Getting through IELTS Academic is not an easy task even
though you are good at English. I had my university education in the English medium,
and I have been using English as the preferred language in my professional career.
Yet, I was advised to prepare thoroughly prior to sitting the exam. Never sit
unless you are prepared as it is a complete waste of your money and time. The
exam is not easy as you think.
I had nearly 3 weeks to prepare for IELTS Academic and succeeded
in the first attempt with an overall: 8.0 (Reading 8.5, Listening 8.0, Writing
7.5, Speaking 7.0)
I never had private tutors or paid classes and the main
resources were the Cambridge book series, Rachel Mitchell’s book, and YouTube
channels. I know this might not work for everyone; however, I would like to share
my story.
There are band descriptors for each component which are
freely downloadable from IELTS official site. It shows the components of how
the marks are allocated in each band. Find it as a good guide for yourself.
I started with IELTS Academic by Cambridge book series.
Each
book has about 4 tests reading, listening, writing (task 1 and task 2), and
speaking. I did book 13,14,15,16. The most important thing is to time your
work. It is extremely challenging to do reading tests in the allocated
time. You should not time for parts 1, 2, and 3 separately, rather allocate a fixed
time and do a full test of listening/ writing or reading. Find a time where you
don’t get disturbed by phone calls etc (at least minimally disturbed time). Answers
are provided at the end and some of the writing answers are not ideal and they
are just for a guide. Therefore, sometimes your answers might be a little
better even.
Cambridge book series is helpful for reading and listening.
For listening, there are online YouTube channels that
provide daily tests. This is one channel I did daily tests. Of course, not 100% correct, but it really helped me.
They are really
helpful to practice your timing. If you could not focus on the beginning, there
is a chance that you might make the whole segment wrong. Concentrate! it is the
key. Maps are a bit tricky. Mr Asad Yaqub’s advice on maps is quite helpful.
How to improve writing?
There are different words which you
need to learn. Listen to what Chris says.
Fastrack IELTS, Liz also says some valuable
talks.
Basically, you need to improve your range of vocabulary.
I downloaded some model answer sheets and got printout
copies and answered using a pencil as it could simulate the real exam.
This will
make you more familiar with the exam setup since we hardly write with pencils
now.
“IELTS Writing Task 2 Samples by Rachel Mitchell” and its task
1 book are useful guides if you lack ideas. Those books give a guide to answering
in a rational manner.
For speaking, there is nothing but practice. I daily practiced
two tests per day. If you don’t have a partner, record with your mobile phone
(video would be better as it would show awkward gestures we often do without our
knowledge and stammering etc). Listening to some of the band 9 speakers also helped me to fine-tune my speaking.
Some channels like linguamarina are useful to improve your language not just for the exam.
Practice daily. Do an honest job. Just because you don’t
score high NEVER get disappointed. In the beginning, my reading marks were around
25/40, however, only in the last few days, I could pick up to above 35 within 2
weeks. Same story for listening where I was stagnant at 25-26/40 for weeks and only
by last week I could stabilize my marks above 35. That is practice. I have done
Cambridge tests repeatedly also. No problem, as you just need to practice your
timing and concentration in addition to the English knowledge.
I get this as an opportunity to thank all the YouTube channels
again who generously shared their knowledge.You can go through those channels and find what suits you best.
