mintpro Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Hi All, I'm starting on the journey to apply for a 189 visa (:biggrin:) and the IELTS test is up first. After doing a search about the IELTS on POMS i'm a little worried about not getting the results I need which is an 8! English is my first language and didn't think I'd find it too difficult but after doing a few exams and especially after reading about peoples experience I am a little worried. For those of you who got 8 and 9's did you get help or what did you do to prepare? I do have the option to go to a tutor and I'd rather pay a tutor for a few hours than have to re-sit the exam. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kempy Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Hi All, I'm starting on the journey to apply for a 189 visa (:biggrin:) and the IELTS test is up first. After doing a search about the IELTS on POMS i'm a little worried about not getting the results I need which is an 8! English is my first language and didn't think I'd find it too difficult but after doing a few exams and especially after reading about peoples experience I am a little worried. For those of you who got 8 and 9's did you get help or what did you do to prepare? I do have the option to go to a tutor and I'd rather pay a tutor for a few hours than have to re-sit the exam. Any thoughts? Hi, you can buy text books. I bought one as I think it's a lot to do with exam technique rather than English skills. (I have three degrees in English!) I thought the text book was helpful and if you worked through all the practice, probably just as good as a tutor as long as you are getting the answers right? If not, then maybe go for a tutor? Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanduex Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Mate I booked it 48 hours before the actual exam. I did the academic paper. Practiced two listening tests and two reading tests. Reading was tougher than I expected and contained some interesting articles about plant biology, but I followed the guidance on PIO and it paid off. Listening is easy. Writing is easy if you follow a basic pattern and throw in some strong vocab and comparative/analytical/evaluative work. I read the forum a lot and I had a thread on it which I guess you can find through my profile. Some of the feedback on there made the difference to me. Biggest tip would be - concentrate!!! It is so easy to wander off, especially in the listening test. Discipline yourself! Try to find the thread and some of the responses were so useful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMG79 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Hay up, Don’t worry about it I think native speakers over complicate it and make it unnecessarily hard. I’m not smart, I’m dyslexic, I spell word s as they sound, and I managed an 8.5 I bought a couple of books and did all the exercises listening reading and writing for the general and academic just a practice When you register you will get free sample material to use just work through it. There is loads of websites with free advice on Simon@ ielts is a good one and there is more I also booked a couple of private lessons to help me with my writing and reading it was worth the £70 in the end The language school I used also gave me additional writing papers to do ans a marking scheme so I could score myself, which was a massive help. In the writing I did not use any words I was not sure if I could spell correctly, my language was pretty basic but it go time the mark I needed. Then two weeks before the exam I just studied solid doing a practice exercise every day sometimes two then did nothing the day before the exam. And in the speaking just go to town with you vocabulary. I found the Ielts not to be how we would speak but how a none native speaker would speak, the best bit of advice I was given was to keep it simple, but correct, Also when doing the practice you may notice words that keep popping up in the writing and phrases, so make a not of them and how they are structured and spelt. I hope that helps and I haven’t just waffled on. p.s I had to run this through MS word to make sure the spelling was right so if I can do it everyone else can!!:smile: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanduex Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/194414-ielts-tomorrow-thursday.html That's it mate. Clairebear posted some really good stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mintpro Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 Mate I booked it 48 hours before the actual exam. I did the academic paper. Practiced two listening tests and two reading tests. Reading was tougher than I expected and contained some interesting articles about plant biology, but I followed the guidance on PIO and it paid off. Listening is easy. Writing is easy if you follow a basic pattern and throw in some strong vocab and comparative/analytical/evaluative work. I read the forum a lot and I had a thread on it which I guess you can find through my profile. Some of the feedback on there made the difference to me. Biggest tip would be - concentrate!!! It is so easy to wander off, especially in the listening test. Discipline yourself! Try to find the thread and some of the responses were so useful! Hi, thanks for the help. Just one question whats the PIO? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobRedpath Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Poms in OZ, i found youtube helpful there is some good videos on there to follow, my top tip would be to read the questions twice as you can easily jump to the wrong answer if you quickly jump through it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanduex Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 PIO - Poms In Oz. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mintpro Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Just bumping this to see if I can any more answers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chtleung Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I am a non-native English speaker. When I did my IELTS, my English tutor (who is native) told me IELTS looks at your English EXAM skills. So make sure you do everything correctly, like spelling and grammar. Don't use any word that you are not sure about the spelling. They penalise any spelling and grammar mistakes. For writing, read some sample articles that scored 8+ to get some ideas how they structure the articles. Follow the structure they required. Use some linker words and give examples on your argument. You can surely find some samples from google. For reading and listening, for me, just do more practice tests. This two papers have model answers, so just do the practices. I can get 8.5 and 9 easily after some practices. For speaking, my tutor asked me to avoid using slang, use proper English and make sure it's grammatically correct. (though he said the examiners have higher tolerance on grammatical mistakes on Speaking test than writing test. Hope this help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xaverian Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hi All, I have lost my IELTS TRF after I submitted the EOI. I have got the invitation recently and I am not sure what to do? Can I just supply with the TRF number as it is asked for? or do I need to get IDP to send a copy to DIBP after CO is assigned? Many Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberface Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Hi, just posting in here so i can find the thread again as I also need superior English... Kinda bricking it too because I left school at 16 to start a apprenticeship and never really sat a proper exam, after doing a few practice ones online I'm fearing the worst! Although I'm far from dumb I just don't word my answers like the way they do on some of the practice papers I've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spangley Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I did the Mock exam papers and exercises on the IELTS website a week before my exam. That was enough to get me a score of 8. I only have a GCSE in English. I think it's as much about holding your nerve and just being confident. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtaylor30 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I do have GCSE English, and did essay subjects at A-Level, and got 8.5 overall, 8, 8.5, 8.5 and 9 individually (reading was the 8 and speaking the 9). I bought both of the IELTS official books containing cd/dvd, and read through the advice and did the practice papers for both the general and academic in both books. I did this as I think for native speakers who are generally educated and have a decent grasp of spelling and grammar, getting used to the exam format is very useful. One tip I discovered when taking it, is don't turn up hung over, it makes it more difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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