Today I would like to share a couple of emails with you. As you know we always ask the high achievers how they got their results. Here are two answers of Band 8 scorers, who wanted to contribute to other test takers’ success: meet Thanh Tan from Vietnam, and Vivek Kalepu from India, both Academic candidates and our monthly competition winners (scored 8.0 in the IELTS test).
Vivek thinks focus is the key:
“Thank you for choosing me as one of the winners. One of the most essential things required to get a good score is focus. With lots of practice, one would get to know the right approach towards each module.
For example, in Listening a person might say something positive with a hint of sarcasm and in instances like that, one has to observe the tone. Academic Reading should be practiced a lot, it is the only way to get a good score. When you’ve done 5 or 6 exercises in reading, it becomes easy. Keep pushing yourself to get the maximum band. Though I felt I could’ve done listening and speaking better, I’m quite satisfied with my score. When you aim high, you obviously succeed, provided you put in effort in your preparation.”
And Thanh Tam attributes part of his success to the book ‘Target Band 7’:
“I followed a lot of advice from this book, which results in my band 8 score! You may feel how grateful I am to this original book!
It is my delight to share my personal experiences about the book ‘Target band 7’. To me, the idea to develop this book was so brilliant, and the effort to write it up was laudable. Undoubtedly, I am one of innumerable IELTS takers who find themselves helped up by this incredible piece of work.
The book can be described by three S’s: straightforward, short, and serviceable. First, unlike other “tip books” which are often scary and mysterious, it is crystal clear about what the IELTS exam needs from you and what you are supposed to do in order to give quick but correct answers. Reading the book was already a source of joy as I was savoring page by page because I was becoming aware about how to deploy my English effectively during the test.
Second, the book is distilled in a very limited number of pages, facilitating a good memorisation and digestion of the content. As a busy clinician, I honestly appreciate this feature, as a tip a really a tip when you remember it. A book overloaded with tips risks to ruin your test due to the fact that those tips fill up your poor memory, leading to confusion and embarrassment.”
