Exam Skills – Angličtina Youradio Talk

Adam: The period itself is stressful but I tend to, I tend to do my best work in exams. Stepanka: Of course, every exam is stress, or stressful, so it depends how well you are prepared. Male: Exams are, I think exams are good. Leila: If I don’t have that pressure in the end, to study, I will not study so hard. So it’s better if we have the exams in the end, and we will try to improve our English. to tend to - "mít tendenci" to depend - záležet in the end - nakonec (abstraktně) at the end - na konci (konkrétně) to improve - vylepšit, zlepšit Mark Shea: Perhaps the most important thing is to make sure you’re doing the right exam. It’s very easy to sign up for an exam which is either much too easy or much too difficult for you. You need to get some good advice perhaps from your teacher and maybe do some practice exams before you sign up for the exam. [These exams tend to be quite expensive. ] You want to make sure that you’ve got the right exam from the beginning. to make sure - ujistit se the right exam - správná zkouška to sign up - zapsat se do advice - rada expensive - drahý Karen Adams: When you enrol on an exam course, the first thing to find out is: When is the exam, how long have I got to study? So that can actually help you plan your study time. It’s very important to think about planning how you’re going to work. to enrol on - zapsat se do to find out - zjistit Mark Shea: You also need to familiarise yourself with the format of the exam right from the beginning. You need to make sure that the exercises that you use for practice throughout your course are similar to the exercises in the real exam. And you need to work towards the exam right from the beginning of the course. You always need to have the exam in the back of your mind. Don’t think that you can get by with just a few weeks of hard work close to the exam, because well language learning is a slow process of absorption and you need to think about the exam right from day one. to familiarise oneself with - obeznámit se, seznámit se s throughout the course - "skrz" – během celého kurzu in the back of your mind - na paměti you can get by - vystačí vám Mark Shea: Seek advice, pick the right exam, and stay focussed on the exam right to seek - vyhledat to focus on - zaměřit se na Karen Adams: Think ahead; plan your time, and find out exactly what you need to do for the exam.

Mark Shea: To pass most English Language exams you will be required to build your vocabulary quite a bit to reach the correct level for the exam. to pass an exam - udělat, složit zkoušku you will be required to - budete potřebovat, muset to reach - dosáhnout Margaret John: You know what really makes the difference between a fair and an excellent performance in exams? It’s knowing how to learn your vocabulary. fair - slušný performance - výkon Margaret John: You have to start by buying the right dictionary. And not an English dictionary – a Learner English dictionary, which is quite a different thing. to start by - začít něčím Margaret John: Because with that you’ll find that you’ll have a tremendous number of entries, you’ll have far more explanation about how the language works in context, and you’ll also have a full description of the etymology of the word – that is, the source of the word and its real meanings, and also of course its pronunciation. All of these things are essential. tremendous number - obrovský počet entry - položka, údaj description - popis source - zdroj essential - nezbytný Margaret John: You need to be able to write down not just the word ‘heart’, and to know what the actual physical heart is in the body, but you have to recognise the heart has then got a series of expressions related to it, and also it has emotional expressions related to it. And that’s the way to start looking at your vocabulary. to write down - zapsat si to recognise - uvědomit si, rozpoznat to be related to - být příbuzný, odvozený Margaret John: Don’t expect to remember them all, you won’t. But you will recognise them when you read them, you’ll hear them, you’ll observe them. And that way you can develop a really good passive understanding of vocabulary, as well as knowing, right from the beginning, what a heart really is, in English. to expect - očekávat to recognise - poznat, rozpoznat to observe - pozorovat that way - tím způsobem develop - vyvinout, vytvořit right from the beginning - od samého začátku Margaret John: The really important thing to remember is that you have to look down the entries in a dictionary that you don’t just stop with the plain definition. And most importantly, you have to buy the right dictionary: a good English Learner dictionary. to look down - vyhledat plain - pouhý and most importantly - a co je nejdůležitější,...

