newlife_downunder

Having not passed my IELTS test a 2nd time, I am frantically searching the net for some more study material and have come across this website

http://www.ielts-exam.net/index.php?...=476&Itemid=64

Maybe of interest to anyone that is going in for the test soon!

dandn

Thank you for that
I've bookmarked the site !!! very useful..
I have to do the the test the 19th of jan in Guildford

Good luck in your next exam!!

Debby

originalfunster

I would recomend the Cambridge IELTS 6. I got mine from Amazon came to about £40.00 with next day delivery.. worth every penny as I passed last week.

newlife_downunder

I already have this book! and still failed......!

Alot of people reading this will think how on earth has he failed and English test again, well it is not that easy, my wife looked at the website I found and she managed to answer one question in the listening section!!!
I mean it has been some 27 years since I was at school under examination conditions. I am a manual worker and am not used to written Academic work.

Basty

Hi,

Have you taken the exam at Southampton UNI?? Have you attended the pre-exam course??

My OH is booked on the next exam in Southampton on 19th Jan!

Basty

newlife_downunder

Hi no couldn't get in there initially, so have been attending the Richard Language School in Bournemouth, however I cannot join any courses beforehand due to working nightshift.

Basty

Bummer - I'm hoping that the course will put OH mind at rest - he is not looking forward to it!! Fingers crossed.

Have you booked your next exam?

originalfunster

[QUOTE=newlife_downunder;5676203]I already have this book! and still failed......!

Did you get the one with the CD's? as I found that to be really good.

Basty

What part of the exam did you fail on??

tipp1974

I was able to buy an IELTS book from the test centre. It had a CD with it and answers in the book. I thought it was useful although the reading section put me in a false sense of security as the first 20 questions were much easier than the actual exam. Should have results in January so will be keeping the IELTS book until I know my fate otherwise I would gladly offer it up.

esperanza

Out of interest, what level do you have to attain in order to pass? Are they asking you to get the highest possible scores?

tipp1974

The IELTS is testing Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Its levels go from 1 to 9 (1 being no English ability to 9 being expert). For the purpose of immigration to Australia if you want to get the extra points on offer you have to score 7 or better in all components. So if you get one test at 6.5 and the rest at 8 - you fail.

esperanza

Thanks! (Interested from a professional point of view). It would be interesting to have a group of native speakers sit the test, and see where they came out. There's so much which is subjective & open to interpretation & dependent upon a person's upbringing & 'norms'. One would assume that the test was developed based upon native speakers' results etc, but that might have been who know how long ago and what group of people would they have chosen to use to create the test? I bet there's not a lot to do with regional dialects/slang etc, which would be perfectly valid parts of the language.
What about the common inaccuracies that many native speakers make all the time, like "I would of" or "their/there"? Would those be taken in to consideration? (Or does that just point to a hideous lack of literacy & articulation in the general population...)
An interesting topic!