SECTION III: WRITING (30 MARKS)

Write an essay on the topic given in NOT LESS than 350 words.

Good English skills are vital so succeeding in life, in terms of education, career, and personal
relationships. Many people want to improve their English, but it can be band to know how to
go about it. Discuss the main areas that have to be worked on to improve your English

Guidelines:

1. Write an essay consisting of 1 introduction, 3 body paragraphs and 1 conclusion.

2. In each body paragraph, you need to discuss one main area to improve your English.
Example essay 1:-

English is now the international language .So it is very important to learn English
well. We should study English in the correct way, so that we can make the most of the time
we spend learning English. Discovering ways to improve their English is a problem which
baffles many students. There are three ways to improve English

First of all, we have to learn many English words and study English grammar in great
detail. Reading is the best way to increase vocabularies and learn how to avoid making
grammar errors. If we read magazines written in English, regular reading will make it easier
for us to remember the many new words we come across. Having a dictionary is just like
having a teacher close at hand. We need to use a dictionary to look up those words that we
don't know. It makes reading a very enjoyable pastime.

Secondly, besides learning to read English, we must learn to understand spoken

English, and practice speaking. Try listen to radio stations, if at first you don't understand,
keep listening and maintain a regular habit of listening to radio stations. Repeat after the
broadcast and learn how to pronounce correctly and frequently.

Thirdly, we should try to talk with Americans, find native English-speaking people
who will give you conversation practice. Don't be afraid to speak, afraid to be laughed at. If
we never learn to take risks to open mouths, it will be impossible to improve speaking skills.
There is no reason to be ashamed of speaking poor English. If we can learn from our
mistakes, failure can become part of our success. In fact, the secret of success may come
from failure.

In conclusion, there is no short cut to learning English. Persistence is the major secrets
of success. If you want use English as your native language, don't ever give up trying to
achieve your goal. If we are prepared to work hard at it, we will be successful in the end.
Example essay 2:

Today, English is used widely. It has become the most popular language of
communication between countries and in many fields of human endeavor. So it is important
that we learn to use English. Otherwise we will be at a disadvantage. The only effective way
of improving my English is to use it, as often as possible.

In school, the only time when English is used is during English lessons. That certainly
is not enough. So wherever possible I speak English with some friends and teachers who will
or can speak English with me.

Reading book, magazines and newspapers are good ways of improving my English.
On the whole they are grammatically correct. We may speak incorrect English and get away
with it. Not so with printed words, they have to be correct. Through reading, I learned how to
use correct English in writing and speaking, though at times I still speak the broken English
that many of us speak here.

Watching television and listening to the radio are two more ways of improving my
English. English as it is spoken by the English, Americans, Malaysians and others are
distinctly different.

So I continue to use English, that is, hear, read, speak and write it. Some of my friends
only hear and read it. They can hardly speak or write it, but I will not be like them. I will try
my best to master it.

endeavor an attempt to do something

get away with escape the consequences

distinctly clearly noticeable

Example essay 3

Good English skills are vital to succeeding in life, in terms of education, career, and
personal relationships. This means that many people want to improve their English, but it can
be hard to know how to go about it. There are three main areas that have to be worked on:
pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
Getting the pronunciation right is something that many international students worry
about, but that people born in English-speaking countries often forget about, but it is equally
important for all. After all, pronouncing the words you use correctly makes you look far more
intelligent. The first step to improving pronunciation is often to slow down your speech a
little and think a bit more carefully. Pay attention to consonants, particularly at the end of
words (as these are often missed off in speech), and make sure sounds like "sh" and "th"
come out properly. A good way to improve pronunciation is often to watch English movies in
which people are speaking properly.
The second way to improve your English is to widen your vocabulary. One good way
to do this is to learn a new word (or a few) every day, and make an effort to use them.
Reading is also important in learning new words, as is looking up words you don't know in a
dictionary so that you will be able to use them yourself. Making sure that you fully
understand the meaning is really important, though, because it is no good using new words if
you don't use them in the correct place.
Because of this, just knowing a dictionary definition may not be enough; you will
need to know in what contexts the new word can be used or you could say something that
makes no sense. The same applies to colloquial phrases, which many people use incorrectly
after hearing them one time (perhaps used by a friend in the wrong context). Understanding
the register is very important too, as you don't want to use slang in a formal context, or
alienate people in social situations with overly complex words that only serve to make you
look arrogant.
The final thing to really work on is grammar, and spelling and punctuation with it.
Reading will help a great deal in this respect, as you can learn from seeing it used properly.
There are also plenty of websites and books available to help with grammar and punctuation
if you're unsure of how to use something. Improving your grammar is so important because
spellcheckers still aren't advanced enough to pick up most errors, or even incorrectly tell us to
change something. Pronunciation and vocabulary must be improved though too, as all are
equally important and all affect your grasp of the English language.