بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Why am I writing this?
Many friends have asked me about the optimum way to prepare for the IELTS exam, So I preferred to write a quick guide to help people who are willing to take the IELTS exam and provide them with a tried and tested path to succeed in the exam.
However,this article will be -By will of Allah- an introduction to a series of articles to prepare yourself to help applying for graduate school.
What is the IELTS exam?
IELTS, which stands for (International English Language Testing System) is an English language proficiency exam for non-native speakers, that is widely recognized in Canada,Australia, UK and significant parts of the USA. It can be compared with the TOEFL English language exam.
Who needs the IELTS?
There are two versions of IELTS exam:
They differ in the writing and reading components, speaking and listening are the same.
How long is the validity period of IELTS?
IELTS is valid for two years, starts from the examination day.
How much are the fees of the exam?
The fees differ from one country to another, it is 1350 SDG in Sudan (at the date during which the post is being written)
What are the components of IELTS exam, and their time period?
How is the IELTS exam marked?
Marks in IELTS are called "bands", they range from Band 1 to Band 9; each component of the exam is marked out of 9 and the average is calculated to obtain the overall band.It worth mentioning that the average is rounded to the closest 0.5; for example an average of 7.25 will be considered as 7.5, and an average of 8.625 will be considered as 8.5.
What is the required score in IELTS for universities?
The score differs from one university to another, however it ranges from 6.0 to 7.5
When IELTS exam is scheduled?
The scheduling time differs from one country to another,in Sudan it is scheduled twice a month and it can be booked online, check http://www.ielts.org/ for more information.
How do I generally prepare for the IELTS ?
It worth mentioning that IELTS exam is more about techniques than the linguistic ability;however, that doesn't mean that you can obtain a high score without having a strong command of English language. Simply, strong English without techniques will result in a low score.
First of all you will need to study a small book (70 pages) called "Target Band 7", this book will give you a high level overview of the exam format and will prepare your subconscious mind for the exam;Also,I advice to watch "IELTS Truth about Tips Tricks Techniques" video
Secondly, I strongly recommend that to download "Cambridge IELTS", which are 9 books ,each containing four practice tests along with audio files (for listening module), totaling (9*4=36 test!), each test contains all four components of the exam.When taking these practice tests, it is recommended that you start with the latest version (version 9 at the time of writing this article) and continue backwards;These books contain the model answer for the Listening and Writing components at the end.
What are the components of listening module?
The listening module is composed of 40 questions (don't worry, each answer is usually a single word), you will be required to answer the questions from the recording as you listen during a 20 minutes period and record them your in a booklet, at the end you will be given an additional 10 minutes to transfer your answer to an answer sheet.
The listening part is composed for 4 sections, each section contains 10 questions, with part 3 considered the most difficult part and part 1 is considered the easiest . You will be given some time (around 30 seconds) before each section to look at the questions.
The bands distribution of IELTS listening is as given in Table 1
Band Score 9 8.5 8 7.5 7 6.5 6 5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5
/ 40 39-40 37-38 35-36 32-34 30-31 26-29 23-25 18-22 16-17 13-15 10-12 8-10 6-7 4-5
How to prepare for IELTS listening?
First of all, you need to know that listening is the easiest component of the IELTS exam, Moreover, your listening skills can be improved significantly within days through continuous practice; You can watch "IELTS Listening Tips by 8.5 scorer SYED - YouTube" for some details.
I would advise you to prepare for the listening module by the following manner:
What are the components of Academic reading module?
The reading component is the most challenging component in the IELTS exam, you will be given 3 long (really long !) passages, the first passage is considered the easiest one the last passage being the most difficult. You will be required to answer 40 questions in a 1 hour period in the answer sheet (you will not be given additional time -as in listening- to transfer your answer).
I would advise you to prepare for the reading module by the following manner:
Printout exams and start practicing, your score will improve with time, but you will notice that you will face difficulties with certain types of questions,I would advise you to review Target Band 7 to get some helpful techniques.
