Some tips for conquering the mess that is Chinese! So I’ve been learning Chinese for a couple of years and I found this exam quite easy so I would recommend doing a few past papers and going through some of the advice below to prepare! Note that most of the advice is centred on exams rather than specific topics covered in the syllabus. If you want to revise each topic before the exam, I would suggest reading the topic list and possibly the minimum core vocabulary so you can get a better idea of the areas that need revising. For learning/reviewing key vocab or even sentences structures go to Quizlet (by far the best way of using flashcards for revision without having to actually make flashcards!)
Paper 1 – Listening
The listening paper consists of mostly multiple-choice type questions, with the exception of the last few questions where you are required to write (in pinyin or characters) the answers. Most people (like me!) tend to find the last portion difficult because the recording is quite fast and it is hard to grasp the answers to all the questions. My strategy is to read the questions carefully beforehand (maybe when the recording is repeating a previous exercise’s passage) and then underline the key question words such as:
- 为什么。。。？
- 。。。怎么样？
- 最喜欢什么。。。？
- 什么时候。。。？
- 。。。有什么好处？
This is so you can understand what the question is asking, and can then better identify the answer when it is spoken. When the interview/passage is spoken, you should aim to write down only the key points that are relevant to the question, because there will not be enough time to write down everything you hear. Remember that the answers for this can be written in pinyin too, so you don’t even have to know the characters! If you’re still having trouble with the pace, try using a pencil to write down the key things first and during the replay, correct or add to them to make your final answer more accurate. Your final answer still needs to be in pen.
There will be a short pause between the last four questions, so use these few seconds to prepare for answering the next two questions and don’t use this time to correct or work on the previous two questions as there will be time afterwards to do so. Another important thing to remember would be that the questions are based on an interview, so if there are one or two words that you don’t understand, it’s most likely the person’s name (don’t panic!) There will also be a few minutes during the exam after the recording is over, and this time is so you can look through the exam to check for any mistakes.
Throughout the exam, especially during the first part, I find myself getting bored because the speaker repeats each sentence twice, which I think is tedious, so I make use of this time by reading other portions of the exam. I go through the paper and write down the pinyin underneath the pictures so I know what I need to hear to tick that box. But be careful not to miss any other sections of the paper while doing this! If you prefer not to skip ahead, make use of this time to double check the answer you chose. There are some topics that I think are worth going over once or twice because they almost always tend to come up, such as 运动 (I saw bowling in the May/June 2016 paper?!), 衣服, 食物／餐饮, and definitely 爱好 (this has consistently come up in papers)
To revise for this paper, I recommend (okay this might be weird but) submerging yourself in Chinese culture; watch movies, listen to talk shows, music, anything that involves someone speaking the language. Although this might be hard to do in a non-chinese speaking country, it will really pay off when you are able to recognise common words and phrases when they are being spoken. I think going through vocabulary by hearing the words is a great way to get familiar with the all of these terms too, and websites like Quizlet are perfect for doing just that. CCTV Learn Chinese is a website that’s mostly for beginners but I found that by watching some videos, I was able to understand and learn more phrases and terms, which is helpful for parts of the exam when you are asked about action related words and activities.
Paper 2 – Reading
Paper 3 – Speaking
Paper 4 – Writing
IGCSE REVISION 