How To Prepare For The IELTS Exam — Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking | 10 Tips for Preparation

The IELTS, also known as International English Language Testing System is a language test conducted by British Council, IDP Education and Cambridge Assessment English in more than 140 countries and in over 1600 locations. There are four modules in this test: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking where one can get a grade from 1 to 9 based on their performance, where 1 being non user and 9 being expert user of the English language. A high score in this exam can make things much easier for studying abroad, getting a permanent residency and in meaningful communication in a English-speaking country. Moreover, English became a global language recently and is also used in software development.

In this blog post, I have explained 10 tips to aid you with your next IELTS exam.

10 Preparation Tips:

1. Start Early.
2. Understand the grading system and be aware of time limits.
3. Read and listen to English as much as possible.
4. Practice sample papers.
5. Use a dictionary to boost your vocabulary.
6. Watch videos with subtitles.
7. Create an effective study plan.
8. Self-talk in English.
9. Use social media.
10. Use the resources available on Internet.
11. (BONUS) — exam day.

Preparation Tips Explained:

1. Start early:

IELTS is a language test comprising of four modules namely reading, writing, listening and speaking. And enough time is needed to make sure that you well prepare for this exam. This exam is fairly expensive and it is not possible for everyone to retake them in an event of possible low grades due to incomplete preparation. Writing and speaking are comparatively harder than reading and listening, you must invest more time practicing them as much as possible, because it only gets better. Look out for what reason you are taking this exam as there are two types of IELTS exams i.e Academic and General. Former test is required for studying abroad and the later one is required for migration/job reasons. Now if you come from a country where English is not locally spoken, then you might need more time to get familiar with it. But it depends on a per individual basis, usually one can crack it with 6 months of good preparation. These are few reasons why you should start early.

2. Understand the grading system and be aware of time limits:

This test consists of four sections, and in them reading and listening test has 40 questions each. The writing section is divided into two parts: task 1 and task 2, with word limits of 150 and 250 respectively. You have maximum of one hour for writing section comprising of 20 minutes for task 1 and 40 minutes for task 2. Former is about describing a chart in your own words while mentioning details as much as possible and later is about writing a short essay on a given topic. Back to two other sections, there, each correct answer is awarded with one mark. It is quite usual to be fooled with too obvious answers, and it is important too to avoid them because if you are aiming for a high band score, then you cannot afford to make mistakes. A good band score is around 7 to 8.5 on average of four sections. Listening test takes about approximately 30 minutes whereas reading and writing sections take one full hour each. Speaking section, which is held on a separate day, takes approximately 15 minutes. Speaking test is held into three parts where the first part runs for 4 to 5 minutes on general topics, your interests, family, etc. Then the examiner will give you a task card where you will get 1 minute preparation time. Then he/she will ask you questions based on the topic. It is advisable to stay calm and relaxed during the whole speaking test, otherwise it may affect your performance.

3. Read and listen to English as much as possible:

To get familiar with English language and understand it’s various accents, you must listen to native people from different English speaking countries through videos available on video-sharing platform YouTube. Listening to native speakers both offline and online and watching movies entirely in English will effectively familiarize you with different phrases and new vocabulary. One important thing that can be practiced with these two is: pronunciation. Listen to the words what natives speak and try to speak them by yourself. Also if you come by a similar word while you read some text, try to speak out the word like the natives do. Important things to watch out for are regional accents, proper pronunciation, specific phrases and proper spellings of all words. Spelling mistakes on writing section can greatly hamper it’s band score and the average IELTS band too.

4. Practice sample papers:

There is no better way to prepare than to sit for an practice exam with sample papers and previous year papers. This will greatly help in understanding the exam pattern and the type of questions. Now not all sections of this exam can be practiced all by yourself like the speaking and writing section, where a good tutor comes handy. A good tutor can help the writing section, where he/she can correct your mistakes such as grammar errors, spelling errors and also proper use of words. One who scores a high band in IELTS always uses rich vocabulary, proper grammar and correct words. Check this out on sample papers. Now, reading and listening can be done by self. Then speaking, which again needs a partner or a tutor. Use social media to find native speakers or friends residing in an English speaking country and talk with them fully in English. While practicing, you must always stay within time limits as per the exam. Time management plays a major role in scoring good grades as it familiarizes you with the same exam pressure and similar question types.

