How to improve your writing skills 2 and be a better writer

Hello everyone,

I’ve just received an article which caught my interest and so I thought it could also be useful for you.

Indeed, Eric Barker wrote an article entitled “How To Be A Better Writer: 6 Tips From Harvard’s Steven Pinker” (http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b083212130155b748c7785081&id=9565dcbebc&e=40170a8da2).

Steven Pinker is a Harvard scientist and linguist who happens to have written a book to give a precise idea of how to write in the 21^st century: The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century.

I thought it would be a logical following to my first article on how to improve your writing skills: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/24/how-to-improve-your-writing-skills/

I’m sure you’ve already read how to improve your vocabulary: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/how-to-enrich-your-vocabulary-2/

and that it has helped you to begin.

You must even have started by the positive mindset with: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/09/28/succeeding-is-also-a-matter-of-mindset/

According to the article we first try to be visual when writing to make the reader see but also conversational when writing to boast around to look intelligent. These two dimensions; visual and conversational should improve your written style.

This can also be enhanced when improving your speaking skills: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/how-to-develop-your-speaking-skills/

Then comes the hurdle of you assuming people know what you know which of course is most of the time not the case. For sure you know what’s happening in your head and it’s all crystal clear to you but not to the others. If ever you can have an external reader it could definitely help you. Otherwise try to explain your thoughts to a very young person in order to make sure all the details are properly given.

Clarity is key. Don’t assume your readers can read between lines and guess what’s behind your words, tell them clearly what you want to say and why you want to it.

What’s more don’t wait too much before revealing the “what” and the “why” otherwise your readers will stop reading. They need to know what you’re writing about quite fast, not right at the beginning but a few sentences after that.

Grammar and vocabulary correctness should be followed up to a point. Indeed you want your reader to understand you so you need to be sure your structures and logic make sense but if ever you want to be creative, you may break the rules provided the objective is previously clarified.

 

This, I’m sure you already know about it and don’t want to hear it all over again but it will still be repeated for your own good. In order to improve your style, reading, reading and reading again can only but help you. As a matter of fact, it is when you read different styles from different writers that you can be inspired and get a better style yourself.

To improve your comprehension skills, the following article might help you: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/how-to-enrich-your-vocabulary/

For this final tip I am 200% sure you heard it by all your teachers even when you were 7 but I’ll repeat it once more as I know learning is made through repetitions.

To write well, you need to start with a draft that you will then correct certainly many times before coming to its final version. Your first idea can be right and good to exemplify but you may not have formulated it the best way. You usually need several tries before finding the phrasing which enables to highlight the idea but also its words or vocabulary as well as its structure or grammar without forgetting its logic or cohesion.

Do not even think about handing out your paper without proofreading it several times checking its spelling and punctuation but also clarity, visual and conversational sides.

Now you’re ready to submit a paper which is well-written and which you can’t be ashamed of as you worked hard on it to make it the best you could.

Sophie Gallix

How to improve your writing skills?

Hello again,

One difficult part of the GMAT is the Analytical Writing Assessment or AWA and this difficulty is the same in many other English tests (TOEFL, TOEIC speaking and writing, IELTS, ACE, FCE, KET…).

First you need to start your training being positive: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/09/28/succeeding-is-also-a-matter-of-mindset/

Once your mind is set on a positive vibration, it’s important to have an overview of your preparation: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/tips-to-start-your-gmat-preparation/

This includes developing your comprehension skills: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/how-to-enrich-your-vocabulary/

and it can also be done by enriching your vocabulary: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/how-to-enrich-your-vocabulary-2/

Once your speaking skills are improved: https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/how-to-develop-your-speaking-skills/

It’ll be easier to work on your writing skills.

First you need to make sure you know the format of the test:

How many questions are there to write, how long do you have to do it and how many words do you need to write?

For the GMAT, there is one question and 30 minutes to write 300 words.

Are there two different questions with a different timing for each?

It is the case for the TOEFL with the integrated writing task 1 with 20minutes to write 150-225 words and independent writing with 30minutes to write 300 words.

It is also the case for the IELTS with writing task 1 graph description with 20minutes to write 150 words and writing task 2 opinion essay with 40minutes to write 250words.

Then, it is capital you know the expectations, requirements and grading scale of the writing task. How are you going to be assessed? What are the criteria which will be considered to grade you?

