!
then, elaborate a bit on each point given. insert some scientific terms and facts, if u can think some. don't write if u r not sure..

[-cyanide0827-]

est is very simple wat...here's my advice

you should read science related articles/essays...the best is Reader's Digest, make sure you use scientific terms in your essay to get more marks and always elaborate on ALL the points given.

for the objective part, try not to get more than 5 wrongs because it is very,very simple.the answer will always be hidden somewhere in the text.

for the information transfer, you should see the space provided first.if there is little space provided, your answer must be short. spelling must also be accurate.

i hope it will help you in your exam..good luck!! :wink:

[lyeen]

thanks u all!!

EST sometimes the question vry tricky....i muz be vry careful..haha :lol:

some questions from me, anyone can help me??

1. In est information transfer, is it tat the answer cannot contain the word ' and' or 'or'??
Eg: enough sleep and rest
The ans must separate into
1. Enough sleep
2. Rest
Is it true??

2. if the ans is the smae type, oso need 2 separate??
Eg: Deficiency of vitamin E and K
should the ans is above one or oso nid2 separate into
1. Defiency of vitamin E
2. Defiency of vitamin K

3. Is it the skema jawapan has many choice?
Like the question nid 2 causes, is the skema will have 2 ans only or more than it??


Thanks ...

[chiachean]

1. In est information transfer, is it tat the answer cannot contain the word ' and' or 'or'??
Eg: enough sleep and rest
The ans must separate into
1. Enough sleep
2. Rest
Is it true??

2. if the ans is the smae type, oso need 2 separate??
Eg: Deficiency of vitamin E and K
should the ans is above one or oso nid2 separate into
1. Defiency of vitamin E
2. Defiency of vitamin K

yup, it is true. I lost mark when i write 2 answers in 1 blank.

REMEMBER! 1 blank only for 1 answer



3. Is it the skema jawapan has many choice?
Like the question nid 2 causes, is the skema will have 2 ans only or more than it??

usually more than 2, depends on your passage


hope it helps

[lyeen]

so , always separate the ' and " ??

another question from me ( sory, 2 many question) :lol:
cannot repeat the word of the upper box?
Eg: The upper box is the word " Type of lens ",
then the ans muz be " converging'? If i write " Converging len", the ans is wrong?

If the question is " Type of Vitamin',
the ans should be "Vitamin C" or " c" only?
( quite strange when write C only...) :roll:

[Xon]

Sorry to say,i am also blur blur,cause the marking skeme is rather disturbing...

my advice is that on the essay part,MUST WRITE ALL POINTS(words by words)...
I have once got B4 in school whereby all of my classmate got A2/A1 .

the reason is i do not USE the WORDS in the question.
i replace it with my own words,then the teacher say i am wrong.

Just my 2 cents here.



ARGH,hope somebody will share here..

i am SPM candidates 2007 too.
GOD BLESS U~!

[yanagii]

EST is easy, seriously.

To succeed in EST,

First, listen to your teacher.

Second, stop writing stories in English test and learn to write factual essays.

Third, practise more for information transfer.

I only got an A2 for Chinese, but here are some advice.

First, never try narrative essays if you are not really good in Chinese.

Second, read Chinese newspaper! (It may sound ridiculous but you will need these little extra knowledge that could make your piece of essay more outstanding compared to other candidates)

Third, understand all the proverbs (It is a waste of time to memorise 200 proverbs, all you need to do is understand them.)

Forth, confidence. (You really need confidence for Chinese paper, that psychological perception might give you an edge in answering Chinese paper.)

[chiachean]

For both EST and Chinese, read widely for current issues in newspapers. Jot down the vocab or scientific terms you found.. Before exam, revise those vocabs. It works!!!

[Leen]

For the composition component of EST, here's my advice.

When you write an article, say about Acid rain, don't just mention how the acidity of the rain will erode the buildings and so on.

Give the chemical equation to prove your point. I've long abandoned chemistry and sciences so I can't produce an example now. XD But you get the point, right?

They want to see you backing up your points with solid scientific evidences, not just your own blabbering. Hope that helps.

[chiachean]

Do use a lot of technical and scientific words. Use sequence connectors as well.

