My Flying Colours

5 Essential Tips to ACE your Oral Exam!

5 brilliant WAYS to ACE your oral exam.

1. Do not give a short reply
The worst thing you can do for your oral examination is to give a short reply for your conversation topic.

Examiner: “Would you prefer to cut your hair at a cheap barber or at a slightly more expensive hair salon?”

Student: “Barber.”



Examiner: “Why?”

Student: “Barbers are cheaper.”



Give long, generous replies for your oral examination. State your view or opinion, explain your view, and elaborate on it. Do not wait for the examiner to prompt you. You should be speaking freely and explaining yourself clearly.

Student: ” I prefer going to the barber because it is cheaper. I don’t think a haircut should cost more than $10. Besides, my hair will just grow out within 3 weeks. If I were to go to a hair salon, I would be charged $30 or more! I can’t imagine spending $30 each time I cut my hair. I don’t even have that much pocket money. I have gone to the same barber for 2 years so he knows what kind of hairstyle I like…”

2. Do not speak in a short burst of phrases
Whenever I practice oral conversations with my students, I notice that they have a habit of speaking in a series of short phrases.

Student: ” I …uhm…I … barbers are better because… erm… cheaper and faster….Hairstylists… wait long…expensive…”

Make sure you speak in full sentences. It is okay to take your time to think of what you want to say before you speak. Even if you speak and pause, make sure you pick up from where you left off and not just stumble on to the next point. That being said, do your best to refrain from saying “uhmm” , “errm” or “ahhhh” when you are pausing to think.

3. No Singlish or slang allowed
We all use Singlish in our daily conversations to connect better with the people around us. It’s okay, nobody will judge you. However, when it comes to your oral examinations, it is time to code switch and speak proper English.

Student: ” Of course I go to the Barber la! Barber cheaper mah! Better than hairstylist! Aiyoh so expensive!”

Speaking like your neighbourhood coffee shop uncle will result in an immediate fail. The examiner won’t even bat an eyelid to give you an ‘F’! Do also refrain from teenage slang that you may have picked up from television shows or from listening to how your pop celebrities talk.

Student: “So I will, like…go to the hairstylist? Coz the barber is only for old men? I don’t go to any random hairstylist to get a random haircut you know. I will , like, pay $100 to cut my hair… because … YOLO… you know? My friends will leave me if I don’t look swag enough.”

Fail.

4. Grammar is still important
Somehow when it comes to oral conversations, students throw their grammar out of the window.

Student: “Hairstylists is better because they are train to cuts your hairs in modern way.”

If you speak improper English every day, you may struggle trying to speak grammatically-correct English during your oral exam. Take your time to speak. Do not rush through your words or sentences. Just be aware that you are in an exam, not talking casually to a friend.

5. Express yourself clearly
This seems very obvious but many students still choose to mumble their way through their oral conversations out of habit. Give your views confidently and be articulate. When I say that you must express yourself clearly, you must also make sure you use the right words for the right purpose.

Student: ” Hairstylists use many different scissors and shavers…and sometimes even clips . They use more stuff than the barber…”

The student here should have just used the words “tools” and not “stuff”. Having a wide vocabulary to express yourself will definitely help.

5 TIPS for a stress free exam.

1. Don't cram
Studying the night before an exam causes the level of stress in the body to increase. Unfortunately, this stress doesn't decrease when you go to sleep. The best way to reduce anxiety is by taking the night before an exam off to relax: watch TV, talk to a friend, read a novel.

If you're one of those people who become anxious because of not studying the night before an exam, then simply review the main points of your subject earlier in the day and leave the night free for other things.

Note that it is assumed that you have already done some study leading up to the night before your exam.

2. Avoid stressful people
Stress is contagious, so resist the urge to have a study session with your apprehensive friends before an exam, especially if they're complaining about all the work they have left to do and pulling their hair out.

Their stress will only add to your stress and make you doubt yourself, even if you know that you will be fine.

3. Eat well
Good nutrition is a leading factor in a student's academic achievement. A well-balanced diet can help transform a nutritionally imbalanced student into a healthy and dynamic one.

And of course, having breakfast before an exam is a must for a student who wants to focus and be most efficient during their exam.

4. Watch your caffeine intake
Nothing drives up your stress level faster than not being able to fall asleep the night before an exam, so avoid beverages like coffee, or high energy drinks like V or Mother unless they are decaffeinated.

5. Zzzz
Staying up all night before an exam is the worst thing one can do. You reach a point where your productivity eventually declines, so sleeping is a must to have a refreshed mind the next morning.

Regular sleep is the best ways to control exam stress. Students who follow a regular sleeping pattern have been shown to perform much better than students who stay up late.

Also, don't forget to set your alarm clock the night before!

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/you-these-20-things-every-day-youll-become-smarter.html

If You Do These 20 Things Every Day, You’ll Become Smarter With enough motivation and determination, anyone can expand their mental capabilities and become smarter. Do these 20 things every day and you will too!

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/schooltests/a/Preparing-For-An-Oral-Exam.htm

Tips for Taking an Oral Exam Oral exams can be daunting for many students. How will you remember the details when speaking in front of a panel? Practice is the key!

ORAL EXAM TIP: What if you come across a word that you can't pronounce?

The biggest fear that most children have about this is that they would come across a word that they don’t know how to read. There are 2 techniques to get around this.

Firstly, attempt to read the word but do not pause. The reason for attempting is that you may get this write. And you must not pause so that the flow of reading is not affected. Usually, if the child is unable to read only 1 word, the teacher would not penalise him too severely.

For English, if the child is able to break down the word into sounds, it’s likely that he will succeed in getting away with it. For Chinese, what he can do is read the part of the character that he knows (and cross his fingers that he got it right!)

The second method is to skip the word, again without changing the flow of the reading. This method is recommended to candidates who are in the second half of the cohort. This method takes advantage of the fact that most examiners get tired after some time so if the child skips a word, the examiner may not notice it. Hence, it is very important that the child does not pause before skipping, for doing that would be equivalent to alerting the examiner that something unusual is going to happen.

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/teamwork/a/studypartner.htm

10 Reasons All Students Should Have a Study Partner Every student could benefit by pairing up with a study partner. When you pair up, you can remind each other of test dates and quiz each other before a big exam.