The 4 steps to pass or excel PSLE Chinese has helped countless students achieve their dream in PSLE Chinese and I think it could help even more students achieve at least a pass in PSLE Chinese so I’m sharing it to here with an updated version (version 2023).
Summary of the 4 Steps to Win PSLE Chinese
Step 1 study vocabulary of the textbooks in primary 5 to 6 daily, and revise weekly.
Step 2 Read up on all the good compositions and study their writing methods, then start to write something everyday.
Step 3 Study the scripts for all the topics for your oral examinations and read them out daily. try to take note of the important words and phrases in every topics. try to speak word in the scripts with relevant sentences naturally without hesitation.
Step 4 Ace the comprehension by reading stories and understand the plots and hidden agenda. read widely so that you get used to all kinds of expression and their hidden meaning. Then study the PSLE Comprehension questions and you will see they are mostly direct response questions and some higher order thinking questions. And learn to answer questions with relevant techniques.
“Love your study tips Mr Tan. I “graduated” from your PSLE Group to here. My 2 kids from Band 4(old grade) and AL4 to
Jean lee
A2 and AL2…thanks to your booster posts in the last leg of Prelim/PSLE. No tuition.”
Objective
This method of studying for PSLE Chinese is based to my years of experience in teaching my students in order to help them pass or excel in their PSLE Chinese. One boy went from 49/100 to C(AL6) in PSLE by doing the four steps accordingly and daily. By the way, He has never in p1 to p5 passed Chinese and yet he got a pass in PSLE, The ONE MARK is so hard yet he made it.
Why do I need to work hard?
Get it right, In PSLE, Chinese is the core subject and it will help you with your final AL Score which determined the secondary schools you can get into.
PSLE Chinese language is important! It is it more important than your gameplay? your Yotube Videos? your football match? your Sleepless time? your lazy time? and even your tit tok watching time. If any of the above reasons are more important to you, your results will be the results you are getting now.
“If you change nothing, Nothing will change.”
Step 1 Learn all the words
The First step to passing or surpassing your present score is to know all the words in the textbooks for primary 5 and 6. This is the foundation you will build that will help you learn Chinese faster. And the stronger this foundation, the more the improvement you will experience.
Words, not characters, are the foundation of Chinese passage, so studying characters do not really help with results. And persistence studying the words will improve your results. Because human tend to forget, so if you do not study the words daily, you will lose 50% of your effort in studying in 7 days. So to help retention of Chinese words, you have to study diligently everyday.
If you like to look at textbook reference materials, they are all in characters, and they do not put the materials in a way to help students study.
Try to get my primary 5 to 6 wordlist that are prepared with care so you can learn those words in one glance. Study 3-5 words a day and use the study methods introduced in the ebook for best effect.
After you learn all the 500-600 words in p5-6 textbooks, Step 2 to secure a pass in paper 2 in PSLE Chinese is to make sure you drill in the first 25 questions which are all mcq and easy to score. Aim for 50/50 and your pass paper 2! It’s that simple.
Step 2 Pass the compositions
After you got a pass in paper 2, step 2 is to beef up your composition.
Start by reading all the compositions you can get. After intensive reading, You will one day realize how to judge which composition are good while which are the not so good ones.
The 7 shortcuts to composition writing
1, learn as many good words and good sentences and learn to incorporate them into your essay! (Application is more important than memory work)another method, list down all your 好词佳句 and number them from 1onwards. Then everyday read 3-5 of them.
2, Read 1 page of composition daily from NOW! Reread your primary 4-6 Chinese textbook if you don’t have any compo book. Story books in Chinese are ok too. Read out loud if you are not confidence.
3, write a sentence about your life daily like 我今天要去楼下跑步，结果玩游戏太入迷，就忘了跑步。
4，be consistence by setting a time fixed for Chinese learning. Eg every day 4-4.30 pm is Chinese learning time.
5, Set your goals to study Chinese Now, AL6 or AL1 is just a grade, It YOU who will achieve them!
6, If you are easily distracted, then set alarm clock etc and remind yourself to study BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GET YOUR GOAL!
7, lastly, This is a friendly reminder, Failure is not an option, its your choice. If You do not start studying, YOU choose to FAIL your expectation, you have no one to blame!
* Even if you start doing point 1 to 3 now, you will see improvement in a few months. Good luck for the coming new year everyone!
