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April 2009

IELTS exam in Hanoi, Vietnam – April 2009 (Academic Module)

Here is what our friend from Vietnam remembers about his academic IELTS exam (thanks, H – we hope you get a great score!).

Listening test

The quality of sound was good, all voices were clear, so I did as well as when I had practiced at home. I missed two regrettable questions because one time in part 2 I moved to next question right after answering a former one while the talk moved gradually, another time was in part 3, when I was considering the answer for one question people in the dialogue moved to the content for next question. Fortunately, the forms of questions in part 4 (the most difficult part) were multiple choice (only 2 questions) and filling in the blanks in a table and outlines. These forms were easier than filling in the blanks of a paragraph.

Reading test

Section 1 was about general information of a new water solution project in a certain area. I was very easy to understand and its’ questions were easy, too.

Unfortunately, the second section was the most difficult one, it took me 25 minutes and I was still not happy with my answers. Its content was about two ways of planets’ formation.

Section 3 was easier than Section 2, so if I had chance to do the test again I would do section 3 before Section 2.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (report)
The task was to describe a bar chart comparing the world average literacy rate with selected regions in men and women separately.

Writing task 2 (essay)
The task was to discuss and give opinions about the idea that “people will buy products as long as they are good, and advertising should be a form of entertainment”.

Speaking test

Interview
The examiner asked me about 12 written questions separated in 3 topics: my work, art and museum, and gardening.
I did not have so many words in my vocabulary to talk about the 2 former topics so I responded generally. I went through this part relatively fast.

Cue card
Talk about a famous tourism place in Vietnam. You should say:
-What’s it name
-Where it is
-What does it have, what can you see and do there?
And you need to talk about why do you like the place.

This part is quite a bit of trouble for me, because I had not practiced much this kind of test. I went through this part in 1 minute 30 seconds, finishing because of lack of words to describe an event.

Then, examiner asked me one extended question before moving to Part 3. That was a simple and short question: “Do you wish to visit that place again?”

Discussion
The examiner read 4 more written questions from the exam material asking me about related issues of the topic in Part 2(Cue card). A surprise for me, the questions was not based on what I talked, but they had been written in the exam material.

The questions were:
– What advantages do you think tourism brings to Vietnam?
– When the government promotes tourism, what do you think negatively affects the society?
– How do you think the development of tourism changes Vietnamese culture?

IELTS exam in Abu Dhabi, UAE – April 2009 (General Training)

Our friend from Abu Dhabi reports about his IELTS exam. What an amazing memory, thanks J!

Listening test

Section 1: A woman is calling British railways to lodge a complaint about her lost hand bag. Describing her bag, the location where she kept it on the train, items that were inside the bag and the net worth of the bag.

Section 2: There was a map of an art institution explained by the organizer to the new students about various buildings, their purpose and the adjacent features.

Section 3: About 5 different personalities in the art profession and engaged in different kind of art forms ranging from wildlife photography to sports photography. The question was to match which person belongs to which field.

Section 4: A student talking with university professor about a education tour to a South American desert. Definition of the desert, the objective of the visit and available assistance and procedure for registration etc.

Reading test

Passage 1: About the library in Cambridge shire, its facilities, available materials, membership requirements and borrowing procedures.

Passage 2: About the motor licensing test that is carried out in New Zealand for those who wish to obtain complete license to drive on motorway and in the hills.

Passage 3: About a motor bike riding trip over a hill. The rules and regulations, things that need to be brought in, available assistance for the riders and their vehicles (in case of failing) and about the refreshments and prizes for the contest winners.

Passage 4: This one was tough. About the evolution of calculators. It had 7 paragraphs each consisting of average 10 lines at least and the clues were not very explicit.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (Letter)
Write a letter to a friend informing him about your move to a new locality; reasons for moving; description of the new location and inviting him/her to visit your new home.

Writing task 2 (essay)
Should we teach public speaking our children in schools? Is it so important to start that early? Justify the need to start this so early and what are the consequences of inefficient public speaking and how does starting early would help overcoming these issues.

Speaking test

Introduction
– Please tell me your full name.
– Tell me about your job.
– Do you know how to cook?
– Have you ever cooked?
– Are you a good cook?
– Home made or outside food, which one would you prefer? Why?
– Who cooks normally in your home?

Cue card
Tell me about a childhood group activity that you enjoyed the most.
Who were your associates in that?
Why was it the most enjoyed activity?

Discussion
– Is it that important to belong to a group or better to remain aloof, individually?
– What were your group activities as a teenager?
– Do the importance of belonging to a group changes as you get older? If so, in which direction and why?