Prearing for IELTS

[tracesg]

OK, I just want to share with you guys about IELTS.... I am preparing for my exam in 3 days and I am starting to freak out a little about it as it doesn't really test on how good your English is but more on how to nail the questions correctly.
I use Cambridge Official Examination papers from University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations version 7 that comes with the CDs for listening part.
Here is what I have gathered during my exam practice:
1. Listening. It has been years since I took the TOEFL but the problems that many faced and what I have discussed with others who have take the TOEFL is that the listening part is too fast and too long, by the time the conversation is over, you have forgotten what they were talking about in the first place and you only hear the conversation once. Same here in the IELTS! In IELTS, though, you don't have to wait until the conversation is over, you should write down the answer as you listen along. READ THE QUESTIONS FIRST
2. Reading. The passage can be long but what I did was tried to read the passage quickly at the beginning to get an overview of the story and then attempt the questions later. If you read carefully, you will notice keywords that will help you to link your "fill in the blanks" questions. Keywords such as via:through, first:initially, etc. If you don't find the answer to your question, read the passage again, the answer is usually there.
3. Writing. I looked at the model answers provided in the book and it seems to me that they have this format that they want you to follow for writing part I which is: Introduction, body, Summary. They also want to see you paraphrase and not just copy what you see in the graphs. There is no way in knowing how well I will do based on what I have written in the mock exams. For part II, it seems to me that they want you to give an overview of the 2 contradicting views and state your stand on the subject and close the argument with a solid conclusion. Again, this is from reading the model answer.
I will update you guys on the results in 2 weeks. Please share with us your thoughts and study tips.

[papmanindia]

Hey dude,

Thanks for your valuable comments.. It was of gr8 ...do inform abt results..

Regards,
papmanindia

[tracesg]

Results of my IELTS (general paper)
Listening: 9
Reading: 9
Writing: 8
Speaking: 8

Average: 8.5

[Kaushik Roy]

Results of my IELTS (Academic paper)

Reading : 8.5
Listening : 8.5
Writing : 7.5
Speaking : 7.5

Overall 8.0

[Kaushik Roy]

Some tips for academic ielts...

Reading: Try the techniques called 'skimming' and 'scanning' or a combination of the two. Make a mental map of where what information is or might be. Try and justify your answer from different angles if possible. Practice a lot.

Writing: If you have written any essays and got decent marks in school, the second part should be no problem to get a 6 , which assures that you know ur grammer and sentence construction fine along with maximum 1 spelling mistake. To get 7 and above u gotta understand the topic and make an arguementative analysis before presenting your final opinion. Anything more than 8, u gotta be good.. and i mean goood...

Speaking: Do not speak fast if ur not used to it. instead i would recommend keeping a decent pace while making a coherent conversation. Do not stop unncesarily and send ur eyes upwards. Make sure u do not use 'fillers' for more than once in the entire speaking test. (fillers are intermitent sounds like 'uuh', 'umm', 'you know', 'basically' etc...) Remember ur speech will be judged from ur recording and not by ur looks or smile ( a smile will nevertheless make u comfy and allow free flow of conversation)

Listening: Practice and tune ur ears. Read up on another topic in this forum.

Good luck buddy...