[AnnDeBlurry]

These are the advices from my est teacher =
(a) for info transfer , be careful of what the question want .
e.g. What is the vector of cholera ?
>>> for this question , since it asks for ONLY 1 vector , just state 1 vector
although there might be a few mentioned in the paragraph

(b) start your answer with SMALL letter instead of block letter if your answer is not
proper noun (info transfer)

(c) Unlike english essay , you don't have to use bombastic or flowery words in your est
essay . Write all the points you can think of directly without any introduction with
some appropriate elaborations . Besides , important points in essays is the
paramount factor that affects the mark of your essay , grammar doesn't matter
much .

(d) Write in all the points given in your essay .

(e) Read more and collect information on various topics as the raw materials of your
est essays .

(f) The objective questions are teasers . They are tricky because the words used in the
options are more or less carrying the same meaning . So , must think wisely and read
thoroughly before you confirm your answer . The questions might look easy but there
might be a catch . So , check several times to ensure you get the correct answers .

[GuoSheng]

EST...ermm...nothing much for objectives and graphic but the ESSAY!! is the main killer for the whole exam.

First of all, I would suggest you to finish your graphic part in 15 minutes since very often you need a lot of time to do elaborations for you essay.

I would say EST is quite challenging in a sense that it has an extremely wide scope for its essay. Nevertheless, the essay is derived from our physics, chemistry and biology syllabus.

So, if you are observant enough, you can see the usual trend would be from biology-namely general topics about food technology, pollution, and natural cycles. However, in 2007, we frigging got synthetic fibre. It is the last chapter of our form 4 chemistry, those parts about polymer.

Hence, I would suggest you guys to read up all the general topics from your physics, chemistry and biology. Forget about reader's digest, a waste of time. Anyhow, i personally think you should pay more attention on biology and chemistry.

General topics include: (in your syllabus)
Food tech, genetics engineering, cloning, pollution, natural cycles, recycling, extinction, manufacturing industry etc

Important stuffs:
1. Use all the points (if you don't, goodbye)
2. Elaborate each point
3. Additional points (crucial for a high band)
4. Simple and concise to avoid grammatical errors.
5. Scientific terms (corrosive, acidic, photosynthesis, physical, mass etc)
6. Answer the question!!!

Let me explain what is meant by additional point.

Let say, you are given advantages and disadvantages of recycling:
You additional points could be, definition of recycling, materials that can be recycled, societies promoting recycling.

And as for answering the question:
Let say the question asks you to write about causes of pollution, effects of pollution and add any other relevant information*.

However, sometimes, it may only give you points for causes of pollution. Then use all of them. But remember to write your own points regarding effects of pollution. The 'effects of pollution' is important because it is part of the question even though not given. And it can be considered as additional points.

lol..too many things about est. You get me?

[Miracle_seed]

Since there are some nice comments about EST given in previous, I think I will only talk about BC.

To stand a high chance to score an A1 for BC, first you must score in objective and comprehension, especially 名句精华 and 语法, these are the parts in which you can actually study and score. The passages are sometimes quite tricky, but you must work hard to understand the 古文, or else you'll be in trouble.

Then, it comes to the essay part. I strongly recommend those whose language is not wonderful, to write factual or argumentative essays. It's relatively easier to score compared to descriptive and narrative essays. With some mature points and fluent writing, you'll be able to score. To improve on this, try to read more articles in newspapers, especially comments, ideas and opinions which come under particular pages in newspapers. Try to grab some professional words, and journalist-style writing, and some nice phrases applicable in many topics. There's an advantage writing this type of essay, where examiners are looking for great points, mature ideas and fluent language, rather than bombastic and flowery language in stories. Normally there will be at least 2 factual-type essays in every paper.

If you can write touching stories or nice descriptive essays, then go for it. If you're not good at all, it's hard for you to reach the standard which the examiners regarded as A1, in merely one-year time. Perhaps you can still do this if you have some basics in writing these essays, plus some hardwork reading great novels and stories by famous author. Normally, examiners mark strictly on this type of essay, normally looking for touching essays, which makes it easy to score average marks, but hard to score excellent grades.

Another type would be news, in which you'll also have to read newspapers to write well. If you know the format, ways of writing it, usage of specific language and words, then it's very easy to score, when the topic is familiar to you. I've a friend, whose chinese is not very brilliant, scored A1 for BC, because he wrote a news he's familiar with...

