Syllabus and Strategy for English Language | IBPS PO Mock Test Series 2024 & Past Year Papers - Bank Exams PDF Download

The growth of e-commerce and widespread usage of the Internet have made English the default language of the banking world.

Therefore, it is crucial that a person has a firm grasp of this language. EduRev focuses on making sure you receive the necessary help to accomplish so.

Key Pointers by Toppers

Importance of English Language 

Due to the development of e-commerce and daily use of the Internet, the English language has become a basic communication language in the banking sector. Also, to operate effectively and communicate between banks of different countries, one needs to have great command over it.

Therefore it signifies how important English as a language is in the banking sector.

1. In banking and other competitive tests, the English language is crucial. This is a crucial area where the committees in charge of the exam evaluate your potential for uniqueness from the competition 

2. In the future, there is a good probability that your profession may require frequent meetings and contacts with foreigners who are fluent in English.

3. Your understanding of English is tested through objective-type questions on grammar, sentence construction, vocabulary, idioms, phrases, antonyms, synonyms, and comprehension passages.

4. The purpose of the English Language paper is to evaluate the candidates' language proficiency. It assesses the individual's intellectual capacity, fluency of thought, presence of mind, and judgment.

5. The weightage of the English language section is 30 Marks in prelims and 40 in mains exam.

As of now, you might be able to understand the importance of the English language holds. Therefore to make it easier for you to acquire proficiency in this section, EduRev has provided you with a step-by-step guide on how to approach this section.

Step 1: Understand the Syllabus

Weightage of English language:

Syllabus of English Language

1. Cloze Test
2. Para-jumbles
3. Fill in the blanks
4. Reading Comprehension
5. Paragraph Completion
6. Idioms & Phrases
7. Vocabulary/Word Association
8. Sentence Completion
9. Miscellaneous
10. Multiple Meaning
11. Error Spotting
12. Active/Passive Voices

For Mains:

1. Reading comprehension
2. Grammar
3. Verbal ability
4. Vocabulary
5. Sentence Improvement
6. Word Association
7. Para jumbles
8. Error Spotting
9. Cloze Test
10. Fill in the blanks

Expected number of questions

Step 2: Understand the basics of Grammar

1. Often students fail to understand the importance of the basics of grammar. Most students have forgotten the basics that have been taught in schools when they’re giving their exams. Therefore it is imperative that the basic fundamentals of the English Language are covered first.
2. These topics include nothing new except for the basics taught in school. To revise these, you can refer to EduRev’s grammar playlist.
3. Keep on revising the basics week after week.

STEP 3: Develop a practice of reading

1. If you are a student of the "strong basic" category,
   It becomes simple to receive respectable grades if you have a solid command of the language. Simply read the newspaper every day and study hard for the practice exams. You'll get good marks if you analyze your practice exams. I did the same thing.
2.  If you fall under the category of "not so strong fundamental", first develop the practice of reading and then move on to editorials.

Follow the steps given below:

1. Do not start with editorial straight away. Start your reading with something basic. Do not read something which requires effort initially.

2. Read something which captures your interest because that way you will be able to develop your reading habit in no time. 

3. After you develop your interest in reading, shift to newspapers. The content in newspapers will be of the same level as exams. 

4. Make it a practice to read one English newspaper or article every day to improve your vocabulary and understanding.

Step 4: Practice different kinds of Questions.

As mentioned in the above syllabus, there are different types of topics on which questions are framed in the exam. It is important that one has in-depth knowledge and thorough practice of these topics. 

1. Errors
2. Para jumbles
3. Match the following
4. Fillers
5. Sentence rearrangement 
6. Reading comprehension
7. Word swapping
8. Connectors
9. Starters
10. Cloze test, etc

All these topics can only be aced when you have strong basic knowledge of grammar and strong reading skills. 

• Practice at least 2 sets of these topics daily.
• Read the solution thoroughly because that way you can know what mistake you’re doing and can improve on that topic.
• There is no particular difference in the English language in pre and mains, you just have to keep on increasing the level of questions you’re attempting. 
• Once you’re comfortable with easy level, move on to difficult level questions.
• You can take the EduRev’s sectional test series to assess the level of your knowledge. We also provide analysis for your tests.

STEP 5: Practice RC’s

Reading comprehension holds key importance in the English language section. It comes in all levels of exams whether it's Prelims or mains.

Doing RC is a skill that most aspirants don’t possess. If you are able to acquire that skill, it will also help you in the passages and cloze tests.

This also helps in the critical reasoning question in the mains level exam. 

1. An aspirant needs to pratice two types of RC’s 

• Facts or data-based RC
• Complex RC which involves inference questions

2. The inference-based RC are very important. The following types of questions are asked in such RCs

1. What does the author imply?
2. What does the passage imply?
3. What do you infer from the passage?

3. The RC skill can only be achieved after you have done practice and full analysis of such questions.

4. An aspirant should attempt 5-6 RCs daily and analyze them thoroughly.  

Step 6: Solve a lot of Mock Tests

1. START GIVING MOCKS. Initially, you need not give many mock tests but week by week give at least 2 Mock tests. Gradually increase the frequency of the Mocks. This will help you identify your weak and strong areas.
2. During the last 30 days, give mock tests on alternative days. 
3. Once you start giving a lot of tests, you will discover in your analysis the strong and the weak areas in your preparation. 
4. You can practice your Mock test from the EduRev platform with a time limit.
5. EduRev automatically analyzes your exam based on your speed and accuracy.

Check out the sectional strategies here:

• Syllabus of Quantitative ability and strategy

• Syllabus of Reasoning and strategy

• Syllabus of Computer awareness and strategy

• Syllabus of Banking Awareness/ General knowledge and strategy