Advice on preparation for mocks

[SohailB]

Hey IBSurvival!

 

So we meet again, and now I have my mocks in just over a month. I have started revising Math, Chemistry, Physics, and Economics. However, I'm a little confused as to where to start studying for English SL Lang and Lit. Our mock will be a paper 1 style exam (Possibly paper 2 as well, but hopefully not.. ).

 

I have a list of literary devices and a resource on how to structure the Essay (paragraph by paragraph), but I feel like I do not have that good of a command over language, especially when I'm under stress of timed conditions. The thesaurus is my best friend, and I won't be able to use it . I'm more of a 'math person' so my sentence structure and word choice is also occasionally repetitive.

 

Do you have any tips on how I can improve my skills for the paper 1, and when I should start?

 

Thank you so much!

[ellie]

The best way to learn is to read. Read a lot, read widely, and read things that interest you. There are books that revolve around Math, and definitely some that are about Economics (looking at your HLs here). The one time I was even slightly interested in Physics was when I read a book about Stephen Hawking. Reading makes your vocabulary grow and if you read enough, you will become very comfortable with English and your sentences will naturally become better, have a better flow and structure. You can also use a SAT vocab prep book (we did Barron's 1100 words a few years back, it really helped) because if you read books with even slightly advanced language, you'll start noticing these words in novels and remember them really well.

 

Another thing you can do is to practice writing. You can simply find two texts that are related (about race, gender, identity, etc) and time yourself as you compare these texts, like a self-made Paper 1, or you can use texts to simply analyse them. Choose different types––adverts, memoirs, articles, blog posts, etc––and become comfortable with as many as you can. When you're reading a magazine or see an ad on the street, analyse it in your mind (or better yet, if you can, write a few paragraphs about it.) 

 

Good luck on your mock!