[CAT] How to prepare VA for CAT (UPSC aspirants can also read)

a. Start reading newspapers, novels and writing words in your special word diary and writing your own sentence against each word.

b. Learn GRE words first anyhow and start using it in daily speaking and try to remember meaning of words if you find any in newspaper, novels etc.

Well in my view the best way to do it is to take step b first and then afterwards or simultaneously follow step a. You will ask why ??

The reason is when you go through the whole list of Barron’s GRE wordlist once, you get to know about the most common words used in newspapers and novels as whoever is writing articles in newspaper and novels is using same set of words + other lucrative words.

What you should do ??

i. Check the whole list of words once. Then start learning the words and their word meaning. While learning you will start forgetting words. So to retain words for longer time make sure to check their images. For that I have compiled the words with images at my image dictionary

ii. When you complete it then write a sentence of your own for each word and simultaneously revise the meaning and images so that you can feel more confident.

iii. Learning and forgetting is a continuous process. Don’t get disheartened when you forget the words.

iv. Persons using smartphones can even use apps like painless GRE(android) etc to boost your word learning.

v. Last but not least go to step a again and now you will feel much more confident.

Why I am forcing you to take such a big pain ??

The answer is when you learn these words and then you read comprehension, para-jumbles  or any other questions of VA, you will find you are understanding everything slowly as you don’t feel guilty of not knowing the meaning of any words.

Not only this, your main focus from word-meanings will shift to grammatical errors and comprehension meaning as you will now start understanding the passage better.

2. Start reading Newspapers(The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Times of India) especially or say only mid pages i.e. Editorial & Business + World. This will not only give you an insight of what’s happening in the world as well as the idea of established thinkers. But you will start knowing about the various topics which might pop up in your comprehension giving you ample understanding of the topic and hence better strike rate of the questions asked in your CAT exam.

You can follow important news on my app : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.upsc.news.reader

3. Start reading few good novels keeping in view the words used (most importantly the words you have learnt earlier) and their uses. Also keep an eye on idioms used and note the same in your diary. keep an eye on verb uses as 2-3 (considering 2013 and earlier pattern) questions on simple verb usage is asked in CAT every year.

A list of few good Novels is available below :

Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat

Mediocre but Arrogant by Abhijit Bhaduri Tin Fish by Sudeep Chakravarti

Love Story by Erich Segal

Oliver’s Story by Erish Segal Bridges of Madison Country by Robert James Waller

To Sir with Love by ER Braithwaite

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Time Machine by HG Wells

The War of the Worlds by HG Wells

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran

Anthem by Ayn Rand

We the Living by Ayn Rand

4. Keep an eye on confusing words like exult vs exalt vs extol while reading novels or newspapers. This is very important as 2-3 (considering 2015 and earlier pattern)  questions on confusing words is sure to come in CAT paper. I have written articles on some confusing words. Will come up with more soon.

You can find some at http://mba.webmaggu.com/blog/category/va-2/

5. Keep Wren and Martin  handy with you always to consult any grammar usage and try to learn the usage of various grammatical parameters as and when required.

6. Well the above steps cover up the questions like reading comprehension, uses of verb, fill in the blanks, confusing words.

Lets discuss about other parts of the VA section like para jumbles : Now comes another tough part i.e. to practice questions similar to what appears in CAT

What should you do ??

i. Take one and only one step from following steps :

a. Keep following my link for material and try to solve them regular basis,Don’t forget to comment your answers and feedback http://mba.webmaggu.com/blog/category/mba/

b. Purchase book by Arun Sharma :

c. Purchase any other books available in the market. I will make a list of some good books soon.

d.Keep following our facebook groups to shoot your doubts queries, get more questions and to use facebook in better ways https://www.facebook.com/groups/webmaggu/

e.We are launching a preparation course from  8,August,2016. Join it now http://mba.webmaggu.com/blog/2016/07/29/mba-preparation-course/

Well why only one step out of these ?? Because you have got a very important gift in life i.e. “TIME” (Main TIME ki baat kar rha hoon TIME coaching ki nahin :)) but TIME is limited. So don’t waste it thinking which book I should read, which coaching material should I follow. Just leave this questions for the people who is probably going to fail in the exam.

Just start , Just do it any book/material you like. Start and complete only one. If you have more time left, go for other ones or revise earlier one.

ii. Start practicing questions 3-4 from each sections every alternate day (Beech wale din maine masti karne ke liye nahin chora hai bhaisahab, QA, DI, LR bhi to padhna hai ). Keep a track of your performance in a daily planner. And keep an eye on the section you are performing poorly. Plan aggressively to improve the poor section to improve your score.

Hopefully I have left no stone unturned to improve your preparation. Even if I have left something, you can suggest it in comments and I will add it in next points.

All the best for your rigorous preparation and 99+ scores 🙂