How to deal with verbal ?

Question

I just got devastate score today ( Q48 V 16) it is even lower than 
1st attempt on June27 
I practice on many materials- gmatprep mgmat-series cr-bible og

From last failure, I maximize gmatprep by practicing from 
very easy point ( know the correct answer but intend to answer wrong
to get all series of easy question) to the hardest point
( Any question that I already know the answer I will answer it
and pass until I met with questions I've never seen before)
I crack it from question 6 score type to 48 score type
Practicing this for more than 300 questions
 
In many test, the result prove to me that verbal score get higher
even yesterday I take last shot on mgmat test3 
and got decent score( for me) at 39 

And now I just feel sad and despair 
have to change plan to start mba from spring2007 to fall
and don't even know suppose I keep on taking GMAT
or forget about it and mba also ...

necromonger · Answer

Dear Chen,

I hope you will not take my words as criticism. From seeing some of your posts, it's evident that your verbal is weak - as in your written english, comprehension of sentences etc. needs improvement. You probably do better in your practice because you're repeating them, you have time to analyze the questions - but with poor comprehension of the language itself, the moment you are confionted with a completely new set of questions, you probably fail to solve them correctly.

My advice for you is not to despair and feel dejected, but perhaps focus on improving your general english first (to some extent) before getting back to gmat. Maybe spend 3-4 months just on improving the overall command of the language. Write essays, get them proofread by someone who knows english well, read a lot of good articles, get a "feel" of the language. Then get back to GMAT type specifics. The truth is, even for many of us who have studied and used english for many years, GMAT verbal still feels tricky and hard.

good luck.

CHEN · Answer

Thanks for your straight comments

Jules · Answer

Chen,

I am a native english speaker and completed the Manhatten test 1 today and only got 33!!! 

In the real GMAT test i didnt fair that much better either...but i am improving........

What i am trying to say is that the verbal component is hard (really hard) ...and for you and other non native speakers out there well i simply dont know how you do it!!!

I would echo those words from the last post made but also add that judging from your both your postings (the type of english) and your name that you are Chinese/or at least Chinese diaspora...In which case you should try and ask as many people from China that take the GMAT and improve their verbal scores as possible. They will share the same problems and experiences as you and you can take it from there.

Someone say who is from France or Spain taking the GMAT will still clearly have an advantage over someone like yourself when speaking English owing to the closeness of the languages...whereas a Chinese speaker will encounter a whole different set of problems.....

I am currently living in China and there are many who cant put a sentence together and end up with very high scores of 700 plus. ..they are the ones you should be asking....

PS You should try a website called chasedreams or something..

CHEN · Answer

that's what I think also that GMAT sometimes for some people
are not testing really verbal ability but testing brain ability .
I also know many people who can't speak much
they end up their IBT toefl less than 80 because they can't speak much
but holding GMAT 720.

I don't want to believe much that GMAT is brain testing but
some of results do make me start to believe
Anyway, I postpone my MBA to fall 2007 and start
building up verbal from reading . At least I'm supposed to know more
vocabulary and read faster than now
I plan to try another shot on GMAT next 5 months
and hope to see any progress

deowl · Answer

The GMAT is definitely not testing your English verbal skills. Of course you have to know a little English to understand the questions , but not more than that. You don't need to be anywhere close to a native speaker to get a really good score. You have to learn the grammar really hard and need good analytical skills to crack the verbal part. I can say even more than that: you don't have to really understand the RC passage to get the right answers. My English verbal skills suck big time, yet I got 750 with a solid 40 on the verbal part. So don't waste your time to learn English, learn GMAT rules and you will be fine.

pelihu · Answer

That's good that you are planning to take the test again. I think that you can get the score you want with proper preperation.

I agree that the verbal section doesn't really test your english skills. The SC come the closest to directly testing verbal skills, but the RC can be conquored without native-level English skills. The CR actually has little to do with English skills, so if you can sharpen your CR & RC scores, you can go a long way towards neutralizing any difficulties you have with SC.

Good luck.

HongHu · Answer

Hi, Chen, 

First I would like to commend on your spirit of not giving up. For non-English speakers verbal part is hard. But it is conqureable with proper preparations. For the three parts you need different strategies. If you are good at math you are probably also good at logic. Look at my posts regarding CR strategies. You should be able to crack that relatively easily. RC requires of a more long term strategy. Try to read more, and read a wide range of materials. SC is the most rigid part, in my opinion. You simply need to know what GMAT likes to test you, and be able to spot those.

Let me know if there is anything I could help.

Good luck to your futher studying

Hong

CHEN · Answer

Thank you for your generosity Mrs.honghu I'm really appreciated this

celiaXDN · Answer

Hi, Chen. 
I'm not a native speaker either. In my opinion, reading more can't never be wrong. Try to read several good magazines for now. You can start reading Economist, the New York Times, BBC, Washington Post, etc. I remember someone mentioned not long ago that if you really want to improve, you should literally read word for word. It's a good strategy. Pay attention to details, not just understanding the sentences, but why the sentences are written that way, dissect the sentences. Pay attention to idioms, especially the preposition usage (certain words have to go with certain prepositions). You know, during the test, we don't want to guess; that will be employed as a last resort. 

Reading is a good habit. Keep at it and you can continuously expand your vocabulary base. 

Good luck to your next attempt!

u2lover · Answer

I really want to put emphasis on reading The Economist... IMO it's the best reading for great sentence construction and idioms!!! Sometimes when I read it and see "SO X blah blah"... I am looking for the second part of the idiom hiding inbetween some information :lol:

It's amazing how you can improve with reading!!! and someone said about correcting grammar in everyday life... I notice people's mistakes too and try to edit my posts to avoid giving an idea to rhyme that he is reading a "moron's post" :lol:

CHEN, just remember... you are not alone... many ESL students struggle with verbal (including me), but it is definitely beatable!!! Good luck. ps... how come the forum doesn't have a spell check??? is this on purpose, so we practice for AWA :twisted:

CHEN · Answer

I share WallStreet Journal online with my friends now for 79$ per year
but most of subject is what I really get used to (stock market&economic)
so the result is I can finish it faster than other subjects
 
I will take Economist and NewyorkTimes into consideration 
thanks for your recommendation celiaXDN

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