Any non-native English speaker?

[Luminous_1]

Hey there,

Being a non-native English speaker, I am very concerned with verbal section of MCAT. I was wondering if there is any non-native English speaker who did well on MCAT verbal section. If so, how did you prepare for it? Also, for those of you who are good at verbal section, I would appreciate any advice on how to prepare verbal in a long term.

thanks,

Luminous_1

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[Boyu]

I am going to build up my vocabs first at the same time reading as much as I can. Then, if i have time i would practice my writing.

How would you do it?

 

[toxin]

I took the mcat last april and got a 10 on the verbal. To be honest with you guys I really did not prepare that much for the exam, all I did was 3 full length mcat's and then analyze the wrong answers so I can figure out whether there was a trend in errors. I honestly dont think that new vocab and reading magazines will help much. And yes, ennglish is not my native language. Hope that helps.

 

[Athena]

english isn't my first language either, and i got 11 V, and S in WS. I firmly believe what while reading the times every day and trying to learn some new vocab is sort of helpful, the best preparation technique for verbal is the same as for any other section -- practice, practice, and more practice.... do as many sample passages as you have time for (i followed the princeton review verbal workbook timeline, which is about 5-10 passages per class, or 2-3 a day)

 

[Boyu]

Thanks a lot! I am encouraged now.

 

[Challenge]

I think for some people we have to consider other factors that contribute to learning English as a second language.

1) How old were you when you first came to the U.S. and how long have you been here?
Younger kids learn language relatively faster.

I came here at the age of 18. Although it's been almost 9yrs, my old brain has never worked like those baby's tiny brain learning a new word.

2)What is your native language?
(In general, European, Arabian, and Hispanics seem to have much easier time learning English (especially speaking and listening comprehension) than Japanese or Korean learning English.
Improving English writing skill is bit easier for Chinese than Japanese or Korean because of similarity in grammar.

So I'd rather put it this way to find some real hope. Has any non-native English speaker or FOB(Fresh Of the Boat) improved their verbal score from 3 or 4 to 9, 10 ?????

 

[toxin]

I came here two days after I turned 18 .....I agree with Athena practice makes perfect, so if you want a good verbal score do as many passages as you can and always analyze your answers, especially the wrong ones.

 

[Boyu]

I came here when I was 13.
For some reason, I still have difficulties in writing and speaking...

Any suggestions on how to improve english fast without a lot reading?

 

[Challenge]

Unfortunately, from my experience, NO. especially for verbal.

Because reading, speaking, listening and writing requires different skills although there are overlaps between one another.

Studying for MCAT verbal or any type of reading comprehension will not help you improve your ability to speak English directly but in the long run, it will significantly speed up enhancing your ability to speak(especially formal speech or discussion), listen, and write English when you try to obtain language skills other than reading.

When I speak in English with other friends, it's totally different.
People use slang and idioms much more when they speak.
I thought my overall English skills would so much improve after watching news a lot and practiced English with so many american friends over the past several years.
But. it didn't do anything for the MCAT verbal reasoning, except that I have learned more vocab and some knowledge about social issues. I still have to memorize thousands of vocab while reading verbal passages. arghhhhhh!!!

 

[Boyu]

I think my problem is that I don't talk a lot, espicially with people I don't know much. I think that really hindered my ability to communicate.

 

[toxin]

Since verbal is basically testing your ability to reason and deduct language skills are not paramount to doing well. English proficiency is necessary but not sufficient. What I mean by that is that most of the passages you will understand at least 90% of the words and the other 10 you will be able to deduct from the rest. Now, the questions that are asked will test your way of thinking, so whether you think in english or any other language doesnt really matter. Bottom line is this, do at least 100 passages before the mcat, and as I said before analyze your answers, and trust me your score WILL go up.

 

[Mikhail]

I've been to the U.S. for 2 years. I will have been here for 3 years by the time I take the MCAT. Has anybody taken the verbal (or the whole MCAT) after being in the country for a such short period of time? Or is anybody going...?
Good luck!

 

[fonzy]

Originally posted by toxin
Since verbal is basically testing your ability to reason and deduct language skills are not paramount to doing well. English proficiency is necessary but not sufficient. What I mean by that is that most of the passages you will understand at least 90% of the words and the other 10 you will be able to deduct from the rest. Now, the questions that are asked will test your way of thinking, so whether you think in english or any other language doesnt really matter. Bottom line is this, do at least 100 passages before the mcat, and as I said before analyze your answers, and trust me your score WILL go up.

Yes, I think this test is about your ability to read, comprehend and infer.

'Spoken English' is different from grammar and reading comprehension, etc. I have seen a few foreign students with 800 on verbal part of the GRE. They did not speak 'American English' but yet got a perfect score. Vernacular is a different deal.
The point is not everyone whose first language is English, makes an 'A' grade in English courses in school.

 

[toxin]

i agree with you fonzy

 

[Taty]

Well...I came when I was 18 - 4 years ago, have 6 on kaplan diagnostic hope to get better...

I speak Ukranian and Russian.

 

[Challenge]

Originally posted by fonzy
Yes, I think this test is about your ability to read, comprehend and infer.

'Spoken English' is different from grammar and reading comprehension, etc. I have seen a few foreign students with 800 on verbal part of the GRE. They did not speak 'American English' but yet got a perfect score. Vernacular is a different deal.
The point is not everyone whose first language is English, makes an 'A' grade in English courses in school.

Yes I understand how they did well on verbal part of the GRE.
I ascribe high verbal GRE score to less questions on reading part and lot of questions on vocab. Memorization is definitely required on GRE which is possible to gain really good score for the foreign student in a very short period.

English skills or MCAT scores cover a wide range among non-native English speakers although their average MCAT scores are generally lower than native speakers. I am aware that just simply I define myself as a non-native English speaker doesn't mean that other non-native students have similar degree of English reading/comprehension skills as I do.

I know myself well that my English really sucks ( 4 on verbal score without timing) but after doing almost 70 passages and memorizing vocabs, I noticed improvment on my MCAT verbal score. I'm getting 7-8 on verbal without timing.. At the same time my reading speed has been improved automatically as well....
I gotta keep doing this... until April.... You can do it!!

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Does immigrating here at 7 count me in as a non native speaker?

 

[Taty]

I went from 6 to 8 on verbal 101 passage from examcrackers really helped me a lot

 

[Nuel]

Originally posted by Taty
I went from 6 to 8 on verbal 101 passage from examcrackers really helped me a lot

Hopefully I move from 9 (EK) to 11 (real deal) by analysis of your mathematics--or even better