- Bahasa Malaysia
SPM Bahasa Malaysia is a rather difficult subject to score an A+. In fact, less than 10 students from my school managed to secure an A+ for this subject every year. As Bahasa Malaysia is our national language, the minimum marks to secure an A+ is rather high (usually 85 to 90), depending on the baseline every year.
A. General guidelines
- To do well in this subject, you will have to constantly improve your language skills. Try reading articles from Malay newspaper and magazines ( I recommend Dewan Siswa by DBP).
- I recommend you to attend tuition if possible because most tuition teachers will provide extra tips and notes which will come in handy during your exams.
- Before your exam, you are advised to focus more on karangan and KOMSAS.
1 Like
B. Tips for karangan
- You should try reading sample essays whenever you are free. This will help you to have more ideas when writing your karangan.
- Memorize some “ungkapan indah” and “peribahasa”. They will be useful when you are writing the introduction of your essays
- If your entire essay has no ungkapan indahs at all, your essay might be 1 grade lower than the original grade.
- Use a variety of sentence structure. This helps to make your essay more interesting.
- Avoid grammatical errors.
1 Like
C. Tips for rumusan
- Rumusan is my favourite part of the entire BM paper because it’s the EASIEST to SCORE. If you are well prepared, you might be able to score full marks in this section!
- In this section you will be asked to summarize on 2 topics. One of them is isi tersurat while the other is isi tersirat.Underline the relevant Isi tersurat in the passage. You should answer in 4 paragraphs, each containing Pendahuluan, Isi Tersurat, Isi Tersirat and Penutup.
- Count the total number of words and make sure that your answer is not longer than 120 words, otherwise the remaining part of your answer will not be marked, and marks may be deducted. State the exact number of words below your essay.
- Nama khas, penanda wacana, peribahasa and kata ganda are counted as one word only. If your answer is longer than 120 words, try cancelling off the unnecessary words in your answer and replacing longer phrase with shorter phrase of the same meaning. If it still exceeds 120 words, cancel off some of the extra Isi Tersurat or Isi Tersirat you wrote.
- For all parts of Rumusan, you must answer in continuous writing form and not point form, otherwise marks can be deducted. You should also write the answer in complete sentences. Make sure that the grammar is correct.
1 Like
D. Tips for Pemahaman Petikan Umum
- When answering question on meaning of phrases, replace every word in the phrase with another word that has the same meaning if possible. If that is not possible, you should explain the phrase in your own sentence.
- When answering questions based on the passage given, you must look for the answers from the passage/extract. You need not use your own words and you can copy directly, but sometimes you may have to make some changes to suit your answer
- When answering questions on your own opinion (KBKK), you should give your own ideas and do not look for the answers from the passage/extract given.Ideas given must be logical and relevant.
E. Tips for Pemahaman KOMSAS
- Answers must be in complete sentences and not point form.
- Make sure there is no grammatical error
- Make sure that the grammar is correct. If the question does not state the number of answers you need to write, then the number of answers needed depends on the marks allocated. Basically, one answer gives one mark,
- You are advised to give extra answers
- Marks will only be given for correct answers. No mark will be deducted for wrong answers.
1 Like
F. Tips for tatabahasa section
- There are 5 parts in this section. When answering, you are advised to read the questions carefully.
- For the first part, you are required to construct a sentence based on the word given. The sentence constructed must be able to show that you really understand the meaning of that word given.
- For the third and forth part, you will need to identify errors in the sentence given and correct those errors. To score well in this section, you will have to do a lot of practices.
- For the fifth section, you will be tested on peribahasa. If the question asks you to explain the meaning of Peribahasa, your answer should be clear and detailed. If the question asks you to make a sentence using Peribahasa, your sentence must be able to show that you really understand the meaning of the Peribahasa. The sentence do not have to be very long. If the question asks you to fill in the blanks using Peribahasa or state a Peribahasa based on the situation, give the most suitable Peribahasa according to the question.
- You are advised to read through all the peribahasa that are listed in your Form 1 to Form 5 textbook
- For this section, you cannot give extra answers. If you do so, marks will be deducted if any of your extra answers is wrong.
G: Tips for novel
- Anwers should be in continuous form and not point form
- Avoid grammatical errors
- Read your novel in the beginning of the year and not weeks before SPM
2.English Language
General guidelines
- To prepare for this subject, you will have to continuously improve your language skills in every day life. Try to speak and write more in English language, and read more English books, magazines and newspaper.
- Before the exam, you mainly need to concentrate on Literature and Writing.
- To prepare for paper 2, all you need to do is to do exercises regularly.
A. Writing
i. Directed Writing
- Materials will be given for this section. You are advised to read the question carefully before answering the question
- You have to count the number of points given. If the number of points given are insufficient, you will need to provide your own ideas in order to score full marks for your content
- If the essay is formatted writing, make sure that the format is correct.
ii. Continuous Writing
-
You are advised to read all the questions carefully and choose the question that you are most confident in.
-
Include some idioms and quotes by famous personalities in your essay to make it more interesting.
-
The sentence structure should be varied. Use simple, compound and complex sentences in your writing.
-
Your essay have to be interesting if you attempt narrative/descriptive essay. Avoid making grammatical errors in your essay. Refer to the question often when writing your essay to avoid writing out of topic.
