IELTS TIPS

1. LISTENING
 You will be given time to read through the questions before you listen. You will hear each
recording of the Listening test only once.

 As you listen, write your answers on the question paper. At the end of the test, you will have
10 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet in pencil. You may write your answers
in lower case or capital letters.
 It is essential that you transfer your answers to the answer sheet. Nothing you write on the
question paper will be marked.

Make the most of your Listening test:

 if you cannot hear the audio clearly, let a member of staff know straightaway

 follow the instructions carefully; they may be different to practice or previous tests

 listen for the specific information you want

 try and anticipate what the speaker will say; this will require concentration

 do not worry if there is a word you do not understand; you may not need to use it

 if you do not know the answer to a question, attempt it but do not waste time; move
quickly onto the next one

 be careful with your spelling and grammar

 do not panic if you think the topic is too difficult or the speaker is too fast; relax and
tune in

 read, write and listen at the same time

 focus precisely on what you are asked to do in completion type questions

 pay attention to the word limit; for example, if you are asked to complete a sentence
using no more than two words, if the correct answer is ‘leather coat’, the answer ‘coat made
of leather’ would be incorrect

 if the question asks you to complete the note ‘in the…’ and the correct answer is
‘morning’, note that ‘in the morning’ would be incorrect; the correct answer is 'morning'

 attempt all questions; there are no penalties for incorrect answers

 check your answers

 Read the instructions and questions carefully before you listen.

 Try to get an idea of the situation. Who are the speakers? Where are they? Why are
they speaking?
 Remember, you will only hear the audio once. You will need to read, write and listen
all at the same time.

 Listen for 'signpost words' such as however, although and finally. They help you to
anticipate what the speaker will say.

These 25 IELTS Listening Tips provide you with essential strategies to help you get the
score you need in the exam.

1. Predict the topic – it helps you to listen if you know what kind of conversation is
taking place so you can picture it in your head. So look through each section in the time
you are given and make sure you have an idea of who is speaking to who and what the
context is.

2. Predict the questions – you should also try and have an idea of what kind of
information you are listening out for. For example, in section one you often have to
listen for names, numbers and addresses. Have a look at the questions in the time you are
given and work out what needs to go in the space. A name? Number? An address? You
are more likely to catch it then when the answer arises.

3. Use a minute to look through each section – you are given 30 seconds at the end of
each section to check your answers. You are then told to turn over and look at the next
section for 30 seconds. Although some IELTS listening tips will tell you to check what
you have written, there is little you can check for the previous section as you can’t hear
the listening again. So instead, turn straight to the next section. You will then have one
minute (instead of 30 seconds) to look through the next section. This is time better spent.

4. Careful with question order – often you have a table to complete, and sometimes a
diagram or chart. The questions will not necessarily go from left to right, so check the
progression carefully otherwise you will get lost and confused.

5. Look at two questions at once – there are two reasons for doing this. Firstly, some
questions may have the answers close together in one sentence so you could miss one if
you only look at one question at a time. Also, it is possible that you will miss an answer
– if you are just looking at one, you may not know that you missed it. If you are also
looking at the next, you’ll see that it has moved on.

6. Move on if you miss an answer – if you do realise you have missed an answer,
quickly forget about it and concentrate on the next ones. There is nothing you can do,
and you can also guess when you transfer your answers to the answer sheet at the end.
The same applies if you realise you missed two or three answers. Don’t panic and just
move on as there is nothing you can do. A few questions missed may not necessarily
affect your band score.
7. Watch others if you’re completely lost – if you completely lose where you are, then
watch when the other candidates turn over their exam papers. You’ll know then that you
are back in the right place.

8. Look out for paraphrasing – remember that what you hear will most likely not be
exactly the same as is written on the exam paper as that would be too easy. The question
and the question stems use such things as synonyms so you must listen carefully for
these.

9. Ignore words you don’t know – don’t worry or panic if you hear a word that you do
not know. It may not be necessary to know it anyway, or you can take a guess.

10. Underline key words – when you look through the questions first, particularly in the
more difficult parts 3 and 4, underline key words (such as names, places and dates) in the
question stems to help you hear the answer. Remember though, as explained above,
synonyms are often used.

