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IELTS Test Results competition

Tips for a better IELTS score from Venkatesh, Band 7.5

You may remember Venkatesh Neelakantan from India, one of our competition winners last month, who took the third place with a band score of 7.5. Here are some tips Venkatesh was happy to share about his way of studying:

Band 7 in IELTS “I am absolutely delighted to hear the news. Thank you very much for the certificate and the appreciation. It is indeed one to be treasured.

In my opinion, making English a part of everyday life is very important. One needs to think in English, see more English channels, converse extensively in English. Even if it is throwing a spontaneous tantrum, let it be in English. It is OK to make mistakes, but the conscious attempt to better oneself should be definitely made. English should be so entwined that it should become the second nature. This enhances the ability to grasp new words and phrases easily.

Secondly, reading a lot of editorial articles from good newspapers helps. In Chennai, India I used “The Hindu”. This is a leading newspaper and contains articles written in a very good English.

Thirdly, referring to websites and read others’ opinions and advice is important. In that regard, I would undoubtedly say that your site IELTS-Blog is a one stop shop to seek answers for all the questions I had in mind. It is a kind of a mega mall where I got not only exam tips, but also sample essays and other valuable pieces of information from other contributors. I would suggest readers to run through your entire website and grasp as much as possible.

Last but not the least, aim higher! The mind should be tuned to a perfect 9. As the saying goes “Aim for the stars and you may reach the sky”. This is what I did.

Hope my suggestions help others in excelling in their IELTS pursuit.

Good luck to everyone and my heartfelt gratitude to IELTS-Blog.com”

Zahid’s way to Band 7.5 in IELTS

Zahid Siddique is one of the “Best IELTS Result” competition winners in December 2011. He lives in Pakistan and works as a business executive in a leading multinational company there. His Overall IELTS Band 7.5 is no coincidence – but as he says, “if there’s a will, there’s a way”.

Here’s how Zahid describes his IELTS preparation:

Band 7 in IELTS I would like to share my personal experience with all those candidates who are in preparation phase for their IELTS Exams. In my case, the most important factor was my commitment and dedication for a period of around 6-8 weeks. I spared almost 2-3 hours every day from my busy professional schedule, exclusively for preparation of IELTS. I explored IELTS-Blog.com in depth and explored most of the reading, writing, speaking and listening material available on the website.

How I prepared for IELTS is a long story but here is the short version:

Listening

1. I understood the pattern of this module.

2. Identified Achilles’ heel and then left no stone unturned to make up for the identified deficiencies.

3. Improved and raised myself to the level where I could understand the speech or conversations of a native speaker.

4. I followed the golden rule “Practice, practice and practice”.

Reading

1. I practiced these techniques: previewing, scanning & skimming.

2. Perusal of practice passages with an end in my mind.

3. While doing reading passages, I did not care about the answer rather I focused on how to get to the answer.

4. I tried passages from various sources because Shakespeare said: “Variety is the spice of life”.

5. I followed the golden rule “Practice, practice and practice”.

Writing

1. I understood thoroughly the format of Writing Task 1 & 2.

2. I watched my task response, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource and grammatical range and accuracy in each attempt and got it reviewed by my IELTS Instructor.

3. In Task 1 I followed a very simple formula of KISS (Keep is short and simple!) by dividing my task into three parts
(a). introduction, (b). statement and (c). explanation of problem(s) or situation, and in conclusion wrote about the action demanded or request.

4. In Task 2, I divided the essay writing into three stages:
(a) planning, (b) writing and (c) editing and clearly divided my essay into three definite parts:
(a) introduction (given statement and position), (b) body paragraphs (arguments 1,2,3 …..plus counter arguments ) and (c) conclusion (reinforcement of position).

5. I followed the golden rule “Practice, practice & practice”

N.B. I wrote approximately over 55 essays during my preparation.

Speaking

1. I got myself well acquainted with the pattern of speaking module or test.

2. I participated in group discussions and extensive speaking sessions.

3. I watched videos of model tests with 8 or 8 plus band score.

4. I worked hard to grow in confidence.

5. I improved my fluency, vocabulary and communicative ability.

6. I paid special attention to pronunciation and decided to follow British accent. Mixing different accents does not work. Always go with the one you feel comfortable with.

Besides, while practicing each skill I timed myself and finished the tasks within the standard allocated time. I also sat for full length IELTS mock exams on weekly basis to assess my English language ability and strategized accordingly following each mock exam.

In addition, I would also like to convey my special thanks to my IELTS teacher, Mr. Riaz Laghari (Islamabad) for his excellent guidance and encouragement during my preparation time.