OOH OKAY

So if you only use no fear Shakespeare for paraphrase, I suggest you get another book because it is very informal. The one I used was the Xavier book

Ok so you can can read the paraphrase as is, but at the end of each scene, just like mentally recap what happened or if you want, write it down.

Also jot down the wordings of all the important speeches (the hath not a jew eyes, the quality of mercy, the quality of music etc) and make sure you know what it all means, line by line because you can have multiple questions from that one paragh alone.

If you are more of a visual learner there are plenty of videos out there explaining the whole story.

Also most ICSE schools provide a workbook with their merchant of venice that looks like this: (I think this is the one I had)

This has plenty of meanings for individual words, question and answers you can practice and summaries etc.

Okay this was a big fear for me as well. One thing I used to do was when I'm studying I used to jot down the important points because writing it down makes you remember the stuff more than just plain reading.

Okay so first of all it depends on *where* your paper goes and their views as well. Not kidding. We were warned that our papers would go to the north to places like Rajasthan and Delhi where they might have prejudices against south Indians. So theres all the internal politics🤡🤡

But based on correction alone without all that, the correction will be more lenient but you need to have a paper that is easy to read and is also very neat. They're more likely to favour you if you do that.

Also, it's not hard to cross 90% (atleast 10+ people got above 95% in our batch). You just got to give it your all, follow the instructions for each subject given by your teachers (most schools have atleast one teacher for each subject who does board corrections...they give the best advice. If you dont, feel free to DM me) .

I saw your advice about boards where you said that joining extracurriculars will benefit you later and I was just worried because I have barely joined any.

Our school (ICSE) is a shithole of favouritism so only a few same students are chosen for MUNs and Olympiads, chess competitions etc. and literally no one cares about the rest of us. I'm going into 9th and I feel I've wasted so much time and under the pressure of 9th grade studies I won't have much time for extracurricular stuff. Do you have any advice on how to reach out to teachers and staff to join stuff or maybe some out of school competitions that may also help?

Also if there's a really good Math textbook you reccomend for 9th-10th kids will you please lmk? Everyone says the Selena ones but I already have those.

Thanks

Hey, honestly I didnt do many extra curriculars either. Maybe try attending some online MUNs right now. You can always find MUNs happening and you dont need a school delegation for a lot of them. So you can just join them. Same thing for any extracurricular right now. Everything is online so you dont have to worry about your shitty school. Just join a few that helps you. And relax you're still in 9th you'll definitely have time.

Okay anon I got 97.2% in my boards but let me tell you something: my preboards were utter shit. I swear to god, I almost failed in three subjects and only internals saved my chemistry marks.

So, please please dont be too worried about the preboards because they are designed to be super super hard and your teachers will correct it extra strictly!

(I was in ICSE so these may help more for ICSE kids but it can also work like generally)

If you have math, do it everyday. I'm not even kidding. Pick a chapter, get someone to mark like 10-15 sums from and work it out.

Choose your really weak subjects and work the hardest parts of it out. For me it was physics and chemistry, so I did the numericals for the hardest chapters first. Also there is NO problem in doing the chapters again and again. Like in my two months leave before boards, I only did this one physics chapter because I didnt get it at all. Just make sure whatever you're studying, you're doing it well.

Make a timetable. You need not have to stick to it religiously but itll give you a sense of structure . Pace yourself out okay. So if you're doing something that's hard for you: like chemistry or hindi, choose two other subjects that are easier like english or history. Stick to 3 subjects + Math a day and dont feel the need to do more than 1 chapter. Your brain will not retain so much information all at once. Give it time.

Take breaks, please. If you keep studying continuously, your brain will meld all the informed together. So if you study one subject, take atleast 45 minutes and do something that doesnt involve reading, then go back to studies.

Use your 10 year guides. They are so so important. Try to work out some 10 year question papers but Mainly, do it for Math. Math, my advice is, as soon as the chapters are over (which they will very soon if you do even 1/2 a chapter daily), do all the question papers. They literally ask you very little new questions.

Practice your handwriting and your timing.

DONT WORRY YOU ARE GOING TO DO AMAZING ANON, I HAVE SO MUCH FAITH IN YOU