Are you preparing for the IELTS exams? Don’t know what to focus more? Looking to improve your ranking for IELTS? No more to worry as you have hit the right place. The full form of IELTS is the International English Language Testing System.
It is a testing system that tests the English language skills of the applicant looking to do masters abroad based on four key language aspects: speaking, writing, reading, and listening. IELTS preparation tips mean, in most of the cases, many hours of sitting and reading.
It takes a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes to complete the IELTS exam. The IELTS listening, reading, and writing tests are performed in one session. Most of the time, the IELTS Speaking test is conducted either on the same day or before or after the other tests for up to seven days.
One can improve the IELTS score by following the below steps:
A) Tips for Listening
1) Always read before you listen
One challenge in the review is that you are not only listening but at the same time, understanding the question and writing the answer. Once you hear, a straightforward tip is to read the questions, so you know what you are listening to. Mastering is a difficult skill, but sometimes it can help you try to predict the type of answer you’re looking for: is it a name or a number.
2) Read as you listen
Not because you haven’t heard well, but because you don’t focus on the issue, a considerable proportion of mistakes are made. While you look, reflect on the question’s precise wording.
3) Do not leave the writing till the end
Sometimes candidates leave the part of writing to the end, thinking they’ll remember what they’ve heard. This seldom works, there’s a lot of information, you’re under stress and, most importantly, you should move to the next set of questions to read them after each listening.
4) Practice the shorthand
You don’t have to write all that you down: in the end, you are just left with 10 minutes for copying your answers in the answer sheet. So what you need to do is learn how to write enough to remember you while you listen so you can type it out later in full. The only exception to this is part 1 of numbers and names where you must type it all out while you listen–that’s the challenge.
5) Never write answers in a hurry
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”.
6) Never leave any answers blank
There are two reasons for that. First, your guess may be right, especially if it’s a question of multiple choice. Second, if you leave a blank, there is a danger that you write the answers on the answer sheet in the wrong boxes, and that can be a disaster.
7) Always listen for repeated information
This doesn’t still work, but the words that are the answer are sometimes repeated: if you have to make a guess choose the words that you hear repeatedly, they might well be the answer.
8) Always search for clues in the question
A frequent type of problem is completing a table; by looking at the other information in the table, you will often find clues to the answer in this type of question. For particular, look at the headings of the rows and columns: if, for example, the title says “equipment” and some of the finished boxes say “paper clips” and “cardboard” you have a good indication of what you should listen to.
B) Reading Tips
1) Try to read academic texts
Read in your spare time to improve your IELTS score. The IELTS texts are “general text from academic circles.” This means that they are drawn from outlets such as universities and journals and specialized publications. If you aren’t familiar with your English reading skills, then you should start reading various English books in your free time. With this, you would be used to different tricks in the English language and the structure used whenever you encounter it in the IELTS exam.
2) Focus
First, focus on the text, then the questions! Good text understanding helps you respond more effectively and efficiently to the questions.
3) Categorize well
IELTS review writers choose a range of specific text types. Training to identify the type of text you are reading will allow you to predict and understand its structure faster. The IELTS texts are of four types:
(a) The analytical texts discuss various reasons why something has occurred or make a few recommendations or even explain the concepts.
(b) Various descriptive texts those describe a situation, explain how something is done or categorize something
(c) The discursive texts that express different views on an issue, and
(d) Various narrative texts that explain a chronological sequence of events.
4) Skim
Develop your skim skills. Skimming is reading quickly by skipping unnecessary words such as prepositions and ignoring hard words you don’t need to understand. Do this to get a general idea of a text or a paragraph or to search intensively for a question’s answer.
5) Scan
Study scanning. Whenever looking for a price in an advertising text or a name in a telephone book, scanning is what you do. You don’t need to read the text when you scan but move your eyes over it quickly.
6) Structure
Learn to recognize the structure of the sentence. This often includes defining the relationship between the main ideas in a paragraph and supporting ideas. Most of the time, the paragraphs are descending, i.e. they start somewhere near the beginning with the main idea and develop from there. However, some, often the first and last paragraphs of a text, are ascending–the main purpose is toward the end. Matching headings to articles, this can be particularly helpful.
7) Overview
Get an overview of a text before the questions are answered. Accomplish the same reading the titles and subtitles thereby concentrating on the beginning and ending of paragraphs (but not the first and last sentences). It allows you to access the information faster in a text (and thus answer the questions).
8) Use of parallel phrases
Learn to spot sentences in parallel. These are various ways to express the same thing, like “I like skiing” and “skiing is fun.” These questions check the ability to match a similar sentence in the task with its text.
9) Never panic
Don’t panic if you find a word that is unfamiliar or complicated. IELTS texts are filled with vocabulary with high specialization. Skip the tough words that aren’t important to your text comprehension.
10) Time management
Manage the time in the examination. In the third reading segment, most IELTS candidates run out of time. You will take about 20 minutes for each text (the examiner will tell you after 20 minutes). Never spend much time on any single question–guess the answer or let it come back later. Even if you feel you’re running out of time, address issues like gap-fills before you do “easy to guess” activities like YES NOT ask questions. Don’t forget that at the end of the test you must also have all your answers on your mark sheet. A good tip is to write them in pencil as you go on the mark pad, correcting it at the end if necessary.
C) The IELTS Writing Tips
· Start practicing as much as you can.
· Whenever you practice IELTS writing, always stick to the word limit.
· Make it a habit of reading every day.
· Grow your vocabulary.
· Always pay attention to the forming of sentences while reading, which would enable you to make your writing skills more successful.
· Before you start writing on any subject, always organize your ideas first.
D) The Speaking Tips
· Be optimistic so that your IELTS score increases.
· Document and listen carefully to what you’re talking about. You can learn about your areas of improvement by doing this.
· Practice in front of a mirror and speak in front of the mirror. Try to make eye contact with yourself while speaking because it is always essential to have eye contact with the interviewer during an IELTS interview in order to have a positive impact. It also helps in increasing your IELTS score.
· Visualize what will give you enough confidence to speak on any subject while listening. You’ll also have enough points to talk about.
· Read and review every article in your terms.
· When expressing your views, be relaxed and spontaneous.
· Work every day on your pronunciation. If you are planning for your MBA study abroad, then having a good IELTS score is quite important.
E) Join Proper Coaching Institute
Various coaching Institutes play an essential role in helping their students by sharing predictable topics, tips, and tricks available to pass this exam with a good score. Hence it is always recommended to visit a coaching institute rather than doing your IELTS preparation online.
Final Note
You have to solve all the exercises from the books of the IELTS British Council to listen, speak, read, and write. The books are available on the internet free of charge. Try to solve 2-3 tests a day. So note, listening, or reading are the most important parts that make it easier to get marks and improve your IELTS score during your IELTS preparation.