For the GMAT graded out of 6 they consider:

• The quality of the ideas and arguments
• The ability to express, organize and develop those ideas
• The consistency of the explanations and examples
• The ability to write in standard written English.

Here is what you can find on the GMAC website in order to describe the AWA scoring guide:

“A Score of 6 Is Outstanding—A cogent, well-articulated critique of the argument, demonstrating mastery of the elements of effective writing, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Clearly identifies and insightfully analyzes important features of the argument
• Develops ideas cogently, organizes them logically, and connects them smoothly with clear transitions
• Effectively supports the main points of the critique
• Demonstrates superior control of language, including diction and syntactic variety and the conventions of standard written English. There may be minor flaws.

A Score of 5 Is Strong—A well-developed critique of the argument, demonstrating good control of the elements of effective writing, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Clearly identifies important features of the argument and analyzes them in a generally thoughtful way
• Develops ideas clearly, organizes them logically, and connects them with appropriate transitions
• Sensibly supports the main points of the critique
• Demonstrates clear control of language, including diction and syntactic variety
• Demonstrates facility with the conventions of standard written English, but may have minor flaws

A Score of 4 Is Adequate—A competent critique of the argument, demonstrating adequate control of the elements of effective writing, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Identifies and capably analyzes important features of the argument
• Develops and organizes ideas satisfactorily, but may not always connect them with transitions
• Supports the main points of the critique
• Demonstrates adequate control of language, including diction and syntactic variety, but may lack syntactic variety
• Displays control of the conventions of standard written English, but may have some flaws

A Score of 3 Is Limited—A competent but clearly flawed critique of the argument, demonstrating some control of the elements of effective writing, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Does not identify or analyze most of the important features of the argument, although some analysis is present
• Is limited in the logical development and organization of ideas
• Offers support of little relevance and value for points of the critique
• Uses language imprecisely and/or lacks sentence variety
• Contains occasional major errors or frequent minor errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics

 

A Score of 2 Is Seriously Flawed—A paper demonstrating serious weakness in analytical writing skills, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Fails to show an understanding of and does not identify or analyze the main features of the argument
• Does not develop ideas or is disorganized
• Provides few, if any, relevant or reasonable supports
• Has serious, frequent problems in the use of language and sentence structure
• Contains numerous errors in grammar, usage, or mechanics that interfere with meaning

A Score of 1 Is Fundamentally Deficient—A paper demonstrating fundamental deficiencies in analytical writing skills, and displaying the following characteristics:

• Provides little evidence of the ability to understand and analyze the argument or to develop an organized response to it
• Has severe and persistent errors in language and sentence structure
• Contains a pervasive pattern of errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics thus resulting in incoherence

A Score of 0 Is Unscorable—A paper that is totally illegible or obviously not written on the assigned topic.”

http://www.gmac.com/gmat/understand-gmat-exam-scores/how-to-use-the-analytical-writing-assessment-score.aspx

For the TOEFL graded out of 6 they consider:

• Task achievement and writing skills
• the organization and development of the ideas
• the exemplification of the ideas
• a relevant language use
• grammar variety and vocabulary accuracy.

Here is what ETS specifies about the writing score:

“Score of Six. An essay at this level:

shows effective writing skills

is well organized and well developed

uses details clearly and properly to support a thesis or illustrate ideas

displays consistent ability in the use of language

demonstrates variety in sentence structure and proper word choice

 

Score of Five. An essay at this level:

may address some parts of the task more effectively than others

is generally well organized and developed

uses details to support a thesis or illustrate an idea

displays ability in the use of the language

shows some variety in sentence structure and range of vocabulary

 

Score of Four. An essay at this level:

addresses the writing topic adequately but does not meet all of the goals of the task

is adequately organized and developed

uses some details to support a thesis or illustrate an idea

shows adequate but possibly inconsistent ability with sentence structure

may contain some usage errors that make the meaning unclear

Score of Three. An essay at this level may reveal one or more of the following weaknesses:

inadequate organization or development

poor choice of details or does not provide enough details to support or illustrate generalizations

a noticeably improper choice of words or word forms

numerous errors in sentence structure and/or usage

Score of Two. An essay at this level is seriously flawed by one or more of the following weaknesses:

serious disorganization or underdevelopment

little or no detail, or irrelevant specifics

serious and frequent errors in sentence structure or usage

serious problems with focus

Score of One An essay at this level:

may be incoherent

may be undeveloped

may contain severe and persistent writing errors

Score of 0. An essay will be rated 0 if it:

contains no response

merely copies the topic

is off-topic, written in a foreign language or consists only of keystroke characters”

https://www.ets.org/toefl/pbt/scores/writing_score_guide/

As for the IELTS writing tasks which are grade out of 9, they consider:

• how well the task is achieved.
• Paragraphing and cohesion.
• The wide range of vocabulary and excellent control of lexical resources.
• The range of grammar structures, their flexibility, variety and accuracy.

