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: Badimo Ba Boletše, M. J. Mpepele, padinyana ya Sepedi Polelo ya Gae. Molwantšhwa ke mang, gomme morero ke ofe?
In other words — as if you have never seen this before
If you have never seen this before: Morero wo tlhahli ka boyona e o fago: lentšu la mohu ga le tshelwe. Go gana ga Ditau go nyala Thabišo, le tše di latelago, ke ka fao padi e o bontšhago ka gona. 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?
Molwantšhwa ke Ditau. Morero o dula go moanegwa yo go tloga mathomong go fihla mafelelong.
3. Which method — and why this one?
Morero wo tlhahli ka boyona e o fago: lentšu la mohu ga le tshelwe. Go gana ga Ditau go nyala Thabišo, le tše di latelago, ke ka fao padi e o bontšhago ka gona.
4. Step-by-step working
01 / 06
Ntlha
Ditau o rwele morero. Komanyi, Kgoši Tsweke, Thabišo, Nthuše le Seritša ba hlohleletša thulano yeo. Ga se bohle balwantšhwa.
DitauWhy 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
Morero ga se kakaretšo ya ka morago ga puku. Ke thuto e tee yeo ditiragalo di e hlatselago ka mehla.
lentšu la mohu ga le tshelweWhy 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
Molaetša ke seo o se tšeago ge o feditše. Morero ke kgopolo ye kgolo ka gare ga ditiragalo. O se ke wa fapantšha mantšu a a mabedi.
morero, e sego kakaretšoWhy 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.
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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.
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Step F — Box the answer with its unit
Ditau ke molwantšhwa. Morero ke gore lentšu la mohu ga le tshelwe, gomme le bontšhwa lenyalong leo Ditau a le ganago gomme a felela a lebane le lona.
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.
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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
Ditau ke molwantšhwa. Morero ke gore lentšu la mohu ga le tshelwe, gomme le bontšhwa lenyalong leo Ditau a le ganago gomme a felela a lebane le lona.
6. Check it like a marker
Go anega gore mang o nyetše mang, o sa bolele morero, go araba potšišo ye nngwe.
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…”