Tips and Tricks for IELTS

Greetings guys, as you are reading this blog, you probably are preparing or want to prepare for IELTS. I will try my best to give a few tips as per my experience.

First and foremost, identify your strengths and weaknesses. By this what I meant is to identify the module in which you can score easily and practice accordingly. Listening and reading are the modules you can score very easily so try to score maximum in that so that your overall score is maximized.

Don't memorize answers, you can obviously practice answers in the introduction but practice it enough that it doesn't look like you mugged it up.

Use a range of grammatical structures, and prepare a few formats for yes-no questions or follow-ups. For such questions, you can you either of the formats mentioned below:

• Yes / No (depending on you) + question (in paraphrased form) + the reason, why you said yes or no.

• Yes / No (depending on you) + the reason (for choosing yes or no) + that's why + question (in paraphrased form).

Listening:

Be very attentive and focused. You obviously will be but if you missed any question then just move to another without wasting time on the previous one because gone is gone, so better focus on the next.

You will be practicing the American accent but practice with different accents as well like the British accent as you never know what will be the accent for your final examination.

Read the instruction provided for each set of questions, focus on the number of words required for an answer, and if multiple questions can have the same answer or not.

Mostly there will be at least one or two questions whose answer will be either a contact number or some word that will be narrated word by word, so for such answers use pen-paper if you are appearing for a computer-based test.

For multiple choice questions, strike out the options while listening to the audio which can't be the answer and you are confident enough,

For maps, draw the directions on paper as they narrate, doing that will be easy to locate the spots. You should also have idea about the phrases used on behalf of directions.

Reading:

Firstly, note that giving answers in sequence is not necessary. You can answer the questions at your convenience. Answer the sections you find easy and are confident enough. That will keep you motivated and also save you time.

For giving the headings, first, skim through all the paragraphs and also the list of headings. Then strike out the ones you are confident about that won't be suitable and note the possible headings for the particular paragraph.

For true/false/not given and yes/no/not given you guys might have faced difficulties so focus on exact words. If the word is missing, it is NOT GIVEN. But if the words are contradictory then it is NO or FALSE.

For completing the summary using the list of words, refer to the passage and find the paragraph which is most relevant to the question. Try to fit the exact word or nearest possible given in the passage from the list of words available instead of choosing the one you feel is correct.

Writing:

Get used to linkers as they are a must for coherence and cohesion. For section one, report writing, include the highest and lowest points in the overall part mentioned in the diagrams.

an inFor the process diagram, try to explain each stage in different statements rather than combining stages in a single statement. Connect the statements with the appropriate linkers.

For every kind of diagram, don't miss the numbers. Mention numbers whenever and wherever required. The numerical digits are the most crucial part of writing which you can't avoid mentioning.

For section two, essay writing, think for a while and get the idea ready. But once you start writing, just go with the flow. In the end, you should be left with at least 15 minutes to update and enhance the essay, whether grammatically or by updating the linkers.

Speaking:

Wear comfortable clothes and be in a comfortable temperature. What I did was asked the attendant to turn off the AC as I was not comfortable 😅

Speak clearly and at your natural pace, most importantly in your own accent. Don't try to mock your accent, it will look fake and might create a negative impact on the examiner.

Be confident as well as relaxed, being relaxed is very much important as if you are nervous the examiner can sense it easily by your voice and body language.

For cue card narration, if you are not asked to stop and you are out of your content then don't worry, it's okay to stop by yourself just don't think about it anymore and focus on follow-up questions because if you keep thinking then u might spoil ur follow-ups as well.

To make sure you have enough content try and practice speaking for about 2 and a half minutes while preparing so that for the exam day you will be able to speak at least for 1:40 or 1:50 minutes which is enough to at least score 6 bands.

Go through Makkar IELTS for Speaking, if not in detail at least have a glimpse throughout it so no topic is out of your knowledge. Just skim through the topics and cue cards given in the final version of the latest book. For example, if you are going to give an exam in the month of December then you should read the book published for Sep-Dec.

This was all by my side. I really hope you found it helpful and that it helps you get through your examination to achieve your desired score.

Best of luck ✨