Preparing current affairs in CLAT preparation is one of the most challenging tasks for some students. A lot of students struggle to find sources for preparing current affairs topics, while completely ignoring the newspapers. This is mostly because reading newspapers need habit and practice while reading current affairs from other source materials is like a shortcut, which comes at the cost of irrelevant and incomplete information about current affairs. Read Newspaper while preparing, it helps.
We suggest the CLAT Aspirants stick to reading newspapers regularly to prepare the current affairs, and not rely on other sources entirely.
Here is a step by step guide to ace up your current affairs preparation for the CLAT exam:
Step #1 — Research from Previous Year Questions
Before picking up any newspaper, it is very important to know what you have to read and what you can skip. It is important to understand what type of news is important from a CLAT point of view. Hence, you should, first of all, go through previous years’ exam papers of CLAT and observe the GK questions that are asked, giving you a better comprehension of important news.
Step #2 — Choose a newspaper
It is very important to choose any one newspaper for your preparation rather than reading multiple each day, which will waste a lot of your time. If you are a beginner who has never read a newspaper from the exam point of view, you should first start with reading The Times of India or The Tribune, which are both easier to read and digest. Once you build the habit of reading, you should move on to reading The Hindu or The Indian Express, which are more difficult than the former ones but loaded with more relevant information. Building a habit to read newspaper while preparing is very important especially for CLAT Aspirants.
Step #3 — Fix a time to read
Set out a time in your daily routine for reading a newspaper. Read it during the time whenever you feel bored or have nothing else to do. It is always better to read the news early morning. You can read it while doing your breakfast or while traveling to school, college or work, or if you don’t find time during the day, you can read it at night every day before sleeping. You should set apart at least 30 minutes every day dedicated to reading the newspaper.
Step #4 – Make Notes
When you rewrite titles and important facts related to the news in your own language, your brain memorizes them better. You should also make notes for the research that you have conducted related to each topic. It is very important, especially for a CLAT student to research the topics related to current affairs. A smart way to make and manage notes is by dividing your notes into various sections, such as national, international, awards, etc.
Step #5 — Choose a Current Affairs Magazine
To make sure that you do not miss any important current affairs while reading from the newspapers, you should also subscribe to any one current affairs magazine, such as Pratiyogita Darpan, News and Events, or any other magazine of your choice relevant to the CLAT syllabus. Do not go overboard, you only need one magazine to supplement your current affairs preparation.
Step #6 — Revise with help of quizzes and mock tests
It is very important to revise your current affairs at the end of every week or month with the help of quizzes or mock tests and through the notes that you made. This will make your preparation stronger and your memory sharper.
Why reading a Newspaper is important for a CLAT Student?
A lot of people will tell you that they only prepare the current affairs from any magazines or PDFs from coaching institutes. Preparing current affairs in such a way will make you habitual to rote learning and decline your memorization capabilities.
There are various other advantages of reading newspapers daily:
- Being a law student, you will have to read through a lot of comprehensive course material. Reading newspapers daily develops a habit of reading, as well as improves your reading speed, comprehension skills, and sitting concentration power, which prepares you for the coming difficulties in advance.
- Reading newspapers also builds your vocabulary which is crucial for a law student. A good vocabulary is always beneficial for you as a law student or as a law professional.
- Reading editorials and interviews helps you get better perceptions on the ongoing issues as well as reading opinions from various personalities helps you to build critical reasoning and build your own opinion and perception on national, international, and legal issues that are in current news.
No videos, PDFs, or study material can help you to prepare for current affairs as much as reading newspapers can. There is no shortcut to this, however, you can read smarter and prepare faster with your instincts and capabilities. So, you have understood that to read newspaper while preparing is a really essential habit to adapt.
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