We met Anil and Rajinder through IELTS-Blog when they enrolled in our monthly results competition. They both come from India, and have achieved the same band score, 7.5 Overall, but each in a different way. Today we would like to share their stories.
Anil’s first language is Hindi. Here is what he did to get Band 7.5 in IELTS:
“Lots of practice with right techniques is my key to success. Every morning I devoted 2 hours to IELTS preparation, because in mornings you are fresh and more receptive. I got a significant help from the book Target Band 7 regarding techniques and 10 practice tests of Listening and Reading really helped me to sharpen my skills further.
In my view every part of the exam should be given equal importance and focus, be it Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking. Test questions on IELTS blog are of great help in understanding the type of questions asked in recently held IELTS exams.
Practice speaking with a partner/friend and record every session to review your strengths and shortcomings.
In my view the IELTS test is all about time management, you really have to race against time during the actual test. So practicing mock tests regularly will boost your confidence many folds.
My suggestion is to relax on the day prior to the exam and eat a proper breakfast on the test day. Nothing can stop you from getting a good band score if you have practiced well.”
Rajinder’s first language is Punjabi. She had a low IELTS score in her first attempt, but wasn’t discouraged by that and managed to go from 6.5 to 7.5:
“I would like to say that practice makes perfect. In my first attempt taking the IELTS I got 6.5 and then I kept practicing with Cambridge IELTS materials.
Moreover, I started reading English newspapers without using dictionary. I had been marking tough words while reading so that I can check their exact meanings and add them to my vocabulary list. But I preferred rolling over the tough words while reading because I knew that dictionary won’t be accessible in the real IELTS exam. So I developed my ability to read and understand without knowing the meaning of some words because I tried to understand their meaning in the sense of the rest of the sentence.
For listening, I practiced with IELTS-blog listening sample papers. I know I need more and more practice in speaking and writing.”