Stressing over Ielts
Feb 1st 2008, 11:20 am
#1
welshoz
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 80
Stressing over Ielts
Hiya everyone, anybody in the same boat as me:-)
Coming to the end of my course doing my G.T IELTS in Feb so nervous and stressed as if I fail dont get 120 pts. Looked at so many sites and done so much practice but i suppose it comes down to the questions on the day.
Is it really as hard as people say? And does anyone know do you have to wait if you dont pass the first one to sit a second?
Cheers KatieX
Coming to the end of my course doing my G.T IELTS in Feb so nervous and stressed as if I fail dont get 120 pts. Looked at so many sites and done so much practice but i suppose it comes down to the questions on the day.
Is it really as hard as people say? And does anyone know do you have to wait if you dont pass the first one to sit a second?
Cheers KatieX
Feb 1st 2008, 12:11 pm
#2
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: paris
Posts: 4
Re: Stressing over Ielts
I'm French and took the IELTS last year ; I finished my studies 12 years ago so it was quite a long time since I took an exam. I trained a lot (my husband had a 1day training during which exercise books and audio tape were provided, so I used them to train, during my lunchtime at work). Thus I could arrive quite confident at the exam ; the reading and listening are rather difficult (but I'm not an English native speaker....) but thanks to the homework I did, there was no big surprise. The interview was more difficult for me, but the examiner turned out to be very indulgent 
)
In the end I passed the test with 7.5/9
Hang in there !
)In the end I passed the test with 7.5/9
Hang in there !
Feb 1st 2008, 12:35 pm
#3
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 3,514
Re: Stressing over Ielts
Writing part is time constrained, with points deducted for less words than needed, spelling/grammar, vocabulary, etc. Practice writing an argument for/against some general topic, 250 words in about 20 minutes, that helps. I got bummed on this one, 7 pts because my handwriting is practically unreadable LOL
Listening- nothing is repeated, and class conditions may not be ideal, i.e. volume too low, some external distractions. No reading time is given, so you have to practice reading questions ahead while listening.
Reading - you have to write very specific answers, if it says write 3 words, then anything but 3 fails the question. Also, Not Given trick - do not rely on your general knowledge. If the question goes along the lines of "smoking is bad for your health" and there is no such sentence in the text (may be rephrased though), then it is NOT GIVEN.
Speaking - general topics, questions are asked from a booklet, simple everyday subjects. One part of that is Q&A. In the other you get a topic, then given a minute to think what you want to say, and then you need to speak for a few minutes on this topic until interrupted.
Listening- nothing is repeated, and class conditions may not be ideal, i.e. volume too low, some external distractions. No reading time is given, so you have to practice reading questions ahead while listening.
Reading - you have to write very specific answers, if it says write 3 words, then anything but 3 fails the question. Also, Not Given trick - do not rely on your general knowledge. If the question goes along the lines of "smoking is bad for your health" and there is no such sentence in the text (may be rephrased though), then it is NOT GIVEN.
Speaking - general topics, questions are asked from a booklet, simple everyday subjects. One part of that is Q&A. In the other you get a topic, then given a minute to think what you want to say, and then you need to speak for a few minutes on this topic until interrupted.
Feb 1st 2008, 2:11 pm
#4
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 701
Re: Stressing over Ielts
Hiya everyone, anybody in the same boat as me:-)
Coming to the end of my course doing my G.T IELTS in Feb so nervous and stressed as if I fail dont get 120 pts. Looked at so many sites and done so much practice but i suppose it comes down to the questions on the day.
Is it really as hard as people say? And does anyone know do you have to wait if you dont pass the first one to sit a second?
Cheers KatieX
Coming to the end of my course doing my G.T IELTS in Feb so nervous and stressed as if I fail dont get 120 pts. Looked at so many sites and done so much practice but i suppose it comes down to the questions on the day.
Is it really as hard as people say? And does anyone know do you have to wait if you dont pass the first one to sit a second?
Cheers KatieX
Feb 6th 2008, 8:43 am
#5
welshoz
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 80
Re: Stressing over Ielts
Thanks guys fingers crossed:-)
