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January 2013

Student success: how Sainattee passed the IELTS test with flying colours

What you’re about to read is a very inspiring story. It began in October 2012, when Kevin and Sainattee H, a family living in Thailand, needed to prepare for the IELTS test to move to Australia.

Kevin spoke English all his life, but his wife Sainattee, who is Thai, never had formal training in English after finishing high school. She learned English all by herself while working in the hospitality industry in Thailand, and it was fine for everyday use – but taking a formal English test was quite a scary prospect.

Looking for IELTS materials to help him coach Sainattee, Kevin came across IELTS-Blog.com and subscribed to our free daily tips. A couple of weeks later he decided to put his trust into our book
Ace the IELTS – and never regretted this step, because… this book helped him prepare his wife and just one month later she passed IELTS “in one go, with flying colours” – those are his own words!

Here is what Kevin says about their IELTS journey:

Passed IELTS in one go“I wanted to write to you to thank you for all the great work and effort you are doing by providing all these tools, tips and recommendations available for people who have to prepare for their IELTS test.

For myself the target score was never in doubt but for my wife who is Thai this was a very daunting target to achieve. But thanks to all your collateral, recommendations and book we bought she was able to pass the test in one go.

Although her English is very good for a daily conversation use, practising it in test situations is a completely different thing. She learned English all by herself after she left high school by working in translation offices and hotel receptions, as English was at that time only taught on a very basis level in Thai public schools. When I met her many years ago her English was already quite good and she was not shy to use it in daily conversations. But then to raise the level of her English knowledge up to the next level to be able to use it in a real test situation I was not sure if she could handle the stress of the IELTS test.

But thanks to your book, test samples and other collateral and my guidance she nailed it in one go. My wife has also learned a lot about English language grammar and structure thanks to your book and we have asked our daughter to use it as a guide to improve her English writing skills.

So there you go, a big thank you from 2 happy campers and I will recommend your collateral, books, sample tests and recommendations to anybody I know.

There is a lot of IELTS clutter out there, but your site captures all the relevant and required tools to pass the test so I think this should be known to those who have to take the test.”

IELTS Speaking test in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – January 2013

These questions were shared by A who recently took the IELTS test in Saudi Arabia.

Speaking testIELTS test in Saudi Arabia

Interview

– What is your full name?
– Are people in your country using mobile phones often?
– When did you get your first mobile phone?
– Do you prefer to call or to message your friends? Why?
– Do you think people should turn their cell phones on silent in public places? Why?
– Please describe your hometown.
– What is interesting in your hometown?
– Are you planning to stay or go back to your hometown in the future?

Cue Card

If you were given a chance to do an unusual job, what job would it be? Please say:

– Why do you think it is an unusual job?
– Where did you find out about it?
– What is so interesting about this job?

Discussion

– Is it important to have a retirement age?
– Is a part time job in your country supported by schools?
– Does government have the right to impose a particular number of workers on a company?
– In what way students are guided to choose their career?
– How do you decide what course or degree will suit you?