Very precise band descriptors are provided for task 1:

http://www.ielts.org/PDF/Writing%20Band%20descriptors%20Task%201.pdf

and task 2: http://www.ielts.org/pdf/Writing%20Band%20descriptors%20Task%202.pdf

Now that you’re familiar with the format and the grading of your writing task, you’re ready to start working on the writing skills.

First read the essay topic and make sure you understand what it means. If ever you don’t understand all the words, make hypothesis on what it could mean considering:

• The immediate context (the words before and after)
• The further context (the sentences before and after)
• The type of word it is: a noun would be a concept or an object. A verb would be a state or an action. An adjective would give precisions on a noun and an adverb would qualify a verb
• The way the word is built. What is its stem or root? Do you know what it means? Is there a prefixe and/or a suffixe? Prefixes and suffixes have a meaning which changes the one of the stem. For instance in unfortunately, the root is fortunate which means happy. The prefixe un- indicates it is a contrary and the suffixe –ly it is an adverb. We now know that unfortunately is an adverb which means the opposite of happy and can fully understand the essay topic.

Once you can define all the words of the topic, you can start thinking about the thesis statement you’re going to formulate and the ideas it may lead to.

A thesis statement is a way to target the extent of your thinking in order to make sure you neither go too far or limit the subject to a restricted area. It is usually in the form of another question or of a sentence which states the scope of your questioning in order to come to an answer.

Then you usually consider the two or three main ideas which can answer your thesis statement. They will build the main parts of your essay. You then need to organize the ideas or sub-ideas which fit in each of your main parts.

Some students prefer first listing the ideas they have and then organize them into a clear outline. It is really up to you provided both stages are done.

The last part of the thinking has to do with finding examples to illustrate each of your ideas and sub-idea.

Before starting to write your final text, you need to select the vocabulary and grammar you are going to use in order to meet the requirements of your writing task. Indeed, you need to make sure you are going to use an advanced targeted specific vocabulary, with diverse synonyms, phrasal verbs and idioms as well as varied complex grammar structures and different clear linking words.

To start your introduction, bear in mind that you want to catch the interest of your reader, You want him/her to feel the need to read all your essay. To do that, your very first sentence should be captivating. It could be an interesting quote, an original fact or an unusual experience. Proofread it as you would not want the examiner to have a bad impression of you right from the outset.

The subject should then be introduced and defined in your own words. The thesis statement should follow and the outline should finish your structured introduction. Don’t forget to use the target vocabulary and grammar and to edit your writing as you go if ever you already know that you won’t have the time to do so before the end of the allotted time.

While writing the body of your essay, don’t forget to use a variety of sign posting words to make the logic stand out and make sure the words and structures you use highlight both your ideas and examples.

The presentation of your essay should be neat with jumped lines before and after the development and indented paragraphs to start each new idea of each part.

The conclusion answers the thesis statement. The idea is not to repeat all you’ve just written in the same way but to rephrase your final points to display the range of vocabulary and grammar you are able to use. You may open the topic onto a larger or new one but you don’t have to. Openings are usually in the form of questions which can derive from facts or news briefs.

The next stage is proofreading. It becomes extremely important as it will enable you to correct most of your current mistakes. Depending on the amount of time you have, you should consider successive revisions. You should obviously start by the most common mistakes you make like the ones with the tenses for instance (present perfect/simple past, simple present/present continuous, past simple/past continuous, conditionals…). Then continue with less important mistakes such as the use of articles and quantifiers for example. Finish with the punctuation or even less regular mistakes such as spelling mistakes.

The most important thing for the editing of your writing is to consider YOUR OWN MISTAKES and so to start by THE ONES YOU MAKE VERY OFTEN in order to finish by THE ONES YOU BARELY MAKE.

Now that your essay is finished and proofread you can be very proud of yourself and move on to something else.

Hoping my tips will have been useful and that they’ll help you to improve your writing.