Anyway, in conclusion, you should read more to write good essays, be it essay books (some essay books in the market are lame) or newspaper. I do believe that newspaper is a great source in your preparation for essays. I suggest that you focus on one particualr type of essay, with another type to backup, in case you're not familiar with the topics came out for your "primary type" essay. You do still have 7 months before your exam...

For GCE'O', good grammar is very important, plus some vocabs and nice phrases will secure you an A, if not A1.

[Jieweitan]

For GCE, according to my teacher, the only thing that they grade is your main essay. This is the core reason why several students failed to score 1A in GCE despite scoring a 1A in their English exam.

I feel, when it comes to choosing questions, you should almost always pick a narrative essay. Narrative essays are arguably the easiest to write. I used to be a fan of factual essays until I realised that my friends are scoring higher than me in their essays in our exams. It seems that teachers have different expectations for each types of essays. Teachers seem to expect every factual essay to be well rounded and not just one-sided (unlike our BM "karangan"). Meanwhile, for descriptive essays, they expect a colourful description filled with descriptive words which we definitely cannot write unless if our English is top-notched. One-word titles on the other hand are easy to get out of point if you get too carried away.

The expectations for a narrative essay is generally lower than the other genres. All they expect from you is simplicity. All you have to do is to write out a decent plot, completed with an interesting climax. Use simple language together with some often used interesting phrases you can find in storybooks. Do not spam bombastic words as you might not be using them in a correct manner (if you don't know what you are doing). Some of my friends enjoy doing that and I find their essays unreadable. Don't add corny elements for example, ending your essay by stating that your entire story was just a dream. You will put off the examiner. Minimise your grammar mistakes. Try not to put too many action scenarios and dialogues in your story if you are not good in it.

Moral of the story: read more if you want to score well for your English. There is no shortcut in learning a language.

In my opinion, EST has got to be one of the most retarded exams in our SPM. It is one of the train wreckers (the other being the infamous Moral Studies), successfully wrecking many top scorer's 1A streak (evidently among my friends) by replacing it with a 2A. Scoring 1A in EST and Moral require strict understanding of the scheme and not to forget luck.

For the objective paper, make sure you read the passage carefully. Underline all the point for easy checking. The MCQ questions might be easy, but the answers are sometimes very close to each other. If you are careless, you might lose several marks in this section, which you shouldn't as the total marks of EST is merely 80 marks (if I am not mistaken).

For the information transfer section, make sure you refer to the examples in the table, diagram, etc. If it is in noun form (phrase starts with a noun), all your answers have to be in noun form. The same is true for verb form. NEVER answer in a sentence. If you have more than 1 answer, select only one of them.

For essay, the key thing you must do is to USE UP ALL YOUR POINTS. If you are suppose to compare, you have to use up all the points of the other choices too. For comparison types, elaborate your points with the PECA format, where:

P = Point
E = Elaboration on the point
C = Comparison with the other points
A = Analysis (elaborate on your comparison)

For non-comparison essays, you have to elaborate a lot on your points given. I usually elaborate in about 3-4 sentences. Try to use everything you've learnt from your science subjects. For example, last year's question was on synthetic fibre, I used whatever that I have learnt from the polymer chapter and the carbon compound chapter in Chemistry. Give it all you've got! Spam sequence connectors (E.g: Besides that, in addition to that, moreover, furthermore, simultaneously, etc). Use simple language and not bombastic language. Scientific terms are very well loved.

Good luck in your EST! You will need it.

[dya_me]

4 EST, u need 2 hav more general knowledge on science....use appropriate terms will greatly influence ur marks(such as, click n press r different)...pay attention on essay...ellaboration is da main point 2 get higher marks...give 1 ellaboration 4 each point dat they give u...straight to da point n dont write out of topic...sometimes, be careful with grammar...plural n singular r just simple but diz mistake is always done by da students...

[prince_J]

Erm, my school did exceptionally well in EST because my teacher always reminds us that

EST is supposed to be a "science" paper instead of an English paper. So, for your essay part, make sure you do not try to impress by showing your great command of english. Just construct simple and easy sentences!

Or rather, just like how you answer biology and chemistry essays question.

Two of my seniors who shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award ended up getting B3 for EST because they try so hard to show their great composition skills!

Hope it helps!

