DingDandDoo

Hi Guys,

This is for any of you that have sat the IELTS exam (general), i am sitting it this saturday in Melbourne and need to get a minimum of 8 across all 4 bands for my visa. Anyone got any tips or things to look out for.

Cheers guys.

PrestonJim

Got my IELTS results today! L9,R9,W9,S9

On the listening (the one I felt most pressurised on), make sure you use the time in between sections to look ahead at what is coming, then you have a good idea if the bit you are listening out for has come and gone. Writing- structure, punctuation and grammar- cover all the bullet points required. Speaking- I ended up having a bit of a laugh with the examiner. Lightened the mood, may have made his day more interesting.
If you can, get a book with practise papers (and a CD for listening test)
I have been speaking, reading, writing and listening to the language for 40+ years though, so don't take all this as foolproof!

Paul2O

Listening - Practice taking short-hand notes. Vital information is never repeated, so you must catch it at the first time.
Speaking - Never stop talking. Even your argument is not sound and logical, keep talking. You could lose points for saying too little.
Writing - Guess word count by number of pages you have written (1-1/2, 1-1/3, etc). You won't have time to count word by word.
Reading - Read the questions first before reading the paragraph. It will give you some ideas on what you are looking for.

uzi

In "writing" I have used a trick to roughly count the number of words in a letter or essay quickly. Based on your writing style, you can use ~10ish words per line ... now based on how many lines you have written .... you can get a rough idea about words.

In addition, when writing essays, its a good idea to provide an opening paragraph and a closing paragraph (the usual stuff ... stating the argument and your take on that argument i.e. you agree or disagree with it). Then a 3-4 paragraphs explaining various points related to your arguments.

I've also experienced that using compound sentences, both in speaking and writing, will result in a better score.

Finally, don't forget to follow IELTS specific material, there are several free resources on internet.

Good luck.

--Uzi

peaceboy

I used several materials which are available free to download via torrents which are ACE THE IELTS, CAMBRIDGE 1- to - 8, Essay Writing Step-by-Step etc.

apart from that you need to follow certain guide lines to get through with flying bands. as far as the test is concerned reading is the most difficult test as there is not enough time to complete it. i followed the below guide lines to complete the IELTS in Flying Colors.

Listening - Always concentrate the dialogs hard and there will be some spare time given at the beginning of each sections, use it well to go through the list of questions and memorize as much as you can it will help you well once the sections are started.

Reading - Always read the questions first and underline the key words then scan the paragraphs to find these words or similar words don't try to read the entire thing as it is not a good idea, most of the time the questions are in a sequenced manner such as if you find the answer for the question # 1 in the first para then the answer for the second question will not be there having said that in section 4 you might find multiple answers in the same para. As in Listening, the reading test is also divided to sections. you will only have 1 hour to answer all 40 questions and try to finish the first 3 sections in 30 minutes and keep 30 for the section 4 because it is the hardest of all.

Writing - Just don't worry about the word count, try to use-up the entire area which is allocated to the tasks. there are two tasks, task 1 is a letter and task 2 is an essay. there are rules you must use in writing especially in essays, in the letter you need to cover all the bullet points to get high marks and this section is relatively easy. in essay writing you need to follow a structure to get marks in high bands, first you need to give an introduction for the topic in the first para, then you need to lay down your argument or discussion or ideas or likes dislikes or advantages disadvantages in the second/ third paras, we often call this the body of the essay then in the last para you need to give your conclusion. while writing make sure the you use your grammar correctly and word links correctly such as "moreover/ Having said that/ further to that etc".

Speaking - In speaking test they are not trying to assess your knowledge about the topics presented instead they look out for your vocabulary and argument capacity. try to speak and speak and speak.. use proper grammar and vocabulary and you will be fine.

Hope this helps and my IELTS are R9, R8, S9, L8

Cheers : PB