11. Take care with spelling and grammar – your answer will be marked wrong if it is spelt
incorrectly or the grammar does not fit. So when you transfer your answers at the end,
double check these. The sentence on the exam paper may help you with the grammar –
does it fit grammatically? Should it be a verb, noun, adjective?

12. Use British or American spelling – this is what is says on the official IELTS website:
”IELTS recognises both British and American English in terms of spelling, grammar and
choice of words”. So you can use either in your answers.

13. Don’t worry about what you write on the exam sheet – in practice tests, it is common
to see students rubbing or crossing things out on the exam paper. Remember that nobody
sees or marks what you write here. Don’t waste time getting the spelling correct or
anything else. If you do this you’ll get lost – you need to be listening. So just write down
what you hear then move on. When you transfer the answers at the end to the answer
sheet, you can make sure you have the correct spelling.

14. Read the instructions – an IELTS listening tip that is an important tip for any part of
the test is to always read the instructions carefully. They will tell you how many words to
use. If it asks for no more than two words and you use three, it will be wrong. And you
must only put in the words asked for. For example, if there is a gap of “at …… pm” and
you write “at 5pm” on the answer sheet, it will be wrong. You should only write what is
missing i.e. “5”.

15. Use upper or lower case letters – a question often asked is whether you can use upper
case letters. This is what it says on the official British Council Website: “You may write
 your answers in lower case or capital letters”. So you can write all your answers in
capital letters if you like. This statement from the British Council suggests, therefore,
that you will not be penalised if you write ‘paris’ for example, instead of ‘Paris’ because
it says you can use lower case letters. However, it is recommended that you try and use
capitalisation correctly to be on the safe side. If you are not sure if the first letter needs
capitalisation, then capitalise the whole word.

16. Get used to the British accent – a good IELTS listening tip is to be prepared to hear all
accents as you may hear Australian, American, Canadian, New Zealand and a mix of
European countries. However, although there are a mix of accents in the test, the
majority tend to be British (unlike TOEFL which tends to be American). So make sure
you are used to the British accent.

17. Practice the pronunciation of letter and numbers – often words are spelt out in the test
by a speaker and numbers are read out, so make sure you can recognise how different
letters sound in different accents, not just words.

18. Careful with what you write down – speakers in the test will often give an answer but
then correct themselves. So the first answer that looks right may actually be wrong. You
can check out a lesson on this here.

19. Don’t leave answers blank – you will not get penalised for writing the wrong answer
(as opposed to nothing if you are not sure what it is) so guess if that is possible.

20. Transfer your answers to the answer sheet carefully – if you put correct answers in the
wrong place on the answer sheet it will be wrong, so make sure you put the answer in the
correct place. It is easy to do this if you leave an answer blank on the exam sheet. You
may then fill that one in with the wrong answer when you transfer them across. So put in
a guess for any you do not know and leave no blanks.

21. Check your answers - make sure you recheck your spelling and grammar too when
you transfer your answers at the end.

22. Listen very carefully - listen very very carefully throughout the test. Zone in and
focus. Don’t be distracted by anything around you, and don’t panic if you think you
having missed any answers or that you are getting them wrong. All this will do is distract
you from listening.

23. Practice listening – of all the IELTS listening tips, this is one of the most important.
Make sure you practice listening as much as you can! You can practice with sample
IELTS listening tests but you should also expose yourself to as much English as you can.
Target it at the level you are currently at. There is no point in listening to BBC World if
you don’t understand any of it. Find resources on the internet that suit your level and
gradually increase difficulty. And don’t worry if they are not exams or specifically for
 IELTS, any kind of listening helps. Try to make listening fun and listen to things you
like. You can move on to more difficult things as you improve.

24. Listen to lectures – remember that the last part is a lecture, so practice listening to
lectures and taking notes. Lectures often follow certain patterns, such as an introduction
to tell you the topic and main points, and they have sign-posts to tell you if they are
comparing e.g. "although", or moving onto a new main points e.g. “Now I’ll discuss….”.
So listening to lectures will help you with this section. You can find lectures online if
you do a search. TED lectures may be useful as they provide a transcription so you can
check your notes. .