[p0laris]

for bc,try ur best in the grammer n idiom parts.Make sure you can get all correct in these parts.
for est,i`m facing the same problem too.You need a wide scientific knowledge.Although you can always score a1 during exam but not necessary for spm.Some of my seniors who scored a1 for GCE yet they just got B3 or B4 for est.My est teacher encourages us to read NST.He says it is very useful in order to obtain good result for est.

[extell]

I think the tips given by fellow recommers are really good and concise *thumbs up*.

Additional:
For GCE-O, use powerful vocab and flawless grammar. If you have both already, try imaginative essays like story-writing. It would be easier to earn marks if your storyline is creative^^

If you don't like creative writing, choose factual essays that are not too boring. Make sure you know what to write and don't jumble up points. Let the facts flow beautifully in a neat manner so that the examiners get what you're trying to elaborate.

[Ca3ine]

my advice is simple.knock the socks of your marker...how?Before you start anything quote someone or something.Before the paper,just read newspaper and vomit out everything.....as for EST,,,,,,write like a scientist and use as many science terms as possible....give good examples and read widely.....

[yummyummylicious]

well, my advice on EST is try to be careful on the objective session and on the essay part, try not to use flowerish language or too many bombastic term provided its scientific terms...and use all the points given, elaborate on the points, add your own idea and give reasonable examples as well...

for BC, well i guess what is most important is one has a good teacher,.lol..and of course a good, kind and linear examiner...lol...:P
i cant give too much info, i just scored an A2, so seek for those who score A1 for more info...

[passer-by]

For BC,
1) The idiomatic expression is the easiest part of all, so make sure you score all of them.

2) Do some past-year paper, try to discuss them with your teacher.

3) It is very important to master the grammar ( 实词, 虚词, 短语类型 , 修辞, 复句 ....), that's because almost half of the questions of the comprehension will be asking about these.
4)When answering Paper 2, try to answer the idioms part and the gammar part first. After you are done with them, then only go back to the comprehension part. ( I personally find this extremely useful!)

5) Read the questions of comprehension first before reading the text, it'll be easier for you to look out the points in the text this way. ( You already can answer some of them if you master the gammar part even though you haven't read the text)

6)When translating the ancient chinese script (文言文), translate it word by word and at the same time making it into a relevant sentence. (You never know which word they are looking for, so , to be safe, translate every word in the sentence)

7)When answering comprehension, (in my opinion) it's better to use the 'elemination method', consider all the 4 options in a question, cross out the unrelevant choices, then choose the best answer that SUITs the question.

8 ) Familiarize yourself with the format of formal letter, notice...etc so that you can score well in the essay part 1 in Paper 1.

These are some advices that my teachers told me in helping me getting an a1 for BC, hope that it helps.

[runninghorse]

[i mean chinese language subject]
last time the part that i afaid the most is the essay which carries 70%... because i cant write in 'beautiful' language... that means i cant use very good expression in writting...

my teacher told me if you can write very well in the essay part, meaning a lot of good expression and idioms, then you are halfway to get that A1...

the most important point that i conclude from my chinese learning experience is that--be sincere in learning...

actually i dont have much confident to score A1 in chinese subject at first... but i never gave up and read a lot of sample essays and the opinion corner in newspapaer helps a lot too....

in the end, i manage to score A1 in chinese.... so happy!!

P/S: if you are to be given a chance to take part in any chinese-related competition like debate and quiz etc., go ahead!! Believe me, it helps.

[Chrisntine]

hardworkin is the most important but we need lucky as well. my chinese was not gud bt i able to score A2. lucky me.

for me, before go for exam, pray more. it do help . really. i am not lying. beside praying, we mst stdy also cz God will not help lazy ppl . lol

[chenjun1128]

for EST, the objective questions are easy and there r only like, 30 of them, so dunt worry about that..for filling in the blanks, use simplified phrases, or even words from the original text..just make sure ur answer should not be exactly same as original text..for essay, u MUST include all the points given no matter what..if u don't, u automatically fall into the 20-23 mark category( or sumthing)..U must also add as many points of ur own as possible..otherwise, u will still fall into low mark category..needlees to say, don't screw up ur format of reports, letters..etc..

