IELTS Academic Band 8.5 My experience and tips
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So I did the IELTS Academic Test Yesterday and thought I would share how I prepared for the exam as well as some tips and tricks that I have learned while I was preparing.
Generally
What I came to understand was that it is essential that you familiarize yourself with the IELTS exam format. If you don’t, you simply cannot expect to score high even if your English is good. Frankly my English is pretty good. So I had just a few days to prepare for the IELTS. I also work full time, just as a side note. So yeah, I think it is totally possible for us full time employed people to prepare for IELTS in a short time.
The first thing I did was to do the Practice IELTS test online from British Council. At that time, I had no idea what to expect. Regardless, I scored 7.5 in listening and reading, which was what was required for me. So I was quite lazy until it was time to prepare. I would suggest you also do the practice test first so you can assess your current level and get to know what kind of questions come in each section.
For the ‘real’ preparation then I started with Magoosh IELTS Video Lectures. I used it to understand the IELTS’s different modules question solving strategy and get used to it. So that I can apply them when I practice from 1point3acres.com website
Another great help was an app called 6 Minutes English Listening from BBC Learning English program. I downloaded as many as 40 or so 6 minutes listening audios and was constantly listening to them while I was commuting to/from my work. The great thing about the app is that every listening file has a topic that is very current (three parent child, global warming, e-cigarette etc) therefore it is great to build a vocabulary on topics being discussed. If you are struggling with understanding British accent, this will also be a good help. The app shows the script of the listening audio as well.
Listening
Read the instruction on paper, do not pay attention when they are reading the instruction out to you. You can instead use this time to read the questions and answers. The only thing that you should be listening to from the instructions is how far you should read the questions and answers.
For example when you hear Listen carefully and answer Questions 1 to 4 quickly, make your mindset to check question number 4 and read questions 1 to 4 with the answers. Not further. Sometimes they play the listening part and the questions are over 2 pages for the played part. This happened to me yesterday. You should have read the questions on the next page as well. Use the review time to read the questions and answers coming up next. You probably will have nothing to review. Since there is too much listening to pay attention too, you will have forgotten what you heard a minute before, guaranteed. Therefore do not rely on the last 2 minutes to quickly write the answer that you have in your head. You will forget that answer. Write as you listen. Use the last 2 minutes for guessing the answers that you have left out blank. Read the context and try to guess. You do not get a penalty for wrong answers. So go for it, maybe you will get lucky. You probably know the tip to highlight the keywords while reading the questions. This I think is also a very useful one. Always keep in your mind what question is coming next. In that way, when you miss an answer to one question you will notice. Because you will probably hear the answer to your next question. When this happens, do not panic. Do not try to remember what you have missed. If you do this, you will miss the answer to the next question, and the next after that and so on. So if you miss an answer, leave it blank and try to focus back on the next question. General tip for listening would be to watch lots of English movies and watch youtube videos. Try to follow the tips that I have mentioned above when you do your practice tests, so that you learn those skills. ]
Reading
This was the hardest part of IELTS for me. Because I just did not understand some words and even whole sentences when I was doing the practice tests. But the good news is that you do not have to read the whole text and understand every single bit in it. Skimming and scanning is the thing you have to do. What I did for reading was I read the title of the passage and then I directly turned into the first question and the answers to it. After reading the first question, I skimmed the text to find the answer to it. As soon as I answered the first question I read the second question along with its answers. Then I will skim the text from the place where I left off until I find the answer to the second question and so on. While I am skimming the passage, I highlight the technical terms, names, places, dates etc. So that when in the next question section a question comes with one of these facts, I do not need to read the whole thing again, I just quickly look through what I have highlighted and et voila, I can go directly to the paragraph that contains the answer. There are 3 passages that you need to read and answer in total to 40 questions within 60 minutes. The reading part is not time-dictated. You need to manage your own time. So use a maximum of 18 minutes per passage and move on. Pay attention to the spelling mistakes. The tricky questions for me were those of True, False, Not Given and Yes, No, Not Given types. As far as I understood, the first type strictly asks for facts in the passage, while the latter asks the writer's opinion as well. I followed exactly what was written on the instruction, namely:
Do not match the words, match meanings. General tips for the reading section would be obviously to read a lot, especially science articles in newspapers and magazines etc. I generally enjoy reading a lot. so I read almost all the time and have my kindle with me more often than not. One great thing Kindle has a dictionary and vocabulary builder app on it. When you look up words on your kindle, the words that you have looked up are collected in the list of the vocabulary builder. So you can train them afterwards.
