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IELTS preparation tips from winners

IELTS high achievers share their secrets

IELTS competition winner reveals secrets of her success

I would like to share with you the email I’ve received from Trang Do – our results competition winner with overall Band 8.0. The reason I’m doing this is not to publish more praise for IELTS-Blog. You know who we are, and you know what we do. My reason is entirely different – the way Trang Do describes her preparation really proves that it is possible for an ordinary person to get great results in IELTS – just add practice. Here is what she says:

“Dear Simone,

Thank you so much for your blog in which I found valuable sources for my English practice in general and IELTS test in particular. I was introduced to IELTS-Blog by some friends of mine a couple of months before my actual test. Since then, I regularly received helpful tips for my self study. I especially appreciate your efforts in compiling tests taken from different parts and giving out to all blog members.

To share a little bit about my IELTS learning process, I practiced intensively a month before the test date. I tried to listen to English tapes, videos and read as much as possible all kinds of English publications. Regarding listening, which was once my weakest skill, the book “Target Band 7” was of great assistance to improve my listening score. I followed tips presented in the book and it really worked.

2 months before the test, I rarely scored 7.5 for the listening section. But in the real test, my score was 8.5. I hope that the blog will continue to be a partner of English learners.

Wish you all the best.

Trang Do”

Reading tips from IELTS high scorer (Band 8.0)

Today I have the second portion of Vasco’s tips for you: this is the way he practiced to get Band 8.5 in the Reading test.

Reading tips

Timing is everything! Learn to scan. Look at blocks of text and scan for key words, people’s names and places that are relevant, instead of trying to read each word with equal attention. You simply may not have enough time to read the whole text word-by-word and still answer the questions.

I strongly recommend that you quickly look at the questions first, and then scan through the text. By doing this you will be reading with purpose and actually find the required information easier. For instance, if you have to write something about “John Smith’s opinion” you can scan for “John Smith” and underline it. Then read that paragraph looking for the answer to that specific question.

Except for the first few times, always practice under exam conditions, forcing yourself to stop after 20 minutes per single passage or even after 60 minutes for 3 passages that you solve non-stop! Use a stopwatch alarm for this, if you have to.”

Read Vasco’s Listening tips here.