Mind Your Language: 3 mistakes to avoid in class 10 Hindi Board exam

Even though Hindi is the mother language of many states across India and students speak with each other in Hindi, they continue to make mistakes, especially when it comes to spelling. This is because children seldom read Hindi books or for that matter a Hindi newspaper. Another reason could be that, in most public and private schools, Hindi is the only subject that is taught in the language, and the rest of the subjects are taught in English.

---

  “Read the question paper properly. Understand what the question is asking before you start writing”

–Rekha Khadian, a Hindi teacher at Apeejay School, Greater Noida

---

According to Rekha Khadian, a Hindi teacher at Apeejay School, Greater Noida, the easiest language is Hindi. “This is because how you speak is how you write. Unfortunately, students continue to make spelling mistakes and this can lead to a student’s marks getting cut even though he/she may have written the perfect answer. Therefore, it is important to be extra careful while answering the paper in the Board exams,” Khadian advised.

3 mistakes to avoid during the Board exams

1.       Be very careful while writing the answer, ensure that there are no spelling mistakes. This is true for ‘ki’ and ‘kee’. Here is a simple rule – when it comes to nouns and pronouns – it is ‘kee’. When it comes to verbs, it is ‘ki’. Another mistake that students make while writing is ‘pe’ instead of ‘par’. Remember, write how you speak.

2.       Read the question paper properly. Understand what the question is asking before you start writing. Take an example. For the last year’s Hindi paper students were asked to write a short story on ‘Veer Sipahi ka Sapna’. Instead of writing the story, the students ended up writing an anuchhed (article).

3.       All students and their teachers make a lot of effort to ensure that the students score well. The only care that has to be taken is not to make silly mistakes. Self-evaluation is a must before the exam. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has changed the format making it easy for the students to complete the paper on time. The time left should be spent rechecking the answer sheet for any mistakes.

The format has changed for the class X Board exam

“To ensure that students are not averse to taking Hindi in class X, the CBSE has changed the format. The question paper is divided into two parts – A and B. Part A is for 40 marks and in the form of MCQs. This means that if a student has thoroughly read the NCERT textbook he/she can score full marks in this section,” Khadian opined.

1.       Part A has muhavaaras and questions based on passages from the chapters. The examiner may even give sentences and options for the correct muhavaara that fits or give sentences and ask the students to identify the vachak are some common 1-marker questions.

2.       Part B is more descriptive. There are three 2-mark questions and the student needs to answer them in 25-30 words. Generally, there are 4 parts and students have to choose any three. Then there are two 3-mark questions – again from the textbook. There are two 4-mark questions from Purak. There is article writing for 6 marks. Again there are options given and a student has to choose one. Words and hints are given that the student must use in the article. A 5-mark letter writing is there.

“This year the CBSE has introduced email writing along with letter writing. In most cases, students are asked to write a formal letter writing, while email can be both. Students can be asked to write a CV for a job – for 5 marks. There is a 4-mark question where the student has to write a creative ad; this can be a campaign, event, or celebration,” Khadian said.

To score over 60 marks in Hindi, students need to read as many books as possible in Hindi in the coming days. “This will not only help in learning new vocabulary, but it will also help in getting the correct spelling,” Khadian said in conclusion.