Download "IELTS Reading Techniques" video they will give you very powerful techniques and will solve most of your problems with reading.
Finally.. remember, practice makes progress !
What are the components of speaking module?
IELTS speaking lasts for approximately 15 minutes,5 minutes roughly for an interview, 2-3 minutes for a certain topic to speak about, and 4-5 minutes discussion ob the topic.
Speaking module consists of three parts:-
Self-Introduction (Personal Interview): In this section the IELTS examiner will ask few simple questions about your family,your background and your hobbies & job;This section is quite easy and the main purpose of it is develop comfort with the examiner.
Topic: This is considered to be most challenging section in IELTS speaking; here you will be given a piece of paper that contains a certain topic to speak about, you will be given about one minute to brainstorm and write down your ideas.Next, you will be asked to speak continuously for 1:30 to 2:00 minutes, if you speak less than one minute and half it would affect your grade.
What I think is challenging about this part, is that you might be asked for an experience that you didn't live, for example a visit to a museum or a party you liked;an important note here is that the IELTS examiner is not looking to see if you are honest or not, so you can customize any story in this part; i.e. it is OK to lie in IELTS speaking, however I don't recommend doing so at all; because your mind will be working in two tasks simultaneously, fabricating a story and attempting to fulfill the grammatical and lexical requirements, which -at least for me!- is difficult.
Finally; I would like to to say that this section largely depends on luck, the examiners might provide you with a topic that you are very familiar with and you do have a large lexical resource, here it will be a piece of cake (In my case the IELTSexaminer told me to describe a business that I would like to start, simply I stated the software life cycle for him (as I am software engineer) and I got 8 easily !)
Discussion:Here the IELTS examiner will ask you a couple abstract questions about the second part (as why do you think it is better to do your own business? what are the advantages and disadvantages of being an entrepreneur?, etc.)
How IELTS speaking is marked?
Speaking is marked according to the following :-
Fluency and coherence:Your continuous flow of words, confidence, logical and correct sentence usage.
Lexical resource:The range of uncommon words that you use (catastrophic rather than bad, fabulous rather than good, etc.)
Grammatical range and accuracy:The correctness and variation of the grammatical structures that you use (Past simple,present simple and past continuous, etc.)
Pronunciation:The correctness of your pronunciation.
How to prepare for IELTS speaking?
For speaking I would strongly recommend the following two things:-
A book form a Chinese ex-IELTS examiner: it is a fascinating book that's totally oriented toward IELTS speaking; if you study this book and understand the techniques, I guarantee that you will score at least a 7 in speaking, it is called "Đình Long Mark Allen - IELTS SPEAKING". It explains the speaking module from A to Z.
Another Chinese book for "Mat Clark": this book is extremely useful in the second section of the speaking (the most challenging one) ", it gives you a wide range of topics ( 40 topics ) along with the audio files, it will will help you with pronunciation and usage of wide range of words. "IELTS Speaking"
However, I also I advice to watch the three short videos from "engVid" , which are "IELTS Speaking Task 1 - How to get a high score" , "IELTS Speaking Task 2 - How to succeed" , and "IELTS Speaking Task 3 - How to get a high score".
What are the components of Academic writing module?
From my own experience, and experiences of the people whom I know;IELTS writing is considered second in difficulty, after the IELTS reading.
Writing skill generally is an accumulative skill that is developed over time.However,don't be frustrated, there are many techniques that you can learn to help you to get a higher score at your current writing skill level.
The components of Academic IELTS writing are:
A scientific report (weighs 1/3 of writing grade): Here you will be a given a certain chart (pie chart/bar-chart/etc.) and you will be asked to summarize the information presented in that chart.(it is advised to spend around 20 minutes in this part).You should write at least 150 words.
