How to Prepare for English Section of CLAT

Updated Wed, 27 Jan 2021 05:53 PM IST

The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is a national level entrance examination for admission to Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate degree programmes in Law. CLAT, since its inception was being conducted once every year on rotation by the National Law Universities (NLUs).
However, with the coming in of a permanent Secretariat, CLAT 2021 is being conducted by the Consortium of National Law Universities. As per the present pattern of the exam, it consists of a total of 200 questions out of which 40 are in the CLAT English Section.

The CLAT English section tests the candidate's proficiency in English based on comprehension passages, grammar and vocabulary. Candidates are questioned on their understanding of the passage and its central theme, meanings of words used in the passage, etc. The grammar section has questions on sentence correction, sentence rearrangement, filling the blanks with appropriate words, etc.

To score well in the English section of CLAT, it is important to formulate a concrete strategy for preparation. Following are a couple of tips that will help you prepare well for CLAT English Section:
  • Reading Speed: It is important to increase your reading speed as this is relevant not only to the English section but to the whole paper. Since, CLAT is a speed based exam, increasing your reading speed is of vital importance. By increasing your speed, what we mean is that you must be able to understand the meaning of the passage in one-two readings. The comprehension passages in CLAT are lengthy, 500-1000 words; hence, effective reading skills are imperative. One good way to do this is by reading the Newspaper daily which will not only improve your reading skills but will also help you solve questions on Current Affairs, Legal GK and Legal Reasoning.
Additionally, developing a reading habit by reading plenty of books proves to be extremely fruitful.Also, students should try reading topics from different subjects as the comprehension in the exam can be from any field.
  • Grammar:This is one area where a lot of test takers lose marks. One prime reason for this is the difference between our spoken and written English. To avoid errors in this section, students must thoroughly go through the Rules of grammar.
     
  • Vocabulary Building: For CLAT English Section, you need to build a strong vocabulary which, requires a long term sustained effort. It is not something which can be done in a month alone. One method of improving vocabulary is by reading newspaper regularly and making a list of all new words. Using these words in your conversation or writing will help you remember them. Students can also look into word roots, prefixes and suffixes for acing questions based on vocabulary.
If you want to go through previous year papers to test yourself click on CLAT Prevoius Year Question Papers
For online coaching classes click on CLAT 2021 Online Coaching