9 Tips to Improve Your Chinese Composition Writing - The Writing Samurai (2024)

Composition writing is a challenging but key part of the Chinese examination, as it constitutes 20% of the PSLE Chinese grade. Many students struggle with this task as their Chinese proficiency is lacking.

Aiming for a better composition score? Check out our tips below on how to excel in your Chinese composition.

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Tip 1: Learn From Past Mistakes

Your past compositions are precious; don’t throw them out! Analyse your mistakes, and identify two to three areas you need to work on. If you have multiple areas to work on, prioritise the ones that will lead to the biggest gain in marks (e.g. between writing out of point and confusing hom*ophones, fix the content issue first as that is more major).

Here are some common mistakes and recommendations on how to address them.

Tip 2: Determine the Theme of Your Composition

Be it the introduction, the body, or the conclusion, your composition should revolve around a theme. Never let your content not go out of point (离题), or your marks will suffer greatly.

Always start by analysing the picture or title to determine the theme. For example, if the title is “这件事改变了我(2023 St Nicholas’ Prelims)”，the central idea would be about an incident and how it has changed you as a person. Generally, it is easier for students to deviate from the theme for title-based compositions, especially if they do not plan their story.

That said, picture compositions can be tricky too: A few themes may be possible as it depends on how you choose to conclude the story (picture 6). For instance, in 2020’s PSLE, an old lady who was counting money at the bus stop fell down unexpectedly. Her notes were strewn all over the floor. Picture 5 shows two schoolgirls helping the old lady up while a youth was trying to pick up the lady’s belongings. Was he planning to steal the money? Or was he a kind-hearted youth trying to help pick up the notes? You need to write in a way consistent with the theme you have chosen.

Tip 3: Choose Your Question Wisely

Consider whether the picture composition (看图作文) or title-based composition (命题作文) is more manageable for you.

There are a few things to consider:

• How well do you understand the pictures? Do you have the appropriate vocabulary to describe key events and details depicted in the pictures? How complex are the pictures? E.g. does the location change multiple times?
• How well do you understand the key phrase in the title? For instance, if the title is “一件让我印象最深刻的事”, ensure you understand the meaning of 印象 and 深刻if you decide to write this particular question.

• Which question do you resonate most with? Do you have any personal experience similar to that in the pictures/what you plan to write for the title-based composition? If so, you will find it easier to complete the essay.

Remember you only have fifty minutes, so play to your strengths and make a decision within the first three minutes. Do not change your mind thereafter, or you will not have sufficient time to complete your composition!

Tip 4: Choose The Correct Point of View

For picture compositions, do not write in the first person if the character is not present in all pictures. In such instances, no matter whose perspective you adopt in your writing, there will be gaps in the story (the narrator cannot be all-knowing). Thus, you should write in the third person.

For title-based compositions, pay attention to the wording. Titles such as “这件事让我明白了耐心的重要(PSLE 2022)” and “一份我最珍惜的礼物(PSLE 2021)” must be written in the first person.

Tip 5: Plan Before You Write

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Before you start writing, craft an outline of your story. This need not be in prose form. It can be simply key words that give you clarity on your story structure. Whilst the stronger ones can wing it without a written plan (they usually have the plan in their heads), everyone else should refer to a plan while writing. The time spent making a written plan should be no more than five minutes, but it goes a long way in enhancing efficiency in your composition writing.

For picture-based compositions, your plan should at least cover the following:

• Introduction (开头)
• Body (主体)
• Conclusion (结尾)

For title-based compositions, use the guiding questions to help you plan.

For example, for 一份我最珍惜的礼物 (PSLE 2021), the outline could be:

Introduction （开头）

• Describe the present you cherish the most. What is it? Describe its appearance. How is it special?

介绍你最珍惜的礼物（这是什么礼物？外观如何？如何特殊？）

Body （主体）

• How did you get this present? Who gave it to you?

