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IELTS Listening and Speaking tips from Band 7.5 achiever

I feel very pleased to be declared the IELTS results winner of the month! I am quite happy that I got an overall IELTS score of 7.5 . Here are my tips to all the IELTS test takers (of Academic Module) in the future:

Listening test

In the Listening section of the test, it is important to pay much attention to the recording as it will be played ONCE only. You either get the answer or you dont and it is as simple as that. It is important to concentrate HARD as you hear the recording. Try to pay attention to the key words of the recording as they are probably the answers to the questions.

In order to brush up your listening skills, you might wish to attempt to listen to the English channel of your radio and try to take notes as you listen to the voice of the speaker.

Another way to practice your listening skills is to listen to English or American pop music. Try to listen to the lyrics and catch as many words as you possibly can as the pop star sings along.

Speaking test

In order to prepare for the speaking test, you might wish to make some friends with people from English speaking countries and try to have as many conversations in English with them as possible. In that way you would have more opportunities to speak in English.

In addition, you can even ask your English-speaking friends to correct your English as you talk to them. You should pay attention to the way they speak, how they pronounce the important words and their choice of words. The more you practice speaking, the greater the chances of getting a good score on your speaking test.

The general tips that apply to the writing test also apply to the speaking test, namely:

  • If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
  • Never use the passive where you can use the active.
  • Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
  • Try to keep all sentences short.
  • Make everything simple.
  • Click here to read William’s Writing tips.

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    Author

    Simone Braverman is the founder of IELTS-Blog.com and author of several popular IELTS preparation books, including Ace the IELTS, Target Band 7, the High Scorer's Choice practice test series, and IELTS Success Formula. Since 2005 her work has helped 100,000's of students worldwide achieve their target IELTS scores and live their dream lives. When Simone isn't working on her next IELTS book, video lesson, or coaching, she enjoys playing the guitar or rollerblading.