Anna : I think it’s really important. Even when you study for ten minutes vocabulary and you learn five words every day, it’s really useful. useful - užitečný Margaret John: Do you know why so many Cambridge Proficiency students struggle with their Use of English section of the exam? It’s because they never learnt their vocabulary properly in the first place. So I’m going to tell you today: never learn a word in isolation. Cambridge Proficiency - název zkoušky struggle - zápasit in the first place - v prvé řadě Margaret John: All words in English have got little words attached to them – things like prepositions, things like articles, they might have adjectives that are important for that particular description. But most importantly you have to begin by learning every word with its dependent preposition, the preposition that must go with it. to be attached - být připojen dependent preposition - předložka, která k němu patří to go with it - patřit Margaret John: If you don’t do that, you can actually change the meaning of the words. for example, if I say to you, ‘to get away from something’, I mean ‘to avoid something.’ But if I say ‘to get away with something’ I mean ‘you didn’t get caught or punished.’ to get away from - vyhnout se něčemu to avoid something - vyhnout se něčemu to get away with - nebýt chycen, vyváznout to punish - potrestat Margaret John: So remember: Don’t waste your time. When you are learning a word, learn it with the preposition that goes with it. And, if you really want to know how to use it, write 3 or 4 of your own examples. to waste - mrhat (něčím) Mark Shea: You need to write down new words, perhaps including an example sentence for each of them, and you need to check with your teacher that your example sentences are correct. including - včetně example - příklad example sentence - vzorová věta to check - zkontrolovat correct - správný Mark Shea: You need to practice using this vocabulary. Writing it down once isn’t enough. You need example sentences and you need to make sure that you try and use your new vocabulary on a daily basis, perhaps in class or perhaps outside of class. So remember, be systematic about vocabulary. on a daily basis - denně Mark Shea: You need to revise your vocabulary on a regular basis, perhaps once after 24 hours and once a week. It’s not enough to write a word down to learn the word. You need to use the word to really acquire it. to revise - opakovat, učit se on a regular basis - pravidelně to acquire - osvojit si

Mark Shea: It’s very important that you treat vocabulary building systematically. You need to keep all of your new vocabulary in a particular place. It’s not enough to write it down on loose sheets of paper which you’ll never look at again. So you need a vocabulary notebook. treat - počínat si, zacházet (s něčím) vocabulary building - budování, rošiřování si slovní zásoby loose sheets of paper - volné papíry notebook - sešit Noriko: Actually I love revising, and I love to do the work that I’ve just done at school and I love to make vocabulary notebooks. Well I try to check the vocabulary notebooks every day. vocabulary notebooks - slovníčky to check - zkontrolovat, podívat se (na) Margaret John: I’ve seen lots of students walking around with copious notebooks filled with strings and strings of vocabulary, and these same students are rather despairing at the end of their exams because they’ve never been able to remember any of it. copious - hojný, nezčetný strings and strings of - řada, záplava rather - poněkud despairing - zoufalý Margaret John: One of the main problems is recording your vocabulary in a way that will help you remember it. And to do that, you have to gather together words and phrases in clusters that make sense, that connect with each other – because simply it helps the brain remember them. In other words, you can’t record words in isolation. to record - zapisovat, zaznamenávat to gather - shlukovat, dávat dohromady cluster - chumel, shluk, skupina that connect with each other - které k sobě patří to make sense - dávat smysl in other words - jinými slovy Margaret John: So, to begin at the beginning, buy the right notebook. You need a small ringbinder, with an alphabetical card system. This way you can group words under topics, and add more pages as you need them. You have to write down lists of words that connect with each other, words and phrases in clusters. That’s the way you’re going to remember them. ringbinder - kroužkový blok (pořadač) to group - dát dohromady, seskupit, přiřadit topic - téma to add - přidávat Margaret John: What about City Life, or your City? Start by writing down on a piece of paper as many words that you can think of, or words from your textbooks, or words from your articles, just any words that are to do with the city. textbook - učebnice article - článek that are to do with - mají něco společného s… Margaret John: Work out the headings under which to store your words. For example: Location, Work, Leisure, Facilities, Culture. And then you’ll find that the words will not only slip naturally into place, but you’ll begin to think of other words that will go under those headings. headings - hlavička, titul to store - ukládat, shromažďovat to slip - vklouznout Margaret John: So the thing you have to remember, is that you can begin by writing down hundreds of words, but you have to organise those words, if you’re going to have a really efficient word map, and be able to use them in examinations. word map - "slovní mapa"