5. Use a dictionary to boost your vocabulary:

Dictionaries are great for learning more vocabularies quicker, and very helpful if you are new to English. The more vocab you have, the quicker you will grasp a language. They can come to good use during the reviewing process and helps in recalling the right words when in need. Buy a physical dictionary.

6. Watch videos with subtitles:

There are plenty of videos on internet and television where English is spoken. Find a good TV channel like HBO, Star Movies or Sony Pix where English movies are played. Watch them and follow their accents. Maybe re-watch a movie. On internet, YouTube has the biggest catalogue of really good videos and Vlogs. You can practice your listening skills this way. Follow some good native Vloggers and video-makers on YouTube and watch their videos, within few weeks you will get a good grasp on few phrases and words which you might use later somewhere. If you watch a video on YouTube, there is a option to enable subtitles. Subtitles can help correct your mistakes on what your hear and what you see, and in the process learn their accent and style. Learning more styles will strengthen your grasp on a new language.

7. Create an effective study plan:

To get better band scores, good preparation is required and that brings us to a good study plan. A study plan consists of consistent practice schedule of a week for a said amount of time, say three months. Each session of practice should last no longer than two hours, otherwise you might loose concentration. And in between sessions, take a short break of 20 minutes and continue to next session. Create a spreadsheet and fill it with practice sessions of each module and modify it as per your daily routine. An important factor of any preparation is consistency and it is no different for an IELTS exam.

8. Self-talk in English:

Sounds weird? How can self-talk can improve your language skills? But it turns out self-talk has that ability of auto-correction and integrity of your thoughts. So why not use that for learning a language. It takes only a private place and personal topics that you can talk about, as the name tells us, “self”-talk. Choose any topic about yourself, your thoughts, your memories, your dreams or anything and express it on English. You can effectively do this when you are taking a shower or going for a morning walk or maybe walking alone.It does not have to be correct at the first attempt, errors will be there, but with daily practice it will get better. The unique property of this technique is that, you do not need to talk in-front of people if you view yourself as an introvert, rather you can talk about yourself alone in private and also practice English at the same time. One more benefit is that it boosts your confidence greatly if done properly. So it is advisable to do this before your exam to help stay motivated.

9. Use social media:

If you do not have any practice partner for the speaking section, then social media is your best friend. It does not charge anything but you can utilize it to connect with friends and natives globally. Today there are plenty of features available on these platforms including video-calls and voice-calls. Make few friends on these platforms like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and video-chat with them only in English. This will force you to express yourself in real-life scenarios. After working on this few times, you will feel it easy and that awkward moment will slowly go away and at the same time you will gain self confidence.

10. Use the resources available on Internet:

If you are preparing for IELTS alone, then internet could prove very useful to you. There are plenty of sample papers, e-books, videos, etc. If you are in some problem with your English, you can use freelance services from Fiverr or Upwork to get your work checked and errors corrected. Maybe follow some YouTube channels who specializes on IELTS videos. If you are on Facebook then check out Facebook groups related to IELTS. Maybe join them and utilize it for your exam preparation, because like yourself, there are many other who are preparing for this as well.

11. Bonus tip — Exam day:

No matter how well you prepare, there will always be some worries inside your head on how well you will perform. Also it is important to stay motivated and confident before that day. So try to be in your best possible shape and avoid anything that can demotivate you. Eat healthy and stay fit. Do not overeat. Drink sufficient water and take a bath. On the exam day, all that matters is how you feel that day and how well you are prepared. Do not panic, if you have prepared good enough, it will surely reflect in your grades. Nervousness will only cause you trouble, no matter how well you prepare for the exam. Plus this is specially true for speaking test. Use the toilet if you have to, before sitting for the exams. And try to stay calm throughout the exam.

CONCLUSION

Language exams are quite hard. These are expensive too. That is why it is not possible for everyone to retake them in case of low band score. For example, in India, IELTS exam registration costs around Rs.17,000 or USD 204 (as of 28 March 2024). So it is better to stay fully prepared before going for this exam. If you are planning to study abroad in countries like USA, Australia, U.K., New Zealand, etc then they demand for a band score of 6.5 to 7.5+ where 7.0 band is preferred. If you go for General IELTS, there it is from 5.5 to 6.5 bands. I can assure you, if you prepare for this exam well enough, you will obtain a high band score too.

I hope everything goes well on your next IELTS exam.