IELTS Help!

Have to sit my Ielts at end of July and just wondering if anyone has any advise. I've just completed my masters degree and am quite comfortable doing the tests but I think I have to have a 7 in all 4 areas.... how achievable is that? The practice tests look ok, but just wondering if anyone has any tips?!

Thanks

Rhian (31) Lee (35) Regan (5) Jessi (2) Vetassess sent 3/5/11

Definitely achievable, but definitely worth doing a few past papers to get into the swing on things

Definitely achievable, but definitely worth doing a few past papers to get into the swing on things

Thanks! x

I agree, I bought a practice booklet off the IELTS website which has a CD in for the listening exam. A bit of practice with this is all you need. It just gives you an idea really of how to plan your time as you don't get a lot during each exam!

Good Luck!

It's not just that - it's also to practice the type and style of questions and know what to look out for :-)

Thanks, will get it ordered off the IELTS website x x

There's a good one on the Amazon website too

My experience was that I found I had to really concentrate on the listening part! It was quick and also bit unfair as all the voices were from non-English accents (?). Overall an 8.5 and I just looked over practice papers, stayed calm and relieved myself of any arrogance that it would be a breeze purely on the fact that I was a native English speaker!

Good luck!

My experience was that I found I had to really concentrate on the listening part! It was quick and also bit unfair as all the voices were from non-English accents (?). Overall an 8.5 and I just looked over practice papers, stayed calm and relieved myself of any arrogance that it would be a breeze purely on the fact that I was a native English speaker!

 

Good luck!

I agree, it's not an easy test and after an entire day of being examined (as I was the last candidate to have my speaking test), I vowed I wouldn't do it again if I failed. Absolutely hated the whole experience!

Quick question...my wife is due to do her IELTS academic tests. I have just had a quick look on Amazon and there are loads of different practice books / CDs.

Which one would you recommend?

Many thanks

Quick question...my wife is due to do her IELTS academic tests. I have just had a quick look on Amazon and there are loads of different practice books / CDs.

 

Which one would you recommend?

 

Many thanks

One practice booklet from the IELTS website is enough to practice with. Save your money.

I ordered 'Top Tips for IELTS Academic' which has a full academic test you do with CD for Reading/writing - brilliant!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Top-Tips-IELTS-General-Training/dp/1906438730/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1307801280&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/IELTS-Academic-University-Cambridge-Examinations/dp/1906438722/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307801280&sr=8-1

I then did a few of the online tests to check I'd be OK.

Academic reading is surprisingly tough I thought.

The Speaking is funny - trying to fill 2 minutes of talking on a subject when you talk too fast in English is tough. Some of the questions range from the sublime to the rediculous!

Don't stress about filling 2 mins - it's not important.

Didn't mean that it was an issue - I just struggled to think what more I could say to 'describe a problem you have had with a domestic appliance and what you did to resolve it!'

- He just said 'can you expand a little further please', so I did. It doesn't really matter how truthful it is what you say, just that you can put sentences together and your grammer is OK - I landed up talking about 'bill of materials' and 'poor construction techniques'. It did the job!

Just treat the speaking test like talking to a friend, even if the subject matter is weird and you'll be OK.

I ordered 'Top Tips for IELTS Academic' which has a full academic test you do with CD for Reading/writing - brilliant!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Top-Tips-IELTS-General-Training/dp/1906438730/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1307801280&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/IELTS-Academic-University-Cambridge-Examinations/dp/1906438722/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307801280&sr=8-1

 

I then did a few of the online tests to check I'd be OK.

Academic reading is surprisingly tough I thought.

The Speaking is funny - trying to fill 2 minutes of talking on a subject when you talk too fast in English is tough. Some of the questions range from the sublime to the rediculous!

Thank you...just ordered :biggrin:

Good Luck!

Other tip - don't drink too much before the test, there are no gaps except during the test (Listening, Reading, Writing). I went to Acton and I'd have lost 10 mins to get to the loo and back. Got a little uncomfortable when we were seated to start at 9am and it didn't finish till nearly 1pm.

Have a look at IELTS blog.com.

Sarah

I remember my speaking test, random question that required a lot of thought.

Q: if you had to implement a new law in your area, what would it be and how would you enforce it?

LOL!!! WTF?

So, I designed on the spot a new cycle lane scheme that would vastly improve my local area. Afterwards I was so tired from the events of the exam day that I actually started to believe on the drive home that my madcap cycle scheme could be introduced and i would take my ideas to the local council whereby I would be heralded a local hero for reducing congestion and pollution and a huge sum of money and praise would come my way................I then braked hard and tried to avoid hitting the car in front as the traffic lights approached and I was brought back down to reality!! HA HA!!!!

I registered with one of these ielts blog sites I found on Google. It was really helpful as those who had just sat it posted their experiences and memories of the type of questions that came up. the broad scope of stuff that people had experienced prepared me for the structure of it and these daily digests came straight to my e-mail inbox.....useful

My experience was that I found I had to really concentrate on the listening part! It was quick and also bit unfair as all the voices were from non-English accents (?). Overall an 8.5 and I just looked over practice papers, stayed calm and relieved myself of any arrogance that it would be a breeze purely on the fact that I was a native English speaker!

 

Good luck!

Agreed the listening did go a bit quick, and I got lost on the multiple choice section in the listening. I didn't have an issue with the accents, and that's the point of it too, it's an International English test. American spelling of words is fine too apparently, or so I have read in the official IELTS practice materials.

Have to sit my Ielts at end of July and just wondering if anyone has any advise. I've just completed my masters degree and am quite comfortable doing the tests but I think I have to have a 7 in all 4 areas.... how achievable is that? The practice tests look ok, but just wondering if anyone has any tips?!

 

Thanks

 

Rhian (31) Lee (35) Regan (5) Jessi (2) Vetassess sent 3/5/11

If you've just done a masters then you should be ok. i got an avearage of 8.5 with my lowest being 7.5 in reading which is more comprehension than anything else. my advice would be to read the text and only refer to the text as making assumptions based on what you know to be true may catch you out. for example the question may be " your best friend lives in swansea with her husband john" this may well be true as you know it but if this information is not given in the text then the answer is not given.

for me the multi choice section with true , false and not given were tricky.

you should buy the practice material from IELTS which is about £10

good luck

jack

Be careful with those true, false and not given. I found I was answering a couple with not given in my practice, only to find that the answer was false, and when I read the text again, there was a little line contradicting the statement in the question.

Hi if you have a IPhone you can get IELTS apps the Cambridge one us great and only 59p,

I am sitting mine at the end of July too dreading it!!

Good luck

Thanks all for your posts. I did buy the official test for £10 which got delivered last week so making my way through it. Other than worrying that the listening may be real fast and i'll miss it, I'm actually more worried I think about the speaking (my family and friends laugh when I say that!) - I think my vocabulary will be fine, i can make up big words if i have to, but I saw an example of someone's 'part 2' (3-4 mins) and it was about 'how to restrict pollution in the ocean'.... I wouldn't have a clue what to say for 4 minutes! Hopefully I'll get a more general question!... The speaking is the same for general & academic right?? Thanks x

Hi Cables

Ref Speaking: Apparently the question you are asked is at random from a big book of questions they can use.

Seriously, don't worry about the topic, its really not important. They are not testing your logic and comparing it to suitable answers, what they are doing is observing how you speak - is it in sentences, do you use verbs in the correct tense that sort of thing. If you are a native english speaker its very difficult to do badly in this! So, if you're asked how to restrict pollution in the ocean and you say by dying it blue or something else rediculous it doesn't matter! Be as random as you like, just make sure its in english and has sentence structure!!