International English Language Testing System or IELTS is a testing system used to grade your English language skills if your native language is not English and you wish to study abroad. The testing service evaluates your English language based on four key characteristics including reading, writing, speaking and listening.
However, it is not easy to top IELTS tests as its format and rules are quite different from regular educational exams. Therefore, many individuals fail to acquire the required and desired band scores. If you are one of those individuals, despair not because we are going to discuss some practical and sure IELTS tips to get you those band scores that you desire. Sit back, relax and just read.
Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Before starting to study for IELTS tests or even planning for it, you need to identify your areas of English language where you are weak and where you have strengths. Knowing these areas will give you a clear understanding of where to focus more and assure that, that particular area does not negatively affect the total score. For example, if you have problems with listening, you need to focus more on listening tests than the other tests.
Develop Your Study Plan
The next thing in line is to develop a study plan. When you have clearly identified your weak and strong areas, it will be easier to develop a plan based on those factors and allot time and resources where you find yourself to be weak.
Get Professional Assistance
An IELTS preparation course is a widely used weapon that lace you with tips and tricks required to obtain the desired band scores and most importantly the IELTS material. The course enables you to study and get the material from one place and study systematically in the supervision of trained and professional staff. However, if you cannot get access to an IELTS course, then hiring a qualified tutor will be essential to prepare you for the big day.
Practice Makes Everything Perfect
Yes, it is right. The practice is the key to pass the IELTS test with your desired band scores and boost your confidence. Apart from reading IELTS material, you need to go to the extra mile which would also be fun. For the listening test, you can listen to English songs, news, podcasts and watch movies. Watching movies with subtitles will also help in improving reading as well as listening and synchronization of both.
Practice your English speaking skills with your friends and family and you can even deliver a speech in front of a mirror. You can also record yourself telling stories and listen to the recordings and evaluate and improve your grammar, accent, and pronunciation. While skimming the texts and reading English newspaper can also help with reading tests.
Correct Your Mistakes
Many candidates make this mistake and fail to get their required band scores as they do not correct their mistakes. You should always take careful notes on your mistakes in all the four aspects and rewrite your material making sure the correction of all the grammar and spelling errors pointed out by your teachers as incorrect spellings and punctuation results in points loss. It will immensely improve your skills in all the aspects and also improve your learning skills.
Prepare a Mock Test
This practice will enable you to deliver confidently under pressure for real tests. You can take your own test in 2 hours and 45 minutes time-frame exactly like the test day. It will also help you to manage time, improve writing speed and to manage the writing, listening and reading tests consecutively.
Visit Official IELTS Website
Do not underestimate this tip. The official IELTS website is one of the best sources for authentic information for candidates regarding material, rules, format and useful tips on IELTS tests. You will find useful materials such as tests, related videos, and books to aid you in your preparation.
Vocabulary, Pronunciation, and Fluency
Pay attention to these three elements as much as you can. You can make use of model answers from the back of the book to increase command on vocabulary, essay, and sentence structure. A good monolingual dictionary also helps with proper word arrangement and make use of new words frequently to increase fluency. You can talk aloud in English to hear yourself correctly pronounce the words.
Apart from following these tips, you need to sleep well the night before the exam and be mentally relaxed on the day. Have a proper breakfast and enter the examination hall with confidence. Read the instructions carefully, especially the time length, word limit, and format details to avoid losing marks as exceeding the word limit results in marks deduction. Practicing these practical tips will surely get you the desired band scores in your IELTS tests.
