(This post was originally written on 13 May 2017 and updated on 9 June 2017 after Dr. Maria Sundas’ IELTS result. It was added to my blog by taking permission from the writer. Thank you, Dr. Maria Sundas, for sharing your experience)
Hello everyone,
I had my IELTS exam today. There are a few points I would like you to keep in mind if you are attempting it for the first time.
I gave 10 days to each module/Quadrant, specifically listening and reading. First get familiar with the pattern, then attempt the timed test. Time management is important.
Speaking:
My topic was repeated, it was the same topic that was asked on the 29th of April. She asked me about Robots (lame but whatever). Please go through the updated speaking topics on Ielts liz. Most of them were repeated today. Sit straight, be confident, smile throughout. Answer the asked questions with a bit of exaggeration, don’t go off the topic. One more thing, it’s totally okay if you take a short pause, be polite and go like: ‘well, give me a second to think’. I did the same and she gave me a big fat smile which boosted up my confidence.
Go through the comment section of ielts liz blog. Pick up a topic and speak about it infront of your mirror or phone a friend to help you with it.
Listening:
I found it the easiest of all. The conversations that were played just needed a bit of focus. What helped me the best? Well, I was looking at my table (floor, down) until the end. It didn’t break my concentration. This was the reason I believe I did pretty well in this section.
Reading:
I messed it up. A little. The Yes, no and not given (True/False/NotGiven) questions need to be practiced. Please practice as much as you can. I didn’t give my 100%, the reason i wasn’t able to do it that well. Skim through the paragraphs, look for synonyms. That is all I can say about reading. I wish I had practiced more.
Writing:
It went okayish. The issue that I faced was time management. Please make sure you are done with task 1 within 20 minutes. Marking weightage of task 2 is higher than task 1 (as per the invigilator), so don’t take it lightly. My topic was about tv programming. It wasn’t that bad.
Write one essay/day for both the tasks. Timed test is important for writing too, you should know the technique to squeeze in both the tasks in 60 minutes.
One thing more, I followed the IELTS Advantage pattern for task 2 as in I wrote the required vocabulary for the following topics, learnt them and applied to whatever essay accordingly.
Material:
Cambridge book series (8-11), Barrons, Ryan Higgins videos for essay writing on YouTube, IELTS Liz and IELTS Advantage (blogs).
For those who are looking for the repeated speaking topics, kindly check the comment section of the link that I’m providing.
http://ieltsliz.com/recent-ielts-questions-and-topics/
Ps: For any question that bugs you please go through Naseer’s Journey. It’s a detailed blog regarding IELTS, PLAB, etc. It helped me a lot with my IELTS exam. I’m thankful to Naseer Khan for his efforts on the blog.
Hope it helps. Goodluck 🙂