Writing
I thought the writing part was something you can learn. Specially the whole part 1 and the structure of both parts are quite straightforward once you get the hang of it. My problem with writing was that the time was too short. You need to write 150 words for part 1 and 250 words for part 2 in a total of 60 minutes. The part 2 is worth twice the point. So maybe it is a good idea to start with part 2. While I was doing the practice tests, I never managed to produce a report for the task 1 under 20 minutes. That is the advised time that you are supposed to take for the first part. In the test, it took me 27 minutes to finish the first part. So I had to very quickly write my essay. Only thing that helps with writing is, in my view, to read well written model answers and try to learn the phrases and structures. Use them in your own writings. At the end of the writing section take some time to proofread, correct your spelling mistakes. You can as well replace the basic words that you have used with fancier versions of them.
I am including here some model writing answers that I read at least 3 times, the sources are ieltsliz.com, usingenglish.com and a book called IELTS Advantage writing skills.
Model Answers to IELTS Writing Task 1 Report:
onedrive.live.com,docx&lor=shortUrl
Models Answers to IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay:
onedrive.live.com,docx&lor=shortUrl
Watch the following video from IELTS advantage (Chris) to understand the formula for the task 1 and 2. Overall I found his contents very good.
Speaking
I found the speaking part to be the easiest, because I use English on a daily basis in the office and with friends etc. Also, it is quite predictable what kind of questions can come in the speaking part. Especially the first part, where you introduce yourself, you can very well prepare a nice script with fancy words and deliver the speech like a Hollywood actor ;)
Whenever I do not use English for some time, I become quite rusty and lots of hmms and umms can be heard of me. But when I am in the flow, let’s say when I have switched my brain to the English, speaking flows out of me quite naturally. So I have listened as I mentioned before lots of 6 minute English podcasts, the morning before the exam. I had the listening, reading and writing exams after each other without break until about 12pm and I had time until 14.40 where I was supposed to turn up for my speaking test. So I listened to the 6 minute english the whole time during this break, and it really switched my brain over to English thinking mode.
Band 8
youtu.be
Band 7
youtu.be
Band 6
youtu.be
Band 5
youtu.be
Materials Reference:
Listening and Reading Module:
IELTS Online Test Website: ieltsonlinetests.com
Listening frequent words:
ielts.kmf.com
Magoosh Videos:
drive.google.com
Chris/IELTS Advantage : drive.google.com
IELTS Liz Writing Videos:
drive.google.com
Speaking : IELTS Speaking Assistant App (Updated with latest Topics and Cue Cards)
I will upload some more writing materials I used mostly in PDFs format later.
I hope the post was somewhat helpful. I wish you all the best to all of you preparing for the exam.
If you have questions feel free to ask them in the comment section. I will share my scores as soon as I receive them.
Generally
What I came to understand was that it is essential that you familiarize yourself with the IELTS exam format. If you don’t, you simply cannot expect to score high even if your English is good. Frankly my English is pretty good. So I had just a few days to prepare for the IELTS. I also work full time, just as a side note. So yeah, I think it is totally possible for us full time employed people to prepare for IELTS in a short time.
The first thing I did was to do the Practice IELTS test online from British Council. At that time, I had no idea what to expect. Regardless, I scored 7.5 in listening and reading, which was what was required for me. So I was quite lazy until it was time to prepare. I would suggest you also do the practice test first so you can assess your current level and get to know what kind of questions come in each section.
For the ‘real’ preparation then I started with Magoosh IELTS Video Lectures. I used it to understand the IELTS’s different modules question solving strategy and get used to it. So that I can apply them when I practice from 1point3acres.com website
Another great help was an app called 6 Minutes English Listening from BBC Learning English program. I downloaded as many as 40 or so 6 minutes listening audios and was constantly listening to them while I was commuting to/from my work. The great thing about the app is that every listening file has a topic that is very current (three parent child, global warming, e-cigarette etc) therefore it is great to build a vocabulary on topics being discussed. If you are struggling with understanding British accent, this will also be a good help. The app shows the script of the listening audio as well.
Listening
Read the instruction on paper, do not pay attention when they are reading the instruction out to you. You can instead use this time to read the questions and answers. The only thing that you should be listening to from the instructions is how far you should read the questions and answers.