A certain subject or topic(weighs 2/3 of writing grade): Here you be given a certain issue to discuss,and a set of guidelines that you will need to comply with. You should write at least 250 words.
for example you might be asked to write about [ "Children are facing more pressures nowadays from academic, social and commercial perspectives./
What are the causes of these pressures and what measures should be taken to reduce these pressures?]
How is Academic IELTS writing marked?
IELTS writing is marked in a manner similar to that of speaking:
Task Achievement:First of all, did you actually respond to all required points? or you deviated from the main point.
Coherence and Cohesion:Are your ideas well organized? Do you use conjectures such as (While,On the other hand /etc.) properly?
Lexical Resource:Do you use a wide range of different and non-repetitive vocabulary?
Grammatical Range and Accuracy:Do you use a wide range of grammatical structures accurately ?
How to prepare for IELTS writing?
Watch the following video to have a clear idea about IELTS writing "Here"
For the scientific report part: fortunately, there are specific set of charts that IELTS exam makers might ask you about, "HERE" you can find a group videos,which cover all possible charts along with the correct way to respond to the task.
Moreover,I strongly recommend a book called "ielts_task_1_(academic_exam)__how_to_write_at_a_9_level"
For the topic part: I recommend to watch the following group of videos "HERE",Also,I would strongly recommend re-studying "Target Band 7", it contains useful techniques and guides.
Moreover,I strongly recommend a book called "ielts_task_2__how_to_write_at_a_9_level"
"وما توفيقي إلا بالله"
In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Why am I writing this?
Many friends have asked me about the optimum way to prepare for the IELTS exam, So I preferred to write a quick guide to help people who are willing to take the IELTS exam and provide them with a tried and tested path to succeed in the exam.
However,this article will be -By will of Allah- an introduction to a series of articles to prepare yourself to help applying for graduate school.
What is the IELTS exam?
IELTS, which stands for (International English Language Testing System) is an English language proficiency exam for non-native speakers, that is widely recognized in Canada,Australia, UK and significant parts of the USA. It can be compared with the TOEFL English language exam.
Who needs the IELTS?
There are two versions of IELTS exam:
- Academic version: Is intended for those who are willing to enroll undergraduate or post-graduate studies in western countries and for professionals, our article is focused on this version.
- General version:Is intended for those who are willing to undertake a non-academic experience or apply for immigration.
They differ in the writing and reading components, speaking and listening are the same.
How long is the validity period of IELTS?
IELTS is valid for two years, starts from the examination day.
How much are the fees of the exam?
The fees differ from one country to another, it is 1350 SDG in Sudan (at the date during which the post is being written)
What are the components of IELTS exam, and their time period?
- Speaking: 15 minutes
- Reading: 1 Hour
- Listening: 30 minutes
- Writing: 1 Hour
How is the IELTS exam marked?
Marks in IELTS are called "bands", they range from Band 1 to Band 9; each component of the exam is marked out of 9 and the average is calculated to obtain the overall band.It worth mentioning that the average is rounded to the closest 0.5; for example an average of 7.25 will be considered as 7.5, and an average of 8.625 will be considered as 8.5.
What is the required score in IELTS for universities?
The score differs from one university to another, however it ranges from 6.0 to 7.5
When IELTS exam is scheduled?
The scheduling time differs from one country to another,in Sudan it is scheduled twice a month and it can be booked online, check http://www.ielts.org/ for more information.
How do I generally prepare for the IELTS ?
It worth mentioning that IELTS exam is more about techniques than the linguistic ability;however, that doesn't mean that you can obtain a high score without having a strong command of English language. Simply, strong English without techniques will result in a low score.
First of all you will need to study a small book (70 pages) called "Target Band 7", this book will give you a high level overview of the exam format and will prepare your subconscious mind for the exam;Also,I advice to watch "IELTS Truth about Tips Tricks Techniques" video
Secondly, I strongly recommend that to download "Cambridge IELTS", which are 9 books ,each containing four practice tests along with audio files (for listening module), totaling (9*4=36 test!), each test contains all four components of the exam.When taking these practice tests, it is recommended that you start with the latest version (version 9 at the time of writing this article) and continue backwards;These books contain the model answer for the Listening and Writing components at the end.
