In order to go for the top grades in GCSE Chinese, start by building up your foundations in each area, and then adding to them over time at a slow and steady pace, whilst revisiting your fundamentals and basic vocab/sentence structures etc. This page is split into sections for each area of the subject, explaining how to conquer each.
Memorisation/Reading:
The best way to memorise vocab is through repetition. Once you introduce yourself to new vocabulary and concepts using the methods detailed below, revisit your newfound vocabulary often, not daily, but frequently at the start and increasingly less often as you get better – this is the basic idea of a spaced repetition curve i.e. the more you revisit a concept the longer it takes your brain to forget it, so you can put off revisiting it a little bit longer each time you engage with it and gain an understanding.
To do this I would recommend using our Vocab Trainer, Anki and Quizlet, there are many sets pre-created by millions of users, teachers and students alike, which likely contain the exact set of vocabulary/sentence structures for the specification you are taking. Anki handles the spaced repetition curve for you and sends you the flashcards when needed – for Quizlet it is ideal to revisit the set you are revising from daily, or every other day i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. Just 10 minutes each session is more than enough to retain the knowledge, however, consistency is key here. It is easy to forget vocabulary, so keep to the routine you set for yourself.
When you come across a new word, put it into multiple sentences to fully understand it in context – your brain will find it easy to connect the new word to a deeper meaning as it will understand the real-life situation the word is commonly used in, instead of connecting it only to rules you learned from the textbook. For example, if you learned the words 外面 (outside) and 里面 (inside), and you immediately had someone ask you where various objects were and you responded in Chinese with 外面 and 里面 in a sentence, telling them whether the object was outside or inside, you would be much more likely to remember the two words as you used them in context and connected them to a situation.
As you learn new words, you will most likely be learning sentence structures of a similar level in class. Pair the two together to make your own sentences as you will achieve the same effect with the sentence structure, learning where it can and cannot be used and how to use it correctly. It is also helpful to try to "think" in Chinese, as this allows you to put your learning to practice, using the vocab and sentences you learned in place of the usual English equivalents, and when you try to express a normal English sentence you use daily in Chinese, it forces you to research how to do so, increasing your vocabulary and sentence structure knowledge.
After you have memorised a significant amount of vocabulary, you can go through all topic vocab on paper, cover the English, look only at the characters, and read out the English and Pinyin from memory. Highlight the ones you do not remember and repeat them until you do. This will thoroughly ingrain the words into your mind, and translating during a reading exam will be easier as a result.
Speaking:
The only way to become proficient in speaking, is to speak. This goes for all languages. Speaking in Chinese with a partner, or out loud to yourself whilst recording it will do wonders for your pronunciation and clarity – you can listen back to yourself and improve your intonation, the way you say certain words, and root out any habitual mistakes you make when speaking that no-one noticed. Speak in the language you are learning as much as possible, and this can be at any time, anywhere, about anything. It will all help your understanding.
The oral exam is often challenging for students, to prepare I would recommend taking random pictures from the internet that are related to the themes you learned in school, and describing them, recording yourself in the process. After you describe each picture, have some questions prepared related to the picture, which you can answer afterwards. The hardest part is the time constraint – so each time you record yourself, try to keep within the time constraints to make it more exam-realistic.
Writing:
I found the best way to improve in writing was to do constant character practice and essays. It is highly likely you already do this in class, but it can be helpful to do additional character practice until you feel you can write the character.
I would recommend using HanTrainerPro to learn the character shape and the stroke order (the order in which you draw the lines of the character), and then copying them, writing the same word you are learning over itself until you feel confident enough to write it on the page alone, and then repeat this until you can write the characters without looking at the example, completely off your own head.
It is best to start this with the essential vocab first e.g. 我 (I, me) as they cross over into every topic and are used in almost all sentences you will build, and then moving to the more advanced vocabulary, the words you will use to compliment your sentences. For the topic-based vocabulary e.g. transport vocabulary, weather vocabulary, learn the essentials, and then choose a handful of words to learn from that section – you do not need to learn to write every word in the course. For example, choose 5 vehicles to write from the transport topic, and know the essential transport vocab e.g. "transport", "airport" etc.
When you have learned the essential vocabulary, you will be able to write basic essays. This is where I would recommend these Writing prompts. This is a common pitfall for many students, so I would recommend nailing this skill down early. Once you have learned a topic and the corresponding vocab, do a practice essay on it. And when revising for mocks, final exams, etc., do one practice essay on every topic. Do not make it harder than it needs to be – just use basic sentences, and write what you know you can remember in the exam. As long as you answer their question with decent depth, you can get full marks on every essay.
For example, if you do the "food" topic, when you write your essay, start with a basic sentence e.g. “My favourite food is [favourite food]”, and then increase the complexity, changing it to “My favourite food is [favourite food], because it is spicy”, and eventually bring it to this level: “My favourite food is [favourite food], because it is spicy, but my brother does not like it. I go to the restaurant and eat it every day”. Build your sentence creating skills up to this level, and you are set. Just make every sentence exactly like the high level sentence and make sure you are answering the question and any bullet points they provide, and you will pick up the marks no matter what.
Time your essays to make them exam-accurate, and set out some time every week or two to do them – but the most important thing is to mark them and reflect on them, perhaps give them to your teacher to mark.
Listening:
A fun way to improve your listening skills is to listen to music from the language you are learning, or watch tv shows in that language, with English subtitles. That way, you can enjoy your favourite show, and when you do not understand something, the subtitles will explain it for you, allowing you to increase your vocab knowledge and ability to grasp what people are saying even when speaking fast. For example, the Netflix show "Scissor Seven" is in Chinese. Past Papers are good for this too – you can listen to the audio which they repeat multiple times, answer the questions, and immediately check the markscheme to understand what was being said. You can even try to translate the audio to deepen your understanding, and check against the markscheme.