How to develop your speaking skills

Hello everyone,

Taking the Gmat has to do with

• a positive mindset (https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/09/28/succeeding-is-also-a-matter-of-mindset/), but also to do with
• knowing how to prepare yourself (https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/tips-to-start-your-gmat-preparation/),
• developing your comprehension skills (https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/how-to-enrich-your-vocabulary/) as well as
• enriching your vocabulary (https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/03/how-to-enrich-your-vocabulary-2/)

It also has to do with improving your speaking skills. Why is that so?

Even if there is no speaking test in the GMAT, improving your speaking techniques can only do you good.

Indeed when you have to write the Analytical Writing Assessment or AWA, you usually think in English and so most of the times “speak to yourself in English”.

So if you manage to boost this ability, you will definitely also improve your writing skills as well as reading skills necessarily.

The following video can help you as it is about the 4 most persuasive words in the English language :

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-persuasive-english-words-2014-9#ooid=w4cWo4cDqcrX5Y6wTlzI2MhEjBDhGgbs

You can lean on the following words in order to easily convince people: you as it gets people excited, using the person’s name as it then becomes really engaging for that person, free as whatever happens people always love free stuffs, because as it enables the others to understand why you’re asking for such a thing for example and instantly as instant gratification is loved by everyone.

But you can also decide to practice thinking in English or “speaking to yourself” in English everyday for a short duration in order to brush up your English and let it thrive without the rust it used to have before practising. Indeed, you may not have a lot of opportunities to speak English with native speakers so when you make the decision to speak to yourself regularly it gives your brain the power to find words more and more easily and faster and faster.

For sure, I’m sure you know that practice makes perfect. Well, it really does.

Once more regularity is key.

It is better to do it for 5 minutes everyday Monday to Friday than 20 minutes a week.

You need to consider your schedule and find a slot when you could automatically switch to English. Maybe when you brush your teeth, when you’re in your car or in any public transportation, when you cook or when you water your flowers.

There must be a time in the day that you could use by thinking in English.

Whenever you can’t find a word, write it down and once your 5 minute session is over, look it up in the dictionary. Then the next time you think in English, try to use all the words you could not find the time before.

By doing this regularly you will enrich your vocabulary and develop your fluency even if you have few opportunities to have a conversation with a native speaker.

Good luck to you and whatever happens, NEVER GIVE UP! There is absolutely no reason why you won’t succeed so just give it go and you’ll see you were right to persevere as this kind of effort always pays!!!

Entretenir son niveau d’anglais

Comment entretenir son niveau d’anglais ?

Bonjour à vous très chers lecteurs francophones,

Je me permets de vous transmettre cet article du magazine l’étudiant qui donnent 10 astuces pour entretenir votre niveau d’anglais.

Il est vrai qu’il est écrit que cela devait « booster » votre niveau, je pense pour ma part que ces conseils vous serviront à entretenir votre niveau existant et à ne pas perdre de trop.

Si vous devez vraiment améliorer votre niveau, ces conseils ne sont pas forcément suffisants pour progresser.

Bonne lecture et à très bientôt.

Top 10 des astuces pour booster son niveau d’anglais

Crédit photo : Flickr / rockindave1

Quand on t’a parlé de partir en Erasmus à l’autre bout de l’Europe, tu t’es dit que ça pourrait être cool, mais qu’il faudrait que tu travailles ton anglais d’ici au départ. Avance rapide : le départ, c’est pour dans six mois et tu te sens toujours aussi nul(le). Panique ? Mais non, pas avec nos astuces (qui marchent aussi pour les autres langues, au passage).

1. Regarder des séries/films en VO

L’Education Nationale peut remercier les chaînes de TV américaines : ces dernières années, des générations entières ont vu leur niveau d’anglais décoller façon fusée Ariane en s’abreuvant de séries anglophones. Ça marche aussi avec les films, ça marche encore mieux en choisissant l’option « sous-titres en anglais ». Par contre, rappel pour les petits malins : ça marche pas du tout en regardant en VF…

1. Partir à la chasse aux étudiants Erasmus

Pas la peine de se mentir : le meilleur moyen de progresser en anglais, c’est encore de sortir avec un(e) anglais(e). Problème : encore faut-il être célibataire. Si ta copine ou ton mec sont plus importants à tes yeux que ton niveau en anglais, soit : ça se tient. Mais tu peux quand-même essayer de te faire des potes étrangers venus étudier en France en allant aux soirées Erasmus ou en rejoignant une association d’accueil des étudiant(e)s étrangers. Quelques pistes : l’appli Melteampot, les associations CIJP, EuroFil ou Club Erasmus.