BC is so different and far more difficult than BM..in BM, u usually choose the fakta, think of 4 isi penting, huraikan, throw in a few frasa indah, and viola! u get A1..
Factual essays in BC are difficult to score because u must have not only many, but good points( unlike BM where the isi always stems from keluarga, sekolah, and kerajaan )..then, the way u write must also be interesting, despite the fact that its a factual esay..
desciptive essays are usually easier to write and score..but because of that, the examiner probably has read far more interesting stories before..so the competition is stiff..so, u should write what ur more interested and familiar with..if u usually choose factual essay and u enjoy writing it, then choose factual essay in SPM..same goes for desciptive essays..
for BC there are 2 things that u can practice until very good, and thats the old style language comprehension( gu wen )..and shortening a passage
lastly, u MUST memorise idioms( ming ju jing hwa )..the origin( chu chu) author( zuo zhe ) and of course the meaning( han yi )..thats pretty hard work for just 8 questions

[sherenesheep]

for est essay, get to the point.. don beat around the bush.. don write bunga-bunga...
u need think very scientifically for the essay..

[Glassylicious]

Having absolutely no experience learning or taking Bahasa Cina, I'm unable to offer much helpful advice, however, I do have some EST tips, given to me by my former EST teacher who had access to the marking schemes. I got an A1 by the way. Be prepared for some shocking revelations! Hehe.

1. DO NOT write out of the box. You know those flow-chart/diagram questions where you have to fill in information from a given passage? Your answer MUST BE ENTIRELY in the box, or else no marks will be given even if your answer is CORRECT. It sounds extremely unfair, I know but it's true. One year's marking scheme specifically stated this rule, and anyone who went out of the box was axe'd. Not many people actually know about this, so I hope this will help.

2. Look at the size of the box/space given. If it's small, you're usually expected to write an answer that is only one or two words long. If it's a slightly longer line, you're probably expected to copy out a phrase of say, 3-5 words long.

3. All your information must be cloned from the passage. Don't use your own words. Copy out the relevant words, and if it's a phrase you're supposed to copy out, copy the EXACT phrase. Don't omit any minor words like "in" and "the" if they are part of the phrase.

4. Try to aim for full marks in the objective section. There are very few questions [only 30 if I remember correctly], and this inadvertently makes the weightage of each question higher. So if you get a question wrong, it means a bigger percentage of marks will be deducted off your total.

5. For the essay-writing part, yeah, scientific terms are required, HOWEVER, I noticed that most of the topics asked [well, from the papers which I've done in the past] were all related in some way or another to stuff which we've already learned in Bio, Chem or Physics. So while it probably won't do you any harm to do "tons of extra reading of newspapers, magazines, scientific journals, etc", I don't really think it'll give you THAT much of a bonus anyway. I always recalled pulling out terms from the syllabus of Science subjects for my essays.

So, yeah, as you can see, EST isn't so much about what you know, it's really about how you answer the paper.

----------------

Added bonus if anyone cares. XD Since someone mentioned GCE-O [1119], I thought I'd be nice and share a general essay-writing tip as well. ^_^

This applies to both Directed Writing and Continuous Writing. It's a tip which I've always used whenever I needed to write essays, and it has paid off well.

If you're asked to write an informal letter inviting your friend to spend the holidays with you, DON'T JUST WRITE an informal letter asking your friend to come to your house. XD Write a letter that makes ANYONE who reads it, WANT to go to your house.

If you're writing a story that is supposed to be sad [Perhaps the question asks you to write a story that ends with "...there was nothing I could do. It was too late."], then aim to write a story that makes the reader depressed for the next few days.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that you need to try to emotionally connect with your reader [in this case, your examiner]. Trust me, it improves the quality of your essay in the long run. Of course, only worry about your style of writing after you are sure your grammar and tenses are all good enough.

All the best!

[WinnieH]

for est : go straight to the point. don't be long winded. try to write in a factual way. avoid writing in flowery method like the one you used for story writing. i actually love to choose story writing in the exams and had a tough time trying to write in a factual way seriously. but you can do it with a lot of practice and a lot of reading. read newspapers, read contoh karangan, read basically any articles that's written in a factual way and you'll get the vibe.

as for bc, i cant give any suggestions 'cause i didn't take up bc.

[ah_seng]

IT's no doubt that EST and Chinese are hard to score an A1 if you are not careful

Let us study the marking scheme for EST first:http://a65.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/1/l_5be5183e46fecc28b2874c0b2505a540.jpghttp://a138.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/37/l_f4db85fbe47cc6b13e4cd1944e3fefa1.jpg
As you can see, people will be easily marked down just because of small errors like grammar, upper/lower capital letter. Most students tend to take these for granted as they think EST is very easy, especially in Paper 2 section A&B( the information transfer part). They concentrate more on the essay part.

