Today’s post is dedicated to Pratik and Shruti, a husband and wife from India.
We got to know this lovely couple through our monthly IELTS results competition. They both took the IELTS test and achieved great scores: Shruti received Band 7.5 and Pratik – Band 8.
Here are some tips from Pratik and Shruti that helped both of them, and can help YOU do a great job in your upcoming IELTS exam:
Listening
- You can use headphones while practicing, but make sure to do a few practice tests without the headphones, to be prepared to listen to the recording through a loudspeaker.
- Doing many practice tests within time limits helps a lot in the real exam.
- Non-English-speaking candidates should resort to watching Hollywood movies, documentaries or TV series to improve their listening or even speaking.
- Attention to intrinsic detail does help.
- Proper hand-eye-ear coordination can work miracles in the Listening test.
Reading
- The strategy of glancing at the questions prior to reading the passages really helps.
- Read the passage carefully, where the answers to the questions could be hidden.
- Be witty enough not to waste too much time on the irrelevant paragraphs.
- Concentration and patience are very important in the Reading test.
Writing
- Reading editorial articles in English newspapers will help with your writing.
- Always check your word count to make sure you are over 150 words in Task 1 and over 250 words in Task 2.
- Writing grammatically correct, simpler sentences is better than trying to impress the examiner with advanced English words/sentences that you’re not sure how to use.
- Keep in mind that you need to describe a Task 1 chart to someone who doesn’t see it.
- For the essay (Task 2), there should be an introduction, content (the body) and a well-framed conclusion to set a benchmark or make a point.
Speaking
- Listen to podcasts of authentic news channels like CNN and BBC and get acquainted with the accent.
- The habit of reading in English daily always helps to develop new vocabulary.
- Greet the examiner warmly. Such attitude portrays the candidate’s energy and fosters interest in the mind of the examiner at the same time.
- Speak on the topic, because beating around the bush does not help. Don’t concentrate just on your pronunciation – your speech should have ideas, facts, clarity and coherence.
- Ask the examiner to repeat his/her question, if you did not understand what he/she means.
- Quoting examples, case studies or experiences will make your speech more interesting.
- Leave your nervousness outside the examination room – take the test with confidence.
Good luck!