1. Fréquenter le labo de langues

Si tu es étudiant(e) à la fac, le meilleur moyen de se faire l’oreille sur une langue à l’œil, c’est encore d’aller au labo de langues. La plupart disposent de méthodes plutôt bien faites qui te permettent de travailler la compréhension orale. Parce que pour bien parler une langue, y’a pas de secret : il faut déjà bien l’entendre. Allez, au boulot : pour être bilingue, il va falloir avaler des heures de casque !

1. Lire en anglais

Que ce soit des romans (polars ou romans pour ados pour commencer), la presse papier (quotidiens ou magazines) ou les news en ligne (sites et blogs), lire en anglais est l’un des meilleurs engrais pour anglais qui existe. Forcément, au début, tu vas avoir peur de ne rien comprendre. La tactique : avancer, ne pas se bloquer dès que tu ne captes pas un mot. Très souvent, la phrase ou le paragraphe va te permettre d’en comprendre le sens et tu le retiendras d’autant mieux que tu l’auras compris seul(e), sans l’aide d’un dico.

1. Voyager

Bah oui, ça paraît tout bête, mais ça va mieux en le disant. On dit que les voyages forment la jeunesse, mais ils forment surtout les compétences linguistiques. Un bon plan : le tour de l’Europe grâce à InterRail, le Pass qui te permet de monter dans n’importe quel train sur le continent. Si tu te sens l’âme d’un(e) warrior, pars seul(e) et va à la rencontre des autres voyageurs dans les auberges de jeunesse. Par contre, essaye d’éviter les groupes de français, hein…

1. Trouver un job d’au pair

Que ce soit dans une famille anglophone installée en France ou à l’étranger, un travail de jeune fille/homme au pair est une véritable potion magique pour l’anglais. La raison : tu passes ta journée au contact d’enfants. Et un enfant, ça ne comprend pas trop le concept des langues. Bien souvent, si tu ne piges pas ce qu’il dit, il va te prendre pour un(e) abruti(e) et va te le répéter avec un regard complètement affligé. Mais en tout cas, il ne cherchera pas à le dire plus lentement ou à trouver des mots plus faciles. A toi de te débrouiller. C’est cruel un enfant, mais c’est efficace.

1. Ecouter des podcasts

Plutôt que d’écouter encore et toujours les mêmes playlists dans les transports ou quand tu cours, profites-en pour blinder ton anglais en remplaçant la musique par des podcasts de la BBC ou de la NPR (son équivalent américain). Et gratos, en plus.

1. Echanger des heures de conversation

Autre bon plan gratuit : les échanges de conversation. Tu te mets en relation avec un(e) anglophone venu travailler son français en France et vous vous calez des rendez-vous où vous vous racontez vos vies, une heure en anglais, une heure en français. Résultat : les deux progressent. Magique.

1. S’exercer en ligne

Pas mal de sites proposent des exercices d’anglais (et de plein d’autres langues d’ailleurs) gratuits, avec corrections immédiates. Si tu te sens un peu léger(e) en grammaire et que tu pars bientôt habiter à l’étranger, ça peut être un bon plan pour te remettre à niveau sur les règles de base. Tu peux aussi trouver des cours d’anglais en vidéo, toujours gratos. Va faire un tour sur Anglaisfacile.com ou engVid.com.

1. Fréquenter les soirées polyglottes

Imagine un bar avec une trentaine de personnes qui discutent dans une dizaine de langues. Si cette seule pensée te donne la migraine, les soirées polyglottes ne sont pas pour toi. Mais si ça te tente, rendez-vous sur le site du Polyglot Club qui organise des événements dans la plupart des grandes villes françaises.

Ready, steady, go !

Tu es prêt à partir ? Avant de sauter sur ton sac de voyage, sache que grâce à l’Offre Globe Student, tu bénéficies d’une assistance en cas de problème et d’une possibilité de retraits gratuits à l’étranger dans 60 000 distributeurs dans plus de 50 pays.

http://www.leguideultimedelavieetudiante.fr/verygoodtips/top-10-des-astuces-pour-booster-son-niveau-danglais/

Conseils pour réussir le GMAT

Bonjour,

Pour varier les plaisirs, ce n’est pas un article que je mets en ligne aujourd’hui mais une vidéo. Ce format n’étant pas supporté par la plateforme depuis laquelle je vous écris, je me permets donc de vous en transmettre le lien.

