How can I improve the way I express things?

flibbage0

flibbage0

flibbage0

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I have finally figured out why I did badly in my exams, it wasn't that I didn't know my stuff (well maths I knew I wasn't going to do well) but It was how I put it down on paper and I didn't actually understand what the question was asking me for.

The obvious way of improving my exam technique would be to do past papers.

But I want some advice on how I can improve my wording, would reading more help or writing essays help me?

Thanks.
 
Read more, write more, plan what you're going to write even under exam conditions.

That last one is particularly useful. When I was at school we were told to spend the first five minutes making sure we understood the question and then make a short plan. Briefly (one line each) write your intro, key points and conclusion. When you're done put one diagonal line through the plan and write "ROUGH" or "PLAN" along that line.

Doing this stops you from wondering off or reaching a dead end and if you run out of time then at least the examiner can see what you were trying to communicate. That might earn you a few extra marks or at least a little leniency.
 
flibbage0 said:
I have finally figured out why I did badly in my exams, it wasn't that I didn't know my stuff (well maths I knew I wasn't going to do well) but It was how I put it down on paper and I didn't actually understand what the question was asking me for.

The obvious way of improving my exam technique would be to do past papers.

But I want some advice on how I can improve my wording, would reading more help or writing essays help me?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I don't know what subjects you're doing so it's difficult to comment. However, I'm writing up some stuff for my EngD and have been having trouble with academic writing because I'm not used to doing it. I pulled out a couple of PhD's and had a look at the writing style, the sort of language used, arguing style etc. It was a massive help and I was able to alter my writing style to suit.

See if you can pull out some example (textbook) answers and look at the difference between the way you write and the way they write.

And obviously, the more you write the easier it gets.

Or so they keep telling me :D
 
It slightly depends what you want to do - if it's just for the sake of academic writing then doing as many past papers as you can and looking at model answers then using that style as a guide is probably a good way to go. As mentioned by jp_bl_68 plan your work, it's something I rarely do and that's why it can appear to be a long ramble.

If you want to improve your overall understanding and knowledge of writing and the English language then reading is the way forwards - read lots from a variety of styles and eventually you should develop an almost instinctive understanding of what works and what doesn't, how you make a sentence flow etc.
 
Read, read and read some more. You'll experience different writing styles and see that there are a variety of ways in which you can express yourself. Not a quick fix but do it anyway.
 
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