25. Learn to listen and write together – practicing your listening skills is important, but
remember in the test you have to write and listen. So you should practice this too. One
way to do this is with practice tests but you can also try listening to audios and taking
notes at the same time. This will improve your ability to do both skills at the same time.

There is no substitute for hard work and lots of study as far as the IELTS Test is
concerned, so don’t think there are any shortcuts – there aren’t! Regular listening to
IELTS-type test materials is absolutely essential. In the test, there are a number of
strategies you can use to help to maximize your efficiency during the test. Here are a
number of tips on how to approach the IELTS Speaking Test.

1. If you can predict the sort of things you are going to listen for during the listening test, you
can reduce the amount you need to listen to. At the beginning the IELTS Test there is a 2.5
minute introduction. Use this time to read through the IELTS listening test booklet and try to
get a general understanding of what the sections are going to be about – even this simple type
of prediction will help you.

2. As you scan through the booklet, look for maps, charts or illustrations – these often give
you a good idea of what the topic of a section is going to be about.

3. After each section you are given one minute to check your answers. But how can you
check your answers if you can’t listen to the tape again? Use this time to scan and get an idea
of what the next set of questions are going to be about.

4. Occasionally, you can get an idea about answers to earlier questions by reading later
questions.

For example:

Question 1: “Where are they going?”

Question 10: “What time are they coming home from the cinema?”

Obviously, there’s a good chance that the answer to Question 1 is ‘Cinema’. However, you
still need to listen to check. Often though, listening to check your predictions is easier than
trying to listen for the answer on the tape.

6. Sometimes you are asked to complete a table or a chart using information on the tape. It’s
natural to think that answers will be left-to-right and the answers on the tape will be one after
another. However, this might not be the case - you made need to write answers horizontally,
or in some other fashion. Check carefully how you are going to answer such questions to
avoid putting the right answers in the wrong places!

7. When you are doing intensive listening to the tape, try to read two questions at a time –
you might find that the answers to both questions are in a single sentence.

8. If you don’t catch the answer to a question, it’s natural to think hard to try to remember the
answer. If you do this, you will miss parts of the tape and possibly won’t be able to answer
other questions. When you miss the answer to a question, forget it – go onto the next
question. Remember – you only listen to the tape once. The answer might be repeated on the
tape anyway.

9. If you miss the answer to two or three questions, again, miss them out – you won’t be able
to remember the answers.

10. If you get to the stage where you are totally lost, you may have to wait until the other
candidates turn their pages before you can find out where you are in the questions. Of course,
this is not ideal but if you have to do this, don’t panic – if you panic you will have even
bigger problems.

11. There is no grammar part to the IELTS Test, but grammar is very important. Look at this
question:

"There were countless _______ involved in the incident."

a) People b) Person c) Children d) Computer

If you look at the grammar of the sentence it might help you get the answer. 'were' would
suggest a plural noun. How many plural nouns are there in the answers? Only two… 'People'
and 'Children'. Now you have a good idea of the possible answers, you can use the tape to
check for which answer is correct.

Try this one as an example; the answer is at the bottom of the page:

"An ___________ sank in the English Channel this morning, killing all on board."

a) Yacht b) Car c) Oil Tanker d) Plane

12. If you miss some questions out, you will leave gaps in your answer sheet. Take special
care to write your answers in the right order. When you miss questions out, it can be easy to
start writing questions out of sequence. Check now and again just to make sure you are
writing answers down in the right place.

13. Remember that you are probably not going to hear the same words in the question and in
the answer. IELTS questions usually involve 'paraphrasing'- using a sentence with the same
meaning but not using the same words. For example, on the tape you might hear:
"Less than a quarter of university students took part."

On the answer sheet you might see:

"Only 23% of candidates actually sat the examination."

In the context of what you hear on the tape, these two sentences might have the same
meaning. Your job is to understand the full meaning of what you are listening to and to
choose the right answer!