Je m’adresse ici plus particulièrement aux locuteurs francophones car la vidéo dont je mets le lien est en français. Il s’agit d’une vidéo qui explique clairement les points suivants :

• ce qu’est le GMAT, de quelles épreuves le GMAT est composé et quelles sont les spécificités du GMAT
• le type de public qui passe le GMAT ou à qui on demande de passer ce type de test
• les avantages de l’ouvrage « Réussir le GMAT » collection j’intègre de Dunod
• comment préparer le GMAT : seul, en cours particulier, en groupe…
• deux conseils importants pour préparer le GMAT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=UUngv7jFtRNlDqPaEC1lP5Yg&v=AfS85-o7lng

N’hésitez pas à me faire part de vos remarques (critiques constructives ou positives) afin que j’améliore mes prochaines vidéos ainsi que le contenu de mes prochains articles.

Bonne préparation à vous tous !

Sophie Gallix

How to enrich your vocabulary

Hello again,

Now that you know

– the mindset which is the one of a winner (https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/09/28/succeeding-is-also-a-matter-of-mindset/),

– general tips to start your GMAT preparation (https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/tips-to-start-your-gmat-preparation/)

that you are familiar with

– reading skills and that you know there are techniques to prevent you from panicking when not understanding a word (https://bienpreparerlegmat.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/how-to-enrich-your-vocabulary/),

you should feel safer and more relaxed concerning your GMAT preparation. You are now ready to start enriching your vocabulary.

First it is capital to understand there are two categories or vocabulary:

1) the one you understand (but that you don’t use)

2) the one you understand AND use.

Of course, the first step will be

1) to understand words you didn’t know in the past.

Once they become easier and faster to understand, you’ll be able to WORK ON THEM again in order

2) to USE THEM.

Secondly, you should know an average of 8 repetitions is needed to memorize a new word.

For the two steps, it could then take you about 16 repetitions (8 first repetitions to easily understand a new word and 8 second repetitions to be able to use it).

What’s more, it is important to vary the networks you use to memorize words as if ever you’re in a situation of stress, this variety of network will help you to finally find the word you’re looking for.

These memorization channels can be:

• Word translations into French
• Sentence translations into French
• English synonyms
• English sentences
• English contextual examples (the context in which you discovered the word for instance)
• Exercises to practice finding or using this word
• Sound associations or rhymes
• Spelling tricks (FORTy est plus FORT que FOURteen)…

Then, I’m sure you already know that regularity is key. Indeed it is better to learn everyday for 5 minutes than 25minutes a week for instance.

Obviously, selection is another important factor. You want to learn words which you are both going to see in your reading comprehensions and use in your analytical writing assessments. It is thus extremely important that you pick easily transferable words, words you could easily use in any kind of essay or that writers usually tend to use in their texts.

Of course specificity, complexity and accuracy also matter. You may then need to tearn two types of words:

• Easy transferable words to build up the basis of your vocabulary
• Specific, targeted, complex and technical words to develop your vocabulary accuracy.

A practice I usually give to my students is to build a 5 column box in order to put their new words in. These words/sentences/synonyms/translations/rhymes/spelling tricks are usually written one index cards or “fiches” to be easily reviewed everywhere you go (in public transports and waiting rooms for instance). Of course, the format of these index cards should also be easy to carry around so that you can have them in your handbag, rucksack or pockets for example.

The first column is used when they learn the word and they need to do this for 5 consecutive days (Monday to Friday).

Once they know these words, they put them in the second column, the one they’ll check every week.

If ever after one week of no practice in the second column, they still remember these words, they can put them in the third column. But if they don’t, they put these words back in the first column, the one they’ll review everyday.

After two weeks of no practice, you check your third column words and use the same process. If ever you remember the words, they can be put in the fourth column. If you don’t, put them back in the first column to review them everyday.

After three weeks of no practice, check the fourth column words. The ones you remember will go into the fifth column and the ones you don’t will go back to the first column.

After four weeks of no practice, you can check the fifth column. If you remember these words, they should be now memorized and learnt for good. You may still keep these words in this fifth column in order to check them every month but also to realize the amount of words you now know or to have them as a back-up, just in case. Of course, if you don’t remember these words, they’ll go back to the first column again in order to be reviewed everyday, then hopefully every week, every 2 weeks, every 3 weeks and finally every month.