B. Paper 2 Section A
i. Stimuli and Graphic Material
- Read the materials given and question carefully, cancel off the options that you consider as definitely wrong. Choose the most suitable answer among the options you are left with, based on the materials given.
ii. Rational Cloze
-
This section tests you on grammar. You are advised to read the passage given carefully.
-
Cancel off the options that you consider as definitely wrong. Choose the most suitable word to fill in the blanks in the passage among the 4 options, based on your understanding in grammar.
C. Paper 2 Section B (Information Transfer)
- Read the materials given carefully. When answering, copy directly from the materials given and avoid using your own words. However, in some cases, you may have to make some changes to suit your answer.
- Ensure that the spelling in your answer is exactly the same as the spelling in the materials given, otherwise your answer will be considered wrong and no mark will be given.
- Answers should be short and precise.
D. Paper 2 Section C
i. Reading Comprehension
- Read the questions and passage given carefully. Answer all questions based on the passage given. When answering, look for answers from the particular paragraph of the passage as stated in the question.
- If the question asked you for your opinion, you should provide your own answer and do not look for answers from the passage given. Your ideas must be logical and relevant.
- For this section, you do not need to answer in complete sentence. Do not add in any unnecessary details in your answer or write extra answers. Marks will be deducted.
ii. Summary
-
The question will usually ask you to summarize on 2 topics. Read the question and passage given carefully. Underline the relevant points in the passage that are related to any of the 2 topics.
-
When answering, use relevant points from the passage. Do not take the elaborations or examples. You must begin your answer using the 10 words given in the question.
-
You do not need to write any Introduction or Closing. Try to use your own words by replacing the words in the passage with other words which have the same meaning,
-
You should write a total of 10 points. You are advised to write more points if you summary has no reach the word limit (130 words)
-
You should write in continuous form and not in point form. State the exact number of words below your summary. DO NOT CHEAT. The examiners will count the total number of words in your summary.
E. Poem
- Read the poem and questions carefully. Answer all questions based on your understanding of the poem.
- If the question asks for your own opinion, you should answer the question using your own opinion and do not look for answers in the poem. Answers given must be logical and relevant.
- You do not need to answer in complete sentences. Make sure there in no spelling and grammatical errors.
F. Novel
- For this section, you will have to elaborate clearly on every point you write. Give suitable examples from the novel. You must answer in complete sentences and not point form, otherwise marks can be deducted. Make sure that the grammar is correct.
- You can also quote what the characters said in the novel as textual evidence.
3. Mathematics
A. Revision Tips
- You need a reference book for this subject. I recommend you to use Success SPM Mathematics by Oxford Fajar.
- Go through all the example questions in the revision book. Make sure that you understand how every question is solved.
- You have to do a lot of exercises. Buy workbooks from the bookshop. You can start doing exercises topic by topic. After that, proceed with doing SPM Model Papers, MARA papers, SBP Papers and the real SPM past year questions. Do self-marking after that.
- For SPM Mathematics Paper 2, the pattern of questions set is similar for every year. You should familiarize yourself with the pattern by looking at past year questions.
B. Paper 1
- Workings are not needed since the questions are objective questions. Solve the question and choose the correct answer among the 4 options.
C.Paper 2
- There are 2 sections, Section A and Section B. Section A consists of 11 questions. It is compulsory to answer all questions in this section.
- Show all workings for all questions. They may help you to get marks. You should not skip any important steps.
- You are not allowed to write extra solutions or answers for any question. If you do so and any of the answers/solutions is wrong, marks will be deducted. When copying figures from the question or from your answer for the previous part of the question, be careful not to copy wrongly.
- Section B consists of 5 questions and you are required to answer 4 out of the 5. Try to answer all the 5 questions if possible. The examiner will mark all the 5 questions and choose the best 4.
- If the final answer is a number with infinite decimal places, you should round up to at least 4 significant figures. You can also write your final answer as a fraction if possible. However, if the question states that you must express your answer as fraction or decimal, then you must follow the instruction.
- For questions involving Pi, the question may ask you to use Pi = 22/7. In that case, you cannot use Pi = 3.142 or the value of Pi from the calculator. You must also follow other instructions given in the question.
4. Additional Mathematics
A. Revision Tips
- You need a reference book for this subject. Recommendation: Success Additional Mathematics by Oxford Fajar.
- When studying a chapter for the first time, read through the notes in the reference book. Make sure that you understand the concept for that chapter and relate them to what your teacher had taught in school.
- Go through all the example questions in the revision book. Make sure that you understand how every question is solved.
- Do a lot of exercises. Start by doing exercises from topical workbook. After that, proceed with SPM Model Papers, MARA Papers, SBP Papers and SPM Past Year Questions. By doing a lot of practices, you will be able to familiarize yourself with the exam format.
- The Additional Mathematics topics may require knowledge and understanding of the Mathematics topics. Make sure that you understand all the topics in SPM Mathematics.
B. Paper 1
- Workings are not compulsory. If your final answer is correct, full marks will be given and the workings will not be marked.
- However, you are advised to show all your workings. If your final answer is wrong but some of your working is correct, the workings will be marked and you will still be awarded some marks.