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IELTS Preparation tips

IELTS tips that helped Donmarl get Band 8.0

Our latest winner, an IELTS candidate from the Philippines, Donmarl Camua explains what he did to achieve Band 8.0 in his Academic exam.

MY ADVICE

Coming from the Philippines, a country where English is the second official language, I do certainly have some advantage in taking the IELTS. However, in IELTS – just like in any exam – preparation is always the key.

I may be fluent in English, but if I didn’t take time to do homework, attend a class or do online exercises, I may not have the score that I need for my Immigration Application.

If you want to get high scores, dedicate enough time to studying.

WHAT I DID

Prior to taking the exam:

I did some research. I searched and downloaded reviewers and e-books on the Internet. I gathered all the reviewers I could find. I made sure that I do at least one reviewer a day.

I subscribed to the IELTS-Blog.com. I thank the creators of this website, because it helped me a lot during my review. The “overview of IELTS Exams” shared by blog subscribers, helped me plan what to practice.

I took a review class sponsored by the test center, the IDP Philippines, to get tips from the actual examiners. We were given some tips on what the examiners look at in the written exams. We were taught how to do skimming and scanning in the Reading exams.

Again, if you want to be successful in IELTS, make time to prepare.

And when you prepare, prepare to WIN.

Simone says: I would like to ask all the people reading this post – if you achieved Band score 7 and up in IELTS and have tips to share – please click here and let me know.

IELTS tips for high score from a successful candidate (Band 8)

Remember our recent competition winners? One of them, IELTS candidate from Malaysia Aikkum Heng, sent me a letter describing what he did to get the awesome Band Score of 8.0. Here goes:

I do not really have any secrets to success in IELTS. Languages is not something that we can learn and be fluent overnight. One has to learn over a long period and to be fluent and able to use a language effectively, one has to use the language constantly.

However for one who hails from a non English speaking country, but has some formal training in the English, preparation should begin at least 2 or 3 weeks before sitting for the test, preferably 3 weeks. The best preparation would be to practice the sample test papers published on IELTS-Blog website.

When writing in a test, we do not have the luxury of time. Time is limited and if we are not prepared, we panic and when this happens, we tend to make a lot of mistakes. The feeling is totally different if we have ample time to carry out a task, in this case writing the test. We do better when we are not under pressure.

No secret really, spend more time practicing the sample tests. Get yourself familiarized with the format. If we do not know the answer to one particular question, move on to the next. Write notes as you listen to the listening part.

As for the writing test which I did not do so well :

1. Write down the points of the topic
2. then arrange the points in the order we want to present
3. then elaborate on the points in the order we deemed best

And now it’s me again, Simone, asking all the high achievers out there – what are your best tips? What do you think it takes to get a high band score?