For example when you hear Listen carefully and answer Questions 1 to 4 quickly, make your mindset to check question number 4 and read questions 1 to 4 with the answers. Not further. Sometimes they play the listening part and the questions are over 2 pages for the played part. This happened to me yesterday. You should have read the questions on the next page as well. Use the review time to read the questions and answers coming up next. You probably will have nothing to review. Since there is too much listening to pay attention too, you will have forgotten what you heard a minute before, guaranteed. Therefore do not rely on the last 2 minutes to quickly write the answer that you have in your head. You will forget that answer. Write as you listen. Use the last 2 minutes for guessing the answers that you have left out blank. Read the context and try to guess. You do not get a penalty for wrong answers. So go for it, maybe you will get lucky. You probably know the tip to highlight the keywords while reading the questions. This I think is also a very useful one. Always keep in your mind what question is coming next. In that way, when you miss an answer to one question you will notice. Because you will probably hear the answer to your next question. When this happens, do not panic. Do not try to remember what you have missed. If you do this, you will miss the answer to the next question, and the next after that and so on. So if you miss an answer, leave it blank and try to focus back on the next question. General tip for listening would be to watch lots of English movies and watch youtube videos. Try to follow the tips that I have mentioned above when you do your practice tests, so that you learn those skills. ]
Reading
This was the hardest part of IELTS for me. Because I just did not understand some words and even whole sentences when I was doing the practice tests. But the good news is that you do not have to read the whole text and understand every single bit in it. Skimming and scanning is the thing you have to do. What I did for reading was I read the title of the passage and then I directly turned into the first question and the answers to it. After reading the first question, I skimmed the text to find the answer to it. As soon as I answered the first question I read the second question along with its answers. Then I will skim the text from the place where I left off until I find the answer to the second question and so on. While I am skimming the passage, I highlight the technical terms, names, places, dates etc. So that when in the next question section a question comes with one of these facts, I do not need to read the whole thing again, I just quickly look through what I have highlighted and et voila, I can go directly to the paragraph that contains the answer. There are 3 passages that you need to read and answer in total to 40 questions within 60 minutes. The reading part is not time-dictated. You need to manage your own time. So use a maximum of 18 minutes per passage and move on. Pay attention to the spelling mistakes. The tricky questions for me were those of True, False, Not Given and Yes, No, Not Given types. As far as I understood, the first type strictly asks for facts in the passage, while the latter asks the writer's opinion as well. I followed exactly what was written on the instruction, namely:
True or Yes when the meaning of statement given in the question exactly matches with the passage
False or No when the meaning of statement given in the question contradicts (aka says the opposite) the passage
Not Given when the given statement is not mentioned in the passage at all.
Do not match the words, match meanings. General tips for the reading section would be obviously to read a lot, especially science articles in newspapers and magazines etc. I generally enjoy reading a lot. so I read almost all the time and have my kindle with me more often than not. One great thing Kindle has a dictionary and vocabulary builder app on it. When you look up words on your kindle, the words that you have looked up are collected in the list of the vocabulary builder. So you can train them afterwards.
Writing
I thought the writing part was something you can learn. Specially the whole part 1 and the structure of both parts are quite straightforward once you get the hang of it. My problem with writing was that the time was too short. You need to write 150 words for part 1 and 250 words for part 2 in a total of 60 minutes. The part 2 is worth twice the point. So maybe it is a good idea to start with part 2. While I was doing the practice tests, I never managed to produce a report for the task 1 under 20 minutes. That is the advised time that you are supposed to take for the first part. In the test, it took me 27 minutes to finish the first part. So I had to very quickly write my essay. Only thing that helps with writing is, in my view, to read well written model answers and try to learn the phrases and structures. Use them in your own writings. At the end of the writing section take some time to proofread, correct your spelling mistakes. You can as well replace the basic words that you have used with fancier versions of them.
I am including here some model writing answers that I read at least 3 times, the sources are ieltsliz.com, usingenglish.com and a book called IELTS Advantage writing skills.
Model Answers to IELTS Writing Task 1 Report:
onedrive.live.com,docx&lor=shortUrl
Models Answers to IELTS Writing Task 2 Essay:
onedrive.live.com,docx&lor=shortUrl
Watch the following video from IELTS advantage (Chris) to understand the formula for the task 1 and 2. Overall I found his contents very good.
Speaking
I found the speaking part to be the easiest, because I use English on a daily basis in the office and with friends etc. Also, it is quite predictable what kind of questions can come in the speaking part. Especially the first part, where you introduce yourself, you can very well prepare a nice script with fancy words and deliver the speech like a Hollywood actor ;)
Whenever I do not use English for some time, I become quite rusty and lots of hmms and umms can be heard of me. But when I am in the flow, let’s say when I have switched my brain to the English, speaking flows out of me quite naturally. So I have listened as I mentioned before lots of 6 minute English podcasts, the morning before the exam. I had the listening, reading and writing exams after each other without break until about 12pm and I had time until 14.40 where I was supposed to turn up for my speaking test. So I listened to the 6 minute english the whole time during this break, and it really switched my brain over to English thinking mode.
Band 8
youtu.be
Band 7
youtu.be
Band 6
youtu.be
Band 5
youtu.be
Materials Reference:
Listening and Reading Module:
IELTS Online Test Website: ieltsonlinetests.com
Listening frequent words:
ielts.kmf.com
Magoosh Videos:
drive.google.com
Chris/IELTS Advantage : drive.google.com
IELTS Liz Writing Videos:
drive.google.com
Speaking : IELTS Speaking Assistant App (Updated with latest Topics and Cue Cards)
I will upload some more writing materials I used mostly in PDFs format later.
I hope the post was somewhat helpful. I wish you all the best to all of you preparing for the exam.
If you have questions feel free to ask them in the comment section. I will share my scores as soon as I receive them.
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