14. You should listen for keywords - that's important, but you should also listen for
'synonyms'. For example, on the tape you might hear:

"He wants to get on but he doesn't have enough money to pay for university."

On the answer sheet you might see:

"He wants to advance."

"Get on" and "advance" are synonymous. When you are thinking of what key words to listen
for, think of synonyms you might hear along with the word used in the question.

15. You are answering a multiple-choice question and you miss the answer. One of the
choices is 'None of the above' or 'All of the above'. If you really don't know the answer,
choose these answers - they are likely to be the right because they might not be in the list
otherwise.

16. Only write down what you hear - never abbreviate, shortcut or add to answers. For
example, you might hear to the tape:

"He will start university in July next year."

You write the following answer:

"He starts university in July, 2009."

Although next year may be 2009, this is not the right answer. On the tape it said next year.

17. Do not assume the answer. On the tape you might hear:

"Sydney Harbor is the biggest harbor in the southern hemisphere."

One answer might be:

"Sydney Harbor is one of the biggest harbors in the world."

The southern hemisphere is a good proportion of the world. If Sydney Harbor is the biggest
harbor in the Southern Hemisphere, the chances are it is one of the biggest in the world.
However, the tape did not say this. It's natural to try to deduct an answer in this way, but if it's
not on the tape, it's not the right answer… simple as that!

18. Many IELTS questions involve listening to numbers and quantities. However, in natural
speech the difference between '16%' and '60%' is often difficult to hear if you haven't
practiced. Get used to listening to numbers - the only way you can do this is get some
listening material and keep practicing!

19. Simply looking at questions words can help you predict the answer to a question. For
example, think carefully about what this question word could be referring to:

"Who?"

You might be listening for the name of a person, but it could also be referring to a member of
your family (e.g. 'my mum') or even a profession (e.g. 'the doctor', 'my teacher'). Take some
time out to write down as many question words as you can and think of everything they could
refer to. You might get some surprising answers.

20. You might get a question similar to the following:

'What is his name?"

You listen to the tape and write:

'michael smith'

This is incorrect. A name should have capital letters like this:

'Michael Smith'

However, if you wrote this, it would be correct: 'MICHAEL SMITH'.

If you are unsure of punctuation or you don't know if something might have a particular
punctuation, WRITE EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS - THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR
WRITING ANSWERS IN THE LISTENING TEST IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

21. If you are answering a Multiple Choice question that involves a number of sentences or
text and you miss the answer, choose the longest answer. The answer is probably going to be
a paraphrase of another sentence and that means it will probably be longer.

22. Practice listening to something every day. There are countless sources: watch an English
language movie on a VCD or Video but put tape across the bottom of the screen so you don't
see the Thai translation. There are countless English for Foreign Language books you can
purchase that have a tape, exercises and answers. All you need is commitment to sit down and
practice!

23. As you scan through the booklet, look for maps, charts or illustrations – these often give
you a good idea of what the topic of a section is going to be about.

24. After each section you are given one minute to check your answers. But how can you
check your answers if you can’t listen to the tape again? Use this time to scan and get an idea
of what the next set of questions are going to be about.

Do you have any questions about this? Add your questions here and either IELTS Tips or
another member of the IELTS Test community will give you the answers!
 2. READING
 It is essential that you write your answers on the answer sheet. Nothing you write on the
question paper will be marked.
 You may write your answers on the question paper and transfer them to the answer sheet
before the end of the test if you like. However, it is important to note that you will not be
given extra time to do this.

 You must write your answers in pencil.

 Make the most of your Reading test:

 look out for the title, headings and any special features such as capital letters,
underlining, italics, figures, graphs and tables
 make sure that you understand the questions and follow instructions carefully
 pay attention to timing; do not spend too long on one passage or question
 do not try and read every word; remember, you are reading for a purpose
 if you do not know the answer to a question, attempt it but do not waste time; move
quickly onto the next one
 do not panic if you do not know anything about the subject of the text; all the answers
can be found in the text
 the word(s) you use must be taken from the Reading text; you must not change the
form of the word(s) in the text
 do not worry if there is a word that you do not understand – you may not need to use
it
 check your spelling
 be careful to use singular and plural correctly
 focus precisely on what you are asked to do in ‘completion’ type questions
 if the question asks you to complete the note ‘in the…’ and the correct answer is
‘evening’, just use ‘evening’ as your answer; note that ‘in the evening’ would be incorrect
 pay attention to the word limit; for example, if you are asked to complete a sentence
using no more than two words, if the correct answer is ‘silk shirt’, the answer ‘shirt made of
silk’ would be incorrect
 attempt all questions; there are no penalties for incorrect answers, so you have nothing
to lose
 check your answers
 Like the listening test, there are no short cuts to a good reading test score - the only
route is hard work. However, with the reading test, there are no excuses; you can
practice reading where you want and when you want. However, the following tips will
help you approach the reading test.

1. Just having a very basic gist of what a text is about before you start reading will make it
easier to understand. Looking at graphs, tables and any illustrations will often give you a
good idea of the topic of the text.

2. Remember - there is no transfer time for the reading test. Make sure you put your answers
down on the answer sheet - not the question paper. (See an example of the answer sheet
below.)

3. The reading test is designed to be general and designed for people with a variety of
educational backgrounds. This means you don't need any specialist knowledge to understand
any of the texts. However, some readings may be more familiar than others.

4. If you are reading and answering texts out of sequence, take special care to ensure you
don't write your answers in the wrong places on the answer sheet.

5. If you are not sure of the answer to a question, it is natural to read text carefully to try to
find the answer. If you dwell on a question in this way, you may run out of time. Remember,
the reading test is 60 minutes long and there are 40 questions. If you spend one minute of
each question that gives you 20 minutes to read a lot of text. If you really can not find the
answer to a question easily, move on to the next question.

6. Although there is no grammar component to the IELTS Test, grammar is important. As

with the listening test, you can predict possible answers using the grammar of a question and
using the reading text to check which answer is correct. Look at this example.

There have been at least 500 ........... to correct this problem.

a) Attempts b) Versions c) Tries d) Table Monolith

The fact that '500' precedes the missing word might suggest it should be a plural noun or an
adjective. There are no adjectives in the answers and only three plural nouns: Attempts,
Versions, and Tries. Now you can use the text to check the answer.

7. As with the listening test, do not deduce the answer. This is especially true in True / False
Not given questions. The answers are in the text, you do not need to work them out. For
example:

"The introduction of new government policies gave people better lives: they had jobs and
more money to spend."

Now look at the answer:

The introduction of new government policies had positive long-term benefits on peoples'
lives. True / False / Not given
If people had jobs and more money, surely this is better for them, and so it is natural to
consider this a 'true' statement. However, the key here is 'long-term'. From the text, it is
impossible to say whether the new jobs lasted 20 years or one day. If you don't make
assumptions it is impossible to answer question. As a result the correct answer should be: Not
given.

8. True / False / Not given questions are by far the most difficult types of question to answer
as they are designed to trick people into thinking about the answer and giving their deduction
as an answer.

9. Many students are generally very good at reading tests - they are very good at spotting the
key words in a question, finding those keywords in a text, reading around the key words and
finding the answer to the question. However, as with the listening test, in the IELTS reading
test the words in the questions are often not the words you will find in the answer. As a result
you have to look for synonyms of key words as well as the actual keywords. Consider a word
like 'correct' - among others, possible synonyms include:

a. Right
b. Accurate
c. Exact
d. Truthful
e. Spot on
f. Proper
g. Acceptable
h. Accepted

Depending on the context, only some of these synonyms might apply. You need to be aware
of for these words as well as the keywords you are looking for. In addition, consider
antonyms - words with the opposite meanings. A sentence like 'It wouldn't be wrong' would
mean 'correct' in certain contexts. As you can see, you will need a fairly deep understanding
of vocabulary.

10. If aren't going to finish, guess some of the answers. It is surprising how many students
leave multiple choice answers blank because they don't know the answer. If you have the
choice of A, B, C or D, you have a 20% chance of getting the question right so just put one of
the answers in!

11. If you really don't know the answer to a True / False / Not given question, and you want
to guess the answer, DON'T choose "Not given" - it's the least frequent answer.

