The Mother Tongue Chinese O Level examinations start as early as June where students first sit for their first written paper. This article will talk about some useful tips such as attending Chinese Tuition, why you should take practice seriously and many more!
Students will continue to sit for other assessments throughout the month of June and July.
The components that make up the Mother Tongue Chinese Languages are the same as the English language and they are as follows:
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- Paper 1
- Paper 2
- Listening Comprehension
- Oral
The O Level Mother Tongue language allows students to retake their O Levels written papers if they find that their results are not satisfactory in the first round.
Students will receive their O Level Mother Tongue results around August. They can decide to retake their written papers to move their grades up. They will have to register to sit for the paper again.
The second round of O Level Mother Tongue language examinations happens in November, right around the same time as the other O Level subject papers.
Many veterans suggest students do well during the June seating so they could get their Mother Tongue language examination over and done with.
Doing well for the first round would mean having lesser things on your plate during the second half of your semester.
Since you don’t have to study for an additional subject, you can make time for other subjects and complete more revision.
But the question comes, how do you make sure your June seating will give you your desired A1?
Today, we explore some tips to help you prepare for your Chinese Mother Tongue O Level language.
1 – Start early
You are only left with 3 or so months to the start of your O Level Chinese Language examination. There’s no better time to start ‘clutching’ than now!
Read also: How you can manage your study time effectively.
It is good to start revision by knowing what you will be tested for your O’s. Flip through some past year O Level papers to better grasp the format of the paper.
Visit the SEAB website to find out what you will be sitting for, the assessments of your subjects.
2 – Practice seriously
Paper 1
By this time, your Chinese language teachers should be requesting that you write more compositions to prepare yourself for your Paper 1.
This is extremely crucial since writing more would help expose yourself to more vocabulary, explore your writing style and also reference good compositions written by your friends.
All this practice will surely help you gear up for your Paper 1 in June.
Hence, you should take every writing opportunity seriously as it really goes a long way.
Oral Examination
Your teachers are also most probably making you practice more on your oral in school too.
Oral and Paper 1 are one of the two easiest to score components of your O Level Chinese examination.
This is so because these two components can be done well with sufficient practice and exposure to more topics and concepts.
As you practice more on your oral communication, you will be able to bring your thoughts across and it trains you to respond faster while giving appropriate responses to your examiner. It also strengthens your communication skills and language along the way.
Hence many Chinese teachers put a lot of emphasis on practising these two components as they can be scored well with enough practice.
So take every practice seriously!
3 – Chinese Tuition
It is never too late to seek additional help. Languages are one of the most difficult subjects to ace due to the complexity it harnesses.
Chinese tuition and a good Chinese tutor can help greatly. Chinese tuitions can help you to close up knowledge gaps, if any or provide more practices to work on.
In compliance with the current pandemic situation, we are still encouraged to stay vigilant and social distance whenever possible.
Tutopiya is a Live Online Tuition platform that offers online Chinese tuition for students from Primary 1 up to their A-Levels.
Tutopiya has a pool of experienced Chinese tutors that knows exactly what the SEAB and MOE examiners are looking for.
4 – Be updated about the latest happenings
One of the things you probably heard from your Chinese teachers is that you have to read the news and be updated with world news.
This is to an extent, absolutely right! Knowing what is going on in today’s world can help you to hold a conversation with your oral examiner should the topic be relevant to today’s happening.
Topics may also come up as one of the composition topics, giving you more choices to choose what you want to write.
Reading Chinese newspapers can expose you to more Chinese vocabulary and help with your Chinese reading (also a component of Oral!).
You not only get to improve your Chinese language, but you also stay updated with world news – double win!
5 – Watching Chinese TV
Switch your TV to Channel 8 or Channel U! Or just simply watched your Korean or Japanese shows in dubbed Chinese! Yes I know, you’re thinking why would I do that, but it’s only for three months, this way you don’t feel guilty for binge-watching your dramas when you should be studying instead.
Dubbed TV shows are extremely accurate as they speak in full sentences which can be extremely helpful for strengthening your sentence structures and vocabulary. Try it!
Conclusion
All in all, Mother Tongue or the Chinese language is not everybody’s cup of tea, but acing your first O Level subject can be a great confidence booster for your remaining papers.
Moreover, it’s just a three-month battle and the Chinese will be done and dusted! There are more pros than cons that yields from doing well in this June’s seating!
Tutopiya henceforth wishes our graduating cohort all the best for their upcoming Mother Tongue Papers!
