Post authored by Kamna Verma based in London, ON
I achieved 8.5 overall bands in my IELTS exam in my second attempt. I want to say big thanks to all
Also I wish to share my success story and experience with my friends who always ask as how to prepare best for IELTS exam.
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| Kamna's IELTS General result. This equals CLB10 and gets the highest points towards Express Entry CRS score. |
General Advice
I would like to begin by saying, always approach the IELTS test with a positive frame of mind.
I began preparing from the standard Cambridge book as well as a few other test prep. Books. Once I understood the format, I was interested in polishing my technique, speed, efficiency, etc. One needs a good level of English, which is a good foundation to start. You can polish this by reading, listening as well as speaking in daily situations.
But beyond your English skills you also need to be familiar with the format, flow, how to tackle each section, etc.
IELTS SPEAKING
- Practice thoroughly, there are no shortcuts.
- You must make the necessary effort to speak out in public regularly to improve your speaking. This is one area where most lack and by far it is the easiest section of IELTS.
- Getting in conversations with others primarily in English is one of the best approaches to improve your listening and speaking skills. Also, it would enhance your knowledge which would prove beneficial for the writing exam.
- I began preparing from the standard Cambridge book as well as a few other test prep. Books. Once I understood the format, I was interested in polishing my technique, speed, efficiency, etc.
IELTS Writing
This is by far the most dreaded part of the test, especially if you are not a scholar in English or a writer. The key is to practice over and over using some known topics. Getting your written responses evaluated such as with the help of a professional teacher who can evaluate your essay time to time correct your mistakes so I opted writing correction service. My confidence and scores got a permanent boost with practice and evaluations from experts. Practicing on the list of broader 5-6 topics such as health, money, environment, education along with relevant vocabulary is key to scoring high in the essay section. Practice regularly to keep the word count close to 180 and 280 for writing task 1 and writing task 2 respectively.
IELTS Reading
My advice regarding the reading test is do not spend time reading the passage. After reading the title and a quick look at the pictures or diagrams, go directly to the questions. Read 3 or 4 questions together and start hunting for the answers for all of them. While looking for the answer for the first question you may come across with the answers for the second or third questions, so if you have the second and third questions also in your mind then the job is done easily! This sounds complex, but I have found it very useful and more time saving than looking for just one answer. Practice the reading tests as much as possible. For me, reading was the hardest of all.
Try to learn how to read and skim fast – it's not wise to read each and every word and sentence. However, when you look for something specific – to read in detail. Before reading fully, go and see what types of questions exist and look for that as well. Some sure-shot questions can be cracked while your reading is in progress. Remember the aim here is to find answers, not to study the material in detail. I didn’t do much except for solving the exercises in my book and making mental notes about where and why I have made mistakes so that I won’t repeat those again, especially not in my IELTS Test.
IELTS Listening
I can’t say much for the Listening. I especially concentrated on the Listening tasks while solving those with my headphones on. I am not an attentive person, so losing track of what was being said was fairly common while practicing. I tried to tackle this weakness of mine by concentrating really hard. Just follow the instructions and read the questions beforehand in the time given so that as you hear the speaker, you will be able to answer the questions at the same time. The last one is always difficult, and you may notice that if the questions are in the form of matching then it would be best to hear the person out first before answering.
Good luck to all those who would be sitting for their IELTS test. Just trust yourself.
Tip by Dhruv:
Something that has worked for me in order to practice listening is to find listening exercises on Youtube and use them to practice. A simple search on youtube with "IELTS listening practice test" will yield numerous listening exams.
I always aim to score perfect in listening. In order to better train myself, I play the listening video at 1.5x or 2x speed and try to answer all the questions. If you perfect yourself at a higher playback rate, then normal playback rate appears to be a cakewalk.
Resources
IELTS Tutorials by Jay have helped a great deal:
I believe that one of the most essential concerns while selecting the best IELTS institute is faculty knowledge because only knowledgeable faculty can direct you in the proper direction. You also mention in your blog that you should look for teacher experience and profile first when choosing the best IELTS tuition. If the institute has qualified faculty, then the chances of the students' outcomes will automatically increase. Thank you for your valuable and informative information.
ReplyDeleteMastering IELTS requires strategic preparation. Practice regularly, familiarize with test formats, and focus on language skills. Consistent effort and effective study techniques are key to achieving your desired score. IELTS meaningis to check if the candidate has a good hold on English or no.
ReplyDelete