Yasmeen's GOLDEN Advice

In case you missed the Ieltsmagic posting, here is Yasmeen's advice for the IELTS test:

17 April, 2005

Tips and Tricks for the IELTS exam

Dear all,I just took the Academic IELTS exam on Saturday. A few points I wanted to share with you all...

1. Listening exam: FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING else in the world, JUST CONCENTRATE completely on the task. When the paper is given, you are not allowed to open it till the Supervisor instructs you to open the question paper. Now, the first thing you do, in the time given, before the task starts, keep going through the questions!! EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO READ ALL THE QUESTIONS in the different sections. When you finish task 1, you'll again get time to read all the questions in task 2 and so on. So make sure you read it. Because at times,eg. after answering question 4, there might be a small talk, which is not really related to the next question, and you might panic, thinking that you have missed the next question's answer, but it is not so, after a little extra talk they come back to the next question. So DON'T PANIC!!! Listen attentively.Also another thing to remember, when the first speaker is giving a list of options, for example, a lady asks the administrator about the various hostels they have, so the person gives her a list of the types of hostels. You have to make sure you listen carefully to all the options, because when she decided which option she wants, she was not very clear in saying the words. But if you have heard all the options, you would be able to figure out which option she took.

2. Reading: if the questions are given before the task, then read the questions very quickly first, for example, if the question is matching a heading for the paragraph, you should quickly read the paragraph and see which topic suits it. Dont read the whole passage first if you have to do the matching, cos when you match the topic, it would evenually be that you have read it all. Every paragraph you read, quickly see which heading is best for it. Make sure you reconfirm that by reading the first and last sentence of each paragrah. Be very quick but DO NOT PANIC!! Try reading the questions first, so that you know exactly what you have to look for in the paragraph.

3. Writing: Time is short! So quickly figure out how you want to write the task 1 and 2. You can write your notes on the question paper, but not on the answer paper. Please remember, you'll loose marks if you write less than the number of words required. You can write a little more, but not less!! Recheck your writing, if you get time for any spelling, grammar, or silly mistakes.

4. Speaking: Relax! Its not difficult! You will feel at ease, and then you will just keep on talking. Dont be very slow, nor be too fast. A medium speed is good. Dont give long gaps, it can test the patience of the examiner. Just keep going on. When you get 1 minute to write your notes, USE IT TO WRITE!!! dont just sit and think! WRITE IT DOWN QUICKLY AND SHORT ONES!! Because you can always refer back to what you wrote and keep going on. Don't think of how much time is left, it can make you nervous. Just be natural and just loose track of time, the examiner will himself tell you when your time is up! So dont worry about the time! Dont keep time.

Bottom line: DO NOT PANIC UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!! TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND JUST GO FOR IT! ITS NOT IMPOSSIBLE. DO NOT LEAVE ANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED. WRITE ANYTHING, YOU NEVER KNOW IT MIGHT JUST BE THE RIGHT ONE!Take care and all the very best to all of you!!! God bless you!

# posted by Yasmeen @ Sunday, April 17, 2005