IELTS Speaking - Help Needed (Remarking? , Assessment?, Advice?)

[UsamaHussein]

Hello All,

I am writing this topic here because I think all of you passed the IELTS exam already unlike people who are preparing for it in the IELTS exam section of this forum.

I entered the exam twice targeting CLB9 (L8, RWS7). Got 6.5 in the speaking part twice! (even though I feel I did better in my second exam than my performance in the first, the score was exactly the same!)

My questions are:

Remarking: Do you think it worth the money and time to remark my exam? It costs half the cost of the exam and it takes two months to get remarked in the UK. Does anyone have previous experience with remarking speaking? (My motive is that I feel I should have scored more with respect to what I did in my first trial)

Assessment: Do you think it is beneficial to have a speaking assessment in the British council? Does it really add something or yet another source of listening to the same tips found on the Internet?

Advice: Does anybody have tips or advice on how to score better? How to practice? How to assess myself against their criteria?

I am looking for real-experience situations and tips. Thanks a lot.

 

[BanuManu4786]

Remarking - Dont waste your money unless you are doubly sure about how you fared at the test. There is 1 out 1000 chance that you will get the score improved in Listening, Speaking and Reading. Best bet is only on the Writing exam since its a perceived differently by different examiners. However, they have a same yard stick to rate the foundation structure of both the letter and paragraph. So at first you should have written enough to score 6. Then the examiner will go deeper into other aspects. Moreover, I have noticed that if you have scored say Listening - 7 | Reading -7 | Speaking - 7 | Writing - 6.5 then they tend to give you 7 more often than not if you go for remarking. Else, there is only a slight possibility.

Speaking Assessments - Firstly be fair to yourself. Know what your shortcomings are. Ask yourself, Do you know basics English? How comfortable are you while speaking to a Native English speaker? Then focus on problem areas.
1. Go back to English Grammar book
2. Listen to English News. Start with BBC and move to FOX, CNN etc
3. Take up English news paper and read loudly in front of the mirror. Imitate the English news readers.
4. Bring out your Oxford Dictionary. Take a notepad, Write 5 new words starting with A. Write their meaning, Break up the pronunciation of the English word in your native language. This will make you feel comfortable with using that word.
5. Listen to English songs. Try to understand the meaning. Else note the lyrics and then turn of the song to understand better.
6. Try to converse in English at home or outside. Just make it a point not to talk in native language. Even if you have to, try to bring up in mind what you would say in reply using English language.

Once you have done all that you would be ready with strong foundation. British council or any other center will just help you on clarifying how IELTS examiner will assess you. Once you done ground work and understand the criteria you will score not less than 7.5.

Advice: Remember IELTS is just one step, you will need to put you English competency to test when you land in foreign country. So better to focus on the basics first. There are many online sources available.
1. Dedicate 2-3 hours for a period of 4-6 weeks to score better.
2. Understand the criteria, what examiner is looking for and how they scoring is done.
3. Start with IELTS 6 all the way upto IELTS 8 books and do all the tests. Nothing else required.
4. Work on improving basic English >> Go back to my Speaking Assessment advice above.
5. Buy Ace the IELTS book online.

 

[UsamaHussein]

Thanks a lot BanuManu, appreciate your advice.