Yes, the essay part is also important but not as scary as you think. Just use Short,compact sentences,suitable scientific terminology and less bombastic word(cos' this is not English), elaborate the point with BRIEFLY, that will do.

As for PAper 1, you MUST score at least 25/30.

**********************************
For Chinese, you must try to score as much as possible in Paper 1.The formal letter section, my best advice is memorize the format for 通 告& 公 函. Then, be extremely careful for 别 字in writing formal letter and essay. Only those with one or two 别 字 throughout the whole paper deserve A1(if they have no other serious errors).

Chinese essay...u need to read a lot of model essays and practice writing to get use to it.Be carefulwhen reading the question,highlight the keywordso you won't terpesong.There are two kinds of major error: 不 切 题(max 50%)& 离 题(max 25% or even 0% if you the marker of your paper is cruel) out of total 70%. Plan your essay before start writing. Don't use bombastic word if u not sure.

Paper 2, u need to pray hard for easy question. The only thing you can prepare is 名 句and grammar only. However, for 白 话and 文 言 理 解, i advise u to read the question firstthen read the text.

GOOD LUCK
_____________________________________
http://www.myspace.com/chu_seng

http://liauchuseng.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_pagedir=Next&_c11_BlogPart_handle=cns!58C95211CEE52516!125&_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPartFor more exam info

[ling ying]

I am also striving hard for my chinese.But i use another way(readingNewspaper).Not sure it work for your guys or not?Anyone here is a loyal supporter of星州日报?I used to read the columns written by people like郑丁贤.陶杰.and many others.I think the newspaper will help us much in writing.Besides,Ialso has something else to share.I came across an article written in the newspaper one year ago saying that the essay part depends much on the impression marks.They even conducted an experiment to prove the way work out or not.It was like this.The same essay was marked by two person,a chinese teacher and a reporter.But the marks given to the same essay were totally different.I wonder if the examiners do actually mark our papers like this in real spm.Pretty scary.....

[Keiko123]

recently i received my bc paper, juz B3... too bad...:cry
i really dunno wat can i do...as my target is A1 for SPM...
i usually choose narrative essay, coz it seen easier for me, since i dunno how to write argumentative essay.

hihi... i'm a loyal supporter of 星州日报... i like to read the article columm(星云) in 活力副刊....

[JetLee0510]

I took Chinese last year and my class teacher told us that according to one of her friends who marked SPM chinese papers,the new policy(starting from that time) is that each and every letter must be written very neatly. 一笔一划都要写清楚，千万不可写?蚯蚓字?。(Sorry for not expressing in english bcoz it's kinda hard to explain in english--those who take SPM chinese should know how to read it.)

The examiner reserves all the right to deduct 0.5 marks for every such 'scribbled' letter. And bear in mind there's no limit to how many marks can de deducted due to such mistake, that means even if u score 80 for your essay, it there is only 160 letters 'not-that-perfectly' written, you will get 0.Also if two same letters are written in scribbled form, it is 2*0.5 marks deducted.oh.. if tat is true thn it is reli terrible.. dun think it is true though.. deduction for handwriting has a limit of 2 over 30 ..

Erm...i am a 2006 SPM batch student...
sad to say...i socred a B3 for my chinese, juz FYI , i was the second best student in my class with flawless essay writing technique...still, i get such bad result!!!
anyway...always choose the story to write coz the teacher whomark ur paper might have bias with ur point on other essay....

huh .. sad for u luh.. still, wat r u trying to tel huh >>?

I am also striving hard for my chinese.But i use another way(readingNewspaper).Not sure it work for your guys or not?Anyone here is a loyal supporter of星州日报?I used to read the columns written by people like郑丁贤.陶杰.and many others.I think the newspaper will help us much in writing.Besides,Ialso has something else to share.I came across an article written in the newspaper one year ago saying that the essay part depends much on the impression marks.They even conducted an experiment to prove the way work out or not.It was like this.The same essay was marked by two person,a chinese teacher and a reporter.But the marks given to the same essay were totally different.I wonder if the examiners do actually mark our papers like this in real spm.Pretty scary.....

impression marks hor.. not for chinese, but for malay essays

[wilson]

I took my Chinese paper in last year's SPM and got an 2A out of it. I am satisfied with it as I know it's very difficult to score an 1A. In fact, there were only 6 students out of a few hundreds that managed to score 1A in Chinese.

