Analytical skills are necessary when doing N Level English comprehension. This is usually one of the biggest hurdles for students as analytical skills require you to think of what the words infer and what sort of action it is prompting. Analysing requires you to have a rather good idea of the vocabulary and inferences from the start.
Here are six ways you can improve your analytical skills:
Reading and understanding exercises
One way to go about it is to read more short stories, which are a great for brushing up on your analytical skills. Not only are they fun and easy to read, some stories are only 5-pages long. You may think that practising comprehension passages is the best approach, but there is no point of doing something repetitively without first tackling the issue from the root.
Try to understand what you are reading, particularly surrounding the theme of the story and what the main character’s concerns are. Make an effort to probe and get at where the story is trying to lead you. Think of all these pointers when you are reading and hopefully, you will get your answers.
Doing short comprehension passage questions
Now is the time to take a stab at your short comprehension passage questions. After reading a few stories, doing short comprehension passage questions is great as they are easy to do and enables you to improve at a quicker pace. There are loads of free resources online, and when you do practice, try to be as accurate as possible.
If you do short passages, it is really easy for you to do them on a daily basis without them clashing with your school work. Short passages also tend to focus on the character, motive, and interaction with other characters. This will help you focus on the analysis portion of the questions.
Doing vocabulary exercises
Vocabulary exercises should be a foundation for your English paper. Not only will you have a stronger understanding of the meanings of the words and phrases, but this will also allow you to engage with words of better quality. This will be your departure from more simple words that may have carried on from your primary school days.
Learning new words also means that you will constantly be analysing new types of phrases, with some of which that may even be trending. Language is always undergoing change, so keeping up with current trends in both spoken and written forms means that you will always be at the forefront of all types of communication skills.
Read the newspapers
Reading the newspaper may seem cliché, but it is in fact one of the best methods to enhance your analytical skills. Reading is always great for the curious mind, and what better way to satisfy your curiosity than to learn about the latest happenings around the globe?
Once you read the papers, you will get an instant grip on breaking news. You will know what the focus of the current world is. More importantly, you will learn how impactful simple writing can be. Journalistic news is meant to be concise and straightforward. Take a look at the style of writing and try to understand what is being written.
Analyse meanings of phrases or words when watching the TV
This may be a really fun way of learning. After all, what could be better than tuning in to your favourite movie or TV show to enhance your analytical skills? The next time you are able to sit in front of the TV, really listen to what the characters are saying and if you can, tune in to a detective show or a recommended drama.
Better yet, select your favourite genre. Listen to the language used and use your smartphone to look up any meanings of words you do not quite comprehend. Keep a list of such words in your phone – you will have no idea how handy this could be!
Write short stories on analysing characters
If you really want to go all the way, there is no harm attempting to write short stories about anything at least once a week. This could be regarding your favourite theme or character. Use the vocabulary and words you have been jotting down in your phone. Try to remember writing these words and watch the way your story shapes up.
Remember, practice makes perfect after all. When you put all these tips into practice, you will eventually boost your analytical skills. All the best!