How we got there
Read this like a teacher at the board. We go slowly, name every number, and say why we take each step.
Explain in another language · 11
1. What is the question asking?
Read the question twice. Circle the unknown. Underline every number and unit. The paper is asking: Pampiri 1 kwešišo, Mphato 12. Setsopolwa: “Mothaladi kliniking o sepela ka go nanya ka morago ga pula. Mooki o bitša leina le le latelago, gomme mošemane o dula lefelong la gagwe.” Kgopolo ye kgolo ke efe? Tsopola mantšu a mane ao a e hlatsetšago.
In other words — as if you have never seen this before
If you have never seen this before: Kgopolo ye kgolo e setsopolweng ka moka, ga e lentšung le tee. Setsopolwa se swanetše go tšwa sengwalweng. We will name a method in words, write the formula with no numbers, then substitute one line at a time.
2. What do we already know?
setsopolwa sa botelele bja NSC
3. Which method — and why this one?
Kgopolo ye kgolo e setsopolweng ka moka, ga e lentšung le tee. Setsopolwa se swanetše go tšwa sengwalweng.
4. Step-by-step working
01 / 06
Ntlha
Ga a tlogele mothaladi. Mooki o bitša leina le le latelago, yena o a dula.
kgopolo: o letela sebaka sa gagweWhy this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
02 / 06
Diriša molao
Tsopola fela seo se ngwadilwego: “o bitša leina le le latelago”.
setsopolwaWhy this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
03 / 06
Lekola
Setsopolwa se thekga kgopolo. Setsopolwa ka pula fela se ka se fihle ntlheng.
setsopolwa se a sepelelanaWhy this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
04 / 06
Step G — Sense-check the size
Ask: is this the kind of number a Grade 10–12 paper would want? A speed of 3 000 ms for a learner walking, or a probability bigger than 1, means a unit or algebra slip. Estimate first: round the numbers and do the sum in your head.
Why this step: Markers write ‘unrealistic’ in the margin when the method is right but the size is wild. A 10-second head check often finds a missing 10² or a unit that never changed.
05 / 06
Step F — Box the answer with its unit
Mošemane o dula mothalading go fihlela leina la gagwe le bitšwa. Bohlatse: “o bitša leina le le latelago”.
Why this step: A number without a unit is half a mark on a Physics paper, and a marker can miss a Maths answer that is buried in working.
06 / 06
Step H — What the marker is looking for
On an NSC memo you usually earn: (1) a method mark for naming the right formula or idea in words, (2) an accuracy mark for substituting the given numbers with units, (3) an accuracy mark for the boxed answer with its unit. Write those three lines even if you are unsure of the arithmetic — blank pages score zero.
Why this step: First-timers chase the final number and leave the method blank. The memo still pays out for the idea and the substitution even when the last line is wrong.
5. The answer
Mošemane o dula mothalading go fihlela leina la gagwe le bitšwa. Bohlatse: “o bitša leina le le latelago”.
6. Check it like a marker
O se ke wa oketša ntwa, seswantšhokgopolo goba maikutlo ao a sa bolelwago. Meputso ya kwešišo e dula ka gare ga sengwalwa.
7. A trap first-timers fall into
First-timers often grab the first formula they remember, mix units (cm with m, minutes with seconds), or drop a minus sign. Write the formula in words first: “this equals that, because…”