To finish, you should know students are able to learn five new words a day. You may decide to learner fewer if you don’t need to enrich your vocabulary that much.

If ever you decide to learn more than five words, you should know it will certainly be harder and that you may not be able to remember those words for long or for good but you may still try as some people have bigger memorization abilities than others which may be the case for you.

I hope you found something interesting in this article and that it’ll help you to enrich your vocabulary.

Sophie Gallix

How to develop your comprehension skills

Hello there,

One of the difficulties of the GMAT (as of other language tests) is vocabulary in the comprehension.

For the reading comprehension, you can use deductions in order to guess the meaning of the difficult words.

Firstly, you should Bear in mind that with up to 40% of words you don’t seem to understand, your brain is able to build the missing information in order to understand.
Indeed you ONLY need to understand 60% of a text in order to be able to answer the GMAT questions if you manage to trust the hypothesis that you are able to make.

What’s more, the general context can help you to make assumptions about the meaning of the text.
The immediate context should also be helpful.

To continue the nature of the word should be useful.
Is it a noun? If so it is either a concept or an object.
Is it a verb? Then is could either be an action or a state.
Is it an adjective? It should then qualify a noun.
Is it an adverb? In this case it describes how an action is done or gives precisions about the verb.

Then, you could also use the way the word is formed.
Indeed it has a root or stem (the basis of the word or radical in French). You may know its meaning which could definitely enable you to confirm or infirm your hyptohesis.

The stem is often surrounded by a prefixe (before the stem) and by a suffixe.
You may remember or learn that these suffixes and prefixes have a meaning which influences the one of the stem.
In unfortunately, the stem is fortunte which means lucky. The prefixe « un » specifies it is a contrary and the suffixe « ly » precises it is an adverb (in French souvent un adverbe en -ment).

Another well-known technique is to pretend these words are not in the text and to do with all the numerous words and sentences you understand.
I often say to my students to underline what they understand (and not what they don’t understand) and to decipher (decode) the text using the underlined words.

I hope this tip is going to help you and that you’ll now practise comprehension with more pleasure.

Du français pour aider nos lecteurs francophones

Bonjour tout le monde,

J’espère que vous ne vous êtes pas sentis mis de côté par mes deux précédents articles en anglais mais je pensais qu’il vous serait utile de commencer à vous immerger dans un bain anglais afin de commencer votre préparation GMAT.

Il est vrai que l’anglais du GMAT peut faire peur à première vue mais si vous vous plongez dedans vous allez vite voir que les instructions sont toujours plus ou moins les mêmes et utilisent un lexique très récurrent.

1) Si celui-ci vous pose problème, n’hésitez pas à l’inscrire sur des fiches en traduisant les consignes, en traduisant les mots clés, en mettant des synonymes aux mots clés, en faisant des phrases avec ces mêmes mots et même en mettant un exemple d’exercice à pratiquer sur vos fiches.

2) Savez-vous comment vous mémorisez? Etes-vous plutôt visuel, auditif ou kinesthétique?

Si vous ne savez pas, posez vous la question suivante: quand vous devez mémorisez une information, comment faites-vous?

Est-ce que vous la lisez et relisez? (vous êtes plutôt visuel)

Avez-vous besoin de l’écrire? (vous êtes visuel et kinesthétique)

Est-ce que vous la répétez? (vous êtes auditif et kinesthétique)

Est-ce que vous vous entendez la répéter? (vous êtes auditif)

Je vais vous joindre un test vous permettant de déterminer quel type d’apprenant vous êtes et cela vous permettra de mieux adapter vos révisions.

3) Avez-vous déjà identifié des lacunes qui vous poseront problème lors de votre préparation?

Si oui, vous pouvez commencer par consolider ces dernières avant de faire un premier test blanc.

Si non, n’hésitez pas à faire un premier test blanc pour cibler les parties du test qui nécessiteront plus de travail et les « chapitres » de cours à réviser suivi d’exercices d’application.

Surtout ne paniquez pas car vous avez tous les outils pour progresser.

4) Il vous faut maintenant planifier vos sessions de révision et d’entrainement.

Avez-vous besoin d’un bloc de 3heures en une fois?

Ou plutôt de 3 petits blocs d’une heure?

Ou encore de 2 blocs d’1h30?

Réfléchissez à la façon la plus utile pour vous de travailler mais aussi à vos contraintes d’emploi du temps. Il peut parfois être difficile de dégager une heure plusieurs fois dans la semaine si l’emploi du temps est déjà chargé et que des devoirs sont à rendre régulièrement.

