IELTS EXAM PREPARATION FOR ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS!
Specific
Tips For The Absolute Beginners
Well, for those of the IELTS aspirants who haven’t yet stepped into the arena, and are
planning to face the exam, I am going to share insights from my distilled experience of being an IELTS Trainer from more than a decade now. For the absolute beginners, the worrisome part is
challenging open ended syllabus of the exam which requires proficiency in
English language in all the four major skills, that is, Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. In times of
information explosion, there is so much you can read before you can actually
begin to prepare for acquainting yourself with “what all to expect”.
The beginners need to know that IELTS Band score of 6 or 6.5 is often required in universities or colleges worldwide. Let us begin by understanding grading part of the IELTS ACADEMIC Exam for getting the score of 6.0, 6.5 or 7.
SECTION-WISE BREAK-UP OF IELTS BAND SCORE 6 & 7

Check the following table
to understand the section-wise SCORE to secure IELTS band 6 and 7 in IELTS
academic.
IELTS LISTENING BAND 7 |
IELTS
LISTENING BAND 6 |
Score 30 correct answers out of 40 |
Score
23 correct answers out of 40 |
Keyword & signpost word focus. |
TIP: follow the word limit instructions, take notes while listening. |
IELTS READING BAND 7 |
IELTS
READING BAND 6 |
Score 30 correct answers out of 40 |
Score 23 correct answers out of 40 |
Don't write T/F for True/False or when you are asked to write Yes/No. |
TIP: Spell answers correctly, manage time efficiently. |
|
|
IELTS WRITING BAND 7 |
IELTS
WRITING BAND 6 |
SCORE for both would be based on: organized essay, linking words, cohesive & coherent response, appropriate vocabulary, grammatical range & accuracy. |
Maintain habit of checking your first draft. Avoid common spelling mistakes. Learn to maintain basic four paragraph structure for both writing task types. |
|
|
IELTS
SPEAKING BAND 7 |
IELTS SPEAKING BAND 6 |
SCORE will be based on: connecting ideas, paraphrasing ideas, topic-specific vocabulary, accurate pronunciation, varied sentence types & fluency. |
Pay attention to selection of appropriate words, and sustaining the long answers to part 3 questions instead of one-line answers. |
|
|
TIPS FOR BEGINNERS FOR GETTING USED TO LEVEL OF ACADEMIC ENGLISH
Along with proper practice of IELTS, it is important to incorporate English in daily life by regular reading English newspapers, books, magazines, journals, and writing essays on different topics along with listening to English interviews, shows, other excerpts, and confidently speaking. The first thing you need to do is check out the sample papers for the test. This would not only give you a clear picture of the exam pattern, question types and the difficulty level but also help you to make a study plan based on your strengths and weaknesses. For this purpose, utilize Cambridge book series only.
IELTS PREPARATION TIPS: HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY

v After going through sample papers, find
your strength out of four sections. This would help you organize
your time to be dedicated to different sections for practice.
v Try to be realistic in setting goals so
that you do not continuously disappoint yourself.
v Practice all the sections following the strict time
limit. This is the
only way to ensure that you would be able to complete your exam well in time.
v Indulge in regular mock tests,
and try to get yourself evaluated. This would give you
better insight on where you need to focus on.
v Practice WRITING SECTION by writing only. Most of the candidates just keep reading whole
lot of essays on web, and finally end up writing nothing on their own. Writing
yourself is the only way to learn new words and grammatical usage.
v Look at writing and speaking sections from
examiner’s point of view, and not what you think is a good answer. Read
the band descriptors on British Council & IDP website, and
try to break them down for yourself for easy comprehension. Thereafter, work on
every single point.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR IELTS WRITING

v Read your questions thoroughly and form an outline of
your answer mentally.
v Avoid repetitions, and practice paraphrasing newspaper
and magazine articles.
v Practice writing the IELTS writing task 1 in 20
minutes and IELTS writing task 2 in 40 minutes. Keep track of your
time in every single attempt.
v Practice using varied sentence
structures instead of simple sentences.
v Always concentrate on developing ideas in
the essay rather than listing out points.
v Don’t worry about the high-end vocabulary. For a 6.5 or 7 band, you just need the right word for the right place, and not the high-end vocabulary.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR IELTS READING

v Identify the various question types, and practice how to handle
each type of question.
v Get yourself into the habit of reading regularly. Practice
techniques of fast reading. Scan for important information while you are
reading and that will speed up the process of answering questions.
v Simply locate the answers without trying to understand every word in the passage by skimming and scanning techniques. If you ace this techniques, it would prove to be one of the most effective ways to find your answers the fastest.
v While preparing for IELTS at home, practice spotting keywords in
the IELTS reading passage. Keywords are basically the words that are names, acronyms, dates or numbers that helps you locate them faster in the text. If there isn't such a thing, then underline the subject word of the sentence as keyword.
v Practice paraphrasing. It will help you in all the sections. After reading statement question, always rephrase it for yourself for good understanding of it. Please note that there would be distractors like always, occasionally, only, all etc. The same sentence with word "occasionally" would convey a different meaning than the one with "always".
v If you face difficulty in getting the accurate answers in time,
seek help from a professional trainer as learning the right strategies would help
you to crack the exam.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR IELTS SPEAKING
v Read and listen to English every day at home during IELTS
preparation.
v Practice speaking in front of a mirror. This will build up your
confidence.
v Acquaint yourself with idioms, phrases, conversation fillers and
discourse markers.
v Find a speaking buddy to practice, and if possible, get your
speaking skills evaluated.
v Don’t try to adopt an accent to impress the examiner. Remain natural, and focus on your
pronunciation of the word as clear as possible.
v Practice to sustain a two-min monologue on any topic along with
stop watch. Do keep in mind that you need to answer all the sub-parts of the cue card question.
v If you have been good at spinning stories, it would come to your
help in part 2 of the speaking test.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR LISTENING
v The IELTS Listening test is of 30 minutes duration. Thereafter, for a traditional paper-pen based test, you get 10 mins extra to transfer your answer to your answer sheet. It needs an
immense amount of practice to concentrate on audios for 30 minutes at a
stretch.
v The recording will be played only once and you need practice to
remember all the necessary information to answer the questions. The best way to
tackle this is to keep scribbling relevant words, points or ideas along with
the audio.
v Practice IELTS Listening tests available online.
v Invest free time in listening to TED talks
and podcasts for occasional listening practice, and consequently make
notes on vocabulary use.
v Utilize time for walks, and Netflix binging for
watching and listening to everything that helps you understand the accent
better.
v Before the recording is played the candidates will be given some time to
read the questions. You should underline keywords, and understand the context
while reading the questions as you will get to hear the recording only once.
v Transfer answers at the end of the listening test in the ten minutes
provided after 30 mins recording is over. While listening to the audio,
scribble your answers on the question paper itself to keep yourself focused.
This 10 min extra time is only for pen-paper based test, and not CBT.
v Make sure you follow the word count instructions in each question.
If the question wants a one-word answer then follow that.
v There is no negative marking for any wrong answers. So, make sure to
take a calculated guess for the ones you missed.
v Pay attention to words-indicators, such as however, therefore,
but. They help you to get a clear note about what the speaker will
speak next.
All the Best!
Be Courageous to Dream!
Keep Hope of Getting There!
Don't Forget to Work Towards it Each Day!
Thanks for the great content Ma'am
ReplyDeleteI am glad Chandini you found it useful. All the best!
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