'IELTS has four parts – Listening (30 minutes), Reading (60 minutes), Writing (60 minutes) and Speaking (11–14 minutes) The total test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes The Listening, Reading and Writing tests are done in one sitting The Speaking test may be on the same day or up to seven days before or after the other tests '
You can get a high score in the IELTS by following the tips given below:
TIPS FOR LISTENING
1. Read before you listen – predict the answer
One difficulty in the exam is that you are not just listening, but reading the question and writing the answer all at the same time One simple tip is to read the questions before you listen so that you know what you are listening for It is a difficult skill to master, but it can sometimes help to try and predict the type of answer you are looking for: is it a name for instance or a number?
2. Read as you listen – focus on the whole question
A huge proportion of mistakes are made not because you haven’t listened well, but because you do not focus on the question As you are listening focus on the precise wording of the question
3. Look at 2 questions at once
One difficulty is that the answers to 2 questions often come quickly one after the other Can you get both answers? Maybe, maybe not: but the only way you can is if you are ready for the next question
I’d add that it’s no problem getting one question wrong, the real problem is if you lose track of where you are in the listening and you are still listening for question 13 when the cassette has moved onto question 15
4. Don’t leave the writing to the end
Sometimes candidates leave the writing part to the end, thinking that they will remember what they heard In my experience, this almost never works: there’s a lot of information, you’re under stress and, most importantly, after each listening you should be moving onto the next set of questions to read them
5. Practice your shorthand
You do not have to write everything that you down: you have 10 minutes at the end to copy your answers onto the answer sheet So what you need to do is to learn how to write down
enough for you to recognise as you are listening so that you can write it out in full later The one exception to this is in part 1 with numbers and names where you have to write everything out in full as you are listening that is the challenge
6. Don’t write the answer too quickly
Sometimes you hear what you think is the answer, but the speaker goes on to correct themselves or give slightly different information:
“So I’ll see you on Wednesday afternoon”
“Sorry, I’m busy then How about Thursday evening?”
“Fine, Thursday at 7 0’clock”
7. Don’t leave any blank answers
There are 2 reasons for this. Firstly, your guess may well be correct, particularly if it is a multiple choice style question. Secondly, there is a danger if you leave a blank that you write the answers in the wrong boxes on the answer sheet and that can be a disaster.
8. Listen for repeated information
This doesn’t always work, but sometimes the words that are the answer are repeated: if you need to make a guess choose the words you hear repeated, they could well the be answer.
9. Look for clues in the question
A frequent question type is completing a table; in this type of question you will often find clues to the answer by looking at the other information in the table. In particular, look at the headings of the rows and columns: if, for example, the heading says “equipment” and some of the completed boxes say “paperclips” and “cardboard” you have a good clue as to what you should be listening for.
TIPS FOR READING
Read Academic Texts
Read in your free time! The IELTS texts are “general academic texts”. This means they are taken from sources such as textbooks and specialist magazines and journals. If you are not familiar with reading these kinds of texts in English it is essential that you start reading them in your free time so that you are used to the types of language and structure used when you meet them in the exam. Three typical sources for IELTS texts are (in order of difficulty easiest first) the National Geographic, the New Scientist and the Economist. You can get these magazines in most newsagents.
Focus
Focus on the text first, the questions second! A good understanding of the text helps you answer the questions more efficiently and effectively
Categorise
IELTS exam writers select a range of specific types of texts Learning to recognise the type of text you are reading can help you predict its structure and therefore understand it more quickly There are four types of IELTS texts a) analytic texts, which discuss the reasons why something happened or make recommendations or explain a concept b) descriptive texts, which describe a situation, explain how something is done or categorise something c) discursive texts, in which different opinions are expressed about an issue and d) narrative texts, which explain a chronological sequence of events
Skim
Develop your ability to skim Skimming is reading quickly by skipping over unimportant words like prepositions and ignoring difficult words that you don’t need to understand Do this to get a general idea about a text or a paragraph or to intensively search for the answer to a question
Scan
Learn to scan Scanning is what you do when you look for a price in an advertising text or a name in a telephone book When you scan you do not actually need to read the text but move your eyes quickly over it You can scan from left to right or right to left, from top to bottom or bottom to top Do this to find the location of answers in the texts looking out for easy to spot words like numbers, dates and words beginning with capital letters such as place names
Structure
Learn to recognise paragraph structure This often involves spotting the relationship between the main ideas and supporting ideas in a paragraph Paragraphs are most frequently descending, i e they begin with the main idea somewhere near the start and develop from there, although some, frequently the first and last paragraphs of a text, are ascending the main idea is located towards the end This can be particularly helpful when matching headings to paragraphs
Overview
Get an overview of a text before dealing with the questions Do this by reading the title and subtitle as well as focusing on the beginnings and ends (but not JUST the first and last
sentences) of paragraphs This helps you process the information in a text (and thereby answer the questions) more quickly
Parallel Phrases
Learn to spot parallel phrases These are different ways of expressing the same thing, such as, “I like to ski” and “skiing is enjoyable” Many questions, e g YES NO NOT GIVEN questions and gap fills, test your ability to match up a similar phrase in the task with its equivalent in the text
Don't Panic
Don’t panic when you encounter an unknown or difficult word IELTS texts are packed with highly specialised vocabulary Skip over difficult words which are not essential for your understanding of the text For words you do need to understand, practise trying to guess their meaning using the overall context of the text and sentence as well as the form of the word – e g is it a noun or verb
Manage Your Time
Time manage in the exam Most IELTS candidates run out of time in the third reading section Each text should take you roughly 20 minutes (the examiners will tell you after 20 minutes have passed) Never spend too long on a single question – guess the answer or leave it to return to later Also if you feel you are running out of time, tackle questions like gap fills before doing “ easy to guess” tasks like YES NO NOT GIVEN questions Don’t forget you also have to have all your answers on your mark sheet by the end of the test A good tip is to write them on the mark sheet in pencil as you go, correcting where necessary at the end
TIPS FOR WRITING
Practice as much as you can because practice makes a man perfect
Always stick to the word limit whenever you practice writing
Make it a habit to read on a daily basis Expand your vocabulary Also pay attention towards the sentence formation while reading which would further help you in making your writing skills more effective
Always structure your ideas first before you start writing on any topic
TIPS FOR SPEAKING
1 Be positive that you will achieve a good band in IELTS exam
2 Record what you speak and listen to it carefully By doing this you will come to know about your areas of improvement
3 Practice speaking in front of a mirror Try and make eye contact with yourself while speaking because during an IELTS exam it is always good to make an eye contact with the examiner in order to give a positive impact
4 Visualize while speaking which will give you enough confidence about speaking on any topic. Also you will have enough points to speak.
5. Read any article and summarize in your own words.
6. Be confident and spontaneous in expressing your views.
7. .Work on your pronunciation on a daily basis .