Answer by Cdr Rathore: In the SSB, Assessor look for 15 OLQ’s while you are answering or discussing or writing. Power of Expression is an OLQ (called communication skills) which is assessed in English. If your expression is found weak in English, you will not be able to pass stage one testing of SSB Interview. If your communication skills are average in English, you are likely to clear the stage one test. However, if your communication skills are good, you are assessed good in this OLQ. This acts quite favourably for the SSB candidates in stage one test and other tests of SSB. Remember, all OLQ’s are important but if communication skills (in English) of a candidate is weak, he is hesitant and underconfident in the tests. As such the time available to complete each test is less. Thus, he is unable to perform at his best level. This brings down other OLQ’s also to some extent.
My suggestion is that all SSB aspirants must work towards improving communication skills diligently (devoting 2 to 3 hours daily). Please read “Best book on SSB Interview” and my blog daily so that more frequently used words in answering the tests in SSB become familiar to you. Do not study grammar too much instead read what you need to speak in SSB. Remember, you do not know much of Hindi Grammar, but you speak Hindi fluently because you know the required words.
Note: Any Armed Forces officer must interact with officers of friendly & enemy countries for military exercises or resolving matters at the border through dialogue. Thus, Armed Forces officers of every country learn English. Therefore, a student aspiring to be an Armed Forces officer must be fluent in English.