Actually my first attempt on 29
th August, 2015 was shockingly unsuccessful because I had underestimated IELTS, sitting for the test without serious preparation. I got L 7, R 7, W 6.5, and S 6.5. However, I took the test again and I would like to share my happy news of getting L 8.5, R 8, W 7.5, and S 7 on my IELTS exam on 9
th January, 2016.
Listening:
For me listening has always been a very easy part to deal with and there is a simple reason for that. I have been sharpening this skill by listening to BBC podcasts and watching American TV series all the time. I am so gripped throughout listening to these podcasts that I even learn a bunch of new words by simply looking them up in Cambridge Advanced Learner’s dictionary and adding them to my word list for further review. But, for this exam, the first and most important step is to familiarize yourself with all question types of the test. I never jumped from one study resource to another for that and I just did two
Free IELTS practice tests, which are available on
https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org. By doing so, I was able to know the test format, experience the types of questions and test myself under the timed conditions. Thus, this made me realize my weak points and focus on them by practicing official Cambridge tests for the rest.
Reading:
For reading time management is very crucial because there isn’t enough time to sift through every bit of information. However, it can be easy to deal with if one is used to scanning and skimming a vast amount of material. For this, I would always read a lot of English newspapers and magazines such as NY Times, Scientific American, Economist. At times, again, I took two sample tests from
https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org and familiarized myself with the test format and all the question types for this part. I did practice using official resources, starting by academic module tests because it would help me manage my time under more difficult conditions. My most important strategy was to go through the question first and look for the answer in the passage after instead of reading whole passage.
Writing:
It was a really wonderful experience to be trained by Ryan. I came to know about Ryan’s YouTube videos through a friend of mine who had watched those videos and scored 8 in writing. To be honest until then I did not actually know how to structure an essay because I did not know how paragraphs work together to convey the writer’s message. In his meticulous lessons Ryan goes through every bit of detail, covering all one needs to write at a 9 level. Ryan’s directions on how to write introduction, supporting and conclusion paragraphs as well as essay question analysis, coherence and cohesion and thesis writing helped me a great deal. Using those tips and directions and having two essay corrected by Ryan, in which I was informed about my fundamental problems in writing, I cracked the writing part and raised my score from 6.5 to 7.5.
Speaking:
Speaking is the fun part of the test. For this part, I first studied Mat Clark’s book and realized that “it is not what I said that really matters, it is how I said it that is going to earn me a good score in speaking” (as Sean mentioned while he was talking to you). Then, I started practicing the latest speaking questions, which were being sent to my e-mail by
www.ielts-blog.com, using the rules and instructions I had learnt from that book. I also went through Mark Allen’s speaking book, looking for uncommon verbs as well as intriguing English idioms and phrasal verbs. With my busy schedule and the limited time I had for preparation, those practices paid me off, and I scored a 7 in speaking.
Best of luck for all IELTS candidates in their endeavor. I am sure hard working and practice will be better if you will be enjoying it!.
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