Hmm.... my opinions about this subject is to do excellently in all sections including paper 1 and 2 in order to secure you an 1A. Many students tend to think that they could put priority on either one paper. But that is not a safe way to do. Read a lot to improve your essay writing, but do not neglect your paper 2 also, especially the "wen2 yan2 wen2" and the poem sections. Last year's "wen2 yan2 wen2" was a bit tough. Be prepared for the toughest. Do as much model papers as possible.

When you are writing essays in paper 1, you had better not take it as creative writing. This is a safe way out actually, as some examiners do not agree with the creative writing method used by the students when answering opinions-based essays. I have this friend who got 94, the highest marks in her trial exam for Chinese but obtained only a 3B in her real exam Chinese paper, probably because she used too much of creative writing method when writing essays. Good luck to all candidates sitting for SPM Chinese papers.

[ling ying]

I took my Chinese paper in last year's SPM and got an 2A out of it. I am satisfied with it as I know it's very difficult to score an 1A. In fact, there were only 6 students out of a few hundreds that managed to score 1A in Chinese.

Hmm.... my opinions about this subject is to do excellently in all sections including paper 1 and 2 in order to secure you an 1A. Many students tend to think that they could put priority on either one paper. But that is not a safe way to do. Read a lot to improve your essay writing, but do not neglect your paper 2 also, especially the "wen2 yan2 wen2" and the poem sections. Last year's "wen2 yan2 wen2" was a bit tough. Be prepared for the toughest. Do as much model papers as possible.

When you are writing essays in paper 1, you had better not take it as creative writing. This is a safe way out actually, as some examiners do not agree with the creative writing method used by the students when answering opinions-based essays. I have this friend who got 94, the highest marks in her trial exam for Chinese but obtained only a 3B in her real exam Chinese paper, probably because she used too much of creative writing method when writing essays. Good luck to all candidates sitting for SPM Chinese papers.
Can you explain further concerning creative wrinting?W
hat is the difference between creative writing and normal essay-writing?

[Sillyboy]

Can you explain further concerning creative wrinting?W
hat is the difference between creative writing and normal essay-writing?

Creative writing: 抒情文， 描写文
Others: 辩论, 说明文等等.

[newney]

Creative writing: 抒情文， 描写文
Others: 辩论, 说明文等等.

For me, 说明文is definitely easier to score compared to 抒情文. I wrote 说明文 n scored A1 for BC SPM 2007.:amuse

[Xon]

For me, 说明文is definitely easier to score compared to 抒情文. I wrote 说明文 n scored A1 for BC SPM 2007.:amuse

well said.true enough. i wrote the argumentative. but i think i screwed up the paper 2 (comprehension),then surprisingly,i got A2. =)

in spm,my advice. please write argumentative or shuo ming wen,to score. =)

[honeydew]

i think write 说明文 n 议论文 is easier to score coz there were ppl in my sch wrote 描写文 抒情文 or watsoever scored A2 instead of A1 though they r good in Bc. bt i had 2 friends writing those types of essay got A1 too, one of them wrote 吾爱吾校 . most ppl wrote 说明文 n 议论文 btw, including me, coz im not good in writing stories. when writing 议论文, u have to b careful by knowing wat exactly the ques wants u to write if the que only requires u 提出你的看法, so there is a risk compared to writing 说明文. i had some friends who wrote 议论文 getting A2 last yr bcoz their points r not too accurate i think. 说明文 is easier, the que will tell u wat to write n i think this type of que is more general (need to use common sense only, for sometimes), n u can fit in beautiful sentences that u memorise. i got A1 in bc, i wrote 说明文 in spm. i went for tuition last yr n it helped me a lot coz the teacher taught us a lot of bombastic phrases n statistics. yeah, include them in ur essay as much as u can. i think she obtained them from newsp. for 应用文, use those "standard words", the points r basically the same, n dun get the format wrong. follow wat the sch teacher said also, do all homework seriously. read essays tat u haf wrote n model essays, memorise meaning of the 名句精华, meaning of certain words of 文言文, use dictionary often,do exercise in books n past yr papers. Good Luck!

[Theodoravoon]

I'm very scared for SPM chinese.
difficult to scored.