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October 2010

IELTS Preparation tips from Nizzy, Band 8.0 in Academic IELTS

My dear readers, your kindness never stops to amaze me. Only a day ago we’ve released the names of our monthly competition winners, and right after the announcement went live, one of the winners replied and sent us some tips for the test-takers who seek guidance.

Her name is Nessette (Nizzy) Alicante, she is from the Philippines, and below she reveals the methods that helped her get Band 8 in Academic IELTS exam:

“Anyone can achieve a high band score if they PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. I was lucky enough to have a friend who lend me a copy of your book TARGET BAND 7, it was really helpful. Your book helped me to get on the right track.

I also used the sample practice tests in your website. For the Listening Test, what I did was I downloaded mp3 files to my mobile phone so that I could listen to them anywhere I go.

To prepare for the Reading Test, I read novels, magazines and books that interest me, and then I answered lots of practice tests and used the alarm on my mobile phone to know if I am able to meet the time limit.

With the Writing test, I wrote several essays for sample tasks 1 and 2 and then had an English teacher check it.

Lastly, with the Speaking test I was fortunate to have a friend to liaise with who is in the UK and she helped me practice that part using Skype, so I got used to understanding and speaking in English, and also could relieve nervousness because with her I got the “feel” of how it was to be asked by an examiner. I also asked another friend of mine here that we should speak in English when we are talking with each other.

All in all, always visit IELTS-BLOG.com and also other websites that could be helpful, like the British Council website, for important tips and pointers for IELTS.

Good luck to all the future IELTS test takers!”

IELTS test in India – October 2010 (Academic Module)

IELTS exam in India was described by S as follows:

Listening test

Section 1. A conversation between a holiday company’s executive and a lady named Janet.

Questions: Janet’s address, phone number (filling in the gaps), multiple choice questions about prizes / coupons, date of the prize announcement, type of prize, type of activity preferred by Janet’s teenage children (surfing), type of place Janet prefers to spend her holiday in, type of activity Janet likes to do on a holiday with her husband.

Section 2. Description of Woodside Hotel.

Questions: when it opened, how many branches it has, how much it costs to purchase membership, discounts for members, special offers. Then there were 2 questions to select from answers in a box which restaurant has particular facilities.

Section 3. A talk between Jack and Lee about joining different universities. Lee likes journalism as a profession.

Questions: Why Lee has chosen that particular university, what facilities are there, what are Jack’s interests (science), what facilities are there in Jack’s college campus.

Section 4. A flowchart describing the making of rubber. How it’s collected, transferred, preserved in acid, manually pressed to drain water, smoked, sold.

Questions: filling in the gaps, the questions were about people who used rubber and for what purpose. In chronological order first Brazilians made rubber balls, then Europeans invented vulcanization to make rubber smooth and elastic, then car tires boosted the industry and the last invention of synthetic rubber was made by Germans.
　
Reading test

Passage 1. Koalas in Australia.

Questions: Multiple choice (A, B, C or D), Yes/No/Not Given, filling in gaps (no more than 2 words).

Passage 2. About a collapse of a steel bridge in London.

Questions: Multiple choices (select the correct opinion of an engineer from the given choices).

Passage 3. About the correct communication of information.
　
Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

There were two bar graphs comparing employment of elderly males and females in Belgium, USA, Japan and Australia.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

People often think about creating an ideal society, but most of the times fail in making this happen. What is your opinion about an ideal society? How can we create an ideal society?