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Simone Braverman

The IELTS test takers’ worst nightmare

I’ve received this letter from another frustrated student who was really disappointed with the exam and the result and it made me think – what she did is very typical to many of us.

I know for a fact that many of you postpone the exam preparation till the last possible moment. Hold on, don’t get angry with me yet – I am not lecturing you. I am not your mother, but someone who has been there and knows how we, people, tend to procrastinate before leaping into important projects in our life.

So please have a read and think – do you want to be in the same position and feel the same anger and frustration? And if not, what can you do about it? Here goes the letter:

“I didn’t really study. I did one Reading test, a day before the exam and had only 3 incorrect answers. And I also did one Listening test and got 38 correct answers out of 40 (around that, I don’t really remember how many questions there were).

I was doomed in the real exam. It was tougher than the test that I did at home. I couldn’t for the life of me focus on the listening part. Reading? Way tougher than I thought. The 1st and the 2nd passages were too tough, complicated and time consuming. I ended up having 10 minutes to read and answer the 3rd passage.

I’m weak in writing. I’m not really good at speaking too. I don’t really have ideas to be generated and elaborated. The questions were on a museum and an art gallery in the interview. Part 2 was about the law, Malaysian law. Part 3 again about the law, this time around, it’s on international law.

Maybe, I was unlucky to get that topic which I was unable to answer fluently. A candidate who got in before me got a topic on their best friend and friendship. ~sigh~

So basically, Simone, I’m all frustrated and kind of blaming myself for not getting the right materials and not allocating time to study.”

People, what are you waiting for? Hit the books! (Translation: for those unfamiliar with this idiom, it means: Start studying!)

IELTS exam in Czech Republic – December 2008 (Academic Module)

You will find this update different. Unlike the others, it doesn’t talk about the topics and the questions. Instead, it shows how IELTS exam can make you feel which is just as important. This is a story of a frustrated IELTS candidate from Czech Republic who didn’t do very well in his exam.

Listening test

I got only 5.0 in this part. It seemed difficult to me. I tried to remember what was on the tape, but I could not answer all questions. I did not leave any answers blank on the answer sheet because I guessed a lot.

Reading test

Honestly, this part made me crazy. I did not have enough time to think and decide what I should answer on the paper. I got 5.0 in this section. I was sad when I finished this part because I knew that I had a lot of wrong answers.

Writing test

I got 5.5 for this part, I could say I am Ok because 5.5 is the overall result I have to get. However, I did not succeed in the second writing part, which I did not organize well, because I didn’t have the experience in this.

Speaking test

I did not feel confident during this part of the exam. I got a bad topic, it was to describe a country where I had been and what I did there during my traveling time. Actually, I had not been in any place like that, so I told them about an imaginary country.

After the exam, I was upset with my performance and after receiving the result, I was angry too.