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IELTS Test Results competition

How Marlon from Sri Lanka scored Band 9 in the IELTS Speaking test

IELTS Band 9 in the Speaking test is thought of as next to impossible for non-native English speakers. However, Marlon – a 30 year-old man from Sri Lanka – has proven this can be achieved even by a person who did not speak English from birth. And he won in our monthly IELTS results competition in June as a result 🙂 Even though Marlon’s first language is Singhalese his English is apparently just as good, and today he shared a few tips that can help you, too, get a similar score in the IELTS test.

Band 9 in IELTSMarlon says:

“As far as speaking is concerned, I think what really helped me was the fact that I watch English dramas (British) as I love watching such dramas, for example, ‘Midsomer Murders’, ‘Doctor in the House’, ‘Doctor at Large’, etc, and also watching programmes such as stand up comedy shows or even shows like ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ as well as documentaries about history, politics and travel.

I think that watching these dramas not only helped me improve my vocabulary but also pronunciation and expressions as well.

Almost on a daily basis I read the news by visiting websites such as CNN, CBS News, NBC etc and whenever I come across a new word, I refer to the Cambridge Dictionary Online for its meaning and usage.

And besides these habits which I follow not because of IELTS test but because I find it interesting and stimulating, I also did some practicing using past test papers, especially the listening and writing modules.

Hope this helps :)”

IELTS Results competition winners in June 2014

Today we’re happy to present the 15 top scorers who won in our IELTS Results competition in June. It feels great to see that so many people managed to do a very good job of preparing for their exams.

And here are the proud owners of the best IELTS results in June:

Academic Module – 1st placeBand 9 in IELTS

  • Nathaniel Chandra Harjanto from Indonesia, Band 8.5
  • A L Sachindra Marlon Dharmasiri from Sri Lanka, Band 8.5
  • Mareike Gertrud Simon from Germany, Band 8.5

Academic Module – 2nd place

  • Oseghale Aisu Eboiyehi from Nigeria, Band 8
  • Hanie Anaraki from Iran, Band 8
  • Tarrannum Masood from India, Band 8

Academic Module – 3rd place

  • Elizabeth Ebunife Adelore from Nigeria, Band 7.5

General Training Module – 1st place

  • Syed Abdul Gaffoor from India, Band 8.5
  • Abhijeet Ghosh from India, Band 8.5
  • Anand Chaudhari from India, Band 8.5

General Training Module – 2nd place

  • Harsimran Singh Anand from India, Band 8
  • Andy Williamson Ong from the Philippines, Band 8
  • Suhail Khalid from Pakistan, Band 8

General Training Module – 3rd place

  • Mohamed Salem from Egypt, Band 7.5
  • Farhan Shahzad from Pakistan, Band 7.5

Dear winners, we’re applauding your efforts and sending your special certificates of achievement to your emails. Your IELTS results will be displayed in the IELTS-Blog hall of fame – please feel free to show off to your family and friends!

And now it remains to find out how these lovely people were able to score so well. We do know that Hanie Anaraki and Tarrannum Masood (Band 8) prepared using our book “Target Band 7”, and also that Elizabeth Ebunife Adelore (Band 7.5) prepared using the “IELTS Success Formula” book, but we want the details!

This is why we’re asking all the winners to share their stories of how they prepared and studied, and what helped them achieve success in IELTS. Anything they wish to share will be posted on IELTS-Blog without delay, so everyone can use the same technique and get a better score in their own exam this month.

P.S. IELTS results competition runs every month, and everyone is welcome to participate. Learn how to enroll here.