My IELTS Experience Part 1 : The Preparation

For those who are planning to study abroad , or attempting to secure a scholarship, there is a common condition that they need to comply with which is; a prove of English qualifications. Among international recognized test specifically to meet this purpose is IELTS, which I had taken last February. Accordingly, now I just want to share my personal experience, which I think might be valuable for those who are going to take this test sooner or later.

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I have already secured a place in one of top 10 universities in western countries, but the status is conditional, and the condition is that I need to provide acceptable evidence of English qualifications at “Good Level”.

 I have to show a prove of English qualification at Good Level

Originally, I did’nt know how much I need to score in order to achieve that “Good” level. So, I’m google in for English Language requirement from respective university website and this is what I found.

 

Wow! Its 7.0! I was surprised. Consequently, I realize this was’nt an easy task. It’s rather daunting indeed. I know if I fail to get 7.0, then that’s it..it’s time to say goodbye to the offer that I had received earlier. But, I promise to myself, I won’t let that to be happen. I had done a lot to be in this level (ie. experiencing the hardship of studying in undergraduate level, not enough sleep and sacrificing a lot of time to study)…I could not then make any mistakes in these subsequent few last steps of achieving my dream to study abroad. Upon realizing how imperative this test could be, I start to prepare for my IELTS test aggressively.

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I register for IELTS test in British Council Malaysia, located at the central part of Kuala Lumpur. The fees is relatively expensive which is RM 570.00. This is another reason why I cant fail in the test…hehe =). I choose to sit for the test, on 19th February, which means at that time I have a month and a half to prepare for it.

IELTS test comprises of 4 set of modules, mainly Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. The total test time is two hours and 45 minutes. Most of the time, all those modules can be finished in a day only , but due to some inevitable reasons, I have to take the speaking test on the other day. Well, I had no problem with it. It’s indeed beneficial to me as I got much time to focus on the other modules first.

As a matter of fact, actually British Council do provide workshop or training purposely designed for those who are going to take IELTS test. But, I’m just not among those who are attending the workshop. Why?? hehe… because it’s way too costly. The workshop if I’m not mistaken is about RM 800.00 which is much higher than the fees itself! Unless your English level proficiency is very weak and you really need some guidance , then it is advisable for you to attend the workshop. Otherwise, you better keep your money for other purposes right?? < hehe, British Council surely hate me for saying so, =P >

Then, since I’m preparing all by myself, it’s vitally important for me to do it seriously. There are actually a vast source of information and sample of questions that you can find and download from the internet.

Here, I provide some links that I think could assist you in your preparation in some ways….the great news is that, it’s all FREE OF CHARGE!! ^^

1. Free IELTS Practice Tests from CanadaVisa.com

2. IELTS Blog

3. Mock IELTS Papers (I personally love this one =))

4. World English.org

5. Darsana IELTS (they really have a good collection of essays here )

You can also download IELTS’s books at Scribd, for example IELTS-Preparation-and-Practice-Reading-Writing-Academic-Module.

So, as I told you earlier there are a major sources of IELTS samples on the internet. You just need to browse and search for it using the right keyword. For example,”IELTS essays sample”, ” IELTS mock reading”, “IELTS reading passages”, or “preparation for IELTS”. If you are targeting a particular band for a certain module, then your keyword need to be more specific; eg. “IELTS sample essays band 8″ or “IELTS speaking band 7 tips”. ..yeah pretty much like that. You got my idea are you ?=)

But even if you do all these exercises, it still quite difficult to obtain your desired result unless you know the golden tips of answering the questions. This is because, IELTS exam not only designed to examine your English proficiency but also your time management as well. You really need to manage your time well in that limited examination’s period. Even a very eloquent native English speakers could possible get a not-so-welcoming result if his/her time management in the test is very poor. So, here I provide some links of tips that you can adhere to Please do pay a special attention on tips on managing your time particularly for Reading and Writing test.

1. Tips by IELTS Examiner

2. Top 10 tips for IELTS Reading

3. IELTS Writing Tips

4. IELTS Tips and Tricks. Managing your time in writing your essay

Okay I think that’s enough for now, later I will tell you my IELTS results hehe…but please dont expect me to get band 9, that’s impossible for me (You can judge by reading this posts indeed right? There are grammar mistakes everywhere.hahaha,..but don’t afraid to make mistake, the more you write, the better you will be).

Nevertheless, considering I’m studying all by myself in a relatively short period, I’m grateful enough with my achievement =).

For those who are going to sit for this exam soon, I wish you all the best and good luck!!

Warm Regards,