ashftc89

Hello,

To start with, I am not sure that whether this is the right directory to post an IELTS thread. Moderators, please refer me to the right place if I am not at one.

I have few questions regarding IELTS as I am giving my test pretty soon. I'd highly appreciate your suggestions.

1. I'm aware that there is 1 hour for reading section followed by 1 hour for writing. According to my previous experience, I finish my writing section approximately 15-20 minutes even after scoring satisfactory bands. Whereas, I struggle a lot on time allowed for Reading. Is it possible to use the remaining 20 minutes of writing section over to reading section. Well it may be possible only in a case when the invigilators sets you free for 2 hours for reading and writing without any interruptions or conditions? Is that the case or I am just being over optimistic?

2. As the 40 listening questions are divided into 4 parts, 10 each. After the end of each listening section, i.e., 10 questions, candidate are allowed 30 seconds to check. Well, honestly I don't find anything to check at most instances. So, is it possible to invest those 30 seconds to read the following questions? Albeit, they do allow time to read the upcoming questions, but I am just trying to utilize my very precious time more wisely.

3. In the speaking section, when the invigilator gives you a topic in section 2 of speaking, is it a good idea to start your discussion by saying, "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have my say over this topic and to be more organized, I have divided this discussion into 3 parts namely: A:xxx, B:xxx, C:xxx" and then start my main speech. The purpose here is to have a discussion over the given topic in a bit more organized way and making the examiner aware about the direction of the flow in which I am going.

Too many lengthy questions but I'd highly appreciate your response over queries

Thanks & Regards

Muhammad.

old.sparkles

The time allowed for each test is the only time allowed - you cannot 'borrow' from other areas. But if you have time, there is nothing to stop you reading ahead in the listening section so you are prepared for the questions to come. Just try not to confuse yourself.

As for the speaking, I didn't start like that - you need to be descriptive with wide range of vocabulary, correctly used and make it conversational.

That's my experience anyway. I took the test twice - both academic tests as they were easier to get a space on near me, and it did not matter which test I did (plus someone mistakenly told me I needed academic to get 8's)

What are your previous IELTS scores?

Bermudashorts

My comments in red

shah

Can't stop laughing on "They are going to ask you things like whether you like gardening or what is your favourite book, why would you reply "thank you for this opportunity.."

On a serious note: I would suggest you attempt the reading test backwards as the last 2 sections and particularly the last one is very tough and requires time and concentration.

This worked for me and infact 4 to 5 minutes were spared in the end.

ashftc89

Thank you for your response. The only reason I thought so was to be a bit more organized which it seems from people comment that it might not work. Thank you everyone for your response. My previous score was Reading: 6.5, Writing: 6.5, Listening: 8, Speaking: 8. Overall 7.5. But that was when I didn't even prepared a single word, height of carelessness, I didn't even knew the structure that which section comes first followed by what. Neither I was aware the kind of questions I may face, specially the reading section, the only section in which I struggle due to time limitation. On one instance, while I was practicing recently, I took all my time it needed and score 9 in reading but when the feeling of tick tock is there, due to added pressure, I lose my focus too That was the reason I asked. On contrary, I finish my writing section 25 minutes early at previous and for now I am expecting to finish it within 50 minutes max.

spouse of scouse

I sympathise Muhammed, I hate the time pressure of tests too. Try to relax, take some deep breaths and good luck!

old.sparkles

Your first goal should be to get your reading and writing above 7 so you can score 10 points towards your visa. There are practice reading tests online that you can find by searching with google or similar. You can also find examples of different band writing tests for both general and academic tests. You need to be careful of tenses and sentence structure as there are a few errors in what you write.

It is possible to take practice classes to get used to doing the tests within the time allowed, and to try and alleviate test nerves.

Good luck

ashftc89

Thank you for your suggestions. I am currently working hard on that. Yes, there are errors in my previous post, appreciate for pointing that out. However, the good thing is I have realized what most of the errors are. It's the proof reading which can create difference.

old.sparkles

Definitely. In the writing I sketched out the ideas I wanted to include in rough, and where they should appear. Then wrote both pieces, which gave me time to read back over and correct anything at the end and check word counts

ashftc89

I'd like to share my strategy for writing component. Kindly, present your comments over it.

