Well done to Malaz, who took the IELTS exam recently and did well. - TopicsExpress

Well done to Malaz, who took the IELTS exam recently and did well. Below are some of the tips she has for other exam takers. Have any of you taken the IELTS exam? What tips would you pass onto others? Remember it is just like any other exam needs preparations, so you have to make sure that you study well before taking it (and remember even for your native language when you have an exam you should be ready to get the result that you dreamt of so definitely the IELTS deserve some effort ;) …The IELTS may looks easy for many people but trust me it is not so deal with it seriously to do it once ! I think it’s better to learn English for itself and not just for the exam because you need to have a wide range of vocabulary to understand the reading passages as well as in the writing and of course the speaking modules . For this you can start reading the books that you love, newspapers and try to write the new words and try to use them as much as you can. Moreover, know a variety of synonyms and make list of them or you can draw a tree Listening: Listening is a skill that might be a gift if you master it by practice. The most important thing is to keep concentrating. But if you don’t maintain focusing or you don’t hear or understand any question just skip it and go forward to decrease the number of the questions that you are not sure about them. Listen to different accents and be familiar with them. Reading: Needs a lot of practice (better with hard copies I mean use books or printed passages and don’t practice it on the laptop!) Time is the biggest problem so you have to overcome it. Scan & skim and DON’T read the passage in details. This module needs a good level of English overall but definitely you could be faced by a new words (even natives go through this), so don’t get panic and try to understand the general idea and how they can paraphrase it (by knowing the synonyms). Personally, I recommend to practice the reading , wearing your watch (and set your timer) and divide the time as if you are in the exam. - ALWAYS remember any question has 90 seconds only , don’t spend a lot of time in a single question !! Writing: It is not difficult if you know the rules!! ;) You need a teacher or an expert friend to check your tasks, because the assessment is crucial in this item. Remember to underline the key words in the question, so you will not miss any part and you will achieve the task response adequately. Then put a plan before you start to write. Be familiar with different kinds of task 1 (line charts, processes…etc) and also with the special vocabulary. Furthermore look carefully to the time of the question to decide which tense you will use and for the process remember to use the passive. DON’T miss the summary sentence in task 1 and the conclusion in task 2 . Speaking: Speak as much as you can and under any situation. Even you can talk to yourself (use a recorder and in front of the mirror) about your ordinary activities and then you will progress smoothly. Speak with who have a high level in English (you can speak to natives online). This will help you in speaking as well as in listening ;) Show confidence from the start (and put in mind that it’s just about 15 minutes or less and you have to display your language in a good shape) this will affect your practice and so your score ( English clubs might help in this part). Keep continuous speaking (don’t rush and don’t make many pauses) ,use body language and eye contact. Listen to podcasts to have an idea about how you can approach different topics and learn some idioms (e.g. to hang out with = to spend time with) and discourse marks (Moreover, however, alternatively..etc) and show some awareness of style and collocation(putting word combinations together, e.g. sustainable development, financial management, job satisfaction) to get a high score Some useful websites (beside the British council websites): - Ielts-simon - Dcielts - Ieltsspeaking.co.uk - Ieltsbuddy - Ieltsspeakingquestions.blogspot - Ielts-exam.net - Ncl.ac.uk - Ielts-writing.info - Memrise - Examenglish (the academic word list)