English Language section is one the most important sections in all the competitive exams. This section is considered to be an easy and scoring section. But over the years, the difficulty of exams has increased. Most of the questions asked in the English language section seem to be tricky and confusing. With proper study plan and regular practice, candidates can get more scores in this section. In this article, we will discuss the list of topics asked in the English section and the strategies to tackle the same.
Strategies to prepare for English Language section:
- Candidates should brush up all the basics of English language and grammar before they start their preparation.
- Time- Management is a crucial factor in English language section. You need to answer 25-30 questions in 15-20 mins, so please do a lot of speed checks before you enter the exam hall.,
- Try to eliminate the complete irrelevant answers for the questions by reading the answer options carefully so that you can get the correct answer easily.
- Try to take at least two sectional mock tests per day to improve your speed and accuracy. Use a stopwatch.
- You should be strong with grammar rules, this will help you to clear most of the questions asked in the question paper.
- You cannot improve your vocabulary within a single day, inculcate the habit of reading newspapers daily to get on with the flow.
- Try to start with the question set which you feel easy, don’t waste your time on the tricky questions.
- At Least spend 2 hours per day for this particular section.
Tips for Improving Vocabulary section:
Below are the topics asked in Vocabulary section:
- Fill in the blanks
- Reading Comprehension
- Cloze Test
- Words Association
- Spellings
Tips to build your vocabulary:
- Keep a separate notebook for English language section, when you come across new words whenever you are reading, please make a note of this word and write the synonyms and antonyms for the name by surfing google.
- Try to solve previous year question papers to check the level of your preparedness. It will help you to identify your weaker and stronger and work on the same.
- Relate the words with some images or story for which you don’t know the meaning. This will definitely help you in improving your vocabulary.
- Speaking in English regularly will help you in improving your vocabulary, so to the maximum try speaking in English with your fellow people.
Tips for improving Grammar:
Below are the topics related to grammar,
- Error Spotting
- Sentence Correction/Sentence Improvement
- Phrase Replacement
- Para Completion
- Para Summary
Tips to build your grammar:
- Clearly go through each chapter of English Grammar. Practice all the topics one by one.
- Try to understand the rule of Tenses to the maximum extent as the majority of the questions are asked from tenses topic.
- Try to read different genres such as classic literature, textbooks, science-fiction, science books, biographies, blogs, essays, and articles and understand the structuring of sentence, word,order and spelling and the creative variation the author used.
- Study the words having the same spelling and varied meanings. These type of questions can be asked in the examination.
Strategies for all Individual topics:
Reading Comprehension :
- Reading Comprehension is one of the most important sections and 10-15 questions are asked in this section.
- You should read the whole paragraph to understand the essence of the para. This will help you to reduce the time.
- Be careful while choosing the option as most of the options look similar.
- You should understand the paragraph completely to answer the question as most of the question will be based on facts and vocabulary.
- Don’t waste your time on the questions for which you don’t know the answer.
- Practice different topics every day as you never know what kind of topics will be asked in the exam.
- Improve your reading skills to perform well in this section. Reading skills can be improved by inculcating the habit of reading newspapers or books regularly.
Error spotting:
- You should have grammar knowledge and should be aware of all the grammar rules to tackle this particular section.
- Learn all the rules of each topics like articles, tenses, nouns, pronouns etc
- You should read the questions carefully while doing error spotting, most of the time you would be able to find the error in the first go itself.
- Immediately eliminate the most irrelevant options from the set of options given.
- There will be a subject- verb agreement error in most of the sentence. By developing good reading habits you can solve these questions easily.
Fill in the blanks:
- 5 Questions will be asked from this topic.
- Immediately eliminate the most irrelevant options from the set of options given. Choose the options that fit the box without changing the theme of the sentence.
- In double filler type questions, there will be one blank in each sentence. Select the option which satisfies both the blanks without changing the theme of the sentence.
- Read the whole sentence carefully to get on with the flow.
- Keep the grammar rules in mind while solving this question.
Cloze test:
- Cloze test questions seem to be confusing but if you understand the theme of the paragraph, it will be easy to answer these questions.
- Eliminate the odd one out option by reading the paragraph carefully.
- If you have any doubt, skip the questions rather than attending it.
- Practice regularly to get on with the flow and it is the key to achieve maximum accuracy.
Para Jumble:
- Read the entire passage carefully to understand the theme of the passage and identify the independent sentence and the connecting sentence.
- Try to find the pair while looking for cause, effect, problem and solution
- Finally find the purpose of the passage.
- This section consists of 6 Sentence para jumbles with 5 questions based on it.
- While answering the question you should go with the logic and story flow
- Check for conjunctions. It will help you to connect easily.
Sentence Correction/ Sentence Improvement:
- This section is similar to error spotting.
- Read the original sentence and identify all the grammatical errors.
- Look at all the answer choices carefully and eliminate the wrong answer.
- Even when the original sentence seems to be good, look at the answer choices for a better option.
Phrase Replacement :
- In this type of question, a portion of sentence will be underlined in the given sentence
- Correct substitution for the underlined sentence should be chosen from the choices given.
- Learning a lot of phrases and idioms will help you to clear this section easily.
Sentence connector:
- This is also synthesis, two-three statements with phrase or connection with three/four options are provided.
- Candidates should find the correct pair of sentences which should be connected with the conjunctions with no effect to the structure of the sentence.
- Phrase can be used anywhere in the sentence.
- Meaning should not be changed after connecting the sentence.
Odd- One Out:
- In this type of question candidates should find the option which is out of the theme from the options given.
- Generally 3 or 4 sentences are given for which you should choose the odd one out option.
Match the Column:
- In this type of question, candidates need to join the two parts of a sentence in a way theory form a meaningful and grammatically strong sentence.
- Two Columns will be provided in the question and incomplete sentences are given in the column.
- The first will have the first half and second column will have the second half of the sentence.
- Students should match these two columns to bring a meaningful sentence.
Sentence completion:
- This is one among the easiest sections and blanks will be given at the start or middle or at the end of the paragraph.
- Go through all the options completely to get the correct answer.
- The chosen answer should not change the tone & theme of the sentence.
Best books for Banking Exam Preparation:
English Language section:
| Name of Book | Author | Publication |
| Objective English | R.S. Agarwal | S. Chand Publication |
| DGP English | R.S. Dhillon & S. Zareen | Dhillon Group of Publication |
| Objective English | Hari Mohan Prasad & U.R. Sinha | Tata McGraw Hill |
| General English | S. Gupta | Arihant Publication |
| High School English Grammar and Composition | – | Wren & Martin |
| Word Power Made Easy | Norman Lewis | – |
| Objective General English | SP Bakshi | Arihant Publication |
Check all the strategies and tips to crack the English language section in the upcoming bank Exams.
All the best.