What are the components of listening module?
The listening module is composed of 40 questions (don't worry, each answer is usually a single word), you will be required to answer the questions from the recording as you listen during a 20 minutes period and record them your in a booklet, at the end you will be given an additional 10 minutes to transfer your answer to an answer sheet.
The listening part is composed for 4 sections, each section contains 10 questions, with part 3 considered the most difficult part and part 1 is considered the easiest . You will be given some time (around 30 seconds) before each section to look at the questions.
The bands distribution of IELTS listening is as given in Table 1
Band Score 9 8.5 8 7.5 7 6.5 6 5.5 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5
/ 40 39-40 37-38 35-36 32-34 30-31 26-29 23-25 18-22 16-17 13-15 10-12 8-10 6-7 4-5
How to prepare for IELTS listening?
First of all, you need to know that listening is the easiest component of the IELTS exam, Moreover, your listening skills can be improved significantly within days through continuous practice; You can watch "IELTS Listening Tips by 8.5 scorer SYED - YouTube" for some details.
I would advise you to prepare for the listening module by the following manner:
- Printout several practice tests (at least 6) and start practicing several times, mark for yourself (any misspelled/miscapitalized word should be considered as a wrong answer) you will automatically start developing your own scheme. I emphasized the word printout because practicing from your computer will not give you a correct indicator about your actual performance, because the continuous context switching between the computer and the paper in which you are writing the answer.
- Download "commonly used words in IELTS Listening" , this will give you the most common words that appear frequently in IELTS listening, believe me, it is really painful to lose marks just because you don't know the correct spelling !
- Part 3 in listening is tricky, because it consists of multiple choice questions and the answers are not directly stated in the recording, So I strongly advise you to make use of the time at the beginning of the listening module (listening introduction + time to look at section 1 ) and carefully scan through part 3, it will significantly improve your performance there; With regards to part 1 which you missed its time,don't worry, it is just a piece of cake , you can answer it directly without even reading ahead (try it for yourself if you don't trust me !)
What are the components of Academic reading module?
The reading component is the most challenging component in the IELTS exam, you will be given 3 long (really long !) passages, the first passage is considered the easiest one the last passage being the most difficult. You will be required to answer 40 questions in a 1 hour period in the answer sheet (you will not be given additional time -as in listening- to transfer your answer).
I would advise you to prepare for the reading module by the following manner:
Printout exams and start practicing, your score will improve with time, but you will notice that you will face difficulties with certain types of questions,I would advise you to review Target Band 7 to get some helpful techniques.
Download "IELTS Reading Techniques" video they will give you very powerful techniques and will solve most of your problems with reading.
Finally.. remember, practice makes progress !
What are the components of speaking module?
IELTS speaking lasts for approximately 15 minutes,5 minutes roughly for an interview, 2-3 minutes for a certain topic to speak about, and 4-5 minutes discussion ob the topic.
Speaking module consists of three parts:-
Self-Introduction (Personal Interview): In this section the IELTS examiner will ask few simple questions about your family,your background and your hobbies & job;This section is quite easy and the main purpose of it is develop comfort with the examiner.
Topic: This is considered to be most challenging section in IELTS speaking; here you will be given a piece of paper that contains a certain topic to speak about, you will be given about one minute to brainstorm and write down your ideas.Next, you will be asked to speak continuously for 1:30 to 2:00 minutes, if you speak less than one minute and half it would affect your grade.
What I think is challenging about this part, is that you might be asked for an experience that you didn't live, for example a visit to a museum or a party you liked;an important note here is that the IELTS examiner is not looking to see if you are honest or not, so you can customize any story in this part; i.e. it is OK to lie in IELTS speaking, however I don't recommend doing so at all; because your mind will be working in two tasks simultaneously, fabricating a story and attempting to fulfill the grammatical and lexical requirements, which -at least for me!- is difficult.