Step 2 A1 mode
Don’t stop in 4 steps, add plot twists and introduce “angel and devil” plot into your compositionPlot: 我去动物园，我看到老虎，我喂老虎吃肉，我吓了一跳。我依依不舍离开动物园。plot twist：我去动物园，我看到老虎，我喂老虎吃肉，老虎大吼一声，管理人员马上拉住老虎！我吓了一跳。我依依不舍离开动物园。plot twist with angel and devil：我去动物园，我看到老虎，我好想喂老虎吃东西，但是老虎是危险动物，可能会伤害我。我喂老虎吃肉，老虎大吼一声，管理人员马上拉住老虎！我吓了一跳。我依依不舍离开动物园。
Step 2 advance: write 4 lines composition everyday.
By writing short sentences and short paragraphs daily, you will learn to write grammarly correct sentences and paragraph faster.
“Success is less about luck, more about practice.”
写笔记（无敌基本功之一）
日期：一月十五日
小六第一课词语
1，克服 ke fu overcome 克服困难
为了爬上山顶，我们一定要克服所有困难才能成功。
2，锻炼duan lian train 锻炼身体
弟弟为了准备当兵，天天锻炼身体。
锻（金字旁+段）炼（火字旁+练）（注意不是车）
3，测验 ce yan test 数学测验、
华文测验哥哥为了下周的测验，每天努力读书，希望考得理想成绩。
测试 test water 检测 test quality实验 experiment 检验 test for quality 验血blood test
造句练习：利用以上三个生词，写一句话。
妹妹怕高，为了（克服困难），她每天（锻炼身体），爬上高山练胆。哪里知道爸爸昨天还是给她一个（测验），结果她真的有了进步。
Step 1 and 2 combined daily practice advance study.
1, set a goal for PSLE Chinese grade! This is very important. Plan to win and you will win.
2, set aside everyday 30 minutes to study Chinese.
3, read aloud a paragraph or sentence in the textbook and study 3-5 words, their characters, pinyin, meaning and how to construct sentences with them.
4, start by writing One sentence everyday following simple grammar rule. When, who where what
Eg 今天晚上，我到公园去打太极拳。
5, then after one month write two sentences. And add one sentence every month.
6, by fifth month start writing in 4 steps. Introduce, develop, climax then ending.
7, by eight month start writing four sentences every paragraph and at least four paragraphs. If you persist you will win.
Composition training, most teachers train picture composition but I am different, I train pupils in mingti or themed composition! Why? because themed composition is more useful in life than picture composition, Secondary composition is mostly themed composition.
How to plan your picture compo?
1, Find out what is the Topic?
2, Observe the picture and take note of the details.
3, Use all the given 8 words and prepare all the 好词佳句、比喻句、拟人句etc.
4, Write the first paragraph with 4W: Who, when, where, what? and write about the characters. Write in first character 我 whenever possible.
5, write the story with a plot and a twist to attract eye ball.
6, if you are not moved by your words, teachers would not be moved by you too.
Step 3 Recitation and Oral conversation
To beat recitation and learn all the 7 topics in Oral conversations by heart. And train in talking till you can say out topic relevant words like its your own.
in order to master oral communication you need to be outstanding in recitation and communication.
The key to preparing for Chinese Oral conversation is to understand the vocabulary and phrases for different topics. Practice until one can say them out like second nature.
Best to teach the script, make sure students can speak fluently using those vocabulary for every topics like the back of their hand. Then you score.*Oral recitation is VERY IMPORTANT TOO, most parents just dismiss those 20 marks.
read aloud a sentence every day will help with recitation.
To ace the oral conversation, you need to know the 3 questions for PSLE Oral conversation:-
1, Describe the action that strikes you in the video and tell the teacher what you learnt from the actions in the video
2, (your experience) with the topic
3, How to encourage pupils/students/children to demonstrate the topic.
This is the very first video I have posted regarding training for PSLE Oral conversation. Its based on the script I’ve used to train students and their responses. Click the picture to learn more about oral conversation:-
The key thing to studying Oral examinations is to know the topics by heart, and you must be familiar with the relevant nouns and you win half the battle.
环保—-节省——节省用电——没用就关灯关冷气；
地铁站——车资卡——地铁闸zha门 等
会话的三道基本问题
A）复述内容 （Content）说一说……
•例1：说一说你在录像中看到的一件有关节省资源的事。
•转向问题：录像中的孩子有什么值得我们学习的地方？
•例2：谈一谈你在录像中看到的一件好事？
•例3：说一说你在录像中看到的一件有关保护环境的事
B）个人经验 （Experience）
•例1：除了录像中所提到的，我们在日常生活中还可以怎样节省资源?