Pour d’autres, il paraît difficile de se concentrer pendant 3 ou 4 heures de suite.

Réfléchissez dont bien à cela et n’hésitez pas à essayer plusieurs formats si vous n’avez aucune idée de ce qui vous convient le plus. Une fois le format identifié, vous n’aurez plus qu’à l’appliquer aux semaines suivantes.

5) Avez-vous choisi votre mode de préparation?

Allez-vous préparer le GMAT seul avec des ouvrages?

Allez-vous prendre des cours particuliers?

Allez-vous suivre une formation en groupe?

Quelque-soit votre choix, sachez qu’un groupe d’étude stimule la motivation et permet aux étudiants de prendre du recul sur leur préparation et sur les obstacles qu’ils rencontrent.

N’hésitez donc pas à vous rapprocher d’étudiants qui passeront le GMAT dans les mêmes dates que vous afin de former un groupe d’étude agréable qui renforcera votre motivation et vous donnera un rythme de travail régulier.

6) Pour finir, soyez positif. Je sais que peu de français croient en la force de notre cerveau quand il est bercé d’ondes positives mais sachez qu’il a été prouvé scientifiquement qu’une personne optimiste qui considérait sa réussite plutôt que son échec ouvrait bien plus de potentiel et se donnait donc bien plus de chance de réussite que quelqu’un qui partait perdant.

Pour pratiquer, demandez vous chaque jour quels sont les 5 petits bonheurs que vous avez vécu aujourd’hui. Faites ceci pendant 21jours et je suis certaine que vous commencerez à voir les résultats.

A bientôt pour d’autres conseils!

Tips to start your GMAT preparation

Hello everyone,

You may think optimism is pretty light as a tip for success, ok. I still think you should try but there are other useful tips which you should consider:

1) start preparing well in advance (at least 6 months before your test)

2) get organized in your preparation.

A) Set yourself small and SMART objectives (scalable, measurable, achievable, realistic and time framed) in order to see and measure your improvements.

An example of these achievable objectives could be to learn 5 new words a day do 25 new words a week and make sure you use them at least once a day the first 2 weeks.

B) Make a work schedule to visualize your preparation.

Your first week should contain a placement test or mock GMAT to find out about your weaknesses and to establish a strategy.

Is English that much of a problem?

If it is so, select the problematic words of the instructions of the mock GMAT in order to list them and learn them by heart. The guidelines are most of the times the same in all the GMATs so the earlier you’ll know them, the easier it’ll get for you to understand your task.

Some books such as « Réussir le GMAT » (Dunod) translate the common guidelines in order to give you a help.

C) Consider a strategy to make progress.

Do you need to work 3 hours a week during one work session or is it easier for you to work 3x1hour in a week?

Do you need « fiches » which are organized by chapters, by GMAT part, by topic, by examples, by exercises…?

Do you have problems to concentrate during the full duration of the test?

Do you lose confidence when you couldn’t find an answer or when you see that the next question is easier than the one you’ve just answered?

3) Work in a study group or find students who will take the GMAT around the same date as you.

Learners usually study better when they’re together. It could boost your motivation as well as set a regular rhythm and give you an external advice on your preparation strategy and improvements.

That’s all for today.

I hope you will find these tips useful and that they’ll help you to get ready to take the GMAT.

Sophie Gallix

Succeeding is also a matter of mindset

Hello everyone,

You may think taking another of those language tests only has to do with hard work. Well, you’re not wrong, indeed it does but it’s not the only trick.

Being positive about your chances to succeed provided you’ve prepared sufficiently and you’ve worked regularly enough to know you can do it, will definitely help you.

You think it is too hard and you’ll never make it?

That’s a shame because by thinking this way, you deprive your brain of at least 40% of its possibilities.

How about thinking that there is no reason why you wouldn’t succeed?

How about giving your brain an extra 40% of its potential to help you to succeed?

I’m sure you’ve already experienced the result of positive thinking in your life. One day when you really prayed hard you would get your driving licence or maybe this other day when you thought so hard about getting 10/20 not to repeat your year.

You haven’t?

Why not traying then?

To start your positive thinking training, I suggest you to think about 5 positive things which happened to you today and this is to be done everyday for at least 21 days in a row.

You have nothing to lose trying so please give it a go and tell me if anything positive happened to you.