Finally; I would like to to say that this section largely depends on luck, the examiners might provide you with a topic that you are very familiar with and you do have a large lexical resource, here it will be a piece of cake (In my case the IELTSexaminer told me to describe a business that I would like to start, simply I stated the software life cycle for him (as I am software engineer) and I got 8 easily !)
Discussion:Here the IELTS examiner will ask you a couple abstract questions about the second part (as why do you think it is better to do your own business? what are the advantages and disadvantages of being an entrepreneur?, etc.)
How IELTS speaking is marked?
Speaking is marked according to the following :-
Fluency and coherence:Your continuous flow of words, confidence, logical and correct sentence usage.
Lexical resource:The range of uncommon words that you use (catastrophic rather than bad, fabulous rather than good, etc.)
Grammatical range and accuracy:The correctness and variation of the grammatical structures that you use (Past simple,present simple and past continuous, etc.)
Pronunciation:The correctness of your pronunciation.
How to prepare for IELTS speaking?
For speaking I would strongly recommend the following two things:-
A book form a Chinese ex-IELTS examiner: it is a fascinating book that's totally oriented toward IELTS speaking; if you study this book and understand the techniques, I guarantee that you will score at least a 7 in speaking, it is called "Đình Long Mark Allen - IELTS SPEAKING". It explains the speaking module from A to Z.
Another Chinese book for "Mat Clark": this book is extremely useful in the second section of the speaking (the most challenging one) ", it gives you a wide range of topics ( 40 topics ) along with the audio files, it will will help you with pronunciation and usage of wide range of words. "IELTS Speaking"
However, I also I advice to watch the three short videos from "engVid" , which are "IELTS Speaking Task 1 - How to get a high score" , "IELTS Speaking Task 2 - How to succeed" , and "IELTS Speaking Task 3 - How to get a high score".
What are the components of Academic writing module?
From my own experience, and experiences of the people whom I know;IELTS writing is considered second in difficulty, after the IELTS reading.
Writing skill generally is an accumulative skill that is developed over time.However,don't be frustrated, there are many techniques that you can learn to help you to get a higher score at your current writing skill level.
The components of Academic IELTS writing are:
A scientific report (weighs 1/3 of writing grade): Here you will be a given a certain chart (pie chart/bar-chart/etc.) and you will be asked to summarize the information presented in that chart.(it is advised to spend around 20 minutes in this part).You should write at least 150 words.
A certain subject or topic(weighs 2/3 of writing grade): Here you be given a certain issue to discuss,and a set of guidelines that you will need to comply with. You should write at least 250 words.
for example you might be asked to write about [ "Children are facing more pressures nowadays from academic, social and commercial perspectives./
What are the causes of these pressures and what measures should be taken to reduce these pressures?]
How is Academic IELTS writing marked?
IELTS writing is marked in a manner similar to that of speaking:
Task Achievement:First of all, did you actually respond to all required points? or you deviated from the main point.
Coherence and Cohesion:Are your ideas well organized? Do you use conjectures such as (While,On the other hand /etc.) properly?
Lexical Resource:Do you use a wide range of different and non-repetitive vocabulary?
Grammatical Range and Accuracy:Do you use a wide range of grammatical structures accurately ?
How to prepare for IELTS writing?
Watch the following video to have a clear idea about IELTS writing "Here"
For the scientific report part: fortunately, there are specific set of charts that IELTS exam makers might ask you about, "HERE" you can find a group videos,which cover all possible charts along with the correct way to respond to the task.
Moreover,I strongly recommend a book called "ielts_task_1_(academic_exam)__how_to_write_at_a_9_level"
For the topic part: I recommend to watch the following group of videos "HERE",Also,I would strongly recommend re-studying "Target Band 7", it contains useful techniques and guides.
Moreover,I strongly recommend a book called "ielts_task_2__how_to_write_at_a_9_level"
"وما توفيقي إلا بالله"