Alexander: You know right from the beginning sort of that that’s what you’re working towards and then it’s up to everyone to strategise in whatever way works best for them. it’s up to everyone - je na každém z vás Mark Shea : It’s a good idea to draw up a revision timetable and stick to it. Remember that language learning takes a long time. It’s a slow process of absorption. So you need to start revising very early, and don’t think that you can learn new things the night before the exam. to draw up - sestavit, navrhnout, koncipovat timetable - rozvrh, plán to stick to it - držet se ho, dodržovat Karen Adams: Don’t try to push everything into the last two or three days before the exam, try to work towards it gradually, and leave a day before the exam where you don’t study anything, where you just relax, and think about how much you’ve learnt already. to push everything - nechat/odsunout vše (do dvou posledních dnů) Ahmed: I try to stay concentrated in the class, to follow what the teacher says. And then when I go back home I look back at my day’s work every night. to follow - sledovat, dávat pozor Ahmed: For myself, good notes help me to learn a lot of things. Even when I go back home and try to revise, I write it a second time. Maybe it’s a summary or something like that, but it helps me to remember things. So yeah for me notes are really important. notes - poznámky summary - souhrn, shrnutí Anna: Every day I try to revise minimum (pron manimum) for half an hour, listening, reading, vocabulary and speaking. Karen Adams: Don’t try to read everything that you’ve covered during your course. Don’t try to memorise everything. It’s important for you to think about what you’ve learnt, and how you use it. This is particularly important in English Language exams because the questions are unpredictable. You need to think about 'How do I use this bit of language? What can I say using this bit of language?' So don’t try to memorise everything, but think about how you are going to use the language. to cover - probrat to memorise - naučit se nazpaměť unpredictable - nepředvídatelný Stepanka : Well the thing that always works for me is when I revise with a classmate, so we revise together, and we check each other’s answers, and discuss mistakes, or errors we make. That helps me really a lot. it works for me - to mi vyhovuje classmate - spolužák mistakes, errors - chyby Karen Adams: First: don’t try to memorise everything, but think about how you use language. And second: plan your programme of revision, and don’t leave it until the last minute.

Stepanka : Well I think I try to build my confidence, long beforehand, and if I go to school and try these tests beforehand, then I can gain some confidence. to build my confidence - vybudovat si (sebe)jistotu long beforehand - dávno před tím to gain - získat Male student: We have got some test papers and we do it and after that they can score for us. to score - vyhodnotit, obodovat, oznámkovat Karen Adams: First of all, try to set aside some time where you can actually do a mock examination. A mock exam is one where you try to complete an examination paper just as you would do in an exam room. Even if your course doesn’t provide a mock exam, try to set some time aside at home, where you can practice on your own. This helps you develop your exam technique. And remember, a lot of success in exams depends on good technique. to set aside - ušetřit, nechat to mock - napodobovat a mock exam - zkouška nanečisto to provide - zajistit, nabízet to set some time - určit si, stanovit si to develop - vypracovat success - úspěch to depend on - záležet na Mark Shea: It’s not always obvious, it’s not always written on the exam paper, which is why you need to study the exam. It’s not just a test of your English, it’s a test of your exam skills. And you need to be fully aware of how many marks there are for each part before the exam. Now it’s usually pretty easy to get copies of past exams. Study the exam before you take it. obvious - zřejmý, jasný skills - schopnost, zkušenost,obratnost to be fully aware - být si plně vědom past exams - předešlé zkoušky Karen Adams: So it’s very important to know about the instructions for each type of task. Look at some past papers and look particularly at the instructions and what they ask you to do. This way you’ll get used to the kind of tasks that you’re going to be asked to do in the real exam. task - úkol, zadání particularly - zvláště get used to - zvyknout si Karen Adams: Number one: try to do a mock exam, so you get to try out your exam technique. And number two: always pay attention to the instructions in the different types of questions. Get used to the instructions before you go into the exam. to try out - vyzkoušet si pay attention - věnovat pozornost Male student: If you do lots of practice it won’t be really hard for you, difficult. You can do it.

