My IELTS Experience

 I attempted my exam on 24^th March, 2018 in New Delhi and scored as stated below in my first attempt-

Listening: 8.5
Reading: 8.5
Writing: 7
Speaking: 7
Overall score: 8

Total time of preparation: 2.5 months (1 month for Listening and Reading, 1 month for Writing, 5 days for Speaking and remaining days for full tests).

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

IELTS is very easy exam if you are studying in an English school or college. You don’t need to join an IELTS coaching. Don’t waste your money and time on silly things. It is a test of how familiar you’re with the language. You’ll never get a good score if you don’t know the language well despite knowing the format of the exam and multiple attempts.

Listening (1 month)

·         Cambridge IELTS books 8-12

·         Youtube video tests from different channels

*I watched a lot of English TV series and movies in my free time without subtitles.

Reading (1 month)

·         Cambridge IELTS books 8-12

Speaking (5 days)

It’s the most feared, but the easiest part of the test.

·         IELTS Liz topics.

·         You can use the following video for task 2 in speaking-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXvQ-_3IZts

Though I never used it as I could speak for my given topic for more than 2 minutes, I kept it as an option (in case I got a difficult topic). My topic was to describe the perfect house I would love to live in.

·         Vaguely used this IELTS speaking app. - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fr_solutions.ielts.speaking

Writing (1 month)

Most difficult part of the test as most people get stuck in this section.

I used an app. called IELTS Writing on my android phone for this. You can get it here- 

 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fr_solutions.ielts.writing

Task 1:
Used these formats-
1- Pie chart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTWXaLX2L6Y

2. Bar graph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5eb1uWsLrU

3. Line graph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XATlmM286wg

4. Diagram description

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PfIr5trddo

Task 2:
Used the following-

1.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l8Q_t4mUwI

2.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q27U5jmcXpY

3.       Format for task 2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpI8Vin_QVM (at 4 minutes 50 seconds)

 Apart from this, I practiced –

Task 1 questions –

·         http://ieltsliz.com/ielts-sample-chart-for-writing-task-1/

Task 2 questions –

·         http://ielts-up.com/writing/task-2-questions.html

·         http://ieltsliz.com/100-ielts-essay-questions/

*Always practice with a pen and paper, and never on your computer. This will help you with speed, spellings and grammatical errors.

*Learn synonyms of common words to be used in your writing tasks (E.g. Advantages, Disadvantages, opinion, information etc.)

What to do in the last week before your exam –

·         Solve 1 full length test with a timer every day.

·         Analyse your weaker areas and practice more of the weaker sections.

·         Don’t over-practice. It will make you anxious.

What to do on your Speaking test day –

·         Sleep well the night before the test.

·         Relax. Stretch. Give the test.

·         Pretend that you know the examiner for a very long time. It will help you speak freely.

What to do on your L, R and W test day –

·         Sleep well before the test. (I personally took an Alprazolam tablet as I get panicky a night before exams.)

·         Don’t overdose with Caffeine and don’t over -hydrate yourself. A cup of coffee should be fine.

·         Eat light. Take a chocolate bar to eat before the test. Will keep your concentration up.

·         Don’t panic. Stretch. Remain calm. Life is a lot more than exams. You can always give the test again. Let go of others’ opinion about you.

·         Always start with Task 2 in writing. You’ll always take more time than you did in your practice sessions, due to anxiety.

·         Always check your writing tasks for spelling and grammatical errors.

·         Concentrate well on the listening section and don’t panic if you miss a question or two. Move on to the next question.

·         ‘Read with a pen’. Underline important words (nouns, dates, names) in the reading paragraphs.

·         Recheck your L & R sheet for spelling errors, and whether you’ve filled the right information in the right space.