- May 24, 2012
- 10
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- New Delhi
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 16-07-2012
- IELTS Request
- 8.5
- Med's Done....
- 10-07-2012
- Interview........
- Waived
- VISA ISSUED...
- 20-07-2012
- LANDED..........
- Soon!
Got my academic IELTS results today:
9.0 - Listening
9.0 - Reading
7.5 - Writing
9.0 - Speaking
===========
8.5 - Overall
Came painstakingly close to a perfect overall 9.0 band score (0.5 more in writing would have done the job), but whatever. Never knew my writing was this bad. Below is my experience along with some tips:
Listening
Been watching Hollywood movies ever since I was a kid. I thought this would be a piece of cake - American and Canadian accents are very similar after all. Then I found out that the IELTS was a common exam for English speaking countries all over the world and that the listening test had a variety of international accents, not just Canadian. (Duh. The "IE" in IELTS stands for "International English".) As a result, I practised listening to various English/Australian/New Zealander accents on YouTube. The rest of my practice came from CDs that I'd received after registering for the IELTS. Once you've had enough practice, all you need is concentration during the actual exam and you should do just fine. Just make sure you have a decent writing speed, especially for those "NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS" questions, since the speaker might quickly get to the next answer while you're still busy writing down the current one.
Reading
This might come as a shock to you, but READ ALL THE PASSAGES. Every single person you go to for IELTS advice will tell you to skim and not read and that there's not enough time. BULLROAR, I say. There IS enough time. Reading each passage thoroughly before you get to the questions makes the questions so much easier to answer. During my practice tests, I used to consistently clock anywhere between 50-55 minutes for all 3 passages and I rarely made any mistakes. This, of course, depends on your reading ability. If you're not very confident with English as a language, I suggest you go with the skimming method.
Writing
I read a lot of model answers but never actually practised writing. I guess my band score reflects that
Speaking
I am a native English speaker born and raised in India. I speak English with my family and majority of my friends. I am also proof that people outside of USA/Canada/UK/Australia/NZ can achieve a perfect 9.0 score in this section. Speak slowly and clearly. Avoid using slang/colloquialisms. Speak as much as possible so that the examiner knows you can hold a conversation. The topic I was given was "a memorable trip". I looked at the question for about 5 seconds and started speaking. The examiner seemed surprised but did not interrupt me. I ended up saying "you know what I mean?" a couple of times (force of habit!), but I think the examiner decided to let that slide.
Overall, I'd say the IELTS is a very easy exam and requires little preparation. Although both U.S. English and actual English are permitted, I strongly advise future test takers to use the latter. If anyone has any questions, please post them here (not via PM) so that others may also benefit from the ensuing discussion.
9.0 - Listening
9.0 - Reading
7.5 - Writing
9.0 - Speaking
===========
8.5 - Overall
Came painstakingly close to a perfect overall 9.0 band score (0.5 more in writing would have done the job), but whatever. Never knew my writing was this bad. Below is my experience along with some tips:
Listening
Been watching Hollywood movies ever since I was a kid. I thought this would be a piece of cake - American and Canadian accents are very similar after all. Then I found out that the IELTS was a common exam for English speaking countries all over the world and that the listening test had a variety of international accents, not just Canadian. (Duh. The "IE" in IELTS stands for "International English".) As a result, I practised listening to various English/Australian/New Zealander accents on YouTube. The rest of my practice came from CDs that I'd received after registering for the IELTS. Once you've had enough practice, all you need is concentration during the actual exam and you should do just fine. Just make sure you have a decent writing speed, especially for those "NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS" questions, since the speaker might quickly get to the next answer while you're still busy writing down the current one.
Reading
This might come as a shock to you, but READ ALL THE PASSAGES. Every single person you go to for IELTS advice will tell you to skim and not read and that there's not enough time. BULLROAR, I say. There IS enough time. Reading each passage thoroughly before you get to the questions makes the questions so much easier to answer. During my practice tests, I used to consistently clock anywhere between 50-55 minutes for all 3 passages and I rarely made any mistakes. This, of course, depends on your reading ability. If you're not very confident with English as a language, I suggest you go with the skimming method.
Writing
I read a lot of model answers but never actually practised writing. I guess my band score reflects that
Speaking
I am a native English speaker born and raised in India. I speak English with my family and majority of my friends. I am also proof that people outside of USA/Canada/UK/Australia/NZ can achieve a perfect 9.0 score in this section. Speak slowly and clearly. Avoid using slang/colloquialisms. Speak as much as possible so that the examiner knows you can hold a conversation. The topic I was given was "a memorable trip". I looked at the question for about 5 seconds and started speaking. The examiner seemed surprised but did not interrupt me. I ended up saying "you know what I mean?" a couple of times (force of habit!), but I think the examiner decided to let that slide.
Overall, I'd say the IELTS is a very easy exam and requires little preparation. Although both U.S. English and actual English are permitted, I strongly advise future test takers to use the latter. If anyone has any questions, please post them here (not via PM) so that others may also benefit from the ensuing discussion.
