You are right ! What would you recommend me to be more confident and less scared of doing ielts . I just see it almost impossible to score 8 in listening ( I am hard of hearing and they do accommodate me with my hearing aids and everything so I don’t think that’s a problem or constraint but for celpip I always score much better grades than ielts idk why .
Last time I did ielts it was 5.5 in everything except speaking where I got 8.5 and writing I got a 6.
I hope I do get what I need for my PR bcoz if i don’t it’s almost impossible for me to be selected from the pool .
First, I am sorry to learn about your hearing problem, but if you did well in Celpip listening section, I am convinced you will do great in IELTS as well. It is just a matter of practicing. Tons of it.
Second, getting an 8 in IELTS listening is everything but impossible. My wife and I got 8.5, so as many members of this forum.
That being said, when I first start studying for IELTS, my listening band varied between 6.0 and 6.5. Here’s what I did to improve:
·
Lots of practicing tests so that I could identify my major weaknesses. This is by far the most important advice I could give to you
. Study hard, but study smart. When you make a mistake, you have to understand
WHY you made it and study to never make the same mistake again (or, at least, minimize it). For example: I used to lose important points due to bad spelling. For that, I studied vocabulary and wrote down the words I had problem; read articles and IELST band 9 essays; and wrote at least one paragraph of any subject every day.
· Learned about different type questions (multiple choices, labeling maps, summary completion etc) and came up with a strategy to approach each of them (you may use this tip for the reading part as well)
· Listened podcast while I would go for a run and watched Netflix without subtitles or with English subtitles every day
· Read many blogs in English about a topic that I was interested
· Watched youtube channels about IELTS tips and filtered the information I judged useful. Learning how to filter helpful information is a very important skill to develop since you’ll come across with a bunch of nonsense advices over the internet
· Did more and more listening practice test (at least 2 or 3 every week) – here in the forum and in the internet you can find the official Cambridge books to download
I took the IELTS twice. First time I got an 8. Second time, I scored 8.5
As you can see, there is no need to be scared, but be aware that there is not an easy way to get a good band without putting lots of effort. You must work hard. Any “tip” would NOT substitute hard work.
So, in order to get more confident, just study as much as you can on a daily basis and I promise you will accomplish your goals.
Finally, stop focusing so much on your fears and start becoming positive about your strengths. You got 8.5 in speaking. It is just amazing for a non-native speaker. Besides, the mind plays an important role in life. If you keep thinking you are not able to achieve whatever you want, hardly you’ll achieve it. On the other hand, if you start believing in yourself and WORK YOUR WAY OUT to get it, you’ll start to testify wonderful happenings on your favor.
Just out of curiosity, at the beginning of 2018, I barely could speak English.
Good luck and study hard, my friend. You CAN do it.
Cheers from Brazil.