Stepanka: Work hard before your exams. Try to really cover all the things you think are necessary to be covered. But don’t revise the evening before the exam. Just go for a walk, or listen to relaxing music, so you feel quite well in the morning before the exam and just don’t panic, don’t be nervous and you will do fine. to cover - probrat, projít just don’t panic - hlavně nepropadejte panice Mark Shea: You need to remember that everybody is nervous before exams. It’s not just you. Stress is part of the adrenalin in your system preparing yourself to perform, and it can help you. Also you need to remember it’s only an English Language exam, it’s not the end of the world. If you’ve chosen the right exam, and you’ve done all the coursework, you’ll pass. And if you don’t, you can always take the exam again. to perform - podat výkon Anna: I try not to think about it. Especially one day before I try to relax - don’t repeat anything, because then I’m really confused. So I just go and I think ok it’s once, it will be only 2 hours, and then I’m free. confused - zmatený, popletený Karen Adams: Remember too to take all of the materials that you’re supposed to take with you. Often you need to take a form of identification with you to an exam room, if you’re doing an international exam for example. a form of identification - průkaz totožnosti Mark Shea: First of all you need to arrive early for the exam. You need to know where the exam’s taking place and make sure that you’re there in good time. No-one needs the stress of rushing around to try and find an exam room. to take place - konat se rushing around - zmateně pobíhat Karen Adams: Try to arrive at the exam venue in plenty of time, so you can find out where the room is, what you need to do ahead of time, and get yourself something to drink or maybe something to eat. exam venue - místo, kde se zkouška koná plenty of time - spoustu času, s předstihem Noriko: If I’m really really nervous then I could do something wrong, very silly mistakes, even before the exam starts like [forget writing my name down, or] forget to put necessary items on the table, things like that. [But I’m not really a person who gets nervous so I’m lucky.] I try to think about something else actually before the exam. And when I’m calmed down I try to think calmly about what is happening at the moment. silly - hloupý writing my name down - podepsat se items - předměty to calm down - uklidnit se Mark Shea: Just get some sleep, don’t revise, and arrive bright and fresh for the exam. bright and fresh - "bystrý a čerstvý"

Male student: I try to concentrate and not to think about the result, and not to think about the person who is sitting in front of me. I try to imagine as I’m, I’m doing it for myself. This is my way. Stepanka: Try to concentrate on your own knowledge and just be aware of the fact that you’ve done the most for the exam. Think only about yourself and only about the exam. knowledge - znalosti be aware of - uvědomovat si Mark Shea : During the exam itself, time management is essential. Doing an exam successfully is to a large extent a question of good time management. If you’ve done practice exams before, you should have a good idea of how long each part should take you, and when you have to hurry. Take a big clock into the exam room with you, but not one that ticks too loudly. time management - rozvrhnout si čas to a large extent - z velké míry to hurry - spěchat to tick - tikat Mark Shea: Some exam rooms have large clocks on the wall, but if you haven’t seen the exam room before you won’t know that. My advice is to take a digital alarm clock, something with really big numbers that you can see really easily, rather than a small wristwatch which is going to take you time to actually see. And divide the exam into parts, and make sure you spend the right amount of time on each part. wristwatch - náramkové hodinky to divide - rozdělit the right amount of time - odpovídající čas Mark Shea: Remember you don’t necessarily have to do the exam in the order that is written on the paper. You might want to do the part that carries the most marks first. carries the most marks - počítá se za něj nejvíc bodů Karen Adams: Planning your time will help you get all the way through to the end of the exam paper, and to do your best in all of the questions. Karen Adams: One of the main problems that lots of people have in exams is that they know lots of things, but they don’t actually answer the question. This means that you can’t actually score very good marks. So remember, do read the question carefully. Mark Shea : Arrive early. Take a big clock, keep an eye on the time. Do the parts that carry the most marks first, and make sure you know how much time you have for each part of the exam. to keep an eye - sledovat Karen Adams: Pay very close attention to the instructions, so that you can be sure you’re really answering the question. Karen Adams: When you leave the exam room, remember, you’ve done your best and it’s over. There is no point in worrying about what you’ve actually done. So try to leave the exam behind when you leave the exam room. Don’t spend lots of time with your friends comparing what you wrote, comparing what you think you said. [Quite often it’s difficult to remember what you actually did say.] When you leave the exam room, remember, leave the exam behind. it’s over - skončilo to to leave behind - zapomenout, vypustit to compare - porovnávat

