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Mehdi Nourbakhsh, 26 year-old student from Iran says:

“I got 6.5 in IELTS exam. My friends couldn’t believe.

I am grateful.”

Background

Mehdi Nourbakhsh is a 26 year-old student from Iran, who had to take IELTS to continue his studies at the UTM, Malaysia. He started to learn English in January 2009.

Six moths ago Mehdi didn’t speak one word of English. Here is what he remembers of his trip from Iran to Malaysia:

“I remember that when I was on the airplane, I couldn’t understand anything. I wanted to change my seat, but I couldn’t speak about that. I started English by this sentence:” I am Mehdi.”

You’re about to learn a true story of a person just like you, who went from no English at all to a Band score of 6.5 in IELTS (with Band 8 in Listening!), in just 5 months. He did it on his own – no courses, no teachers, the only resources he used were the library, where he borrowed books and the Internet.

The only book he bought was Target Band 7 – and he says it was a very good investment.

Objective

Mehdi needed to get IELTS Band Score of 6.5 within 2 months of studying.

Strategy

Mehdi started learning English 5.5 months before his exam. He spent 3.5 months simply learning English and then another 2 months preparing for IELTS. During the last month of preparation he was using Target Band 7.

Execution step 1: learning English.

5 months before IELTS – Listening to BBC (January 2009)

Mehdi began learning English by listening to “BBC Learning English”- but he did more than just listen. He downloaded the modules to his MP3 player and, as he listened, paused after every sentence and repeated it, trying to speak as they did. Mehdi practiced in listening every day.

Problem solved: pronunciation. One of the problems that Mehdi had was the pronunciation. For example a word like “expression” he would pronounce “eks-pres-sai-on”, this is why he didn’t understand it, when he heard “expression” on BBC. Repeating after the recording helped Mehdi improve his pronunciation.

4 months before IELTS – Learning how to write an essay (February 2009)

Mehdi didn’t know anything about writing an essay. He started his preparation by reading Barron’s book on TOEFL essays. Reading wasn’t the only thing he did – Mehdi copied useful phrases from the sample essays, to remember and use in his own writing.

3 months before IELTS – Reading and Speaking are still a problem (March 2009)

We all have the least developed skill, for Mehdi it was the Speaking. He says that he tried to speak to his friends occasionally, but he was speaking so badly. Reading was his least favorite skill and he simply couldn’t force himself to read the texts.

2 month before IELTS – preparation begins (April 2009)

Two months before the IELTS exam, Mehdi and his wife started an intense preparation. They didn’t have the “Target Band 7” book yet and were using many other books to learn how to write essays and reports, how to answer the questions in speaking, etc. They would spend whole days in the library, reading, writing, practicing.

Speaking: They took turns asking each other questions, simulating an IELTS Speaking test. Each person had to answer questions for 30 minutes, and then they swapped over. It was a hard task, but they kept on doing it every day and after a month it became much, much easier.

Writing: A very smart tactic Mehdi came up with for writing – he listened to Barak Obama’s speeches many times until he remembered them well. Repetition helped Mehdi memorize expressions, phrases and sentences of Barak Obama’s, when he spoke about society, bankruptcy, responsibility of the government, prosperity, etc. Later on Mehdi had no problem using these words, expressions and sentences in his writing.

Listening: Following advice from AJ Hoge (EffortlessEnglish.com) Mehdi was “learning by ears” – he was repeating every lesson from BBC 10 times. He says that by doing so he picked up more words, phrases and sentences than he would ever pick up if he was listening just once or reading.

Execution step 2: Preparing for IELTS

1 month before IELTS – Mehdi purchased “Target Band 7” e-book (May 2009)

One moth before the exam Mehdi bought “Target Band 7“. All the English he had was what he learned in the 4 previous months. He and his wife doubled their efforts, preparing for IELTS by this book.

Advantage 1: Mehdi didn’t have to use many different books as “Target Band 7″ replaced them, thus speeding up his preparation.

How: “Target Band 7″ covers all the skills, techniques and strategies needed for IELTS. Mehdi had everything he needed, summarized in just one book.

Advantage 2: The preparation became structured.

How: Using the study plan on page 77 Mehdi knew that in 21 days he will be as ready to sit IELTS as ever.

Advantage 3: Mehdi developed all of his skills, not a single skill was forgotten.

How: Study plan guides you through practicing in a way that directs your attention to tasks in Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, to make sure you don’t focus on a specific skill at the expense of other ones.

Advantage 4: Mehdi used his existing knowledge of English in the best possible way and got a score he really deserves.

How: Mehdi implemented tips, techniques and the strategies in the book to show his English ability in the best light. Therefore he got a fair score, as opposed to many candidates who know English better, but fail to show it in the exam.

Advantage 5: Mehdi learned that
A) He needs to manage his time and
B) How to do it, first in theory and then in practice.

How: The book “Target Band 7″ explains that time is your worst enemy in IELTS and walks you step by step through the time-management techniques. The same techniques also help to stop panicking and get a complete control of your performance in IELTS exam.

Advantage 6: Mehdi didn’t let stress ruin his performance during the exam.

How: He gained the necessary confidence in his skills. That allowed him to be relaxed, keep his focus and trust himself, resulting in a better performance.

Results

After the IELTS exam (June 2009)

Simone asked Mehdi how his exam went and he said:

“Hi Simone,
It was over the top. Thank you so much!”

IELTS results arrived (June 2009)

Mehdi received Overal Band 6.5 with Band 8 in Listening. Quoting from email to Simone:

“I got 6.5 in IELTS exam. My friends couldn’t believe.

I am grateful.”

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