•转向问题：说一说我们在学校可以如何节省资源。
•例2：除了录像中所看到的，谈谈你或你的同学做过的一件好事。
•例3：说一说你在日常生活中为保护环境做过的一些事。
•转向问题：说一说你这样做有什么好处。
C）提出建议/观点
•例1：你认为学校可以通过什么方法，让同学们知道节省资源的重要性？
•转向问题：你认为不节省资源会有怎样的后果？
•例2：你认为学校应该怎么做，才能让孩子们在保护环境方面尽一份力？
•转向问题：你认为大家都能为环保尽一份力，有什么好处？
•例3：你认为我们应该对残障人士伸出援手吗？为什么？
Get you PSLE Oral guide with 2022 PSLE oral topics and scripts now.
Link to my PSLE Chinese oral guide with 7 basic topics and their scripts plus 2020 to 2022 PSLE Chinese oral topics and their Scripts. Scripts are the best way for most to repeatedly read out and get used to when pupils practice for their oral papers.https://mrtansg.com/downloads/psle-chinese-oral-guide-ebook/
Step 4 ace the comprehension questions
蜕变需要从天天读课文开始，每天读一页。然后确实明白所有识读字和识写字的汉语拼音、意思、配词、造句。短期可能像在看草长大，一点都没有长进，不必灰心。六个月后才会开始有质的进步。一年才能见成绩。期间就是不断努力，绝不放弃。这是从根本解决问题的方法，效果可以持续到中学二年级（如果成绩超过AL3以上）
there are actually three types of comprehension questions:-
1, which noun has this meaning question
2, who what where when how questions
3, higher order thinking questions.
why you still need to know the meaning of the words in Chinese? Because you will need it when you encountered comprehension first questions.
Direct questions involving who, where, when, what, why are quite easy to answer and some pupils gave up. Please, these are the questions that you want to score full marks on!
One of the higher ordered thinking questions is “XXX是一个怎样的人？”（最好在以下形容词中找答案）
懂事 dǒng shì Understanding
善良 shàn liáng Kind-hearted
孝顺长辈 xiào shùn Filial
聪明 cōng míng Smart
大方 dà fāng Generous
认真 rèn zhēn Serious
勤劳 qín láo Hardworking
用功 yòng gōng Studious”
诚实 chéng shí Honest
做事坚持不懈 jiān chí Persevere
积极 jī jí Enthusiastic
乐观 lè guān Positive
谦虚 qiān xū Humble
负责任 fù zé rèn Responsible
守信用 shǒu xìn yòng Keeps promises
有礼貌 yǒu lǐ mào Well mannered
有耐心 yǒu nài xīn Patient
有爱心 yǒu nài xīn Kind-hearted
有公德心 yǒu gōng dé xīn Civic-minded
有同情心 yǒu tóng qíng xīn Compassionate”
尊重他人 zūn zhòng tā rén Respect others
乐于助人 lè yú zhù rén Helpful
为人着想 wèi rén zhuó xiǎng Think of others
知错能改 zhī cuò néng gǎi Learn from mistake
勇敢/见义勇为 yǒng gǎn /jiàn yì yǒng wèi Courageous
How to score in Comprehension in six months?
Note: This is provided you have already passed comprehension. If not it would take one to one and a half year.
Step 1: Start by reading the textbook passages aloud a sentence at a time, then a paragraph at a time, then a passage at a time. There should not be any hesitation in reading, and the reading should be fluent and a bit loud. Word recognition, vocabulary, sentence construction and paragraphing is the key to comprehension so one has to know all these before even understanding the passage.
Step 2: Memorise the storyline of each passage and start by memorising the paragraph then a few paragraph then the whole passage. To test memory, just write out the storyline IN THEIR OWN WORDS. Comprehension is the understanding of passages aka composition. So a strong foundation in composition is required to improve comprehension. To write the storyline in their own words meant one’s level of understanding of the passage.
Step 3: Read a lot of grade A primary 5/6 compositions and memorise a few of the best. And try to write their own stories.
Reading Storybook and Novel help one gain insight to the way of storytelling helping one understand the hidden meaning behind each line.
Step 4: drill with past year Primary 6 school papers comprehension questions 34 to 40 daily and check with answer sheet what they missed. using this trial and error method one can understand the passage and get some idea what is required of their answers.Now that is a lot of work so practically not many will complete it. Those who do those work daily will win.
I have a pupil who are super weak in comprehension who score like 22/40 at the beginning of the year. I done with him the 4 steps and in the prelims he got 34/40.SO If you want to make the reading interesting, you can read the story with them first and add LOTS of dramatic effects to attract their attention.
Is there a short cut to score in PSLE Chinese
The method to win PSLE Chinese is consistent effort with daily studying and determination to win, It is not an easy path, there is no short cuts or super easy way to success.
Conclusion
The four parts of the examination in PSLE Chinese is very important and you have to pay attention to details to win!