Anna: I think that one of the best things is watching TV because even if you don’t understand it you can understand it from the picture, but your listening skills are improved. But even better I think it’s radio, listening to the radio, because you have to concentrate only on sounds, not on the picture. to improve - zlepšit Ahmed: I may say that listening is easier for me because now I can see a lot of movies, I have a lot of TV channels and I made the choice to watch all the movies in English, to watch all the TV shows in English, and I’m used to English now. So maybe I would say that listening is easier for me. movie - film Margaret John: When you start preparing for Listening exams, a good thing to do at home is to listen to the tape in quite a noisy environment - because it forces you to focus on the key speakers, with background noise and distracters going on. tape - kazeta, páska noisy - hlučný environment - prostředí to force - nutit to focus - soustředit se the key speakers - hlavní mluvčí background - pozadí distract - rušit, rozptylovat Margaret John: Some examinations deliberately put distracters, such as noisy environments like tube stations and bus stations and airports, behind the speakers. If you’ve been practising listening that way, you will be in a much better position in exam conditions to be able to handle this problem. tube stations - stanice metra conditions - podmínky to handle - zvládnout, vypořádat se Margaret John: So when you’re listening at home, it’s important to listen in an environment that is not completely noise-free. A busy sitting room or a kitchen is not a bad place to do a listening test.] Mark Shea: Perhaps first and foremost, make sure you can hear properly. If you have a problem, tell the examiner right at the beginning. After the exam is too late. So if there’s a window open, ask to close the window. If you’re too far from the tape recorder, ask to sit closer. first and foremost - především, ze všeho nejdřív tape recorder - magnetofon Mark Shea: Then if you miss something during the exam, keep going with the next question. Don’t get caught up in something which has already passed you by. to miss - propást, utéct (něco někomu) to keep going - pokračovat to get caught up in something - zaseknout se na něčem,zarazit se Noriko - Well when you didn’t catch the answer, and you have to leave a gap because you didn’t understand it, then try not to care about it and try to forget the mistakes and go straight to other things. gap - mezera

Karen Adams : First of all, the important thing to remember: don’t panic. It’s very easy when you’re listening to a text to think ‘Oh, I’ve missed something’, and to become very worried. But remember, usually in a listening exam, you’ll hear the text more than once. You’ll normally hear it twice, or sometimes even three times. Mark Shea: Make sure you’re familiar with the structure of the exam. Sometimes you’ll hear things one time only, sometimes you might hear things twice. You need to know whether you’re going to hear once or twice. Are they going to repeat parts? Or will you hear only once? to be familiar with - být obeznámen Mark Shea: It’s important to read the question before you hear the tape, so you know what to listen for. Are you listening for specific information, or is it more a kind of global understanding that will be important in answering the question? Margaret John : Another golden rule that will really help you in a Listening Exam is to keep your finger on the question. Don’t be distracted by all that other language going around. So keep your eyes on the question. When you’ve heard the answer to that question, move straight to the next question, and put your finger on it, and pay attention to that and that alone. Don’t be distracted by all the other information going on around you. golden rule - "zlaté pravidlo" Margaret John: If you want to see what I’m talking about, look at a copy of a transcript, and you’ll find that there’s often 6, 7, 8 even 9 lines between one answer and the next. So the important thing to do is to put your finger on the question, and listen only for that question to be answered. You’ll find that you will pick it up that way. transcript - přepis (mluvené řeči) to pick up - zachytit Mark Shea: If you have the chance to hear things twice, try and form an opinion the first time you listen, and then the second time you listen you should be confirming that your guess was right the first time. Make sure that you do listen the second time, and don’t just think that you’ve got the answer right the first time round. to confirm - potvrdit guess - odhad Karen Adams: Try to get the answers to the most obvious questions first time round, and then use the second listening to answer the more difficult questions, and to check your answers to the more obvious ones. first time round - poprvé Mark Shea: If you have the opportunity to listen twice, make sure you listen twice; and make sure you know the format of the exam: are you going to hear once? Or are you going to hear twice? format of the exam - způsob zkoušení, povaha zkoušky Margaret John: What you have to remember is to keep your finger on the question. You try it, and you’ll find that you will improve your score by up to 30% almost immediately. score - počet bodů