Writing Tests in a Foreign Language

How long was it since you last studied in a formal environment of a classroom, professor and classmates? Whether just a month ago or short of several years, the process of studying can be a daunting thing when you don’t quite know how to go about it.

I found it helpful to keep several things in mind when I did – and I was studying in German, not my native English! That adds a whole new spin to things. I had to be mindful of my grammar as well as the sense of my sentences. There were subjects where my answers were the only things that counted, others included a grammar score that could severely affect my final result.

Understand your Material

By far the most important thing for any studies in general, but it applies studying in a foreign language even more so. If I didn’t know what the key verbs of a sentence meant, I couldn’t apply the sentence later on in my tests unless I had it memorised – which I didn’t! I would use my textbook and notes as a word sheet and would look up new words once I’ve come across them. Sometimes I would mark them and get back to them later. I always made sure that the meaning was clear to me. It would then be much easier for me to write about it in my own words, rather than copying word to word out of the textbook.

Rewrite Simply

If you can rewrite a sentence to make it easier while keeping the meaning the same, do so! That’s what I did heavily in my exams. The passive tenses, the complex grammatical structures aren’t going to come to you in the hear of test answering season, so be ready to employ those simple wordings to get your message across.

Helping Verbs

In the languages that I’ve come across there have always been the simpler, street language words and the technical, precise book words. While you don’t need to know them all in the beginning, make it a habit to memorise some of the commonly used technical verbs, especially those you’d hear from your teacher.
Take English; it is notorious for its synonyms, there’s a whole book out for it. To get becomes to receive, to be made up of ends up being to consist of. It spices up any language when used wisely.

Examples in German I found very helpful: betragen, auftreten, beschäftigen sich mit etwas, befinden.

Keep Track of Time

In this context I mean to keep track of the tenses you use, whether in Active Voice or in Passive. Give your text a quick read and note the verbs that you made have made needlessly in the past tense, or otherwise.

Use Your Dictionary Well

There’s always a number of new words out there, whose gender I don’t know or keep forgetting (Die Arbeit, I’m looking at you!). Note them down after you’ve written your test and look them up in the dictionary for the correct gender. It would take up 5 minutes of your time, but would be extremely helpful if you’re writing a test where grammar plays a role.
This also goes for things like prepositions and the cases they should be employing; certain approved dictionaries carry little tables on their pages, explaining basic grammar. I’ve found tables dedicated to articles and prepositions on the pages of my Langenscheidt dictionary of German for Beginners. In fact, it really helps to familiarise yourself with it early on and see the possible ways of it helping you during tests.

Clarity

This applies to all writing universally, whether in a foreign language or in your own. Be clear! Understand what the topic asks of you and follow it. Sometimes too much may mean deducted points and pacing around the point is a sure way to weaken your essay.

What Are They Asking?

Depending on the exercise, you may be asked:
• To explain;
• to describe;
• to state your opinion on the subject;
• to write in points
• or write in full sentences;
• to make use of certain words during your writing;
• to utilise numeric facts from the text you’re analysing;
• to follow a certain format (this goes out especially for computer assignments!).
Read the instructions carefully! If you’re unsure, look it up, ask an attending. There may be valuable points buried in those instructions, points you could easily gain just be reading, points you can just as easily lose by overlooking. I’ve seen students getting their points cut for not following the given scale during plotting of a diagram or forgetting to print out their assignment in a landscape view.
The instructions will of course be different for everyone, but some additional ones I’ve noted during my study were:
• Leave space on both edges of the paper;
• Write your name on every page;
• Write your full name on every page;
• Sketch a graph as opposed to plotting a graph;
• Use your own language as opposed to writing it directly from the given text;
In all cases points were to be deducted or not given.

Studying in a foreign language can be tricky, but hopefully I’ve cleared out some things to help you begin.