1. Read the requirements carefully and start planning for both, letter and essay (6 Minutes).

2. Letter writing (12 minutes)

3. Essay writing (22 minutes)

4. Replace simple vocabulary and conjunctive adverbs with their next best synonym which I am learning and focus on structure of sentences (10 minutes)

5. Proofreading Letter for structure, paragraph, grammar, spelling and overall (4 minutes)

6. Do the same for essay (6 minutes)

I am doing a lot of practice to identify what should be the estimated length of 250 words according to my font, so that I shouldn't be counting the words at that span of time. To be more sure, I'll aim to write a sentence or two more to be on the safe side which will a bit quicker then exact counting. At least, that would make me sure that I have fulfilled the requirement. Secondly, rather than investing my time on word count, an extra sentence might can contribute towards my overall score.

How do you think about my strategy?

ashftc89

As usual, I didn't proofread my post and did some punctuation mistakes and some upper-lower case mistakes

old.sparkles

As long as you view the times as rough times - and I would probably allow a bit more time for the planning stage - if you think of good words that should be included, make a note on the side - or even plan the sentence you will use it in.

With word counts - I count the first full line, and multiply by the number of full lines, and ignore and part lines at the end of a paragraph. That should be close enough and only takes a minute or so, but allows for writing on the day which may have a word or two more or less per line than practice due to the effects of adrenalin from nerves. You also want to practice doing both in less than the allotted time to give you time for any amendments, or if you struggle to think of things to write about. I probably had about 50/50 split on time between the drafts and the actual submitted pieces and both finished with about 10 mins to spare to allow for proof reading, counts, edits etc.

Find those sample pieces and write them out yourself,, look at how they could be improved - or look at the differences (and smiliarities) of samples in the next band

ashftc89

At first, I was thinking the same way as you've mentioned, i.e., to plan the content including the vocab and sentence structure and kept good 15 minutes for that. Followed by 35 minutes for writing the content as per planning and finally, the last 10 precious minutes for proofreading, grammar and spelling mistakes. Latter, I thought that if I do so, my structure will depend on the vocab I may use, maybe to entice the examiner to magnet more marks. Honestly, I was confused for a while but then thought to follow the strategy which I have mentioned in my previous post.

I cannot deny the fact that planning do deserves a bit more piece of time. The only box that can be squeezed is to minimize the time invested in writing the content, maybe by practicing more and increasing the speed of my writing which would also help in higher spelling accuracy. Not only this, I also like your 50/50 idea too. That sounds a simple and easy to implement strategy. If my practice evidences that I can write both letter and essay within or by 30 minutes, I think, the ball would be in my court then. What do you say?

Also let me know if there was any grammatical, vocabulary or sentence structure error in this post

old.sparkles

Initially, I was thinking the same as you, i.e plan the content and vocabulary out in advance allowing around 15 minutes for this, and a further 35 minutes to write the actual pieces. This leaves 10 minutes to proof read, edit grammer, spelling, etc not sure on what message you are trying to convey with 'magnet marks' Honestly, I was confused for a while but settled on the stategy already listed.

I cannot deny that time spent on palnning and preparation is time well spent, but this reduces the amount of time available for writing the final pieces. But if I practice more, I may be able to increase the speed and accuracy of my writing and reduce the time needed for this section. I do like your 50/50 idea as it is simple and easy to implement. I have already managed to complete both pieces in approximately 30 minutes, so I should have plenty of time available for the planning. What do you think?

I've re-written your post in my style as to me it seems more natural. I could not really follow this :
Possibly you were trying to say that if you could improve the vocabulary you use in your writing, then this should achieve a higher score?

I would agree that you do need a good level of vocabulary, but you also need to convey ideas clearly, and in a style that a reader can follow.

Do you read much in English at all?

ashftc89

Yes, that's exactly what I am trying to say. Clear structure and sentence articulation is another and I do have taken that on board too. Indeed, I do. Infact, you can say, I read different topics, articles, IELTS reading material, forum discussions for around 3-5 hours a day on daily basis. Additionally, I have recently finished my academic research which was part of my degree coursework. To do so, I have read, say, atleast over 300 articles and various other relevant researches. Please advise me openly about how you feel about language strengths and weaknesses and any potential area of improvement.