12. If a reading text is very specific in topic (e.g. the development of the computer chip),
don't think to yourself that you don't know anything about that topic and therefore can't
answer the questions - the more specific the topic, the more factual and straightforward it will
to allow everyone to have a chance at answering the questions.

13. Some texts contain an opinion which you have to recognize. Remember that sentences
starting with phrases like 'While it can be argued that…' do NOT express the author's opinion,
they are more often a statement of someone else's opinion.

14. You might get a text with masses and masses of long, complicated words. Very often
these words are key to the meaning of a sentence and therefore key to answering a question.
However, equally often these words are unnecessary - they are adjectives or adverbs that
provide greater description rather than play a part in meaning. If you start focusing on words
you don't understand, you will run out of time. If the some words are too difficult, ignore
them. Try this as an exercise - get a copy of an English language newspaper and find an
article with lots of words in it you don't understand. Physically cross all the words out and
then read the article to see if you can understand it. Chances are you will be able to.
15. If you get a text with a lot of dates, circle them as you go along - chances are the dates are
going to be important. If you circle them you can find them again easily.

16. Likewise with names; even if there aren't a lot of names, circle the ones you find so you
can find them again easily.

17. Don't worry about writing on the question paper if you need to.

18. The biggest tip of all: read a lot. Every day read something. The more you read the easier
it will be. Study the sentence structure and punctuation of what you read, but most of all, try
to grasp the ideas in what you read. Look at a piece of writing and write down some
predictions about what the reading will be about. As you read check off these predictions -
which ones were right and which ones wrong?

19. If you are really running out of time leave all the True / False / Not given and Multiple
Choice questions until the end because you don't have to read anything to answer them.
 3. WRITING
 Write your answers in pen or pencil. You may write entirely in capital letters if you wish.

 You may make notes on the question paper, but nothing you write on the question paper will
be marked.

 Make the most of your Writing test:

 analyse each task properly and spend some time making notes

 highlight or underline key words in the tasks to make sure that you focus on what you
have to do

 plan your answers

 use paragraphs clearly; put one idea in each paragraph

 do not repeat ideas using different words

 do not copy whole sentences from the question – you will receive no marks for this

 keep to the topic; do not write about unrelated subjects

 manage your time; remember, Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1

 spend approximately 20 minutes on Task 1 and approximately 40 minutes on Task 2

 pay attention to the number of words required for each task; you will lose marks if
you do not write at least 150 words for Task 1 and at least 250 words for Task 2

 learn to recognise how long 150 and 250 words look in your handwriting; you will not
have time to count during the test

 you must write your answers in full; answers written in note form or in bullet points
will lose marks

 pay attention to spelling, grammar and punctuation; you will lose marks for mistakes

 avoid informal language

 do not memorise model answers; examiners are trained to recognise them and your
test will be invalid

 spend several minutes re-reading and correcting your answers

Writing tips
This isn’t, in fact, my weakness. But this skill is difficult to self-study. You need to go to an
English center where there are teachers who are willing to check your writing. Here are some
suggestions I can think of, it maybe can’t help you out. But do your best, you will be fine.

1. Before writing an essay, you must know its basic structure. A book about essay
writing might show you this.

2. Do Task 2 first, because it is worth more marks and is easier.

3. Don’t waste too much time on Task 1. Learn all the specific writing structure for each type
of task 1. In the real test, you just have to apply that structure with new data and suitable verb
tenses. Read sample essays and take note of the ones with good structure to have a wide
range of academic structures for task 1. Some structures might be used in the task 2 as well.

4. You must complete both tasks. I don’t care how difficult the test is, I don’t care how little
time you have got. You MUST complete your test at any cost. If you don’t, you will be
penalized.

5. Again, practice writing. Do both 2 tasks in one hour. You can focus only on task 1 or task
2, but before the test, you should practice writing both tasks to get familiar with time limits.

6. Practice makes perfect. In writing, this statement is completely true. But it is better if there
is someone to check your writing for you and so you can learn from your mistakes.

