IELTS tips from Band 8+ achievers

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I always trust in kindness of people, and it rarely lets me down. Today we have a chance to learn from 2 of our best IELTS scorers, Dr. Vanita Krishnan ( Band 8 ) and Olivia Widjaja ( Band 8.5 ). When I asked them, here is what they said helped them to score as high as they did:

Olivia said:

“Thank you for letting me to participate in the competition.

I don’t think I have any special techniques or strategies on how to study for the IELTS test, however I did look for resources on the Internet, when I Googled “IELTS study guide” I came across your site, and I was reading all the comments people wrote and finally decided to buy the Target Band 7 book. I found your book to be very helpful and it was the only book I had.

I tried to do all the exercises you gave especially the writing part, because I knew it was my weakest point. Before attempting the writing exercises, I read all your tips and also the samples from your blog. I only read the band 7 and 8 essay samples, and tried to mimic their styles of writing in the exercises.

For the reading part, one tip I would give is that in the exam, read all the questions first before reading the text, that way it would help you look for the key sentences you need to answer the questions. Also, they used lots of synonyms in the text and the questions, and that would be a hint for your answer.

As for the speaking part, just practice the exercises provided in the book and be confident, be yourself on the test day.

Lastly, I hope this helps and best of luck to everyone.”

Dr. Vanita said:

“Thank you for selecting me as a winner in the IELTS results competition.

Well, my advice to the candidates is to make it a point to read articles from good newspapers like the Times of India and improve the vocabulary as well as the reading speed. The students need to solve at least 2 to 3 versions of the IELTS booklets published by the British Council.

As far as the speaking section is concerned, I think students should record their own answers during the practice sessions and listen to them to get an estimate of how well they speak and whether the language is fluent. Also, practicing speaking in front of the mirror helped me build my confidence.

Finally, I would like to wish all the IELTS test takers ALL THE VERY BEST !!!!”