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January 2011

IELTS test in India – December 2010 (Academic Module)

IELTS exam in India was shared by our kind friends S and Y. Here is what they remembered:

Listening test

Section 1. A man was calling a newspaper to advertise a computer desk for sale.

Section 2. Tourists’ guide for Mount Rushmore.

Section 3. A lecture on mangrove trees.

Section 4. Two students were discussing their work in elementary school with a professor.

Writing test

Writing task 1 (a report)

Unfortunately no one remembered the task.

Writing task 2 (an essay)

Governments spend an enormous amount of money on renovations of old buildings in large cities. Some believe that this money is better be spent on building new houses and road development. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Speaking test 1

Interview

– What is your full name?
– How can I call you?
– Where are you from?
– What type of clothes do you choose to wear in your daily life?
– What is your favorite shop?
– What garment don’t you like, where you bought it and why?
– When you grow older what will be your choice of clothing?

Cue Card

Talk about a story that is well known in your country. Please say

– What is the story?
– Where have you heard this story?
– Is this story well known to people from other countries too?

Discussion

– Do children like stories?
– What type of stories do they like?
– Has popularity of children’s stories reduced now, compared to the past?
– How we can encourage them to listen to stories?
– What are the changes in sources where children’s stories come from?

Speaking test 2

Interview

Standard questions about me, where I come from, etc.

Cue Card

Talk about actions you would take if you where given a chance to protect the environment. Please say

– What would you do first?
– Why is it important?
– How would it help the environment?

Discussion

– Are you doing enough to protect the environment?
– What do you think the attitude of people in near future will be to the environment?
– Have you ever been involved in activities concerning the environment?
– What do people do in your home country to protect the wild life?

IELTS tips from Band 8+ achievers

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 !!!!”