7. Writing requires wide academic vocabulary. You also have to buy a dictionary to work on
and enrich your vocabulary.

8. Avoid all informal ways of writing. There are some rules of writing you should follow. For
example: no abbreviations, no 1st and 2nd pronoun or possessive (I, you, me, my, your),
except in conclusion where you have to state your opinion.

9. Each body paragraph has to include: the topic sentence, supporting sentences (2-3
sentences), development sentences (evidence: example, experience, data). In many languages
(English included), there are many ways to develop a body paragraph, which results in a
situation where that topic sentence is not the first sentence. But you are advised to put the
topic sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph. Don’t be creative in this case.

That is all I can think of. I hope you will be lucky in your exam and what I wrote will help
you in one way or another. But REMEMBER, to reach success, you MUST make an effort.
You should have a clear motivation and a strong will to overcome difficulties. When I did
practice tests, I was exhausted. But no success comes easily. Practice is the only way to gain
success. Don’t just wait for a lucky break, it will never come if you don’t know how to grab
it.

And the final point I want to mention is:

Relax before the test!

Attempting to do one or two practice tests before the real test won’t help you increase your
score. On the contrary, it will make you feel stressed and less confident.

I took IELTS 2 times:

The first time: no relaxing, I tried to do more practice tests right before the test day. As a
result, I couldn’t concentrate on the test and the result is: L:5.5 ; R:7.0 (don’t mention about
W and S here because it depends mostly on examiners)

The second time: 2 weeks after the first time, that means when I received the first result, I
had to take the test the day after. But this time I felt relaxed since I knew I got 6.5 overall in
the first test. And here is the second result: L:6.5 ; R:7.5

I believe in a short period of time (two weeks), I couldn’t improve that much. Moreover, the
second test was considered to be more difficult. So what makes the difference is the
relaxation. There are more examples I could mention to prove this point, but it would be
wasting your time.

In brief, you must relax before any tests. Forget about them to relax, and believe in yourself.
 4.SPEAKING
 The Speaking test is a face-to-face conversation with a certified examiner. It is as
close to a real-life situation as a test can get.

 The examiner will ask you about familiar topics such as home, work or studies in part
1. This should help you feel comfortable when speaking. Try and relax so that you can speak
as naturally as possible.

 Take time before the test to practise speaking with a partner, friend or teacher.

 Make the most of your Speaking test:

 try to talk as much as you can

 talk as fluently as possible and be spontaneous
 relax, be confident and enjoy using your English
 develop your answers
 speak more than the examiner
 ask for clarification if necessary
 do not learn prepared answers; the examiner is trained to spot this and will change the
question
 express your opinions; you will be assessed on your ability to communicate
 the examiner’s questions tend to be fairly predictable; practise at home and record
yourself

The speaking test is probably the most difficult for candidates because they have
to speak to someone. Actually, you might not need to worry as much as you do. A
number of studies have suggested that candidates feel their speaking skills are
weakest when this is not the case. If you can speak confidently, clearly and make
your ideas understood, there is no reason why you shouldn't get a reasonable
speaking test score. These tips will help:

1. Unless your pronunciation is particularly poor, don't waste time on pronunciation

lessons. It is much more beneficial to spend the time acquiring a good range of
vocabulary and structure.

2. This is easy to say, but don't be nervous. Think of is like this: if you are really
nervous and can't speak then your score will be poor. If you are confident and speak
freely, you will have no idea what your score will be - it could be great!

3. Remember your job is to give the assessor something to assess - if you only say
'Yes' or 'No' during the interview, the assessor won't be able to give you a good score.
Your job is to give the assessor as much as possible to consider. This means speaking
as much as you can. Don't go off topic and don't talk about anything that comes into
your head, but speak as much as you can. The assessor will stop you when he is ready.

4. Remember the assessor won't prompt you to speak. If you don't say enough he/she
will go onto the next question. If you continue not to say enough, the interview could
be very short!

5. Don't ask the assessor what questions mean. All he/she can do if you don't
understand is repeat the question. You can though ask the examiner to repeat a
question if you are not sure you understood it.