你怎么得到这份礼物？是谁送的？

• Why did you get this present?

为什么会得到这份礼物？

• Why do you cherish it so much? What is its significance?

你为什么珍惜这份礼物？它有什么象征意义？

Conclusion （结尾）

• Restate how much you cherish this present. Sum up the main points in the body text (e.g. What does it represent? How did it help you grow/change your life?). 再次表明你有多珍惜这份礼物。总结一下以上的要点（如：它代表了什么？如何让你成长/对你的生活有什么积极影响？

Tip 6: Start With a Relevant Introduction

Do not memorise good introductions you have been given and use it word-for-word without thinking. There is no point in including the most beautifully worded description of the weather if the entire story happens indoors and the weather has no influence over the development of the story. Relevance is key.

Likewise, do not try to use a “one-size-fits-all” introduction, such as: “Ring!” The alarm went off…… If you must use a sound, make sure the sound is linked to some event at the story. Else, your introduction will either be excessively long, or appear irrelevant, or have logical gaps as you jumped from the alarm ringing right into the thick of the action.

Whether you start by directly describing the scene/activity (开门见山), by using a flashback, or any other method, what matters most is that your introduction is relevant to the theme.

For flashbacks, note that the ending will need to address the flashback, or bring the readers back to the present (前呼后应). This method will usually add to the word count, so it is not recommended for weaker students who may not have time to complete the essay or check their work.

Tip 7: Flesh Out Your Conclusion

Avoid a situation of having a magnificent start but a skinny end to the story (龙头蛇尾). Kudos to students who take time to craft a killer introduction. However, if the conclusion is weak and abrupt, your readers will end up feeling disappointed.

It is insufficient to simply state how the problem was resolved or what happened at the end. You should also highlight how the characters felt, what lessons the character(s) learnt, what plans they have for the future, and, the most important of them all, highlight the theme. A simple way to address the theme would be to use a relevant proverb, for example:

所谓“天下无难事，只怕有心人”，只要我们勇于挑战自己，世上就没有任何能难倒我们的事。

Tip 8: Revise for Paper 2 and Composition Writing Together

Don’t let your efforts to revise for Paper 2 go to waste! Make sure you master the terms in the textbooks. Make a list of those that are versatile enough to apply to most compositions. For example, transition phrases like “不知不觉 (unknowingly)” and “光阴似箭 (time flies)” can be used in almost any story to describe how time has passed unknowingly or quickly.

Besides mastering terms, make an effort to apply sentence structures and literary devices mentioned in the textbook in your writing. For instance, in Lesson 8 of the Primary 6 Chinese textbook, you can get insights on what similes are and reference the examples in the textbook (6B textbook, p. 23: 美美像一阵风一样冲过来。打针一点儿也不痛，就像蚂蚁轻轻咬了一下。) Even the conjunction questions in Paper 2 can come in handy, if you learn to vary your sentence beginnings by using different connectors.

Tip 9: Keep a Word Bank

Start building a Chinese vocabulary word bank if you do not already have one. Collate the good phrases and idioms used by others. You can start noting down good phrases from the textbook and also from the comprehension passages you have completed. Browse through your classmates’ work and other model compositions and highlight away!

Examples include (bolded):

• 我准备乘坐巴士去学校时，突然下起倾盆大雨。
• 老师听到我们说的话后，他怒气冲冲地离开了教室。

For new or unfamiliar phrases, write the entire sentence down for context. Try constructing a similar sentence on your own (get someone who is proficient in Chinese to check this if you can!). Flip through the past year questions and see if you can apply this new phrase to any of the pictures/titles!

Be disciplined and make it a point to compile the phrases regularly. As your word bank grows, you will be empowered with a list of handy phrases which you can then accurately use in your compositions.

When it comes to composition writing, it takes time, practice, and patience to improve. Apply the tips we shared above, and with tenacity and perseverance, you will see the fruits of your labour.

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