6. As with the writing test, don't show off. Some candidates the interview as a way of
showing the assessor what you know. They use sophisticated vocabulary and difficult
grammar without really knowing how to use both. The result will be a decline in how
well you speak and your score will go down.

7. Extend your answers by giving reasons:

a. "I don't really like going to the cinema."
b. "I don't really like going to the cinema because it's expensive and I don't like
crowds very much."

Phase 1 Tips

8. In the first phase of the speaking test, the assessor will ask you questions about
yourself. Research the topic! The assessor might say "Tell me about your parents'
jobs." If you don't know anything about them, you will be stuck. It can be surprising
how little people know about their own situation.

9. Consider this phase of the test meeting someone for the first time and telling them
about yourself. Try to be relaxed and keep the conversation going.

10. Don't worry about lying - this is not a test of if you are a good person. If the
assessor says "Tell me about your hobbies and interests" and you reply "I don't have
any" then you aren't saying enough to allow the assessor to assess you. In situations
like this, lie. Make up the wildest story you can imagine.

Phase 2 Tips
11. In Phase 2 of the speaking test. You are asked to make a presentation on a topic. It
will always be something person, like talking about a holiday you went on. After the
test, many candidates suggest they didn't know about the topic which is why they
couldn't answer the question. Clearly, this can't be the case. What they mean is they
couldn't answer the question because they couldn't think of what to say. If this is the
case for you, during the one minute you have to prepare, brainstorm your answer. For
example, the assessor my ask you to talk about a holiday you really enjoyed. On you
piece of paper, write down questions words:

Where?
When?
Why?
What?
Who with?
How?
Etc.

When you have asked the questions, answer them:

Where? Chiang Mai

When? last year
Why? celebrate end exams
What? climbed mountains / saw hill tribes
Who with? uni friends
How? bus from Morchit Etc.

If you then 'expand' (say as much as you can about) your answers you should fill up
your two minutes easily.

12. One of the things you must do in both phases of the speaking test is show a range
of grammar structures. In phase two you might be asked to talk about a holiday you
had. This is the answer:

'We went to Thailand for our holiday last year. First we went to Bangkok and saw the
Grand Palace. Then we went to Ayuthya and saw the ancient city. After that we went
to Chiang Mai and met the hill tribes. Finally, we went to Chiang Rai and saw the hill
tribes, too."

Although grammatically perfect, there are only a few sentence structures used. We
could change this by changing the order of things:

"Before going to Chiang Rai and seeing the hill tribes we visited Ayuthya and went to
the ancient city."

This adds another structure to the answer 'Before + Verb + ing' - this will improve
your score. Take some time now to look at the answer above and consider as many
ways possible including more sentence structures.
13. You can't ask the assessor direct questions about a presentation topic, but it is
permissible to 'scope' what you can talk about in a presentation. For example you can
as I talk about the hill tribes in Chiang Mai?" The assessor will answer 'Yes' or 'No'.

Phase 3 Tips

14. Phase 3 is where the final score is given to a candidate. This is the part of the test
where you must excel. Do the best that you can here without trying to hard or getting
yourself into problems. Although a number of sources suggest that scores are
averaged between the three phases of the speaking test, this stage is where the 'ceiling'
is established - you can't get a higher score than your performance in phase 3.

15. Phase 3 is much more like a conversation between you and the assessor. Here
he/she doesn't have a script and can ask you anything he/she wants. If you go off
topic, the assessor will make attempts to make sure you stay on topic - there's no point
in rehearsing a speech!

16. Amongst other things, in Phase 3 you will be asked to speculate about the future,
give and opinion, suggest a solution to a problem, or describe a process or procedure.
Try to come up with a complete answer. If you are asked how you would solve traffic
problems world wide, don't just talk about buying more buses; consider where the
money for the buses would come from, explain how you would raise the money for
the buses and persuade people who to use them. This will certainly impress the
assessor.

17. Make eye contact with the assessor. Although theoretically you could speak great
English with your head down, the fact is you may not come across as confident.
Although there is no mark for confidence, you need to present yourself in as positive
way as possible.

HAVING NO LIMITATION AS LIMITATION

---Bruce Lee------